Take-up of the government’s flagship free digital skills qualifications, which will replace all low-level IT courses studied annually by over 100,000 people from next month, flopped in their first year.

Announced five years ago and finally launched last August as a free “entitlement” alongside English and math courses, just 270 people had achieved an Essential Digital Skills Qualification (EDSQ) by June 2021.

The new Ofqual-regulated qualification was developed by consultants on behalf of the government, is available at entry level and level 1 and typically takes a few weeks to complete. Only one awarding body, Gateway Qualifications, has so far issued certificates.

Colleges and training providers that spoke to FE Week said EDSQs are best delivered face-to-face, especially for learners who lack very basic digital skills, and blamed Covid restrictions for the slow start.

In many cases they have chosen to continue delivering the IT course that will have funding approval removed from August, with one college saying they are better for remote learning.

But many also complained that most of the EDSQs were not made available at the start of the current academic year, which meant they could not plan them into the curriculum.

Only Gateway Qualifications received sign-off from Ofqual by August 2020 for their EDSQ to be delivered. Seven other awarding bodies have eventually received sign-off but at different points throughout the year. They claim they are seeing some colleges and providers starting to deliver the qualifications this term.

The Department for Education said no targets had been set for the number of people taking the qualifications.

Colleges, providers, awarding bodies and the DfE all expect starts to increase substantially from September.

 

‘Covid-19 hampered the introduction of these qualifications’

A spokesperson for Bedford College Group, which historically delivers high numbers of IT courses to adults, said: “We didn’t offer EDSQ this year because we felt that ITQs for IT users fitted the needs of our learners better, as it covers more Microsoft Office applications.

“We are planning to offer the qualifications in the next academic year and are anticipating that over 300 learners will enrol.”

Highbury College explained: “The introduction of these qualifications has been hampered by Covid-19 disruption and the fact that most of the EDSQs were not available from the start of the 2020/21 academic year.

“We have plans, subject to the impact of any further disruption, to start delivery this summer.”

Another, Brockenhurst College, told FE Week it has chosen not to deliver EDSQs so far because it was not prepared to launch a new qualification during a pandemic. The qualifications are, however, on their radar and the college plans to deliver them in 2021/22.

The DfE has pushed to make digital skills as important as English and maths skills, going so far as to enshrine the entitlement to EDSQs in law, with the 2017 Digital Economy Act.

An unweighted base rate of £300 is paid by the department for each of the qualifications, which can be either entry level or level 1, funded from the adult education budget.

Skills that adults learn on the course includes creating and editing documents, how to use emails and video calls, completing online forms and purchasing items, and resolving simple technical issues with software and hardware.

But those providers that have managed to begin delivery have sung the praises of the EDSQs, citing cases of homeless people developing skills for employment, and retirees becoming apt with computers to complete day-to-day activities.

 

‘I’m definitely less terrified now and I do have more confidence’

One adult to benefit from the course is Martin Shephard, aged 26. He was until recently homeless, suffered with a drug addiction and poor mental health. He chose to take his EDSQ with J and K Training in Middlesbrough.

“I think I probably value this course more than most. Doors and opportunities have mostly been locked to me, but now I’m able to see that with the right teaching in the right environment, I can do things – it’s been a bit of an eye opener,” said Martin.

Sisters Ruth Smith (pictured above right) and Catherine Allen (picutured above left), who are both retired and in their 60s, took their EDSQ with Middlesbrough College.

While both were “anxious” about doing the course, Catherine, a retired nurse, explained that because they both now volunteer for a charity they wanted to “grasp the nettle” and upskill.

Ruth added: “This course has been a great experience, I’m definitely less terrified now and I do have more confidence. I’ve learnt that computers are logical, that I shouldn’t overthink things and I’m brave enough to experiment.”

Lee Morton, aged 38, also took the course at Middlesbrough College. She said: “My aim was to improve on knowledge that I use in my everyday workplace and learn new skills to help me improve what I do. To be honest, the course proved valuable straight away. It’s helping me work more efficiently and it’s helping me on my own personal journey.”

 

‘It has been challenging this year to deliver EDSQs at volume’

Delivery hasn’t been plain sailing for colleges and providers, however.

Joanne Dye, deputy director of adult, community and ESOL at Leeds City College, said: “It has been challenging this year to deliver EDSQs at volume, due to the Covid pandemic and related lockdowns and restrictions.

“This has affected adult learners in many ways, in particular being able to attend face-to-face support which many of our adult learners prefer, especially those with lower levels of digital skills.

“We have, however, delivered to cohorts remotely, providing support through the loan of digital equipment and the means to get connected to the internet.”

When asked about the sluggish switch to EDSQs, a DfE spokesperson said: “Now more than ever, it is vital more adults have the opportunity to learn and develop the digital skills they need to thrive in everyday life and work.

“That’s why we’ve introduced a new generation of essential digital skills qualifications, and removing approval for funding for existing ICT qualifications, which are based on out-of-date standards that do not reflect the world we live in.

“The pandemic delayed rollout and take-up of EDSQs. We expect take-up to increase in the next academic year.”

 

Students enjoyed some of their “best experiences” at the first fully virtual Natspec Games last week.

Organisers are even looking at using a mix of virtual and in-person events for future games, which are run by the specialist providers’ organisation Natspec, with help from AoC Sport.

Over 40 specialist colleges took part in the games, which are held annually and involve sporting events and exercise sessions based on disciplines such as yoga, ball sports, movement and music.

 

Games session ‘one of my best experiences’

One of sessions was led by Ava McAuley, 24, from St John’s School and College in Sussex, and incorporated singing, body percussion and learning the sign language Makaton.

The session started off with a ‘hello’ song, she told FE Week, to make sure people with restricted mobility, such as those in wheelchairs, could be included.

This was followed up by a body percussion exercise – where participants generate sounds through actions like stomping, patting, clapping hands and snapping fingers – to perform a song called “I Like the Flowers”.

During the session, she also gave a lesson on the Makaton sign language, which involves the person speaking the words as well as signing them.

She called it “definitely one of my best experiences”, and reception from colleges has been rapturous. “I got feedback saying that people liked my grounding in meditation, people enjoyed the sing-song, and I taught quite a few people Makaton signs that they are now going to go and show other
people.”

Bridge College in Manchester is even trying to get her to go on Good Morning Britain with them, which Ava is looking forward to, as “I get to be famous”.

Ava has been studying peer mentoring and will be moving on to a level 3 course in supporting teaching and learning next academic year.

Her tutor Steve Elston said it was “really amazing” to see her deliver the session, and was particularly impressed by how she routinely asked if people were OK and gave encouragement to participants, saying: “Oh I can see this college smiling and joining in”.

 

Students faced number of sports challenges

In addition to sessions like Ava’s, the games featured a number of challenges. For instance, one challenge run with Boccia England tasked participants with knocking over as many skittles in five throws of a ball as they could, which was won by National Star College.

Another challenge was to design a mascot for the games – which was won by Jess Lowe from Sense College in Loughborough and Olly the Owl.

The 3-Step Challenge run with the FA tasked students with moving around a square with a football as many times as possible in one minute. This was won jointly by CSC Doncaster and Bridge College.

The Aurora Group’s Foxes Academy won England Netball’s challenge to throw and catch a ball as many times as possible in one minute.

And David Lewis Centre won the task set by Harlequins Rugby Foundation to move to a ‘try’ line and back with a ball as many times as possible in one minute.

Each of the winners received a £50 sports equipment voucher.

The event also included a question-and-answer session with blind England footballer Azeem Amir and deaf England Rugby Sevens and Sale Sharks Women’s player Jodie Ounsley.

 

Virtual event will have lasting change on the Games

AoC Sport’s disability development officer Shannon Howarth said the event, which ran from Monday 21 to Friday 25 June, with funding from Sport England, had been “brilliant”, with a “real mix” of sessions.

She said that organisers had not had time last year to put together a virtual event after having to cancel the in-person competition; but this year’s – the fifth Natspec Games – used a mix of live and pre-recorded sessions.

The virtual sessions were designed so they can be delivered in the classroom, as “some colleges don’t necessarily have the big sports halls or sports facilities”.

So, from now on, she thinks, “colleges will be more confident to be able to deliver within the classroom.”

She says the switchover to virtual will “definitely” have a lasting change on the games, and organisers are looking at a “hybrid” model of in-person as well as virtual delivery in the future.

Pictured, top: Students from CSC Doncaster doing one of the pre-recorded workout sessions

A multi-million-pound redevelopment which put a college’s finances at “significant risk” has now delayed its much-needed merger.

Richmond-upon-Thames College had been due to merge with HCUC (Harrow College Uxbridge College) on July 30, 2021 but announced on Tuesday this had been called off with no new date in sight.

A spokesperson told FE Week the delay had been caused by local authority planning issues regarding two new sports halls, which are part of a two-phase £80 million campus redevelopment.

While the plans for one sports hall are ready to be submitted, the other one has “required some changes and this is causing a delay to the dual submission.

“We are confident that this will be resolved, and we are working with all stakeholders and partners to meet the required planning conditions.”

 

Merger comes after ‘significant risks’ to college’s sustainability

The college has said the challenges “present unresolved financial issues for both HCUC and RuTC”. The redevelopment had already plunged Richmond-upon-Thames into supervised status and forced it to drop plans in January 2020 to deliver T Levels.

The project involves a 100-customer restaurant, 3D prototyping laboratory and STEM Centre.

Skills minister Gillian Keegan wrote to the college’s chair in March 2020 to warn that the “increasing financial commitments required by the ongoing campus redevelopment project” had made her “greatly concerned this presents significant risks to the college’s working capital and its future sustainability”.

This was after an FE Commissioner report, published that same month, found budgetary control issues had emerged since May 2019 and there were increasing concerns about the underlying cash position and losses on core college provision.

“Serious shortcomings in financial management and control during 2018/19 have meant that the full extent of financial underperformance is only now being fully identified,” the report read.

The college’s financial turnover had halved over the past seven years, and although it did not have any commercial loans, there were substantial advance capital grants and receipts from asset sales, which had led to “exceptionally high levels” of restricted cash.

The college generated a £5.1 million deficit in 2019/20, and a £6.2 million deficit in 2018/19.

 

College hopes for only ‘brief delay’

It had seen the departure of a number of senior leaders in the period immediately £80m rebuild puts troubled college’s merger on hold before the FE Commissioner’s report, including the principal Robin Ghurbhurun, the vice principal for finance and enterprise, the clerk and deputy principal.

A new chair, head of governance, and two vice chairs were also appointed. The college is currently being run by an interim, Elaine McMahon, who succeeded another temporary leader, former Petroc College boss Diane Dimond, in September.

A structure and prospects appraisal to “identify options for structural change including merger” was ordered after the commissioner’s intervention, which led to the announcement last November that RuTC would be joining HCUC.

Despite the hold-up, both colleges have said they remain “committed” to the merger, with Richmond chair Ian Valvona writing in a June update on the college’s website: “It is the intention that merger will go ahead with only a relatively brief delay until the issues are resolved.”

HCUC’s chair Nick Davies said the partnership between the two providers “remains strong,” as they believe “we can develop a far stronger educational offer by working together”.

More than one-third of organisations signed up to deliver apprenticeship assessments are yet to award any certificates, FE Week can reveal.

A freedom of information request shows that 125 companies on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s 324-strong end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) register have not recorded any assessments.

Smaller EPAOs which spoke to FE Week blamed larger or better-known awarding bodies for squeezing them out, saying it was hard to win assessment contracts without an established track record.

Others blamed the impact of Covid for holding apprentices back from being ready for assessment.

 

‘Multiple bodies competing in a diminishing pool’

After being shown the data, Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive Tom Bewick said the apprenticeship assessment market currently presents a “confused picture”.

He told FE Week this is compounded by the fact starts on standards are way down, meaning “multiple bodies competing in a diminishing pool of EPA opportunities”.

He reasoned that “market forces” in a competitive sector “will decide who survives or not” and he is unsurprised providers and employers are putting faith in tried and tested, Ofqual-regulated organisations.

One EPAO which has yet to deliver certificates is defence and homeland security assessor Explosive Learning Solutions (ELS).

The company’s head of end-point assessment, Caroline Walton, claimed that employers had asked to use them for apprentice assessment, but that training providers “have refused, saying they already have their preferred EPAO suppliers”.

Having only joined the register in March 2020, Walton said there is “certainly is not a fair playing field out there and for a new EPAOs like ELS. It has been exhausting, frustrating and heart-breaking.”

Additionally, as a new EPAO, ELS cannot provide evidence and case studies to win tenders for assessment contracts. “I can see why so many possibly gave up on their EPAO journeys,” Walton added.

Steve Chesman from Vitae Services Limited says rail employers who could choose them to assess the rail engineering operative level 2 standard are “difficult to pin down, and they seem to prefer to use the more well-known names”.

Essential Learning and Skills’ David Matthews said they had been “trying” to increase their offering – they are on the register for the level 3 unified communications technician standard – “but have been unable to do so, due to the larger EPAOs taking on the vast majority of EPAs”.

This has meant the organisation is only getting its first assessments later this year.

Other EPAOs said they had not delivered certificates as they were new to the register; that cohorts on the standards they assess had not reached gateway yet; or that Covid had held apprentices back.

 

EPAO registration process ‘not helpful’ to smaller apprentice assessors

FE Week has also found a further nine EPAOs have dropped off the register since its launch, with most simply saying it was a business decision.

But one of them, Mighty Oak Training, which was signed up to assess the level 4 revenues and welfare benefits practitioner standard, said the cost outweighed the work involved for a small business.

The provider was run by sole-trader Julie Maycock. She told FE Week: “Mighty Oak Training has chosen to withdraw from the register. It became evident that the amount of work involved outweighed the small amount of assessments we were likely to receive in our specialist field. The process is not helpful to small organisations and it is not cost effective to continue as an EPAO.”

 

‘Time to put Wild West aspects of market behind us’

Asked if it was concerned at the number of EPAOs that have not carried out any assessments yet, a government spokesperson said: “EPAOs join the register for different standards on a regular basis and therefore some EPAOs will have been offering certain standards for longer than others.

“An EPAO has to complete readiness checks by ESFA and the external quality assurance provider before they can deliver an EPA for a given standard.

“The ESFA monitors the activity of EPAOs and has frequent contact with EPAOs who have not yet delivered assessments in order to understand their readiness status and whether they have EPAs booked.”

Bewick said it is “time now to put the Wild West aspects of it behind us and to support a proper mature market where there is real transparency for all concerned”.

He called on the ESFA to provide “better information about service and performance levels at the gateway process and beyond”.

The government is on the hunt for local authorities to take part in a £3 million pilot to extend its “pupil premium plus” scheme into further education.

Applications have opened today for the trial which will see “virtual school heads”, tasked with improving outcomes for looked-after children and care leavers, work with colleges and training providers from October.

 

Post-16 children ‘do not currently benefit from same support’ as pre-16

The Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 Pilot will run until March 2022 and councils have been invited to put in bids which show how they can lift the profile of the young people, improve their attendance, and support delivering their education plans.

Children’s minister Vicky Ford has praised the “phenomenal job” which has been done by the existing virtual school heads, a mandatory appointment for each local authority to oversee looked-after children’s education, attendance, attainment and achievement since the Children and Families Act 2014.

Virtual school heads currently receive pupil premium plus funding of £2,345 per child in care, aged 4 to 15, to provide individual support in line with their personal education plan, as well as help for their overall cohort.

Guidance for bidders to the pilot states that this funding ceases when the child reaches the age of 16, but virtual school head duties and the “need for bespoke support continue for as long as the child is in care”, which is why the trial is being run.

“The impact of Covid-19 has exacerbated the challenges faced by these young people, who do not currently benefit from the same levers of financial support as the pre-16 cohort,” the guidance says.

It adds that the pilot will “enable the DfE to build an evidence base of what works, which will be used to inform any future support for this cohort”.

 

Local authorities will have to provide ‘clear and realistic’ delivery proposal

The expression of interest form asks bidding local authorities for how many looked-after children they have in post-16 education, how much funding they are requesting and the costings for their delivery, as well as a “clear and realistic” delivery proposal.

There will also be an independent evaluation of the pilot involving monitoring data and case studies, and in their bids, councils have to provide a plan for collecting information to feed into the evaluation.

Applicants have until July 22 to put in their bid and results will be announced in early September.

It comes as the number of looked-after children aged 16 and over has increased by 10 per cent from 17,280 in 2018 to 19,030 in 2020.

 

Virtual school heads have ‘strong advocacy ability’

The DfE’s 2019 children in need review reported the “strong advocacy ability” of virtual heads provides opportunities to “raise visibility and understanding” of youngsters who have needed a social worker.

The government said when the report was published in June 2019 they would look at whether there’s a case for “extending and adapting” the virtual school head role.

Pupil premium plus funding is used for children in care, whereas the pupil premium is used to increase the attainment of disadvantaged children.

More than 250 students at 58 colleges will have their work on the theme of ‘Fake News’ published in a Sixth Form Colleges Association exhibition.

Today has seen the launch of this year’s SFCA virtual showcase of photos and artwork by students, with the exhibition running from 1 July to 22 July.

Association chief executive Bill Watkin called it a “celebration of the arts and a recognition of the excellence in sixth form colleges.

“But it also highlights how young people feel about having to navigate the vast amount of news and information that is available in the modern world, and at the same time, to discern what is the truth.

“Art has always played an important role in social and political commentary, and the students featured in ‘Fake News’ have shown they have the talent to communicate their feelings about this important subject in a powerful and effective way.”

 

Sixth form art targets Boris, Trump and body image

A number of pictures in the exhibit focus on misinformation around Covid-19, but also address themes such as body image and newspaper coverage, and include images of British prime minister Boris Johnson, former US president Donald Trump, and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg.

This year’s participants included Coulsdon Sixth Form College A-level photography students Maia Francis, Casey White, and Phoebe Newman.

Maia’s piece, ‘Covid Deniers’, features a photo of her face split into two halves. One half is photographed in black and white while she is wearing a mask plastered with public safety messages from the Covid-19 crisis.

The other half is in colour, with no mask, just the words “’covid 19 isn’t real’ covid denier” [sic].

Francis said she was trying to highlight “the difference of what people have been saying during Covid.

“So, you have the people that are abiding by all the guidelines, and then you have the people that say that it’s not real.”

White is featured in the exhibit with his piece, ‘Covid-19 fake news’, a grainy, black and white photo of him looking out of a bus window onto a collage of newspaper clippings on the pandemic. This includes headlines saying: “This is the year we will defeat Covid,” and “Death is all around us… so follow the rules”.

White wanted the piece to reflect how coverage around wearing masks and sanitising regularly “affects people’s health”.

Newman was inspired by the photographic collage maker Pablo Thecuadro for her piece, ‘Gender Issues’, which features one picture of a man seemingly crying with the words ‘toxic masculinity’ hanging over head.

To his left is a picture of a woman, her head split into three different faces above her shoulders, with a message warning against sexual insults all around her.

“I was trying to get across the way the media portrays masculinity, can sometimes have an effect on like young boys and how they feel about themselves and the expectations of what they should be,” Newman said.

Whereas with the female piece, she wanted to speak out how the phrase “men will be men” can excuse aggressive behaviour for biology.

 

Exhibition ‘gives students a sense of the real world’

The college’s visual arts course leader Neal Vaughan said taking part of the exhibit, as they have for three years, is part of the learners’ experience: “We like to move learning outside of the classroom, to have industry links and employability.

“So this really does give them a sense of what it’s like in the real world, applying and going through the selection process for exhibitions.”

His students “really responded” to the fake news theme, he added, and enjoyed taking part.

Last year’s SFCA exhibit featured pieces by more than 140 students on the topic of life stuck at home in lockdown.

The chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Eileen Milner is to stand down, FE Week can reveal.

The senior civil servant told staff today that the “time has come” for her to “go to a new challenge”.

Milner was appointed in 2017 shortly after the organisation formed through the merger of the Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency.

The ESFA is an executive agency of the Department for Education responsible for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults.

It is not yet known where Milner is moving to, but in a letter to staff she said there was an “important role for me to undertake in the area that I call home and that feels important to do, to try and make a contribution, most especially in the context of recovery from the pandemic”.

According to Milner’s LinkedIn profile, she is based in the “greater Cambridge area”.

A DfE spokesperson confirmed Milner was leaving her position and “we want to thank her for her work over the last three-and-a-half years and wish her all the best for the future”.

“An interim appointment to the position of chief executive and accounting officer will be made in due course.”

However, the spokesperson would not say exactly when Milner was leaving, nor where she was moving on to.

Milner joined the ESFA from the Care Quality Commission, where she was an executive director. According to her profile on the government’s website, she started her career in local government, specialising in education services, before moving into higher education.

The civil servant told colleagues she had been “both delighted and apprehensive” to join the ESFA in 2017.

“Delighted to be able to return to education, but naturally apprehensive about quite what challenges I might face – strangely enough, a pandemic didn’t feature in my list of worries!”

But Milner said she could say with “absolute confidence” that she had “never had a day when I have regretted taking up the role, and frankly, in the toughest of times, the reason for that has been entirely down to all of you”.

She said the “sense of community and family” created by ESFA staff was “truly exceptional and I am so thankful for it”.

Milner also said the organisation was “blessed in so many ways in terms of our people and in terms of ongoing leadership”, describing the quality of the executive team as “exceptional”.

“They are collectively committed to ensuring that the transition to new leadership happens as smoothly and supportively as possible. I will, of course, be looking to have the opportunity to say farewell properly to you in the coming weeks.

“For now though, we will carry on doing what we always do – being absolutely committed to delivering at a level of excellence and expertise.”

Outcomes for the national adult education budget tender have been hit by a second delay.

Results were originally supposed to be communicated on June 24 but the Education and Skills Funding Agency last week announced they would not meet the deadline.

Bidders were told the next day that the outcomes would be ready for today (June 28).

But this afternoon a further update was issued and said: “Please note that award decisions will not issue today, as previously communciated.

“We will notify potential contractors on the outcome of their bids shortly. We apologies for the delay and appreciate your understanding.”

No reason for the delay has been issued.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Jane Hickie slammed the ESFA for this latest delay.

She said: “Providers must be notified of the AEB procurement outcome today.  It is simply unacceptable that having promised notification yesterday after last week’s delays, the ESFA did not meet their commitment. 

“For those providers that win contracts, they have only a month to prepare for delivery which will delay some programme roll-outs in areas where the reskilling of adults is an absolute imperative as part of the recovery from the pandemic.  The consequences for existing AEB contractors who have missed out on awards in this procurement round are equally serious especially in terms of staffing.

“AELP members are seething over this.  This latest episode is another to add to the government’s ever lengthening rap sheet on poorly handled procurement exercises. Learners and hard-working provider staff deserve better.”

Bids for a slice of the £73 million AEB funding initially up for grabs in 2021/22 opened in February and closed in March.

The service start date is set for 1 August 2021.