Latest news from FE Week

Williamson slammed for ‘ignoring’ concerns about scrapping BTECs

Twelve education bodies have today slammed the education secretary for “ignoring” their concerns and ploughing ahead with plans to scrap the majority of BTECs.

In a letter to Gavin Williamson, sector leaders reiterate that disadvantaged students have the “most to lose” and that it is “impossible to square the government’s stated ambition to ‘level up’ opportunity” with the proposals.

The twelve organisations are part of the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, which has now launched a petition to reverse the plans.

A notable absence from today’s letter and the campaign is the Association of Colleges. When approached for comment, the AoC said it does “share the overarching concern that students must not be left behind in a rush to introduce T Levels” but refused to say why it has chosen to not back the campaign.

Under the proposals, the Department for Education will introduce a twin-track system of A-levels and T Levels, where most young people pursue one of these qualifications at the age of 16. “Poor quality” qualifications which duplicate or overlap with T Levels or A-levels will have their funding removed from 2023.

This will impact a range of applied general qualifications, but BTECs, offered by awarding body Pearson, are the most popular.

The education bodies’ letter claims that it is “clear” from the government’s response to the level 3 review that Williamson’s department “has ignored the concerns expressed by us (and most other respondents) about the proposal to remove funding for the vast majority of applied general qualifications such as BTECs”.

Almost 1,350 people responded to the consultation and the vast majority – 86 per cent – disagreed with the DfE’s plan to strip funding from qualifications which overlap with T Levels and A-levels.

‘We urge you to rethink plans to remove funding for BTECs’

The letter points out that the DfE is choosing to move forward with the reforms despite the department’s own impact assessment report admitting that students from SEND, Asian ethnic, and disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as males “are disproportionately likely to be affected by the changes” because a high proportion of these learners choose to study BTECs.

While a delay to the introduction of the government’s proposals would be “welcome”, the letter goes on to say that this “would not change the fact they have the potential to do huge damage to social mobility and are completely out of step with the views expressed by our members”.

BTECs — READ MORE: What you need to know from the government’s response to the level 3 qualification review

The letter concludes by urging the government “to rethink plans to remove funding for the vast majority of applied general qualifications and instead provide assurances that they have an important role to play alongside the equally valuable A levels and T Levels in the future qualifications landscape”.

In response, a DfE spokesperson said: “Great qualifications are essential to helping everyone, regardless of their age or background, to reach their career goals and get good jobs.

“Our reforms will simplify and streamline the current system, ensuring that all qualifications are fit for purpose, are high-quality and lead to good outcomes.

“We are putting employers at the heart of the skills system and boosting the quality of qualifications on offer so that all students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, leave education with the skills employers need.”

After being asked why his association has not signed up to the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign, AoC chief executive David Hughes said: “We continue to work with DfE officials and have discussions with ministers about this and will press them to only de-fund qualifications once it is clear that they are not needed to meet the needs of all students and employers.

“In some areas it is clear that current applied generals and Tech Levels will need to be funded alongside T Levels, but it is likely that some will be superseded by the new T Levels once they have become established.

“The key test is whether they meet the needs of the whole cohort of learners ready to learn at level 3, and whether they support the breadth of progression in both learning and work those learners aspire to.”

The twelve organisations that have signed the letter are:

Association of School and College Leaders

Collab Group

Edge Foundation

Grammar School Heads Association

NASUWT: The Teachers Union

National Education Union

NEON: The National Education Opportunities Network

National Union of Students

SSAT: the schools students and teachers network

Sixth Form Colleges Association

UNISON

University Alliance

Union calls for formal review after OCR confirms 42% exam fees rebate

Exam board OCR has confirmed it will give schools and colleges a rebate of 42 per cent of fees for GCSEs and A-levels.

The announcement is likely to put more pressure on AQA – the country’s largest exam board – to up its rebate. The board will only return 26 per cent of entry fees, after saving £45 million.

The Association of School and College Leaders has now written to Ofqual asking for a “formal review” on the different level of discounts.

“We feel that it is important to look critically at how rebates have been calculated and the reasons for large differences. This is crucial in retaining the confidence of school and college leaders,” ASCL’s policy director Julie McCulloch said.

In a statement, OCR said it is “important to return as much as possible to schools and colleges given the huge amount of extra work that teachers and leaders have done this year.

“To recognise this we have decided to increase what we will pay back to schools and colleges beyond this year’s savings alone.”

OCR said savings this year amount to £15.5 million, but they will return £18.4 million to the sector. This will be 42 per cent of fees for general qualifications and 20 per cent for the main vocational qualifications.

Explaining the rebate, OCR said it had made some “significant” cost savings, such as not having to print and post exam papers and hiring the usual number of examiners.

But they also faced “exceptional costs” such as additional online training and support to exam officers and teachers, development of new IT to submit grades, “construction” of optional assessment materials and quality assurance checks.

OCR say they have increased their rebate to take into account the Department for Education funding for appeals and autumn exams. The boards have frozen fees for autumn.

It leaves just Pearson left to announce its rebate. WJEC Eduqas said last month it would discount exam entry fees by 42 per cent this summer.

However the Welsh government topped up the discount to 50 per cent, something ASCL has now asked education secretary Gavin Williamson to consider.

“It would recognise the enormous amount of work involved in assessing students this summer and help address the fact that school and college finances have taken a huge hit because of costs associated with the pandemic,” McCulloch added.

An ASCL survey found two third of headteachers believed schools and colleges should get at least 75 per cent back.

Last year, Pearson, OCR and AQA all gave about a quarter of fees back to schools and colleges. They faced criticism in January when FE Week’s sister publication FE Week revealed they had all increased entry fees.

Colleges invited to use cost-cutting consultants

Colleges will be given access to the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s army of cost-cutting advisers from September.

The ESFA today announced a new suite of measures that it says will be a more “proactive” approach to help colleges “realise and re-invest savings and to spot early warning indicators of financial issues”.

It involves a pilot of a new “curriculum efficiency and financial sustainability” programme which aims to assist colleges in finding ways to make savings, a move which FE Week revealed was on the cards in November 2020.

The scheme builds on the School Resource Management Adviser programme introduced by then-academies minister Lord Agnew (pictured) in 2018.

An evaluation of the trial, which involved up to 250 money-saving advisers, did find that it helped over 70 multi-academy trusts either save or generate new income of over £35 million.

But the programme did cause controversy after FE Week’s sister publication FE Week discovered that schools were being advised to replace experienced teachers with support staff on term-time contracts and urged to limit lunch portions for pupils.

Today’s announcement of a cost-cutting programme for colleges is light on detail so it is not clear at this stage whether it will be free, voluntary, or open to all colleges.

The ESFA also announced today that it will remove the ‘early intervention’ category and “some of the restrictions around support that currently entails”.

Instead, the agency will run a pilot where any college will be able to request expert help and support from the FE Commissioner through a diagnostic assessment – a process that was previously only open to colleges where a new principal had been appointed. These assessments result in unpublished reports, and aim to help colleges identify potential financial issues before they occur.

There will also be “increased support” available from the National Leaders of Further Education and of Governance programmes, and through access to Local Provision Reviews.

The new suite of measures follow Dame Mary Ney’s independent review of college financial oversight, which concluded there needs to be a shift to “nurturing and supporting” all colleges on an individual basis to spot early signs of weakness.

It also comes two weeks after the ESFA launched a consultation on proposals to simplify funding and accountability arrangements in FE.

Kirsty Evans, ESFA director of further education, said: “To ensure we can continue to build back better and recover, colleges will be critical to upskilling the future workforce, so it feels timely to introduce a more supportive and preventative, rather than reactive, approach to intervention, as recommended in Dame Mary Ney’s review.

“Through a new curriculum efficiency and financial sustainability pilot we are keen to learn from the sector where efficiencies can be made, and we want to share good practice, ideas and lessons we are learning from the sector to help prevent colleges going into financial decline.”

The ESFA claimed that its reforms should shorten the length of time a college spends in intervention.

Students are worried employers will see TAGs as ‘fake grades’, says Ofqual advisers

Students are worried employers will see their teacher assessed GCSEs as “fake grades”, Ofqual has said, as the regulator tries to quell fears about upcoming results days.

Child psychology and education experts have been speaking to students preparing to receive grades next month about their concerns.

The experts include Kevin Woods, educational and child psychologist professor and Dr Tee McCaldin, an educational leadership and management expert, both at the University of Manchester.

Writing a blog for Ofqual, they said with exams cancelled and students instead being awarded quality assured teacher assessed grades this year, students “had worries around grades being seen differently by others in the future”.

“They were concerned that universities would be less likely to accept them, or that employers see them as ‘fake grades’,” they said.

In response, the experts claim “everyone is in the same situation” and that all organisations that deal with exam results – such as colleges, universities and employers – are aware of the system this year, so students will not be treated “differently because of how they were awarded”.

Concern about GCSE teacher bias

Some students thought their teacher might not know them well enough to give them a grade, that they “might even mix them up with someone else in the class” or teachers may be biased towards different pupils.

The experts said that checks will ensure grades are “accurate for students and consistent across schools” as there has been time to plan this year and “learn from how things were done last year”.

The blog also offers strategies for students to cope with worry about grades, such as breathing techniques, and says “not getting the results you hope for it never ‘the end of the world’.”

GCSE and A-level grades are in the process of being finalised ahead of results days in the week of August 9.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said on Thursday that 99.9 per cent of all TAGs had been submitted. As of last Wednesday, 99.5 per cent of centres submitted evidence to back up grades as requested by exam boards, with 90 per cent submitted within the 48 hours.

The schools minister said where evidence “has raised questions”, centres received a virtual visit and “on some occasions have been asked to review grades”.

Gibb insisted they are “meaningful qualifications” that will “help young people go onto the next stage of their lives”.

‘Record’ number of students expected to start university

UCAS has said it is predicting that a rise in university applications and offers would lead to a “record number” of students starting university or college in the autumn.

For 18 year olds in the United Kingdom, there was a 10 per cent increase in applicants and a 12 per cent increase in applications from last year. This resulted in a 10 per cent increase in offers from universities and colleges.

UCAS chief executive Clare Marchant said universities are “ready to welcome more students” and “have worked hard to be flexible”.

DfE considers college vaccine passports

FE students could need to be fully vaccinated to attend education and training in the coming year under plans being considered by the Department for Education.

The Times today reported that the prime minister Boris Johnson had suggested that learners in higher and further education setting should face compulsory vaccination, subject to some medical exemptions.

Asked to comment on the proposed policy by FE Week, the DfE did not rule it out.

A spokesperson said: “Vaccinations are important in helping to keep higher education settings safe for when students return in the autumn term and we strongly encourage all students to take up the offer of both vaccine doses.

“Universities and FE colleges are encouraged to promote the offer of both doses of the vaccine and should continue to conduct risk assessments for their particular circumstances, as well as implementing sensible and proportionate control measures.

“If we consider that further measures are needed for these settings, we will set these out in the usual way.”

Covid-19 vaccination is now being offered to everyone aged 18 and over, as well as to all 17 year olds who are within three months of turning 18.

‘Making vaccinations compulsory as a condition to access education is wrong’

University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady warned that making vaccinations compulsory as a condition to access education is “wrong” and would be “hugely discriminatory”.

She said: “Lurching from complacency to compulsion is typical of a government that has flip flopped its way through this pandemic.

“Students should be prioritised for vaccinations, to ensure as many as possible have the opportunity to be vaccinated by September, but making vaccinations compulsory as a condition to access their education is wrong and would be hugely discriminatory against those who are unable to be vaccinated, and international students.

“Sadly, this looks and smells like a prime minister trying to pin the blame on students for not yet taking up a vaccine they haven’t been prioritised to receive.”

The Times’ report claimed that the newspaper has been told that the DfE has reservations about the legality and practicability of the plans.

Government figures show that fewer than 60 per cent of 18 to 25s have had a first vaccination.

High praise for university in first tranche of Ofsted’s level 6 and 7 apprenticeship inspections

Ofsted’s first new provider monitoring visits of level 6 and 7 apprenticeship provision have resulted positive results for higher education providers, including a glowing report for a university.

Inspectors found ‘significant progress’ in two of the three themes judged at the University of Worcester, which gained praise for “thorough” quality assurance procedures, “precise” assessment of prior learning and close links with employers.

Three other inspections of higher apprenticeship provision have been published to date. They resulted in ‘reasonable progress’ judgements across the board for two providers – City Skills Limited and Northern Training Academy Limited – and one ‘significant progress’ rating for another – Future Advice, Skills and Employment Limited.

Ofsted was handed powers to inspect level 6 and 7 apprenticeships from 1 April 2021.

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

Chief inspector Amanda Spielman had voiced concerns multiple times that some universities and higher education training providers were getting away with offering level 6 and 7 apprenticeships which are simply “repackaged graduate schemes”.

The first tranche of new provider monitoring visits for higher level apprenticeships were published last week, Ofsted confirmed.

The University of Worcester started to teach apprenticeships in May 2018. At the time of the visit, 75 apprentices were on the level 5 nursing associate apprenticeship standard, and five apprentices were studying the level 7 senior leader apprenticeship standard.

The vast majority of the university’s apprentices work within the four regional hospitals.

Ofsted praised the university’s leaders for using the “expertise” of their local NHS Trusts and other health care providers to deliver the nursing associate programme.

And on the level 7 senior leadership apprenticeship, where the module specification does not match the individual’s job role, business school work coaches provide additional support.

“Where possible, they organise placements which ensure that apprentices gain exposure to differing job activities,” the report says. “This gives apprentices the opportunity to develop their understanding, enabling them to meet their potential.”

Leaders also use “thorough quality assurance procedures to ensure that apprentices receive a high-quality learning experience”.

The report says: “They use approval processes prior to allowing schools to teach an apprenticeship standard. As part of approval, schools must show that they have the relevant skills and expertise within the school to teach the apprenticeship. They must demonstrate that they meet internal quality assurance measures.

“As a result, apprentices receive teaching from highly qualified and experienced staff, they make good progress and most achieve their expected outcomes.”

The report was also full of praise for the university’s curriculum development.

“Leaders and managers in nursing have developed a curriculum which aligns with the requirements set out to practise as a registered nursing associate. They complete ‘learning environment profiles’ which evaluate the workplace capabilities, ensuring that apprentices gain the experience and support they need.

“Teachers on the level 7 senior leaders degree apprenticeship have designed the curriculum well. They ensure that taught modules present apprentices with the opportunities to practice what they have learned. For example, marketing knowledge sits within two modules. They order the teaching of these at various points, allowing the apprentice to develop their skills and to build on previous learning.”

Teachers on the level 7 senior leader degree apprenticeship also assess the starting points of apprentices “precisely”, which enables business school work coaches to “plan the support apprentices need to complete their apprenticeship”.

They review this with apprentices frequently and encourage self-reflection, ensuring that apprentices are aware of the progress they make.

The report concludes: “Leaders have widened the opportunity for apprentices to return to study. Apprentices can see how the apprenticeship has removed barriers to learning and value highly the opportunity to advance their careers. They recognise the career paths that are now available to them.”

The university was found to be making ‘reasonable progress’ for safeguarding.

David Green, vice chancellor and chief executive of the University of Worcester, said he was “delighted that our new nurse associate and business apprenticeship programmes have been highly evaluated by this independent Ofsted inspection”.

UTC jumps from Ofsted ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’ in a year

A university technical college (UTC) has been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted just a year after being hit with the inspectorate’s lowest possible judgement.

UTC Portsmouth was slapped with an ‘inadequate’ rating in a report published in July 2020 after it failed to provide effective safeguarding arrangements.

But thanks to “swift” action from the senior leadership team, the 14 to 19 technical college can now boast Ofsted’s highest possible grade.

In a report published today, the inspectorate said “impeccable” pupils and “expert” staff are “overwhelmingly proud to be part of this learning community”.

There was high praise for the college’s “precise” curriculum, “high-quality” destinations, students who are “intrinsically motivated to do their best” and a “smooth transition” to remote learning when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Senior leaders were lauded for turning the college around in such a short space of time, with inspectors saying their “ambition to provide the best possible education for pupils shines through all of their work”.

Most importantly, leaders and trustees have “robustly addressed” historic weaknesses in safeguarding, the report said.

“Beyond the systems and processes, they have successfully strengthened the school’s safeguarding culture. Consequently, staff are vigilant and act quickly to keep pupils safe.”

UTCs have historically struggled to achieve the top two Ofsted ratings. But analysis shows this is beginning to change.

UTC Portsmouth is now the fourth to be judged ‘outstanding’, and 21 others are judged as ‘good’.

Of the 38 out of 48 open UTCs which currently carry an Ofsted rating, 25, or two thirds, are now ‘good’ or better, according to the Baker Dearing Trust – the organisation that licenses and supports the technical colleges.

James Doherty, principal of UTC Portsmouth, said he was “delighted” that the college now has an overall effectiveness rating that “reflects the fantastic college we are”.

“The report highlights the quality of education as a standout area, reinforced by the unparalleled destination figures for our students; the best in the region,” he told FE Week.

“We are seeing significantly more students go onto university from their studies with us than the national or regional average.

“The inspectors were especially positive about how respectful and sensible our students are and recognised what a caring and nurturing environment we have created at the college. I was proud that they noted how impeccably our pupils conduct themselves and that they are intrinsically motivated to do their best.”

UTC Portsmouth opened in September 2017 and specialises in teaching STEM subjects with a particular focus on mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines.

It currently teaches 404 students.

5 things we learned from DfE’s final apprenticeship reform review

The Department for Education has today published its final review of its apprenticeship reform programme.

Officials established the programme, which has seen the launch of the levy and introduction of standards among other changes, in 2015 and was scheduled to be delivered by the end of the financial year 2020-21.

Today’s report reveals the government’s progress against key performance measures such as its 3 million starts target, diversity goals and public sector apprenticeship objectives.

FE Week has pulled out the five main findings.

1) 3m target missed by 600,000 starts

In the 2015 manifesto, the Conservative Party set an ambitious target of 3 million apprenticeship starts between 2015 and 2020. A target they kept in the 2017 manifesto.

Since the apprenticeship reforms began in May 2015, by January 2021 there had been 2,373,100 starts, representing 79.10 per cent of target.

The DfE’s report says that while the 3 million target was missed by 626,900 starts, over the same period apprenticeships have “become of longer duration and are now co-designed with employers” meaning that the starts now made on the programme are “into higher-quality training”.

2) Diversity and inclusion targets met

The DfE set a target to increase the proportion of apprenticeships started by people of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds by 20 per cent by 2020. This would result in 12.1 per cent of starts being by apprentices of BAME backgrounds.

This was exceeded, reaching 13.3 per cent starts from people with BAME backgrounds by 2019/20, which is higher than the BAME employment rate of 11.7 per cent, according to today’s report.

The DfE also set a target to increase the proportion of apprenticeships started by those declaring a learning difficulty or disability (LDD). They aimed to increase LDD starts by 20 per cent, uplifting starts to 12.5 per cent.

This was achieved in 2019/20, with 12.5 per cent starts declaring an LDD, the report states.

3) ‘More to do’ on achievement rates

The achievement rate for apprenticeship standards sat at just 58.7 per cent in 2019/20.

While this is an 11.8 percentage point increase from 46.9 per cent in 2018/19, the DfE admits “we know there is more to do”.

Additionally, official government data published in March showed that just 60.2 per cent of apprentices training on new-style standards stayed on their programme until the end in 2019/20. This figure sat at 48.3 per cent the year before.

Skills minister Gillian Keegan told FE Week’s annual apprenticeship conference in April that she has ordered an investigation into the “astonishingly” high drop-out rate.

4) Skills Index for apprenticeships falls – again

The principal measure the DfE uses for monitoring productivity impact is the Further Education Skills Index.

The Index estimates the aggregate value of the skills supplied by the FE system each year by aggregating earnings returns for all adult learners and apprentices who successfully complete their courses.

For apprenticeships, the Index increased every year from 2012/13 to 2017/18 but fell by 26 per cent in 2018/19 and a further 17 per cent in 2019/20.

The DfE blames this recent decline on a “fall in participation, resulting in lower achievement volumes”. Activity in 2019/20 was also “impacted by Covid-19 restrictions, which led to an increase in breaks in learning and fewer achievements than expected”.

However, the average value-added of individual apprenticeships has increased each year, with each learner who completed an apprenticeship in 2019/20 generating 27 per cent more value than in 2012/13.

This has been driven by a shift from Intermediate towards advanced and higher apprenticeships, and towards sector subject areas associated with higher returns (engineering, construction, and ICT), the report says.

5) Public sector target missed

Public sector bodies in England with 250 or more staff have had a duty to aim to employ an average of at least 2.3 per cent of staff as new apprentices over the period 2017 to 2021.

Between that period, public sector employment of apprentices sat at an average of 1.7 per cent.

Following failure to hit the target and in “order to build on this success and continue to encourage public sector bodies to invest in apprenticeships”, the DfE has extended the public sector apprenticeships target for a further year from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.

100 jobs at risk as combined authority rejects WEA’s adult education bid

Around 100 jobs are at risk at one of England’s largest charitable adult education providers after a mayoral combined authority chose to defund it.

The WEA, formerly the Workers’ Educational Association which was founded over a 100 years ago, says it will see a cut of £1.7 million after the South Yorkshire Combined Authority rejected its bid for an adult education budget (AEB) contract.

The authority, known as the Sheffied City Region until this year, will take responsibility for more than £36 million of devolved AEB from August 1, 2021 and recently tendered for training providers to deliver the funding on its behalf.

Despite almost 2,500 adults being taught by the WEA in south Yorkshire in 2019/20, including people with learning disabilities, women fleeing domestic violence and refugees and asylum seekers, the authority chose to deny the charitable provider an AEB allocation.

It also chose not to recognise WEA as eligible for grant funding even though other combined authority’s have.

A spokesperson for the provider said it employs nearly 100 south Yorkshire residents, from education specialists to tutors and support workers, whose jobs are now under threat.

‘The MCA needs to act now’

Simon Parkinson, chief executive of WEA, said he has personally tried to plead with South Yorkshire Combined Authority’s mayor Dan Jarvis MP to “ensure this avoidable scenario did not occur”, but he has had “no direct response and his office seem to be determined to delay any contact”.

This is “despite the fact that they are duty bound to consult with us as a grant funded provider under the terms of their devolution deal”.

Parkinson added: “Community learning is a lifeline for local people and a line of defence against poverty and inequality. Instead of this lifeline being supported, it is now being put at risk by the MCA failing to address their routine funding needs.

“The pandemic has tipped the balance for too many communities in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley and the MCA needs to act now to resolve this funding issue so we can continue to provide these essential services for those in jeopardy.”

Six combined authorities signed devolution deals alongside London to take control of AEB spending in their regions from 2019/20. North of Tyne followed a year later and next month will see two more – South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – combined authorities have their AEB devolved.

The WEA warned back in the 2018 that it would be heavily impacted by devolution, and estimated it could see an estimated £7 million drop in funding as a result.

Ofsted rates the provider as ‘good’ and it delivers over 6,600 part-time courses for more than 39,000 people each year in England and Scotland.

The WEA hit out at the South Yorkshire Combined Authority for snubbing it in favour of commissioning a range of providers which “include for-profit companies and some with poor quality ratings or little prior experience”.

‘We ran a fully open and transparent procurement process’

A spokesperson for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority said: “As part of our newly devolved powers over adult education funding, we ran a fully open and transparent procurement process to identify the most suitable education providers against a range of criteria.

“It was a competitive process, and all providers were judged against a fixed set of criteria which were set out beforehand and fairly applied. Unfortunately, for this round of contracts, the WEA was not successful.”

She added: “We understand that the results will be disappointing to WEA, and will cause disruption to their staff. But we have an obligation to follow the process impartially, and that’s just what we’ve done. Further opportunities are likely for providers to get involved in the delivery of AEB provision in South Yorkshire.

“We’ve appointed an able group of providers to deliver adult education in South Yorkshire, and local residents will be able to access services that are better tailored than ever to their needs.”