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PM to announce major ‘expansion’ in FE funding for adults

Adults over the age of 23 in England without a full level 3 qualification will be offered one for free from April, prime minister Boris Johnson is set to announce.

The policy to extend full funding to all eligible adults was a recommendation in Philip Augar’s review of post-18 education published 15 months ago and will be funded through the government’s new £2.5 billion National Skills Fund.

A full list of available level 3 courses for this entitlement will be set out next month, but the government tonight said the qualifications will need to provide “skills valued by employers”.

This is the second Augar recommendation adopted today, after the Department for Education confirmed plans for Ofsted to inspect all apprenticeships.

In a speech on Tuesday, Johnson is expected to announce this new “lifetime skill guarantee”. He will say: “As the chancellor has said, we cannot, alas, save every job. What we can do is give people the skills to find and create new and better jobs.

“So my message today is that at every stage of your life, this government will help you get the skills you need.”

Since 2013, adults up to the age of 23 have been fully funded for their first full level 3 qualification from the adult education budget but those aged 24 and over would need to take out an advanced learner loan to pay for the course.

Prior to 2013 and the introduction of advanced learner loans, the government funded half the costs of all level 3 qualifications for those aged 24 and over.

Johnson is also expected to unveil plans for more flexible higher education loans tomorrow, which will allow adults and young people to take further and higher education courses in “segments” and “space out their study across their lifetimes”.

The upcoming FE white paper is due to set out how the government will make “credit transfer” between further and higher education “more of a standardised and mainstream feature of our post-18 education system”.

This new arrangement is hoped to provide finance for shorter term studies, rather than having to study in one three or four year block, the government said.

A spokesperson added that the government will consult on this and “bring forward legislation where necessary in this parliament”.

At the time of going to press it remained unclear whether the additional level 3 funding from the National Skills Fund will be added to the adult education budget in England. Or if a new funding methodology is to be introduced, alongside a new application process for colleges and training providers to gain access to the funds.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers managing director Jane Hickie said: “It’s good to see National Skills Fund being invested in extra and much needed funding for adult education alongside AEB and we have recommended that the comprehensive spending review should integrate these two budgets and the National Retraining Scheme into a single pot which providers of all types can access.

“The next step after that is that adult learners should access the pot instead via properly regulated individual skills accounts, so we end up with a fully demand-led system like we now have for employers with apprenticeships.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “We believe that colleges should play a bigger part in a more collaborative education and skills system that allows people to train and retrain throughout their lives. Today’s speech is a strong sign that this thinking will form much of the foundation for the upcoming FE white paper and develop a system that works for all adults and not just those fortunate enough to go to university.

“A new entitlement to a fully-funded level 3 qualification and more flexibility built into level 4 and 5 are important steps forward as the government begins to implement the Augar Review. There is a lot more to do to stimulate demand from adults and employers and to support colleges to have the capacity to meet needs. I am looking forward to working with officials on the details and the legislation which will be part of the white paper later this year.”

Johnson’s announcement will come on the same day that skills minister Gillian Keegan appears in front of the education select committee, facing questions on adult education and lifelong learning. The hearing is set for 10am tomorrow.

Who is the first chair of the skills and productivity board?

An executive vice president at international broadcaster Sky has been appointed as chair of the Department for Education’s new skills and productivity board.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson today announced that Stephen van Rooyen (pictured) will lead the group to provide “expert advice” on how courses and qualifications should align to the skills that employers need post-Covid-19.

Williamson said van Rooyen has a “wealth of experience across the technology, engineering and communications sectors and will be able to share his vital insight and leadership with the panel”.

Van Rooyen’s full title at Sky is “executive vice president and chief executive officer, UK and Europe, established markets” with responsibility for Sky Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He has worked at Sky in various roles since 2006 and before that worked at Virign Media and Nokia.

The skills and productivity board was first announced in October 2019 and will play a “central role in driving forward the government’s ambitious FE reform programme”, the DfE said.

Van Rooyen said: “Given the pace of change in business and in workplaces today, and the economic challenges of Covid, the new skills and productivity board has a key role to play in developing our skills economy for current and future generations. It is a privilege to contribute, and I’m looking forward to working with the panel and the government to drive this important agenda.”

Williamson said that van Rooyen is a “keen and proud champion of apprentices, having taken Sky’s apprenticeship programme from strength to strength”.

“He will lead an expert panel who will provide important advice on how to tackle the nation’s skill challenges,” the education secretary added.

“The board will play a key role in helping us to rebuild our economy post-Covid-19 and deliver our bold skills agenda. I look forward to working with him to level up opportunity across the country ensuring people have the skills they need to progress.”

The work of the skills and productivity board will be carried out by a panel of five “leading” skills and labour market economists, supported by Department for Education officials.

The panel will undertake independent research and analysis in response to questions set out by Williamson and van Rooyen.

Applications for panel members closed earlier this month and appointments will be made in due course, the DfE said.

Their appointment will come ahead of the government’s forthcoming FE White Paper, which will set out “detailed plans to build a high-quality further education system – one that unlocks potential, levels up skills and boosts opportunities for people across the country”.

WorldSkills UK LIVE back for 2020 with online event

Plans to replace this year’s WorldSkills UK LIVE with a virtual event, including talks from the likes of Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, have been announced.

WorldSkills UK LIVE, which is the country’s biggest skills and careers event usually held at Birmingham’s NEC, was cancelled earlier this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet will now run online across November.

It will consist of “careers guidance, thought-leadership activity and the celebration of diverse, inspirational role models”.

WorldSkills UK’s deputy chief executive Ben Blackledge said the ‘LIVE online’ event is part of their commitment to digitise their offering and “will enable us to support more and more young people to achieve higher standards”.

The event is also “part of our ambition to lead the way in inspiring and developing world-class skills and tackle vocational snobbery head on,” Blackledge continued.

“We want to help create more prestige for apprenticeships and technical qualifications to boost career aspirations as we know that highly-skilled, motivated young people will be crucial to the economic recovery of the UK.”

Taking place from 11 to 12 November, LIVE online will kick off with an international skills summit on a bespoke video platforming service that is yet to be named. WorldSkills UK said the summit will bring together leaders in industry and education to “explore how global standards of excellence can be mainstreamed in skills policy and practice across the UK to engage young people in apprenticeships and technical education”.

Speakers at the summit will include the acting president of WorldSkills Chris Humphries, NCFE chief executive David Gallagher, Association of Colleges international director Emma Meredith, and the managing director of FE Week’s publisher Lsect, Shane Mann.

LIVE online will then feature Spotlight Talks on Careers, Apprenticeships and Excellence, being run in partnership with aerospace company BAE Systems and held on the Learn Live platform, between 26 and 28 November.

Celebrity baker Nadiya Hussain and technology YouTuber Grant Hinds have signed up to deliver talks, as have organisations such as BAE, the Royal Navy, and the army.

WorldSkills UK has not held skills competitions this year due to the pandemic, but also announced today they are now planning to start next year’s cycle of competitions on 18 January, with the National Finals set to be held at next year’s LIVE event.

To register for LIVE online, visit www.worldskillsuk.org

Confirmed: DfE sets out plan for Ofsted to take on degree apprenticeships

Ofsted will be handed powers to inspect level 6 and 7 apprenticeships from 1 April 2021, education secretary Gavin Williamson has announced.

As revealed by FE Week earlier this month, the education watchdog will soon become the regulator for all apprenticeships for the first time.

Until now, Ofsted’s remit has only extended up to level 5, while the Office for Students has held responsibility for overseeing higher-level apprenticeships.

In a letter to chief inspector Amanda Spielman today, Williamson said this change will “ensure consistency and parity in quality standards across apprenticeships, so that employers and apprentices can have confidence that apprenticeship training is subject to a consistent and rigorous approach to quality assurance, regardless of provider type or the level of the apprenticeship”.

He also urged Ofsted to build capacity and capability for taking on this new responsibility by recruiting “additional inspectors with suitable expertise including knowledge and experience of higher education, in addition to the upskilling of Ofsted’s existing inspector workforce where this is required”.

An Ofsted spokesperson said the inspectorate is “very pleased” to take on new responsibility for inspecting the quality of higher and degree-level apprenticeships, which will “ensure consistency in quality standards across apprenticeships at all levels”.

The spokesperson also confirmed Ofsted will recruit new inspectors with expertise in higher education and train existing inspectors “so that inspections and visits take into account the context in which training is delivered”.

The watchdog’s new role mean it will soon be able to inspect all universities with apprenticeship provision, including the likes of Cambridge.

While university membership organisations MillionPlus and the University Vocational Awards Council have both voiced serious concerns about this move, the Russell Group is yet to pour cold water over it.

Gavin Williamson’s letter to Amanda Spielman in full:

As you are aware, it is a priority for the Department to ensure that quality is embedded at the heart of apprenticeships. This has been a key focus of our reforms, driving up the quality of apprenticeships in order to ensure that they better meet the skills needs of employers.

It is essential that we maintain momentum so that every apprenticeship provides the high-quality work-based training necessary to meet the needs of employers and support individuals to progress in their careers. This is more important than ever it we are to maximise the potential of apprenticeships, including higher and degree level apprenticeships, in supporting economic recovery from COVID-19.

I am clear that every apprentice and employer deserves a quality experience from their apprenticeship training provider. It is therefore vital that there is a consistent approach to quality assurance across apprenticeships.

To enable this, following careful consideration the Department has decided to accept the Augar Review’s recommendation that Ofsted become the single body for the inspection of apprenticeship training at all levels.

This change will ensure consistency and parity in quality standards across apprenticeships, so that employers and apprentices can have confidence that apprenticeship training is subject to a consistent and rigorous approach to quality assurance, regardless of provider type or the level of the apprenticeship.

Therefore, I am writing to inform you that from 1 April 2021, Ofsted will become the single body responsible for the inspection of apprenticeship training provision at all levels. This includes responsibility for provision at levels 6 and 7 (both degree and non-degree), in addition to Qfsted’s existing responsibilities at levels 2 to 5. In the case of apprenticeship providers delivering higher education as part of an apprenticeship standard, the Office for Students will continue to provide Ofsted with relevant information to inform inspection judgements.

Under this change, the Education and Skills Funding Agency will continue to regulate all apprenticeship providers via its management of providers on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. The ESFA will use information provided by Ofsted to manage providers on RoATP, intervening to suspend starts or remove a provider from RoATP where necessary, as set out in existing policy. The OfS will continue to regulate higher education and will consider whether the outcome of an Qfsted inspection raises any wider concerns about quality.

Apprenticeships at levels 6 and 7 are an important part of our education and skills system, supporting productivity and social mobility. They provide people of all backgrounds with a choice of high-value vocational training alongside traditional academic routes and support individuals to pursue fulfilling careers. It is important that this change is implemented effectively in a way that supports the continued growth of these important apprenticeships.

I therefore expect Ofsted to build, where necessary, capacity and capability for taking on this new responsibility. This should include the recruitment of additional inspectors with suitable expertise including knowledge and experience of higher education, in addition to the upskilling of Ofsted’s existing inspector workforce where this is required.

Ofsted should also work closely with my officials and the Office for Students in preparing the apprenticeships sector for this change, particularly (although not limited to) those providers who are not already familiar with Otsted inspection. I expect Ofsted to work collaboratively to ensure that the circumstances of the sector are fully understood. Ofsted should consider whether any further action is required ahead of taking on this responsibility, such as reviewing its further education and skills inspection handbook.

Long-running apprenticeship provider goes bust

An independent training provider in Birmingham has entered insolvency after Covid-19 reduced the company’s income to a point that “it was no longer in a position to continue trading”.

GB Training (UK) Ltd, which offers apprenticeships and is also an adult education budget provider for the West Midlands Combined Authority, has announced on its website that it has closed.

Seventy staff will lose their jobs at the Ofsted grade two provider, and around 500 learners will have to be transferred to new institutions to complete their courses.

Managing director Lawrence Barton said Covid-19 was the “critical factor” in the decision to close the family-run provider, which has trained “many thousands” of people over the past 25 years.

GB Training was able to access supplier relief funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency in the first round of funding, but was ineligible for the second round as it had taken out a government-backed loan “to keep us afloat”.

“Ultimately, the balance of income over our outgoings was no longer sustainable,” Barton said.

The pandemic, Barton added, “has had a devastating impact on our business. Learner starts and recruitment has been decimated. Our classrooms at our central Birmingham office have been forced to close for a period of four months.”

Both factors contributed “heavily to the painful decision we have been compelled to take,” he said, adding: “I have consistently called for the government to deliver more relief funding to the sector to help training providers such as ours.”

“We are tremendously proud of all the work we have achieved and for the family of staff who have made this all possible.”

Both the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the WMCA have been informed and are working with the provider on a “smooth” handover of learners to a new provider, according to the statement.

It also said all certificates which have been received by the centre will be issued to learners “quickly”, except for all certificates by awarding organisation Skills First, which will deal with those centrally and will contact learners “shortly”.

West Midlands Combined Authority has confirmed a small number of people were completing employability training funded through its Adult Education Budget – they will be transferred to South and City College Birmingham.

The ESFA has said it is “working closely with the provider to agree arrangements for the transfer of learners to alternative provision,” so they can complete their programmes.

Shadow education secretary apologises after calling Covid-19 a ‘good crisis’

Shadow education secretary Kate Green has apologised after calling the Covid-19 pandemic a “good crisis” which Labour “should not let go to waste”.

Green made the remarks at the Labour Party’s virtual party conference, ‘Connected’, last week, which sparked a furious backlash and were used by Boris Johnson at prime minister’s questions to attack Labour leader Keir Starmer.

“I think there is obviously a real, immediate pressure to address these funding needs for the crisis, for the coronavirus crisis,” Green was reported as saying.

“But I think we should use the opportunity, don’t let a good crisis go to waste.”

Green, speaking to Sky News, today apologised if people felt “hurt” by the remarks: “I would be absolutely mortified and people would be absolutely right to be furious if that is what they felt I had meant and I’m really ashamed if they do think that because absolutely every death, every illness – I can’t imagine what families are going through who experience that and I just want to apologise to them and everyone who felt hurt and offended by what I said.”

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy had already apologised on Green’s behalf on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme last week, saying it was “absolutely the wrong way to express that and Kate knows that”.

At prime minister’s questions last Wednesday, Boris Johnson called Green’s comments the “real approach of the Labour Party, seeking to create political opportunity of a crisis, out of the difficulties and dangers this country is going through”.

Conservative party chairman Amanda Milling wrote to Starmer, calling on him to condemn Green’s remarks and for her to apologise.

“It is frankly appalling for a member of your frontbench team to see this as a political opportunity to exploit,” Milling told Starmer.

Ignore the branding revolution at your peril, FE sector

We have arrived at the ‘third revolution’ for FE marketing – but colleges will have to make some serious changes, says Lee Parker

With government taking a detailed look at the role and function of FE and with the Covid crisis reshaping our world in every conceivable way, the time is ripe for colleges to rise to the challenge and to recognise that it’s more important than ever to power up their brands.

We are the “good guys” and we have to let our communities know that. With the arrival of T Levels and Institutes of Technology, colleges can occupy a different place in the technical skills market.

Viva la brand revolution!

Over 15 years in FE marketing I’ve seen two fundamental revolutions. First was the emergence of social media from 2008.

From the days of “but should we have a Facebook page – people can comment and others can see it!” to today’s multi-channel engagement strategies, social media allowed us to talk to potential customers directly, without schools or employer gatekeepers barring the way.

The second revolution was the emergence of all the rich content enabled by these platforms. The college prospectus, once the cornerstone of the campaign, is now relegated to a bit part as we develop a suite of case-study videos, live streams, quizzes, interactive microsites and BAFTA-worthy promotional films.

These rapid revolutions have required innovation and improvisation but have been largely a marketing thing.

Brand is inherently strategic. It needs whole organisation buy-in

The next revolution – the third revolution – requires the whole organisation to see marketing as a strategic function, not just a way to reach customers with attractive materials.

Brand is inherently strategic. It needs whole organisation buy-in.

I’ve spent six months researching brand in education for a masters degree and have found that in many colleges, marketing and comms remain outside key decision making.

Too often, the outcome is that brand suffers. In mergers, ambiguity is often sought in the group name – after all, an acronym can’t offend anyone if no one really knows what it stands for.

In doing this, colleges sacrifice hard-earned brand equity, developed over years of existing within and supporting local communities.

Consumers now have never been more brand conscious. We all use brands to create identity, to define what we stand for and develop how we want to be perceived.

Many of us are justly frustrated by the perception of colleges as a second choice, but what exactly are we doing about it?

By not concentrating on developing brand, setting out what makes us unique – our inclusiveness, our openness to embrace new ideas, our community partnerships, the employers we work with and so much more – we’re failing to transform the impression of what FE is and redefining colleges in the public mind.

So, what can be done? A 2006 study by Jon Hulberg showed how promoting the corporate brand rather than products can allow organisations to show how they differ from the competition without just competing on product merits.

This explains why buying something from Harrods feels different, more luxurious, than buying the same product from a high street chain.

If colleges focus on making their brand really aspirational and inspirational, they can stand out from competitors and spend less money promoting individual programmes.

It isn’t easy. Developing a corporate brand strategy requires significant work

If our audiences believe that our core purpose is to use skills to create opportunity and a fairer society, we will be pushing at an open door!

It isn’t easy. Developing a corporate brand strategy requires significant work.

Meanwhile, regular research is essential to ensure that consumers are seeing what a brand is intended to represent.

Most importantly, it’s crucial to focus on a college’s people. Ultimately, if students haven’t bought into the cause, it will lack the authenticity required to deliver the brand strategy.

Brand is the new education marketing revolution. Unlike those that preceded it, it will raise fundamental questions about how colleges operate as commercial enterprises.

If embraced, we can ultimately redefine colleges, allowing them to take their rightful place within the education landscape.

Profile: Carol Thomas

JL Dutaut meets a new principal and CEO who loves the stage but doesn’t make a song and dance of her successes

It takes all sorts to keep an education system performing. Some like the daily grind of incremental improvement. Others like the long-haul commitment to a community.

For Carol Thomas, it’s all about the bold change, the big-ticket transformative impact, picking up an organisation that’s on its knees and giving it back its fight.

And the new CEO and principal of Coventry College is certainly not one to shy away from a fight.

Hot from being on the team that transformed the fortunes of Stafford College after its merger with Newcastle-under-Lyme College, she’s taken on her first top job at Coventry, judged ‘requires improvement’ in September 2019.

Getting to the heart of that judgment while re-opening a college in the midst of a global pandemic when you’ve only been in post a month is no mean feat. But Thomas has hit the ground running, meeting every member of staff in spite of Covid restrictions.

What she’s found wasn’t entirely unpredictable. There are obviously some tough challenges. “They’ve said to me ‘we’ve had five people at the top in the last four years’. They’ve lost heart, they’ve lost passion, and they’ve lost confidence in their own ability. This overarching ‘requires improvement’ just suffocates everybody into a negative bubble.”

But there are also grounds for optimism. “There’s some excellent provision here and some fantastic staff who are so passionate about their job.”

In many ways the story of Coventry isn’t a million miles from Newcastle and Stafford College Group’s (NSCG). The key difference seems to be the relative success of their respective mergers.

When City College Coventry merged with Henley College Coventry in August 3 years ago, it was arguably on an improvement journey (though the previous decade was really best characterised as bumping along the bottom).

Thomas at her son’s graduation in 2018

Deemed ‘inadequate’ in 2015, it had clambered back up to ‘requires improvement’ by 2017. Henley, meanwhile, was travelling in the opposite direction. From ‘good’ in 2014, it had tumbled a grade to ‘requires improvement’ in 2016.

They met in the middle, and if the aspiration for the merger was to empower both to thrive, the reality seems to be that it has stalled both in their tracks. Which is also not entirely unpredictable.

And this is where Thomas’s experience at NSCG comes in handy. No doubt, it was a key aspect of what made her stand out among the other candidates for the job. Not that she ever got to meet them.

Characteristically humourous, she tells me that “[the online interview process] was good in one way, because I was all dressed up and still in my slippers. But,” she adds “I’d never seen inside the college.”

Undeterred, Thomas had her own ‘Barnard Castle moment’ (in reality, restrictions had been eased by then). She came to Coventry for a sight test. “My husband and I drove down in lockdown. I prowled the buildings and peered through the windows and thought, ‘well, they’re not falling down. That’s a good start!’”

In an age of high expectations, this is a telling joke. There’s no doubt that Thomas’s expectations of her students and staff are high, but she has me wondering whether we have the same expectations of buildings, facilities and the budgets to pay for those. If there’s incongruity there, one rather undermines the other.

I prowled the buildings and thought, ‘well, they’re not falling down’

Not that Thomas seems fazed by a challenge. She was part of the leadership team at Newcastle-under-Lyme college, which she joined in 2012, when it merged with Stafford College in 2016.

The former was deemed ‘good’ and pushing for better still, while the latter had briefly escaped the ‘inadequate’ category it had been put into in 2012 only to sink back into it in 2016. By 2019, the merged NSCG was deemed ‘outstanding’.

Age 14 as principal girl in a production of Aladdin

At that time, shortly after the FE area reviews which in many places recommended mergers, few had yet acted on those recommendations, and of those fewer still had succeeded. At Coventry, it led to stagnation and years of leadership turmoil.

But NSCG was an early success for the policy. For Thomas, the key determinant of that success would be the staff and the new leadership team’s ability to “win hearts and minds”. And that battle is far from an easy one from a leadership perspective.

“As nine interim managers moved out, we moved in. We lost a year of our lives.”

But despite Stafford’s years in the doldrums, when all else was peeled back, what was left was “a team of staff that were prepared to take on anything that was thrown at them. And we did literally throw everything at them, and they were fantastic.”

The strategy paid off, and her take on that success is telling. “When the Ofsted inspector said it was ‘outstanding’, I said ‘It’s going to be amazing for Newcastle staff, but I can’t tell you the difference this is going to make to Stafford’. We had grown men crying. They just could not believe the feeling.”

But Thomas is not the kind to sit back and reap the rewards of a battle won.

“If I’d stayed at NSCG, which I could have done quite comfortably because it is a fabulous place to work, the gains would be very small. It’s tweaks, you know. You’re in the sort of ‘sustaining excellence’ model there. Here, there are some massive leaps and bounds to take and it’s that accelerated approach that I like. Driving that and supporting staff, that’s what I thrive on.”

That fighting spirit may have its roots in being raised in a military family, and her success may have a lot to do with the outsider status her childhood seems to have conferred upon her.

The gains would be very small. It’s tweaks, you know

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, her father was in the British army and her Indian-born mother worked a variety of jobs to support the family. They were repatriated when Thomas was very young, but it was an experience that would shape the family and her upbringing.

“We were put on a tough council estate on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, in a village called Audley. It was very parochial, and we were seen as the outsiders.”

She has me thinking again. In education, a lot is made of the importance of knowing your community – and be it Cauldon and Burton-onTrent colleges where she started her FE career as a sport lecturer, Cannock Chase where she was first promoted, Stoke-on-Trent college where she spent a decade, NSCG or Coventry, Thomas has never strayed very far from the area where she was raised – but less is said about the value of being an outsider.

Somewhat paradoxically, from a policy perspective ‘effective leadership’ is seen as a transferable skill. Obviously, both Coventry College and Thomas hope that’s the case, but Coventry’s experience of the past few years – one that’s shared with many other educational institutions and especially those who find themselves on the wrong side of Ofsted’s judgments – attests to the fact that it isn’t a given.

Yet Thomas is already making it work. “The change I’ve seen in people in four weeks is immense,” she tells me. This, from a staff that ought to be entirely inured to enthusiastic visions from new arrivals at the top.

How, then? The key is authenticity. “Somebody said to me yesterday: ‘We’ve been trying to suss you out, and we’ve decided you’re not a careerist, but you’re a doer.’” “A doer” is exactly how she describes her father, now 83, who has spent his life giving to the Audley community through charity engagement.

He even started a football team that went on to send players to Stoke City football club. “He would go off on a Sunday afternoon and the entire street would come,” she says with evident pride. His influence clearly runs richly in her.

By her own admission, Thomas “never had a plan” to be a principal, but what she has in spades is faith in others, and that’s what really determines whether the entire street will follow. “If everybody in this organisation just does their job to the best of their ability, I’ll be dancing on the tables this time next year.”

Whether that’s a skill she picked up on Pontins holidays in her youth along with acting and singing – she has a passion for it and has played in productions ranging from Aladdin to Calendar Girls – I didn’t’ ask. But, Covid permitting, here’s hoping everyone at Coventry College is dancing on the tables with her soon!

Media focus on younger learners during Covid overlooks adult education

As the government rolls out the national retraining scheme, a publicity drive is needed to promote adult learning, writes Ann Marie Spry

The UK education system emphasises younger people, with the majority of funding directed towards pre-18 compulsory education, and the immediate post-18 education the next most supported.

We can see this reflected in the media’s coverage of the coronavirus crisis in education, with countless articles on the GCSE and A-levels debacle, university places and young disadvantaged learners.

Although these are all important issues, it’s not right that there is negligible media coverage of how the crisis has impacted opportunities for adult learners.

We know that adults who left school at 16 or younger are half as likely to take part in learning as those who stayed on in full-time education until at least 21.

Adult learning is as much an issue of social mobility and disadvantage as it is for any other age group. To add to this, in recent years the education sector has not been able to prioritise adult learning.

While Downing Street has often said that further education and skills are a priority, lack of investment has left millions in the UK without basic skills and unable to access education and training. Five years ago, the Association of Colleges warned that continued cuts to the adult skills budget could risk eliminating adult education and training in England by 2020.

Today, we are feeling the effects of the 47 per cent cut in government spending on adult education, excluding apprenticeships. The number of adult learners continues to fall and adult learning has plummeted by nearly four million since 2010.

Meanwhile, in the first two quarters of 2018-19, participation in government-funded adult further education fell by 3.5 per cent. I think we can all agree that adult education needs to be revitalised. And it will need a great deal of political support.

The introduction of the national retraining scheme, first launched in 2019 and rolled out this year, will be pivotal in helping adults across the country get on the path to a new, more rewarding career. This scheme will be needed more than ever, given the rise in unemployment in the past few months as a result of Covid. However a national campaign to promote adult learning needs to be launched at the same time.

During the lockdown, there was a reduction at Leeds City College in the number of new adults wanting to start learning during the summer term. We are offering more online courses to try to mitigate this.

However, in reality, only a few courses are currently available wholly online and tend to focus on skills needed in “white-collar jobs”.

In reality, only a few courses are available wholly online

While the crisis has helped boost remote learning, training for crafts-related occupations or a work-based component remains difficult to deliver online.

At the same time, the current basic skills training tend to be more focused on the qualifications people gain, and less on the outcomes such as whether they secure work, further training or increase their earnings. The government needs to look again at how the success of adult learning programmes is measured.

At Leeds City College, we’ve also noticed that more learners are opting for longer, more comprehensive and expensive courses. Yet not everyone has the financial capacity to study full-cost courses and the government needs to create a strategy that accounts for this.

Incentives are needed to allow adults with a level 2 or 3 qualification to retrain in certain priority sectors, perhaps through a subsidised offer.

Finally, a national approach is required to ensure that adult learning is not left on the sidelines. There is not enough publicity or coverage on the benefits to adults of lifelong learning.

Strategic messaging around the value of adult learning in terms of job prospects, retraining, upskilling and mental health is vital. The government must have adult and lifelong learning at the forefront of its mind – now more than ever.