Mayor’s money to heat up FE ‘cold spots’

A combined authority is handing out £4.5 million in grants to colleges and training providers to fill further education “cold spots” in its smaller towns.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) is targeting capital funding at four Cambridgeshire towns – St Neots, Huntingdon, Soham and Ely – which lack post-16 study options and have low participation levels.

CPCA hopes the projects will benefit more than 9,400 learners over the next three years through vocational training and apprenticeships in priority sectors including construction, advanced manufacturing and health and social care.

The bulk of the funding will go to Eastern Education Group, which has won £1.45 million to open East Cambridgeshire Training Centre in Soham and to buy and fit out a health and science education centre in nearby Ely, as well as £1.3 million for a “micro-construction facility” in St Neots.

Cambridge Regional College will also receive £1.1 million to build “immersive learning rooms” in Huntingdon, Cambridge and St Neots, it will also open a retrofit and green construction facility at its Huntingdon campus.

Private provider Back2Work Complete Training will receive £455,000 to open a green tech, construction and housing training centre in St Neots, with a target of supporting 2,030 learners. A smaller £100,000 sum will go to Steadfast Training for three electric “mobile training centre” vehicles containing computers for learners.

Paul Bristow (pictured), Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “These grants will put advanced, high-quality facilities in places where there is real need.

“And we’ll help thousands more people into great careers in growing local sectors that are crying out for new talent, such as in advanced manufacturing, construction, sciences, health and social care, digital and more.  

“This is real progress towards our goal of helping every resident secure a good job or advance in their career.”

The authority first identified the towns with a “deficit” of post-16 places when it gained devolved control of skills funding in 2021, initially planning to build two new “flagship” FE buildings costing up to £40 million each.

This included in St Neots which, its local council argues, has 5,000 new homes planned, lacks vocational training facilities and would benefit from a new “anchor institution” in the town centre.

However, a feasibility study by consultants at Grant Thornton recommended funding existing providers to “scale up” as the business case for a new college was “weak” due to a “modest” predicted growth in learner numbers.

Earlier this year, CPCA ran a bidding competition for projects it could fund, receiving ten applications.

Laraine Moody, group principal for university and professional development at Eastern Education Group, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this funding, which will enable us to deliver transformative skills training right at the heart of communities that have historically been underserved.

“Our primary focus is on supporting employers; helping them to upskill their current workforce and creating clear pathways into employment for those who are out of work and need access to training.

“This investment isn’t just about new buildings – it’s about people. It’s about unlocking potential, changing lives, and helping local businesses and communities thrive.”

Luke Muscat, CEO of Back2Work Complete Training, said funding for the training centre in St Neots is “great stuff” that will help with purchase and installation of “super expensive” equipment such as mock up roofs with solar panels and heat pumps that can be used in skills bootcamps and apprenticeship training.

He added that without the funding, the company may not have invested in a lease on a building in a smaller town like St Neots.

Ofsted sounds siren over ambulance provider’s apprenticeships

An ambulance worker apprenticeship provider has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted after inspectors found learners make “slow progress” due to “busy shift patterns” amid “weak” oversight by management.

Nerams, based in the north east England, had 22 level 3 ambulance support worker apprentices when Ofsted visited in June this year, less than a year after inspectors spotted several “weaknesses” during a monitoring visit.

The company is one of several subcontractors providing 999 ambulance and patient transport vehicles and crew to the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

Ofsted’s report, published today, graded the company as ‘inadequate’ in overall effectiveness after finding many apprentices are “significantly” past their planned completion date due to a lack of teaching after initial training and schedules dominated by “busy shift patterns”.

Nerams was given the lowest possible grade for quality of education, leadership and management, and apprenticeships. However, it was rated ‘good’ for behaviour and attitudes of learners and ‘requires improvement’ for personal development.

According to conditions set out in the apprenticeship provider contract, the inspection grade means the Department for Education may now use its “absolute discretion” to take a range of measures including terminating Nerams’ contract, recovering payments, suspending learner starts or imposing other “additional contract obligations”.

In its report, Ofsted said management do not have “an accurate oversight” of the quality of education provided, with “weak” governance and quality assurance processes that “solely” focus on whether trainers are assessing apprentices against the apprenticeship standards.

The report said: “Apprentices do not benefit from an effectively planned curriculum beyond the initial training that they receive at the start of the course. They do not routinely receive training beyond this initial phase.

“As a result, apprentices depend heavily on the training they have at work to develop new knowledge and skills and have insufficient opportunities outside of work to consolidate and deepen their theoretical understanding.”

A recent “in-depth review” has improved the company’s understanding of apprentices’ progress, which is not reviewed “frequently enough”, but it is “too soon to see the impact”, the report added.

Apprentices’ work is also “rarely of the expected standard” as it frequently “lacks coherence, structure and the detail and the depth required”.

Trainers fail to provide “clear and timely” feedback to assignments and on the “rare” occasions feedback is provided, apprentices do not use it to improve their work.

Funding of up to £7,000 is available for the level 3 ambulance support worker apprenticeship standard, which has a typical duration of 13 months.

Ofsted’s report said Nerams teachers are “suitably qualified” and “skilled” at training in the initial training phase. They also praised apprentices’ “professional” and “positive” attitudes to learning and progressing in their careers.

The company is one of 18 organisations providing patient transport, unscheduled care, and double-crewed ambulances to North East Ambulance Service through a subcontracting framework worth up to £82 million between 2025 and 2029.

Dean Wrightson, Nerams’ director of operations, said the company acknowledges Ofsted’s findings and takes its feedback seriously.

He added: “While the inspection outcome is disappointing, it reinforces our own internal findings that led to mitigations and rapid improvement plans already put in place by the organisation prior to the inspection.

“We recognise the concerns highlighted in the report, particularly regarding the slow progress of apprentices and need for more frequent reviews and guided learning.

“These findings aligned with our own, which led to the removal of the management overseeing this provision and their replacement, with a rapid quality improvement plan put in place focused on ensuring the achievement of the learners.

“We are proud of our apprentices’ professionalism, their commitment to patient care, and the positive feedback from workplace settings regarding their conduct and values.

“We will continue to work with the Department for Education and Ofsted in relation to quality improvement, appropriate mitigations and scrutiny to ensure we are doing as we say we will do.”

A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson declined to comment on the Ofsted report.

Existing providers win £1.5bn prison education ‘overhaul’

Contracts worth up to £1.5 billion to “overhaul” heavily criticised education and training in England’s prisons have been awarded to three existing providers after a two-year procurement. 

Milton Keynes College, People Plus and Novus, which is part of Manchester-based college group LTE Group, have been confirmed as the chosen providers of the new Prison Education Service (PES) from October this year. 

It means education in just 26 out of England’s 102 prisons will change hands. 

Launched in 2023, the PES promised tougher targets and greater focus on English and maths training and employment outcomes in a bid to boost rehabilitation and cut crime. 

Winners were supposed to be announced earlier this year, with the contracts starting in April, but the MoJ delayed to “allow more time for contract award and mobilisation”.

The PES providers are all existing prison education contractors, a system which HM chief inspector of prisons called “generally poor” in his 2024-25 annual report, citing 75 per cent of Ofsted inspections into prison education provision resulted in ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ judgments. 

MPs and experts have warned that the long-awaited procurement results risk more of the same poor outcomes for prisoners, with some calling for DfE to take over the contracts from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). 

New contracts

Each PES provider has been awarded several contracts to run provision across regional lots for an initial period up to October 2029, with a possible further extension up to 2032. 

Despite the two-year procurement process, the MoJ failed to award a contract covering eight prisons in the West Midlands due to “exceptionally close scoring” between bidders. Existing contract-holder Novus has been granted a six-month extension while a retender takes place. 

London was the one of two regional lots to see the prison education provider change hands. The £108 million contract went to PeoplePlus, who will take over from Novus.

Meanwhile, Milton Keynes College will take over nine prisons in the South West from Weston College, which did not bid for any PES contracts. The new £55 million contract, lot 1 in the table below, includes one high-security prison, HMP Erlestoke, which was already part of Milton Keynes College’s roster.

People Plus’s three contracts combined are worth up to £299 million for the training company. Novus secured four contracts worth up to £255 million, while Milton Keynes College Group’s three contracts are worth up to £160 million.  

Unlike the previous prison education framework, womens prisons and long-term high-security provisions are included within the regional lots, rather than education being provided by a single national provider.

The revamped contract would also appoint a head of education in each prison as well as skills and work managers and neurodiversity support managers.

Ministers have said the renewed prison education service aims to “strengthen the quality of delivery” and drive a focus on learner outcomes and collaboration between prisons and education providers.

Providers will be measured against key performance indicators covering English, maths and reading, accredited study programmes, non-accredited study programmes and additional learning needs.

A People Plus spokesperson said: “We are very pleased to have further extended our prison education service delivery through the East of England and East/North Midlands and now across London.”

Meanwhile, Milton Keynes College won three lots, comprising no change from its current provision of 29 state prisons as well as the privately-run Fosse Way prison in Leicestershire.

“This announcement represents a significant vote of confidence in the work of our prison education services teams and we’re enormously proud of them and the work they do,” said CEO and Principal of MK College Group, Sally Alexander.

A fresh start, or more of the same?

The University and College Union (UCU) prisons official, Paul Bridge said: “PES and its predecessor PEF have not enabled the prison education ‘market’ to expand. In fact, the reverse is the case.”

Bridge added that prison education should sit within the Department for Education, not MOJ.

“Until it does, nothing will fundamentally change,” he told FE Week.

Meanwhile, Jon Collins, chief executive of the Prisoner Education Trust warned: “While there are no new education providers – the three organisations appointed to manage the new contracts are all current providers – it is essential that what we get isn’t just more of the same.”

MPs are also not convinced the new contract will offer up meaningful rehabilitation.

Last month, Labour MP Kim Johnson grilled the government on how it was rectifying the 82 per cent of prisons and young offender institutions rated ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.

“Yet, the Prison Education Service still outsource the same poorly performing contracts to poorly performing providers,” she said at justice questions in the House of Commons.

“Everyone accepts that prison education is not currently good enough and these new contracts should be a chance for a fresh start,” Collins added.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We’re overhauling prison education to give offenders the skills they need to turn their lives around and help cut reoffending.

“Alongside these new core contracts, we have invested in staff, digital tools and wider education services, to improve access to learning and drive better outcomes.”

Public pension protection

The MoJ has dragged its feet since the PES tender was launched as to whether the guarantee that staff delivering publicly funded services will have access to public pensions – also known as the New Fair Deal.

The Treasury confirmed last year that FE college staff transferred to private companies delivering public services will have access to generous public pensions, namely the Teacher Pension Scheme and the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Bridge told FE Week that UCU had been writing to the MoJ for confirmation that this would apply to prison educators for over one year.

He claimed bidders were asked to submit two costings as part of their bid; one applying the TPS and LGPS costs and one without.

But until last week, the MoJ refused to confirm that the New Fair Deal will apply to prison educators who are TUPE’d over to private providers.

Justice minister Sir Nic Dakin confirmed the MoJ would work with suppliers who need to apply for “admitted body status” to access public pension schemes.

However, he added in another PQ that the MoJ has “not made any such assurances” if private providers are unsuccessful in their application.

Bridge said this leaves the pension guarantee open to interpretation and leaves hundreds of workers at People Plus in pensions limbo until October.

“It’s not been confirmed that People Plus has secured admitted body status into the TPS or LGPS,” he said. 

He added: “If admitted body status isn’t secured or a scheme of broad equivalence not set up for hundreds of public sector workers transferring to a private provide under PES, then the MoJ must stand as guarantor to those public sector staff and protect their pensions in this transfer or the minsters words are meaningless and NFD will not apply.”

A People Plus spokesperson added: “In terms of Fair Deal – we see this as an MoJ responsibility to confirm, along with any contract arrangements.”

Novus declined to comment.

CareShield exits apprenticeships to protect learners from staff shortages 

A national health and social care training provider has closed due to staffing shortages that stalled apprentices’ progress.

CareShield Ltd had 405 apprentices on its books during its most recent visit from Ofsted in March 2025, but has now handed back its funding contract to the Department for Education.

The provider received back-to-back ‘requires improvement’ grades from the watchdog, with inspectors highlighting how apprentices were “frustrated” by changes in coaches and that “too few” learners complete their apprenticeship.

Leaders at the company told FE Week they notified the DfE of their decision to voluntarily withdraw from apprenticeship delivery in January this year. They worked with the department on an orderly wind-down until April 30.

The firm would not say how many staff have lost their jobs, but its most recent accounts show there were 54 employees in 2024.

In a joint statement, CareShield CEO Emma Perry and owner Christian Greenshaw said: “The decision to withdraw from apprenticeship delivery was not taken lightly. It followed a combination of sustained sector-wide challenges, including staffing shortages, high vacancy rates, and persistent operational pressures, which collectively disrupted learner progression.”

The pair added that functional skills rules requirements “further compounded these issues, making it increasingly difficult to deliver a consistent and high-quality experience for apprentices and employers”.

Ministers’ decision on February 11 to scrap the exit rule, which forces apprentices without a GCSE pass to achieve a functional skills qualification in the core subjects to complete their training, for those aged 19 or older, was not enough to convince CareShield’s leaders to continue training.

The most recent NHS long-term workforce plan, updated in 2023, showed 112,000 vacancies. It forecast a shortfall of between 260,000 and 360,000 staff by 2036-37. 

CareShield’s latest grade three Ofsted report said that apprentices “enjoy studying at CareShield” but have been “frustrated” by changes in coaches, which has disrupted their learning and impacted negatively on their progress.

And although staff set out clear expectations for apprentices’ attendance, “too few” apprentices attend their taught sessions, including functional skills.

“Too few apprentices remain on their apprenticeship programme, and too few complete their apprenticeship within the planned timescales,” Ofsted said.

CareShield’s retention and achievement rate sits at 50 per cent, according to the government’s most recent data.

CareShield, headquartered in Hertfordshire, was set up in 2009 and won its first direct contract to deliver apprenticeships in 2018. 

It taught apprentices across England, with most based in the Northeast, Yorkshire and Humber, East of England, London and the Southeast.

Perry and Greenshaw refused to say whether the company would now be put into administration.

The pair run another company called BroadShield Ltd, which delivers workforce development to organisations across all sectors.

Ofsted: Young people ‘at risk’ at G4S-run secure training centre

Ofsted’s chief inspector has issued an emergency “urgent notification” to the government after finding vulnerable young offenders at risk of harm at a G4S-run secure training centre.

The notification, signed by Sir Martyn Oliver yesterday and published today, is a process rarely used and is reserved for the most serious cases of failure and requires the justice secretary to respond within 28 days with a plan to improve.

Sir Martyn can only issue the notification with the agreement of His Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons and the Care Quality Commission’s chief inspector of hospitals and healthcare.

Oakhill Secure Training Centre (STC), based in Milton Keynes and run by private security company G4S, has been issued with its second urgent notification after Ofsted found “serious and systemic failures” and safeguarding “in disarray” during a full inspection earlier this month.

Ofsted inspectors found the STC, which boasts “a safe environment provided with support and experience of care” on its website, “is no longer child centred” with staff reporting “a culture of fear, mistrust and reprisal.”

In a letter to the justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, Sir Martyn said his inspectors uncovered “profoundly serious and systemic failures that mean children have been and remain at risk of harm.”

Serious allegations about staff at Oakhill were not properly reported, leaving staff continuing to work with young people despite serious allegations against them. “Children are then left without appropriate safeguards,” Sir Martyn said.

Oakhill’s director and a deputy director were suspended on July 20, the day before Ofsted’s inspection began. Another deputy director was recently sacked.

Young people were “inappropriately charged” out of their personal money for a “victims fund” which Sir Martyn said needed further investigation.

He also reported that 30 members of staff at Oakhill have been suspended since November 2024; 23 of those related to allegations around conduct with children.

Staff have not been trained on up-to-date physical restraint techniques and inspectors witnessed the use of inverted wrist holds which caused “unintentional pain” to detainees. While permitted, that technique wouldn’t be necessary if staff were trained on newer guidance, Sir Martyn said.

The chief inspector said the STC broke its own rules on the use of “separation”. This type of isolation is supposed to be limited to three hours, but inspectors found young people separated “for lengthy extended periods” running into “many days.”

“The rationale for continuing separation into many days is inappropriate, not always clearly documented and is contrary to the STC rules,” Sir Martyn said.

Additionally, young people with mental health concerns were not always given timely care and medicines are not always administered safely, the report said.

The report also exposed unsanitary living conditions for young people, a lack of protection from health risks such as food allergies.

It also slammed the Youth Custody Service, which is supposed to monitor G4S’s contract, for failing to identify and/or take sufficient action to help safeguard children.

Last STC standing

Oakhill STC houses up to 80 young offenders aged 12 to 18 years old.

It is the last remaining secure training centre in England. G4S lost the contracts to run Medway and Rainsbrook amid similarly alarming mismanagement claims. They were both subsequently shut down.

Oakhill has not been properly run for some time.

It was first subject to an urgent notification in 2021 after a damning ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection judgment found that children frequently experienced violence and use of force by “inexperienced staff”.

The government accepted all of the recommendations of a subsequent review into safeguarding at Oakhill later that year as part of the required action plan that follows an urgent notification.

Inspections in May 2022 and October 2023 found the STC to be ‘requires improvement’ but by October 2024 it was again ‘inadequate’.

G4S’s contract to run Oakhill expires in 2029, FE Week understands.

Oliver’s letter said: “It [Oakhill] continues to present weaknesses that were identified at previous inspections. Given the recent leadership and staff suspensions, we are unable to assess it as having the capacity to improve.”

Mahmood now has 28 days to respond with an action plan for improvement at the centre.

A spokesperson for Oakhill STC said: “The safety and welfare of children at Oakhill STC is our highest priority, and we take the Ofsted inspection findings extremely seriously.

“We are working collaboratively with the youth custody service and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to develop a robust action plan to address the concerns raised.”

Funding Adult Green Skills

The current trend is to use micro-credentials in place of larger awards or certificates in green skills and sustainability.  These can be regularly updated to keep up with emerging technological advances and be crafted to address specific local needs.

Deliver Adult Green Skills

Funding for adults has changed significantly over the past two years.  The Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has closed the Adult Education Budget (AEB) and has been replaced by the Adult Skills Fund (ASF)

Adult green skills are funded through ASF as tailored learning, specialised micro-credentials in green skills can be delivered as either a stand-alone unit, or can be combined to form adult skills programmes.

South Thames College Group are successfully delivering adult green skills programmes in solar technology and retrofitting.  They commissioned Green Skills Solutions to craft two brand-new micro-accreditations and combined these with other units to form a new programme.

A growing number of providers are starting to offer green micro-accreditations at full cost or co-funded.  Colleges and independent training providers are working directly with employers to deliver their ESG goals through on-line training.  Some providers are offering courses on-line directly to individuals wanting to upskill or retrain. This model boosts revenue, saves on training costs and plugs local skills gaps.

A new innovation fund has been established to finance the costs of developing new micro-credentials to address skills gaps, particularly in artificial intelligence and green skills.

The Funding Adult Green Skills initiative aims to equip adults with the knowledge and training necessary to thrive in the rapidly growing green economy. This includes delivering tailored learning programs designed to upskill or reskill adults in areas such as sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental innovation.

Through the Green Skills Solutions initiative, we offer accessible and co-funded training options, helping learners and employers prepare for a low-carbon future. Courses are available through various delivery models and funding options—ensuring that green skills are not just for the few, but for everyone.

Whether you’re an employer looking to green your workforce or an individual aiming to upskill in sustainability, now is the time to take action. Contact us today and be part of the workforce driving the UK’s transition to a greener future. Collaborate with us to shape the green economy through education, innovation, and opportunity.

The future is green—get the skills to lead it.

Sabre Rigs Website

orders@sabre-rigs.co.uk

Telephone: 07468 759 512

Green Skills Solutions Website

hello@green-skills-solutions.co.uk

Telephone: 07468 759 512

WJEC exam board fined £350k over wrong GCSE results

An exam board will be fined £350,000 after more than 1,500 GCSE students received the wrong exam results last year.

The blunder over WJEC’s Eduqas GCSE food preparation and nutrition qualification meant hundreds of pupils had to be issued with the correct grade months later.

Regulator Ofqual also found the body had allowed thousands of papers to be reviewed by the same assessors who had originally marked at least part of them, breaking regulations.

Amanda Swann, Ofqual’s executive director for general qualifications, believes the penalty meted out to the WJEC reflects the “serious nature” of its “failures”.

“Students must be able to trust that their results accurately reflect their performance, and what they know, understand and can do.”

In all, 1,527 youngsters taking the qualification last summer received incorrect results.

The organisation failed “to adjust teachers’ marking of coursework – which made up 50 per cent of the qualification – to ensure results were in line with national standards”.

850 given worse grades

It was found that 847 students received lower grades than they deserved, with 680 benefitting from inflated results. Just over 17,600 did not need to be changed.

Those with worse marks were issued with the correct ones in October 2024. The WJEC decided those with higher marks “should keep them to avoid unfairly penalising students who may have already used those results”.

Ofqual is set to fine WJEC £175,000 for the case. The exam board will be ordered to cough up a further £175,000 for allowing 3,926 exam papers between 2017 and 2023 “to be reviewed by the same assessors who had originally marked at least part of them”.

One student had their grade increased last year following an independent review. WJEC also issued “credit notes as financial compensation to schools and colleges, for all affected reviews, totalling just over £219,000”.

Ofqual said the awarding body has “admitted the breaches, fully accepted responsibility, taken steps to prevent the problems happening again, and engaged fully with” the regulator.

A WJEC spokesperson said the organisation takes “full responsibility and acknowledge[s] that we did not meet the usual high standards expected of us”. 

“We would like to sincerely apologise to the learners affected by these incidents. 

“We want to reassure learners and centres that we have undertaken a thorough review of our processes and implemented appropriate measures to ensure such incidents do not occur again in the future.”

Earlier this year, WJEC was awarded licenses worth up to £13.9 million for two construction T Levels previously run by City and Guilds.

Green skills funding results delayed over premature course adverts

The government has paused an £8 million warm homes skills programme (WHSP) after some training providers jumped the gun and promoted courses before winners were officially confirmed.

In an email sent to bidders yesterday, the Midlands Net Zero Hub, which is running the programme on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), said the tender suspension was caused by “a few” applicants promoting WHSP-funded courses to potential learners before funding decisions had been made.

The WHSP is a flagship green skills programme where providers can bid for up to £1 million to deliver subsidised retrofit courses.

Colleges and training providers were expecting the funding competition results on Friday for training to begin from this Friday, August 1.

“This postponement has become necessary due to a breach of the competition guidance by a few applicants,” the email stated. 

“Specifically, some applicants have publicised WHSP-funded training offers prior to the official announcement of funding decisions.”

The email confirmed that no applicants had received formal or informal confirmation of the outcome of their bids, and “premature promotion” of courses breached competition rules.

The DESNZ said it was “investigating the allegations and will address them appropriately”.

A spokesperson added: “Winners will be announced shortly, and there will be no delay to the scheme’s timeline.”

Retrofit

The WHSP aims to increase the supply of skilled workers in energy efficiency and retrofit. Applications for colleges and training providers to win a share of an £8 million fund to subsidise training closed in June.

Providers could bid for up to £1 million for “work packages” of qualifications geared towards entry-level training, upskilling workers for non-domestic buildings and training for specialist roles like retrofit assessors or solar installers.

Up to 9,000 retrofit professionals could be trained through the scheme by July 2026.

A £9.2 million phase two programme is in the works to run from 2026 to 2027, but hasn’t been confirmed.

The Department did not name which training providers had breached the rules when asked by FE Week.

Bidders were told yesterday that advertising courses before funding was approved breached the competition guidance. The guidance states that all publicity of courses funded through the project must be approved by the Midlands Net Zero Hub and that training providers must not start their project until the Hub has approved a signed grant agreement letter.

ESOL results probes launched into The Sheffield College

Local officials and an exam board have launched investigations into a Yorkshire college’s ESOL achievement rates.

Allegations of dodgy English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) results in 2023-24 have emerged at The Sheffield College.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which funds the college’s ESOL courses through the adult skills fund, is investigating the issue.

The college has suspended two senior staff members, according to local newspaper The Tribune, and launched its own internal investigation.

Awarding organisation City & Guilds has also launched an inquiry into the college’s delivery of ESOL courses and reportedly revoked the college’s “direct claims status”, which allows the college to mark exams and verify results without confirmation from the exam body. 

The Sheffield College is currently the largest ESOL provider outside of London. It recorded over 7,500 leavers for its ESOL courses in each of the last two years.

The college had the highest ESOL achievement rates in the country in 2022-23, at 96.5 per cent, and ranked third in 2023-24 with 94.4 per cent.

A Sheffield College spokesperson said they are taking the matter “very seriously” and confirmed an initial internal investigation into “one of our academy areas has taken place”.

“This was in response to concerns raised about some achievement claims and associated certification for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students in 2023-24,” the statement said.

It added: “As investigations are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further until those have concluded.”

AoC support

The college reportedly conducted a previous investigation into “maladministration” of ESOL delivery but concluded there was no intentional manipulation of results.

But it has allegedly now suspended two senior staff members pending the outcome of this new internal investigation. The college’s spokesperson refused to confirm the suspensions.

Meanwhile, an external interim manager to lead the college’s ESOL department has been provided by the Association of Colleges.

The AoC refused to confirm who was leading the department.

An AoC spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while the college’s initial internal investigation is ongoing.”

Sheffield College’s CEO and principal, Angela Foulkes, sits on the AoC board as Yorkshire and the Humber representative. 

Large ASF allocations

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, led by Oliver Coppard, has had a devolved adult skills fund (ASF) since 2021, and the college has repeatedly been awarded the largest share of the budget. 

It received the top share (18 per cent) of over £7 million in ASF allocations from a £39.3 million budget in 2021-22.

The college’s core ASF income from the MCA grew to £10.2 million the next year, a quarter of the authority’s budget.

It increased a further 13 per cent to £11.58 million in 2023-24. The authority awarded the college an indicative £11.58 million allocation from the ASF 2024-25, over a third of its total £31.8 million budget.

A spokesperson for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) said: “We are aware of the situation and are in contact with Sheffield College. We are undertaking our own investigation, and the college is undertaking its own internal investigation, therefore we are unable to comment further while they are ongoing.”

City and Guilds was contacted for comment.