New secretary of state, new choices

It was no surprise to see Gavin Williamson announce his own departure from office before any official statement from Number 10.

After all, after two years of own-goals, blunders and indecision, many have at times had to wonder how bad it would have to get before Boris Johnson would bring the axe down. 

Gavin Williamson appeared to be the bulletproof education secretary, so it is only fitting that he should be the one to fire the starting pistol on his own departure. 

As you read this, Nadhim Zahawi’s inbox will be filling up with invitations, well-wishes and offers of meetings and speaking opportunities.

But how much power and influence can a new education secretary wield this close to a spending review, where the battle lines have already been drawn? 

How much power and influence can a new education secretary wield this close to a spending review?

The prime minister will have to appoint someone who he can be confident will toe the line and front up some unpopular spending decisions. Yet, responses to the Stratford-upon-Avon MP’s appointment seem to have ignited a long-lost sense of hope and optimism. 

Of course, every new cabinet minister will want to make their own mark but a new boss at the DfE is more likely to gently swerve than slam on the brakes on any major policies or reforms.

This is particularly the case in further education at the moment with Number 10 itself heavily invested in keeping the DfE and other departments in check for the delivery of its priority reforms around “levelling up”, pandemic recovery and the post-Brexit economy. 

Protecting student choice

With fresh eyes can come fresh perspective.

A good first move for the new education secretary would be to do what his predecessor failed consistently to do – show that they are listening.

In our view, a good place to start would be to commit to protecting student choice at level 3. 

To accuse the Williamson administration of being completely deaf to the sector might be overly harsh, but it did take six months to U-turn on AEB business cases.

Then another 14 months between the AELP arguing for more traineeship providers and a procurement finally being launched. 

Education leaders, students and unions are unusually unified behind the Protect Student Choice campaign, launched in June this year, with a simple proposition; that T Levels and applied general qualifications can co-exist peacefully and the removal of funding for the latter would deprive huge numbers of young people with a viable level 3 option. 

Education leaders, students and unions are unusually unified behind the Protect Student Choice campaign

FE Week proudly supports the campaign. 

On level 3 qualifications, the landscape has shifted slightly from a completely binary A or T Level proposition for 16-year-olds to something that is definitely better, but by how much is not yet clear.

In the House of Commons last week, Gillian Keegan said that BTECs that “meet new quality criteria for funding approval” may be allowed, in response to a question from one of many concerned MPs. But we don’t know what that criteria will look like.

With young people making decisions about their futures now, this prolonged ambiguity is not good enough. 

It is possible to look too closely into these things but, in his first statement following his appointment, Zahawi said he wanted students to have access to “a brilliant education” and “the right qualifications”. 

On the one hand, he does not have to be as unilaterally wedded to T Level exclusivity as his predecessor. On the other, why reference qualifications at all unless you had a position? 

In the meantime, show the new administration that this is not an issue that will go away by signing the petition on protectstudentchoice.org.

Protect Student Choice https://www.protectstudentchoice.org

College seeks ‘positive disruptor’ to champion EDI policy

A “positive disruptor” is being sought by a college to become its new vice principal for equality, diversity and inclusion. The proposed hiring is thought to be the first of its kind.

Bradford College is looking for applicants from within and outside the further
education sector to fill the £80,000 per year role.

Principal Chris Webb told FE Week he wants to “fast track” EDI issues at the college. The postholder will be expected to make conversations between senior leaders about advantaged versus disadvantaged learners “the norm, not the exception”.

‘Anything that helps us support our community is a good thing’

Chris Webb

Bradford is “hugely diverse,” said Webb, with the largest proportion of people of Pakistani ethnic origin – 20.3 per cent – in England. In 2-17, 63.9 per cent were of white origin.

So “anything that helps us to support our diverse community has got to be a good thing”, Webb added.

EDI policy is becoming increasingly prominent in the FE sector. The Association
of Colleges has created a dedicated EDI steering group led by Kirklees College principal Palvinder Singh, and the Black FE Leadership Group has been formed to add its voice on race equality issues in the sector.

The Department for Education is also coming under increasing pressure over the lack of black, Asian and minority ethnic take-up of T Levels and apprenticeships.

Webb said he was seeking someone who is “an expert, emotionally intelligent, who is going to come in and be challenging, supportive, but disruptive”.

Recruitment for the role is being led by FE Associates. Managing director Matt Atkinson said the “positive disruptor” would be “talking to the finance team about policies and accessibility of student support, talking about how accessible the curriculum is for different aspects of the Bradford community, and they might be talking to Chris about workplace practices”.

The Association of Colleges told FE Week it believed the role was the first of its kind in a college.

Applications close on 13 October. Anyone wishing to apply should visit https://www.fea.co.uk/bc-vpedi/

Any focus on learning outcomes needs a long-term learning strategy

Nadhim Zahawi needs to think carefully about what outcomes we want to measure and what the long-term plan is, writes Stephen Evans  

Nadhim Zahawi has arrived in post at a crucial time. We are weeks away from a spending review, various reforms are already in train to implement the skills white paper, and it is more crucial than ever that we ensure everyone has access to high-quality learning options. 

It is the funding and accountability consultation I want to focus on. The government proposes a greater focus on the outcomes of learning. This will include accountability agreements setting out how colleges will meet local and national skills needs, and a new skills measure looking at the employment outcomes of learners. 

For me, some of this is in the right direction. But it is not ambitious enough. 

A new report from the Learning and Work Institute and the Association of Colleges looks at what we can learn from other countries. First, what do we mean by outcomes?

I would say we should focus on more than just employment outcomes of learning. What about the social impacts, such as improved health and wellbeing, social contacts and increased earnings? 

We need to look beyond the headlines, which can be distorted by local economic circumstance or demographics. 

Let’s also look at value-added measures, including economic and social outcomes for groups such as disabled people who too often miss out. 

Second, what are we using data on outcomes for? 

It should be about more than central government holding colleges to account. 

Why don’t we publish outcomes data for colleges like the US does, so it can help inform people’s and employers’ decisions about what and where to learn? 

So we are arguing for a new employment and skills data lab, building on the Ministry of Justice Data Lab, which makes it easier for providers to check if their projects are reducing reoffending. 

We have the data, because individual learning records are linked to HMRC data. 

Why don’t we publish outcomes data for colleges like the US does? 

We also have an employment data lab in development in the DWP. We should expand and accelerate this. 

In other words, data should be open and contextualised – it can be a powerful tool for people, employers and providers. 

Third, what is the scope? The government seems to be looking fairly narrowly at the adult education budget and National Skills Fund. I would argue for a much broader look across the whole learning, skills and employment systems. 

The government should also be more ambitious in devolving funding to local government. This would be underpinned by outcome agreements on how this will deliver improved results, building on the Canadian model of Labour Market Development Agreements. 

The current partial devolution of a single funding stream (AEB) leaves everyone with one arm tied behind their backs. 

Independent evaluation shows the Canadian approach led to more people finding work and improving their skills. 

That is one for the new secretary of state to pick up with Michael Gove in his new role focused on “levelling up” at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 

None of this will be possible without increased, longer-term, simplified funding. The two must go hand in hand. 

The good news is that the consultation recognises that. The bad news is that ministers will always be tempted to announce a new fund for a pet initiative that then takes time to develop, bid for, deliver and manage. 

More fundamentally, the spending review feels unlikely to be one where everyone is a winner: the Treasury wants to limit public spending and there are huge calls from all public services for more money. 

We have argued for an extra £1.9 billion per year to get adult participation in learning back to 2010 levels (of course, we would like to go beyond that too). 

But I won’t be betting the mortgage on that happening. 

Extra money won’t solve everything, but reforms cannot fix the challenge without adequate investment either. Which brings us back to the start: the new secretary of state faces many of the same challenges as his predecessors.

A focus on outcomes is the right thing to do, but it needs to be alongside a long-term lifelong learning strategy, backed by investment. 

Ofsted raps business school over management apprenticeships

A high-profile business school that made millions of pounds by quickly recruiting more than 800 management apprentices has been criticised by Ofsted.

The Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust, an arm of Hult International Business School, faces a government ban from taking on new apprentices after inspectors found it had made “insufficient progress” during a new provider monitoring visit.

Leaders were pulled up for not knowing the progress that apprentices were making, for failing to liaise with employers, weak governance and a failure to take account of apprentices’ prior learning.

But the provider did receive some praise for the quality of its training and safeguarding.

Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust had 810 apprentices on its books at the time of Ofsted’s visit in June, all of whom were on management apprenticeships from levels 4 to 7.

The firm boasts that it is “ranked within the top 20 business schools worldwide” and is among “less than 1 per cent of institutions to be triple accredited” by the management institutions EQUIS, the Association of MBAs and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

The provider is also audited by QAA, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The agency’s latest review of Ashridge’s provision was published in 2017 and found the provider was meeting all expected quality standards.

Ashridge moved into the apprenticeships market in 2019. The firm’s latest accounts state that “most” of its qualification revenue, which totalled £4 million in 2020 and £5.8 million the year before, relates to apprenticeships.

The accounts, which also show reserves totalling £16.6 million, add that the company deems the collection of this revenue to be “low risk” because it is funded through a government agency.

Hult International Business School offers management courses in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Dubai, Shanghai and London. They typically cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Mark Coleman, the senior vice-president for enrolment at Hult International Business School, told FE Week that the Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust had seen a “great increase in interest” by employers for its management apprenticeship programmes over the past 18 months.

Management apprenticeships have grown to dominate the sector since the levy reforms in 2017 and now sit among the most popular sectors in terms of starts.

Several prominent sector figures, including Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, have expressed concerns about the rise in management training as apprenticeships.

Spielman warned in 2018 that graduate schemes were “in essence being rebadged as apprenticeships”, which kickstarted the decision for Ofsted to inspect level 6 and 7 apprenticeships. The courses were the responsibility of the Office for Students until April 2021.

In 2019, the National Audit Office reported that levy-payers weare “replacing their professional development programmes – for example, graduate training schemes in accountancy or advanced courses in management – with apprenticeships”.

But the move to publicly funding management courses has been defended by Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education chief executive Jennifer Coupland, who said in January 2020 that the practice was “perfectly legitimate”.

Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust’s Ofsted report criticised leaders and managers for not having “effective oversight of the skills that apprentices develop”.

They also “do not liaise with employers to design apprentices’ training programmes” or to “ensure the training employers provide reflects the requirements of the apprenticeship standard”.

The board of directors also “do not receive feedback on the quality of training that apprentices receive” and are “unable to challenge senior leaders and managers to provide training that meets the requirements of successful apprenticeships”. 

Managers, meanwhile, “do not assess the starting points of apprentices accurately” and “do not explore what apprentices can already do or have a good understanding of”.

Praise, however, was given to the provider’s workplace mentors who “usually have an appropriate understanding of the topics that apprentices learn in their theory sessions” and provide “good support” to apprentices.

Under Education and Skills Funding Agency rules, any provider with at least one “insufficient” rating in one of Ofsted’s new provider monitoring visits is banned from taking on any new apprentices until the grade improves.

Coleman said his provider “will work closely with Ofsted in preparation for a full inspection”.

Fast growing apprenticeship firm goes bust after ESFA stops payments

One of England’s fastest growing apprenticeship providers has gone bust, owing nearly £4 million, after the government terminated its skills contracts when hundreds of unemployed apprentices were discovered.

Personal Track Safety Ltd, which trades as PTS Training Academy, went into liquidation on 25 August – a year after the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) banned new apprenticeship starts and stopped making payments.

The Northampton-based firm, which employed 32 people, considered restructuring to stay afloat but could not find a viable way forward.

Insolvency documents filed on Companies House show its debts include £825,000 to the ESFA, £1.5 million to Lloyds Bank, £500,000 to HMRC and £161,000 to staff.

The company also owes £70,000 to Northampton Town Football Club, which it had a deal with to sponsor the club’s stadium (pictured) and shirts until it ran into financial trouble last year.

Liquidator Gary Pettit told FE Week that PTS Training Academy took legal advice after the ESFA stopped payments but “despite a positive Ofsted inspection earlier this year, ESFA declined to change their stance”.

He added: “It would not be out of place for me to say the director found making the 32 employees redundant particularly difficult.

“My role as liquidator is to maximise realisations for the creditors. To this end, I shall be looking at the known assets to see how best they can be realised while also making other appropriate enquiries, which I am unable to discuss at this present time.”

PTS Training Academy’s owner, Matthew Joyce, did not wish to make a separate comment.

The training provider began recruiting apprentices in May 2018 and within two years had more than 2,500 on their books – worth around £6 million – in sectors such as food, care, rail, management, accounting, engineering, sport and prison services.

Its ESFA contracts were terminated on July 10, 2021, following an investigation that found many of their apprenticeships were ineligible for funding.

Joyce previously told FE Week that the firm grew too rapidly but placed the blame for the unemployed apprentices with an apprenticeship training agency (ATA) with which it partnered.

ATAs launched in 2009 to hire apprentices and then place them with host companies that would pay the agency to cover the salaries and administration costs.

Joyce claimed that, when he partnered with the ATA, the apprentices had signed employer agreements, but later found out the jobs were gone when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Joyce said the firm had received around £2 million for the unemployed apprentices, which the ESFA then deducted from future payments.

PTS Training Academy, based in Northampton but with offices in London, Doncaster and Somerset, set up in 2012 and was a subcontractor until 2017.

It was visited by Ofsted in January 2019 and was found to be making “reasonable progress” in all areas of a new provider monitoring report. The provider also received one of the watchdog’s “interim” visits in March 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic which again found ‘reasonable progress’.

Alex Burghart and Will Quince join DfE ministerial team

Conservative MPs Alex Burghart and Will Quince have been appointed education ministers in Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.

Burghart, the MP for Brentwood and Ongar, was previously a parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister. Quince, the MP for Colchester, was a work and pensions minister.

It is not yet known what roles they will take on, nor whether Baroness Berridge, currently academies minister, will stay on in her role.

Vicky Ford, previously the children’s minister, has been appointed as a Foreign Office minister.

Sources inside Westminster reported earlier that universities minister Michelle Donelan was set to also take on the FE and skills brief after Gillian Keegan was moved to the Department of Health and Social Care.

Shortly after the announcement that he’d been appointed to the government, Burghart published a cryptic tweet saying “@educationgovuk⁩ here we go” with pictures of the Skills White Paper.

If Berridge does stay on, this would leave only the children’s minister post vacant, after it was announced that Robin Walker will be schools minister. However, the DfE may rejig roles and responsibilities, as it has in the past.

Measure college success by social outcomes as well as students’ jobs, report says

New accountability measures for colleges should be extended to cover learners’ social as well as employment outcomes, the Learning and Work Institute (L&W) has recommended. 

A new report commissioned by the Association of Colleges (AoC), Focus on results: How a greater focus on outcomes could contribute to England’s learning and skills systems, is looking to build on the government’s plans to judge providers on outcomes. 

Report author and the institute’s chief executive Stephen Evans said the proposals, outlined in the Skills for Jobs white paper, “need to go further” and they want to “see social outcomes included alongside economic outcomes”. 

Under the Department for Education’s white paper proposals, ringfencing and reporting requirements would be relaxed for providers. They would instead have to plan delivery around local employer need and possibly scale back oversupplied provision. 

Under the L&W’s proposals, colleges could choose social outcomes to measure including students’ mental wellbeing, the number of social contacts or groups they join, or their confidence.  

This will build on the proposals in the white paper, currently being turned into law through the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, for providers to be held accountable for employment outcomes for their learners.  

“Measuring key economic and social outcomes builds the evidence for increased and sustained investment and the case for greater flexibility in delivery,” the report reads. 

It recommends a total of four outcomes to be measured:  

  1. employment six months after completion;  
  1. median earnings six months after completion;  
  1. progression to further learning six months after completion;  
  1. social outcomes; and meeting employer need. 

For social outcomes, the L&W says learners’ confidence could be measured by assessing how much people believe they can achieve their goals, despite difficulties; social capital could be measured by looking at how many friends a learner makes or social groups they join through their learning. 

These would be measured at a provider and local level for all participants and for priority groups, like the long-term workless and those living in deprived areas. This data would then be compared to a national average. 

The report wants added value measures, such as comparisons with outcomes in areas with a similar economy, to be developed. 

International comparisons  

The L&W has backed up its recommendations with evidence from Australia, Canada, Ireland and the USA. 

  • outcomes
    Stephen Evans

Australia has a National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development which focuses on outcomes, including aiming to halve the proportion of 20 to 64-year-olds without a level 3, as well as improving skills, opportunities and training opportunities. 

Ireland has a Further Education and Training Strategy which identifies six outcome measures: finding work after a course; progressing to other learning; certification at levels 1-3; learners aged 25-64; key skills qualifications; and new apprenticeship and traineeships.  

Labour market and skills agreements 

The L&W argues for Labour market and skills agreements (LMSAs) between national and local government, identifying priorities for those areas, devolved budgets, types of provision eligible for funding, analysis of target groups, outcome measures, and a strategy for evaluating impact. 

Each college and large provider should then have an outcome agreement which would include funding for three years and detail expectations against the four outcomes. 

AoC chief executive David Hughes said it was “appropriate” for college accountability systems to cover a wider array of outcomes. He voiced support for an outcomes-based funding model before the education select committee in September 2020, saying it would be better than using “bums on seats”. 

Today he said an outcomes-based system, combined with simplified multi-year funding and joined-up policymaking, “would lead to high-quality opportunities for all, stronger communities and better economic growth”. 

He added: “The fundamental pitfall that I hope the government avoids is to look solely at wage outcomes, as if that does anything to measure the impact of colleges.  

“Working with colleges and other stakeholders in developing a new approach is essential to get this right.” 

A DfE spokesperson was “grateful” to the L&W “for their contribution to the discussion on how we create an improved funding and accountability system for further education”.  

They said the DfE’s consultation on FE funding and accountability was ongoing until 7 October and welcomes responses, which the department will “consider carefully, adapting our proposals as needed, and will set out our approach in more detail in due course”. 

Confirmed: Gillian Keegan leaves apprenticeships and skills minister role in reshuffle

Apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan has left the role in Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.

The MP for Chichester, who was a parliamentary under secretary in the Department for Education, has been promoted to the Department of Health and Social Care as a minister of state.

The DfE is yet to confirm whether she will be replaced, but several sources have said universities minister is expected to take on the FE and skills brief.

Following her promotion, Keegan tweeted: “It has been an incredible privilege to serve as the apprenticeships and skills minister, working to level up opportunities across the country.

“It has been wonderful to work with so many exceptional teachers, colleges, learning providers, businesses and most of all students.”

Keegan was appointed as apprenticeships and skills minister in February 2020, a month before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

She became well known in the sector and parliament for regularly reminding everyone she was herself a former apprentice.

During her tenure she has helped oversee the launch of the FE white paper and skills bill, the initial rollout of T Levels, and skills bootcamps.

Some policy decisions have proved controversial, including backing plans to scrap funding for the majority of BTECs, adult education funding clawback from colleges that did not spend 90 per cent of their allocation during the pandemic, and shrinking the independent provider market in adult education.

Reshuffle: Michelle Donelan taking FE and skills brief – sources

Universities minister Michelle Donelan is set to take on the FE and skills brief in the Department for Education following Boris Johnson’s reshuffle, FE Week understands.

Gillian Keegan, who has been the apprenticeships and skills minister since February 2020, has been promoted to the Department of Health and Social Care as a minister of state.

Multiple sources told FE Week that Donelan has been telling staff she will be responsible for all post-18 education after being confirmed as a DfE minister of state yesterday and promoted to attend cabinet.

The sources claimed that the dedicated skills minister role has been abolished.

The DfE is yet to confirm which briefs ministers will be responsible for.

Toby Perkins, Labour’s shadow FE and skills minister, said: “Skills shortages are holding our economy back. For all his warm words, the prime minister’s decision to scrap the dedicated skills minister shows he isn’t serious about reskilling our workforce for the future.”

This would be the second time that Boris Johnson has axed the skills minister role since becoming prime minister. Gavin Williamson, who was sacked as education secretary yesterday, took on responsibility for the brief when he was first appointed in July 2019.

But following a sector-wide backlash, Johnson appointed Keegan to the role in February 2020.

Donelan, the MP for Chippenham since 2015, was first appointed as universities minister in February 2020 and previously sat on the education select committee.

The DfE is yet to confirm which briefs ministers will be responsible for. The department and Downing Street have been approached for comment.