The government has been warned that many apprenticeship training agencies (ATAs) will close down under plans for new flexi-job apprenticeships.

A consultation launched on Tuesday about making all 111 ATAs apply to a new register of approved flexi-job apprenticeship schemes also has one agency boss worried that it could put learners at a disadvantage when seeking a job.

Humber ATA chief executive Iain Elliott said the government should “be very careful that you’re not throwing the baby out with the bathwater”.

Apprenticeship training agencies launched in 2009 to hire apprentices and then place them with a host company that would pay the agency to cover the salaries and administration costs.

Flexi-job apprenticeships were announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Budget in March to help industries where project based employment is the norm.

This practice means employers, in sectors such as creative, agriculture and construction, struggle with the 12-month minimum apprenticeship rule.

 

New flexi-job schemes may ‘disadvantage’ job-seekers

But Elliott said the proposals, which include £7 million to start new agencies to place apprentices with multiple employers, could lead to ATAs “ceasing to exist”.

His agency operates a “more traditional model”, with apprentices assigned to one employer, so he worries that the new register could stop them working in their usual way.

“Is the DfE saying they need you to reapply because ‘we need a better register, we need more control. If you want to do flexi-jobs, great. If you just want to stick to the model that you’ve been operating, then that’s fine’?”

But “if they stop some ATAs from operating, what they’re probably going to end up doing is disadvantaging both employers and young people from getting a job”.

David Marsh, chief executive of leading apprenticeship provider Babington, also worries learners could lose jobs with ATAs in the switchover from the current, dormant register of agencies.

“I think the transition to this for current ATAs needs to be managed very carefully as apprentices are already employed by them, or have job offers to join them imminently,” he said.

He also warned the Department for Education (DfE) announcement will “raise a high level of risk for these learners that their ATA could not exist in the future due to the unknown register refresh”.

A formal launch of the new flexi-job apprenticeships scheme is scheduled for next January.

 

‘If you’ve got concerns about ATAs, take them off the register’

Both Marsh and Elliott voiced support for the idea of flexi-job apprenticeships, with Elliott saying: “Any scheme that gets more apprentices through those industries has got to be welcomed.”

Marsh has suggested it “would be sensible for the Education and Skills Funding Agency to automatically include any current ATAs into the new register to ensure consistency of employment for these apprentices and reduce more uncertainty”.

The register of ATAs has been in place since 2012 but shut to new applications in 2018. The DfE has since become concerned new and existing ATAs were running without monitoring or oversight arrangements.

The DfE’s consultation document reads: “We will also develop a process for monitoring and assuring the compliance of approved flexi-job apprenticeship schemes with the conditions of entry to the register.”

They will also consider if flexi-job schemes “should have to apply to alter the terms of their entry on the register – for example, if they wish to offer a wider range of apprenticeship standards”.

But the process ATAs underwent for the original register “was very stringent,” says Marsh, “so as long as their basics, like financials, are still in place”, then their place on the new register “needs to be confirmed very quickly to reduce uncertainty”.

Elliott added: “If you’ve got concerns about the way some ATAs are operating, then just take them off the register.”

Only ATAs on the new register will be able to access funding from the £7 million pot, the DfE has said. Applicants will be invited to join the register from July 2021.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We have launched the consultation precisely so we can hear views from existing ATAs about the future operating framework and we would encourage organisations to respond.”

The government has announced plans to withdraw its register of apprenticeship training agencies (ATAs) and replace it with a new one that is for specific sectors.

A “register of approved flexi-job apprenticeship schemes” has been proposed by the Department for Education in a consultation launched today seeking views on how “flexi-job apprenticeships” should run.

The new scheme was announced by the chancellor Rishi Sunak at his budget in March and will involve a £7 million fund to create and test them ahead of a formal launch in January 2022.

The idea is to set up new agencies which employ apprentices and place them with multiple employers. They are being targeted at industries where project-based employment is the norm and struggle comply with the 12-month minimum apprenticeship rule, such as creative, agriculture and construction.

The DfE says the flexi-job scheme will “reshape” ATAs, which have been running for the past decade fulfilling a similar role but have become neglected.

As part of the plans outlined in its consultation document, the department wants to “close and withdraw the dormant register of ATAs and replace it with a new register of approved flexi-job apprenticeship schemes”.

The register of ATAs has been in place since 2012 but shut to new applications in 2018. Since then, new and existing ATAs “are operating without any distinct monitoring or oversight arrangements imposed by the ESFA”, the DfE said.

They added that if flexi-job apprenticeship schemes are to “win the support and confidence” of both apprentices and employers, it is “vital that we establish an operating framework which sets clear expectations on quality and performance, [and] assures the quality of experience”.

Under the proposal, all existing 111 ATAs would need to apply to the new register if they wanted to become a recognised flexi-job apprenticeship scheme.

Only successful applicants to the register would be eligible to receive monies from the £7 million fund announced by the chancellor.

Applicants to the new register would be required to “set out the apprenticeship standards they intend to offer to recruited apprentices”.

The DfE’s consultation document says it would also consider whether schemes “should have to apply to alter the terms of their entry on the register – e.g. if they wish to offer a wider range of apprenticeship standards”.

“We will also develop a process for monitoring and assuring the compliance of approved flexi-job apprenticeship schemes with the conditions of entry to the register,” it adds.

The department proposes to invite applicants to join the register in July 2021. For the future, it will “consider whether organisations are able to submit applications to the register at any time, or whether we run application exercises for the register at particular intervals”.

 

‘The scope seems rather narrow’

The consultation also seeks views on what the £7 million should be spent on.

It is the DfE’s “intention” for the funds to be used for “set up or expansion costs; costs for activities that will increase the number of apprenticeships starts; costs for activities that will improve and assure quality; investment costs that will lead to financial sustainability in the medium to long-term”.

Responding to the launch of the consultation, Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Jane Hickie warned of a “narrow scope”.

She said: “AELP has always been strongly supportive of portable apprenticeships in principle, as it unlocks the opportunity for more individuals and their employers to access apprenticeships.

“A key question for us is whether longer term the reform will be more ambitious in terms of the number of sectors it will cover because at the moment the scope seems rather narrow. However we recognise the sense in the government adopting a measured approach.”

The consultation will run for six weeks from today, closing on June 1.

The first new provider monitoring visit report since Ofsted restarted the in-person inspections has found ‘insufficient’ delivery.

New provider visits resumed last month after the watchdog’s normal activity was paused at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The first of these reports was published last Friday and found “too many” of the 91 apprentices at Birmingham-based independent provider Skillwise Training UK Limited “have had few or no teaching sessions since they started their apprenticeship”.

“As a result, most apprentices are making slow progress on their apprenticeship,” inspectors wrote, with “too many,” including those who have been on programme for 12 months, having only submitted one piece of written work.

Skillwise scored two ‘insufficient progress’ judgements in its report, which means it now faces being suspended from new apprenticeship starts, under Education and Skills Funding Agency rules.

Since inspection activity was paused, Ofsted has been running interim visits to FE colleges and providers remotely, including progress monitoring visits, as part of a phased return since September 2020.

Although the findings from these visits are published, providers do not face any action as a consequence like they do with new provider monitoring reports. Full inspection activity is not planned to resume until September 2021.

 

Move to remote teaching ‘has been problematic,’ leaders tell Ofsted

Skillwise, established in 2006 and delivering levy-funded apprenticeships since 2018, has struggled with adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ofsted reported.

Senior leaders admitted to inspectors the move from face-to-face to remote teaching “has been problematic”.

Having adapted to teaching topics through short online presentations, tutors were found to “not considered well enough different approaches required when teaching remotely”.

Ofsted found a minority of occasions where tutors covered too much content during sessions.

The provider’s apprentices “do not have time” in sessions “to understand the context of the topics taught and how this applies to their assignments or their workplace”.

Skillwise had previously delivered to apprentices face-to-face over the course of a day, but inspectors were critical of how tutors are currently working.

At the time of the visit on March 16, the provider delivered the level 4 business administration framework apprenticeship, as well as the level 3 business administration, level 3 customer service, and level 3 team leader/supervisor apprenticeship standards.

Though apprentices are “frequently” checked on through review meetings, tutors had not provided regular off-the-job training sessions.

 

Apprentices are recruited ‘with integrity’

Skillwise did make ‘reasonable progress’ in ensuring effective safeguarding arrangements were in place.

It has a “well-qualified” designated safeguarding lead and deputy lead, and staff are “appropriately” trained in safeguarding and the ‘Prevent’ duty.

Apprentices have the opportunity to undertake mental health first aid training when they start, and the learners understand how they can use this knowledge to support others in the workplace.

However, inspectors did find, with the exception of safeguarding, staff training was overly focused on completing paperwork and not teaching skills.

Leaders have realised the quality of teaching and training is “not consistently good”, according to the report.

Skillwise was commended for the “sensible approach” it had taken to growing the business: having started off specialising in sports coaching and physical training, a restructure in 2016 led it to offer training in more subject areas.

Apprentices are recruited “with integrity” and use evaluations of their skills “well” when matching learners to the right subject and level of apprenticeship.

Skillwise was approached for comment.

Skillwise is one of six providers to have a new provider monitoring report published since Friday.

The other five − Discovery Recruitment Limited, Exertis (UK) Limited, Richmond Training Academy Limited, The Chief Constable of Hampshire, Trans-Plant Mastertrain Ltd − all scored ‘reasonable progress’ across the three themes judged.

The results of the government’s national skills bootcamp tender have been hit by a “very worrying” delay.

Contracts were supposed to start from this month but training providers who bid for a slice of the £36 million up for grabs are yet to be told whether they have been successful.

The Department for Education said that due to the “high volume” of bids received, the period for “tender evaluation” has “had to be extended”.

“Suppliers have already been informed of this delay and we will announce the successful bids in due course,” a spokesperson added.

A “mobilisation” period had been set to take place over the next month, with commencement of actual course delivery starting by “latest June 2021” – a timeline which is now at risk.

There are growing concerns about the limited time providers will have to spend the funding, considering it must be used by the end of March 2022.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Jane Hickie said: “If it goes on much longer, AELP members would find this delay very worrying in terms of being able to start delivery next month and to deliver the expected outcomes in the projected 12-month contract period.”

She added that given the “recent track-record” on missed procurement outcome deadlines, an “even bigger worry” would be a delay in announcing the adult education budget procured contracts for 2021-22.

“We really can’t afford to see this happen when we are supposed to be supporting adult learners affected by the pandemic’s impact.”

 

‘Suppliers have already been informed of this delay’

Ramping up of technical skills bootcamps is part of the prime minister’s lifetime skills guarantee.

Paid for from the new National Skills Fund, the DfE launched two tenders for level 3-plus “bootcamp” courses in January.

Courses lead to guaranteed job interviews and are for adults aged 19 and over. They will run for up to 16 weeks and will be free to unemployed people, or where employed, their employer would pay a 30 per cent cash contribution.

The “digital skills bootcamps” tender, known as lot 1, sought bids for courses in IT subjects such as cloud computing, data engineering and software development.

The “technical and cross-digital skills bootcamps” tender, known as lot 2, sought bids for courses in subjects such as electrotechnical, welding, engineering, construction and electronics.

It comes after two waves of bootcamp pilot schemes, both worth £4 million, were commissioned in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Liverpool City Region, Heart of the South West, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and Leeds City Region.

They feature training for digital skills as well as industries including welding, engineering and construction.

The DfE said the pilots are still running and will “deliver approximately 1,300 more skills bootcamp places from April”.