T-levels: optimistic preparations continue but Covid-19 heightens challenges

Despite recent announcements, the impact of Covid-19 on T-level preparations remains acute in some areas, writes Suzanne Straw

T-levels will become a reality in under two months’ time, as the government and 44 remaining providers push forward with final preparations for delivery in September. As someone who has closely studied their progress over the past 18 months, it has not always been the easiest journey, despite the high levels of enthusiasm and commitment of the first providers.

The impact of Covid-19 has been devastating across every aspect of society, and had the potential to postpone this year’s launch – something that has been in the making since 2017. Despite this, the green light has been given and it is full steam ahead, although what has the true cost of this pandemic been on the chances of a successful roll out?

As one of NFER’s key research areas, a few weeks ago we hosted an invite-only T-evels webinar with input from providers, Government and sector bodies. This was supplemented by findings from a set of pre-webinar questions, completed by a high number of wave one providers (32 out of the original 50).

The discussion started with a focus on student recruitment. This was an issue before Covid-19 struck, with awareness and knowledge of T-levels amongst students, parents/carers, teachers and employers perceived to be low. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has meant that measures planned to address these challenges, such as providers’ face-to-face contacts with schools and the national NexT Level awareness raising campaign, have paused. As one provider commented: “the lockdown has really stifled our ability to sell the T-level with schools”. Encouragingly, though, providers have reacted quickly to ensure their own marketing efforts have carried on virtually.

Discussions suggest that differences in recruitment levels by provider are in some cases related to whether they have taken the approach of ‘turning off’ ‘competing’ qualifications, such as BTEC Nationals or CACHE. There is also an increasingly clear picture building about differing levels of recruitment between routes. Numbers appear to be much healthier for education and childcare followed by construction, with digital more of a concern. Just less than three-quarters of providers reported that current applications are ‘less than expected’ for digital, whereas for education and childcare and construction the majority reported that they are ‘more’ or ‘about the same’ as expected.

Along with recruitment, Covid-19 has also intensified pre-existing challenges in securing industry placements. For a long time, there has been anxiety in the sector around accommodating the extended placement (a minimum of 315 hours/45 days) and there has been a recent call for further flexibility in how it is delivered. Around a third of providers reported that they are ready for the placement ‘to a small extent’ or ‘not at all’. We heard that employers are cancelling or not committing and providers are finding it increasingly challenging to find replacements.

The idea of increased flexibility certainly appears sensible in the current climate, although there is a careful balance that needs to be struck. There is a general consensus that the length of the placement is what sets T-levels apart from other vocational and technical qualifications, and a fear that shortening this would remove a key selling point.

Encouragingly, in the past couple of weeks a new package of support for T-level placements has been announced. This builds on the Capacity and Delivery Fund (CDF) and extends the employer support Fund pilot and the employer support package. Only time will tell if this tips the balance for employers, although in the current circumstances any additional incentive has to be welcomed.  

Overall, the sense we have from providers is that the majority are still generally feeling optimistic about delivery for September, despite challenges becoming amplified as a result of Covid-19. It is encouraging to hear that the NexT Level campaign has now re-started. It will be important for this national campaign to complement providers’ local marketing efforts ahead of, and beyond, GCSE results day. Once delivery starts, keeping a focus on reviewing progress and quickly agreeing solutions to challenges that emerge will be vital. In particular, it will be key to monitor the progress of the industry placement element, including the impact of the new package of support and be prepared to revisit this if it isn’t delivering the traction with employers that is hoped for.

Another two providers delay T-level launch plans

Two more providers due to teach the first T-levels in just two months’ time have delayed delivery for at least a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It means the number of colleges, schools and other providers in England in wave one of the rollout of the new post-16 technical qualifications has now fallen from an original 50 to just 44.

The providers delaying their 2020 T-level launch plans are Sandwell Academy and Walsall Studio.

Another provider which was signed up to deliver T-levels from 2021, Reigate College, has also pulled out of delivery.

Announcing the decisions today, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “Due the impact of coronavirus, Sandwell Academy and Walsall Studio have both decided to delay delivery of T-levels until 2021. Both providers remain fully committed to T-levels and we will continue to work closely with them to make the programme a success.

“Reigate College also remains committed to delivering T-levels in the longer term but has decided not to do so in 2021 so they can focus on working with students on existing qualifications to ensure a positive recovery from Covid-19.”

The DfE added: “We are really pleased that the vast majority of 2020 providers remain on track to deliver T-levels from September and we thank FE leaders and staff for their continued support and hard work.”

Today’s news comes a month after four other T-level providers – Access Creative College, Durham Sixth Form Centre, Salesian School and University College Birmingham – also cancelled their plans for a 2020 delivery.

Another provider, York College, announced at the same time that it will now only offer one T-level route this year instead of all three they had planned for.

Other providers had pulled out of or delayed T-level delivery prior to Covid.

In October, education secretary Gavin Williamson’s old college, Scarborough Sixth Form, pulled out of offering construction and digital pathways from 2020 because of a lack of opportunities for the T-levels’ mandatory 315-hour work placements locally, and a shortage of good-quality teachers.

Three schools previously ditched plans to take part in the 2020 wave.

Skills minister Gillian Keegan confirmed in April that the government would drive forward with plans to launch the first T-levels from September 2020 despite the disruption being caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.

She said that while providers have “rightly raised some issues” with delivery, “most wanted to continue to deliver the first T-levels this year” and “we owe it to these young people to find ways to continue to deliver the courses that they have chosen and that will offer them great progression opportunities”.

The first three T-levels – in construction, digital and education and childcare – will be taught from September 2020 with more rolled out gradually between 2021 and 2023.

The new post-16 qualifications have been designed to be the technical equivalent and on a par with A-levels.

Walsall Studio, Sandwell Academy and Reigate College have been approached for comment.

Nine things we learned from the ESFA’s 2019-20 annual report and accounts

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has this afternoon published its annual report and accounts for 2019-20, revealing college loan write-offs, hefty fraud investigation costs and salary boosts for top civil servants.

FE Week has the main findings:

 

1. College keeps £15m in overpayments

During the last financial year, South Thames College received an ESFA capital grant to “facilitate the acquisition of the site for a new school”.

The agency paid the college a total of £15,160,000 in “overpayment”, which has now been waived.

The ESFA’s accounts state: “In certain circumstances over-payments of grants can occur when grant payment profiles for educational bodies are based on expected learner numbers which are not supported by actual numbers or where capital grants are eligible for recovery.

“One example relates to our waiver of the capital grant recovery from South Thames College to facilitate the acquisition of the site for a new school.”

Other waivers of overpayments include £823,000 for Manchester Creative Studio and £609,000 for Wigan UTC.

 

2. Abandoned FE loans costs drop substantially

Across all education streams in 2019-20, the ESFA reported claims waived or abandoned of £25 million for this year compared to £62 million the year before.

The agency said this has reduced due to the completion of the college restructuring programme which implemented recommendations from the area reviews of post-16 colleges.

The only FE sector loan to be waived in 2019-20 was £1,750,000 for Trafford College, which was handed exceptional financial support for its merger with Stockport College. Trafford is also currently working on plans to merge with the troubled Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College, but this process was delayed earlier in the year owing to Covid-19.

 

3. 115 ‘compliance reviews’ of ITPs…

The ESFA said it “strengthened our oversight and assurance activities”, increasing the amount of resource dedicated to ensuring the “proper” use of public funds and engaging more with the sector.

As part of this, the agency delivered 115 compliance reviews on independent training providers (ITPs) with 21 additional control visits.

 

4. …but fraud continues to be a problem

Fraud hit the agency for £5.6 million in 2019-20, which mainly relates to two unnamed “specific cases” that are not yet in the public domain.

Recovery of the identified losses “remain ongoing”. During the year the ESFA was able to recover £8,119.

At 31 March 2020 the agency had a total of 82 live investigations and allegations to carry forward into 2020-21.

This comprises 19 on-going academy trust cases at “various stages” of the investigation cycle and similarly, 63 live cases relating to colleges and independent training providers.

The ESFA said the formation of new academy trusts and mergers continued to rise in 2019-20 with academies increasing by around 900 in-year.

Whilst there has not been a “significant” rise in the number of academy investigation visits compared to 2018-19, there is a “continuing slightly upward trend aligned to sector growth”.

Additionally, in response to changes in apprenticeships funding “we have seen a rise in the number of allegations this year”.

 

5. 894 providers removed from apprenticeship provider register

Last year the ESFA launched a refreshed and “strengthened” Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) through stronger criteria added to the application process and complete re-registration of providers.

There are now 2,067 providers on the register, and during the process the agency removed 894 providers who did not meet the new criteria.

 

6. Overall underspend mainly because of apprenticeships

The ESFA’s total outturn was £58.57 billion against a budget of £58.83 billion, a 0.4 per cent underspend. This included £58.51 billion expenditure on “grant and other funding, the balance of expenditure was in respect of staff costs and operating expenditure”.

The agency said the variance on resource funding was largely attributable to an underspend on apprenticeships.

As revealed by FE Week earlier this month, the Treasury took back £330 million of unspent apprenticeships funding last year.

 

7. Learning Record Service data breach investigation ongoing

An investigation was launched in January after betting companies were “wrongly provided access” to an education database containing the information of 28 million children.

This was the only “protected personal data related incident” for the ESFA that was judged significant enough to be formally reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office during 2019-20.

The ICO was notified that a learning provider, Trustopia, registered with the Learning Records Service (LRS), had been working with another company to use their access to the database for the purposes of ID verification for “non-educational purposes, in clear breach of their agreement with DfE”.

The personal data comprised of the name, date of birth, gender and postcode of 380,000 individuals registered with the LRS.

The ESFA’s accounts state that the ICO is continuing its investigation and will “contact the Department for Education once the investigation is concluded”.

 

8. Pay rise and bonuses for ESFA’s top officials

Chief executive Eileen Milner saw her salary increase from £140-145,000 to £150-155,000 whilst also bagging a bonus of up to £5,000.

Peter Mucklow, director of further education, saw his wage increase from £95-100,000 to £100-105,000 whilst receiving a bonus of up to £15,000.

The accounts say the pay boosts for both civil servants were made after they took on “additional responsibilities in 2018-19 which were reflected in their salary in 2019-20 and included an element of back pay”.

The only other top ESFA official to receive a pay rise was director of academies Mike Pettifer – from £1150-120,000 to £125-130,000 – after he “took on additional responsibilities from September 2018 which were for the remainder of 2018-19 and for the full year in 2019-20.”

Pettifer was also paid a bonus of up to £10,000.

 

9. £1.4m paid to firms linked to ESFA board members

The accounts show £964,000 was paid to Hays Travel, a company owned by family members of ESFA chair Irena Lucas. She is also the chair at Hays, one of the UK’s largest independent travel agents.

A further £984,000 was paid to the firm in 2018-19.

Meanwhile, another £684,000 was paid to Voyage Care, were ESFA board member Stuart McMinnies is a non-executive director. The firm provides support for people who have complex needs.

Ofqual predicts ‘slightly better’ GCSE and A-level results, but teacher grades will need hauling down

Teacher-assessed grades will have to be hauled down by up to 12 percentage points this year so results are not “significantly undermined”.

However the regulator has sought to reassure schools and colleges ahead of this year’s results day, promising that grades will be “slightly better” than last year.

Ofqual revealed today that grades submitted by teachers were around 12 percentage points higher than last year’s actual results at A-level, and 9 percentage points higher at GCSE.

After exams were cancelled this year due to the coronavirus, Ofqual required schools and colleges to submit centre-assessed grades of what results pupils were most likely to achieve, which will then be standardised nationally.

Ofqual said it won’t reveal the full details of its standardisation model until results day as this could lead to some “unfairly finding out their results early or cause unhelpful anxiety if they are incorrectly calculated”.

But, ahead of rising tension about how grades will look this year, the regulator has attempted to reassure schools and colleges, saying “overall, results will be no worse and indeed slightly better”.

They said national results this summer may approach a one per cent increase overall for GCSEs and around two per cent for A levels.

Ofqual said this varies by grade, but this mean that when you aggregate all A-level results there will be a slight overall increase in higher results.

The regulator said this was down to “a number of decisions which work in students’ favour” being taken as part of the standardisation model.

That includes historical data used being based on previous years’ results after any reviews of marking or appeals and allowed students to receive ‘off-tier’ grades in tiered GCSEs.

However, they’ve had to haul down the results submitted by teachers quite substantially as they were, on average, 12 percentage points better than in 2019 at A-level and 9 percentage points higher at GCSE.

But there were greater peaks at some key grades. For instance, 65 per cent of pupils were awarded a grade B at A-level by their teachers under this year’s system, compared to 51.6 per cent in 2019 (an increase of 13.4 percentage points).

Meanwhile, at GCSE, 82.4 per cent of pupils were awarded a grade 4, compared to 72.7 per cent last year (an increase of 9.7 percentage points).

Ofqual said: “Improvement on such a scale in a single year has never occurred and to allow it would significantly undermine the value of these grades for students.”

This means a “substantial number” of students will receive at least one grade that has been adjusted as a result of the standardisation process. As centres have submitted grades that are “higher than would be expected”, this means it’s most likely results will be marked down.

But Ofqual added: “That is not surprising, given that the circumstances meant teachers were not given an opportunity to develop a common approach to grading in advance; and they naturally want to do their best for their students.”

They said the adjustments mean that “universities, colleges and employers can be confident this year’s results carry the same value, and students can compete on a level playing field for opportunities with students from previous and future years”.

Ofqual also said there was around a fifth of a grade difference between centres at GCSE, and a quarter of a grade difference at A-level. The regulator would not reveal further details of which centres submitted more generous grades.

But Ofqual said that overall, from the data it has reviewed, they expect the “majority of grades students receive will be the same as their centre assessment grades, and almost all grades students receive will be the same as the centre assessment grades or within one grade”.

They added: “Results for students will therefore almost always be broadly in line with centres’ and teachers’ expectations, reflecting the skills, professionalism and integrity of those involved.”

The regulator also said the preliminary analysis suggests there will be “generally be no widening of the gaps in attainment between different groups of students. In other words, the concern that identifiable groups of students would lose out from this year’s arrangements have not been borne out.”

But there were small changes. For instance, an initial analysis found the difference in the gap in mean grade between white and black pupils rose by a 25th of a grade at GCSE this year, compared to last year.

 

DfE offers £96m grant for 16-19 tutoring after Covid catch-up fund U-turn

The government has U-turned on its decision to exclude 16 to 19 providers from its £1 billion Covid catch-up fund.

A one-off, ring-fenced grant of up to £96 million will be stumped up to provide “small group tutoring” for disadvantaged 16 to 19 students whose studies have been disrupted by the pandemic.

Prime minister Boris Johnson and education secretary Gavin Williamson had sparked outrage last month when they announced the programme for schools and excluded 16 to 19 providers at the last minute.

Organisations such as the Association of Colleges called the move “indefensible” while Toby Perkins, Labour’s shadow apprenticeships and lifelong learning minister, said it was an “unforgivable disgrace”.

The £1 billion fund has two streams: £650 million additional funding for the 2020-21 academic year to help school pupils catch up on education missed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and £350 million will pay for the establishment of a National Tutoring Programme.

Announcing the distribution of the catch-up funding to include 16 to 19s, the DfE said today: “As part of the tutoring fund, we will also provide a one-off, ring-fenced grant of up to £96 million for colleges, sixth forms and all 16 to 19 providers, to provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16 to 19 students whose studies have been disrupted.”

The DfE confirmed to FE Week that the £96 million will be taken from the £350 million National Tutoring Programme, it is not new funding in addition to it.

Further details, including how the £96 million will be shared out, will be published “shortly”.

Skills minister Gillian Keegan said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we have secured an additional £96 million so colleges, sixth forms and all 16 to 19 providers can provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged students whose studies have been disrupted due to Covid-19.

“The past few months have been extremely challenging for students, and we are really grateful to the FE sector for their hard work to support students to study online. This funding will make sure those that students who will benefit from additional tutoring support will get the help they need to get ahead.”

AoC deputy chief executive Julian Gravatt said today’s announcement is a “welcome step”.

“We have argued all along that they deserve as much support to overcome the challenges thrown up by Covid-19 as every other age group, including their peers in schools.

“The ringfenced funding for disadvantaged 16 to 19 students will allow colleges to be flexible in their support programmes and enable them to reach those most in need. For example, 70 per cent of students resitting English and maths are from disadvantaged backgrounds and will need tailored and concentrated support to ensure they can succeed next academic year, despite the disruption.

“Today’s announcement is a strong sign that the government recognises the unique role colleges play in getting the country’s young people back up to speed but, in future, it would be better to get these decisions out earlier. Most colleges have already set their budgets for 2020-21.”

Pearson and Amazon Web Services develop first Cloud Computing BTEC Higher National qualifications to help address the cloud computing skills gap

Pearson is really pleased to announce, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), the development of the first BTEC Higher National qualifications in Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing has become an extremely desired skill for employers over recent years, with demand for skilled talent rising month after month. It is now one of the top ‘hard skills’ that companies seek. The World Economic Forum reports 133 million jobs will be created in the industry by 2022. The Covid crisis has also shone a light on just how critical Cloud Computing is to our new, virtual world – powering many of the applications we’re relying on to go about our daily lives.

So the launch later this year, following validation and approval, is extremely timely. These new Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications will help address the skills gap in the industry across the globe. Companies will have access to a wider pool of skilled Cloud Computing talent, while graduates will gain a new route into employment in this exciting field.  In addition to new Pearson providers, any of our 500+ Pearson Approved Centres in 50 countries worldwide will be able to offer these qualifications, including across the Middle East, South-East Asia and Europe.

BTEC Higher Nationals are designed to provide the relevant expert subject knowledge and academic rigour of UK higher education, combined with practical skills for the industry they serve. With these qualifications under their belt, students can either go straight into employment and/or progress to a university degree. 

We are always challenging ourselves to find new and innovative ways to make sure our qualifications are as focused as possible on giving our students a direct route into successful careers. AWS Educate is Amazon’s global initiative to provide students and educators with resources for building skills in cloud technology. Through this, they’re providing us with their expert knowledge and industry endorsement, as well as supporting us to deliver the qualifications through a comprehensive package of cloud computing learning resources. These resources are mapped to in-demand IT jobs and will be available to our approved Higher National Cloud Computing providers. As with all our BTECs, we are also working with other external parties within the cloud computing sector, including academics, professional body representatives, tutors and employers, ensuring the qualifications meet industry needs.

The new Level 4 Higher National Certificate (HNC) will give students a sound knowledge of the fundamentals of this specialist area of computing, alongside training in different approaches to problem solving. The Level 5 Higher National Diploma (HND) will provide a specialist focus by providing a choice of three pathways in Cloud Support, Cyber Security and Software Development, designed to support progression into the workplace in a specific cloud role (such as a Cloud Support Engineer, Cyber Security Engineer and Software Developer).

We look forward to working with AWS to develop these career-focused qualifications and to give students the knowledge and skills to follow a pathway into a job or progress to a degree in this important sector. There is a real industry need for higher technical qualifications such as these around the world, and we are pleased to be helping to fill a skills gap in a growing field.

For more information on BTEC Higher Nationals, please our qualifications page.

WorldSkills UK LIVE 2020 cancelled

The country’s biggest skills and careers event, WorldSkills UK LIVE, has been cancelled for 2020 due to the health and safety concerns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s WorldSkills competition cycle will also not run.

But both events will return in 2021 as the UK begins to prepare its next group of talented young trades people to take to EuroSkills St Petersburg 2022 and WorldSkills Lyon 2023 – competitions which are dubbed the ‘skills Olympics’.

Preparations for EuroSkills Graz, which was scheduled to take place this September but has been postponed until January, and Shanghai 2021 have been ongoing virtually throughout lockdown. Team UK for Graz is expected to be announced either next month or in early September.

WorldSkills UK LIVE, which takes place annually in November at the NEC, Birmingham, hosts the National Finals of the skills competitions and welcomes tens of thousands of young people every year to hear from top employers such as BAE Systems, HS2 and Health Education England.

Neil Bentley-Gockmann, chief executive of WorldSkills UK LIVE, said: “It is with a heavy heart that we have had to cancel LIVE and our competitions  but the ongoing uncertainty, coupled with the practicalities of hosting more than 70,000 people under one roof, led us to taking this difficult decision.

“We will be returning to the NEC in 2021 stronger and more effective than ever.”

Although WorldSkills UK will not be running its national competitions cycle in 2020 the organisation said they will continue to work with all the competitors who registered to “provide them with skills and mindset development”.

This will include access to virtual bootcamps that will provide information and advice regarding well-being and employability, supported by former WorldSkills competitors known as ‘skills champions’, performance coaches and Youth Employment UK.

While cancelling LIVE was a “sad” decision, Bentley-Gockmann said it has presented an opportunity for his organisation to increase its work on digital platforms.

“Through these challenges has come the opportunity to evolve our programmes and create a new online offering for tutorials, masterclasses and assessment to help many more young people get access to our resources so they can continue to think about their career next steps and develop their skills.”

Speaking to FE Week, Bentley-Gockmann explained their digital presence will mostly be enhanced via online seminars focussed on mental health and well-being and employability skills.

“It is about helping competitors with advice and techniques about managing their mental health and wellbeing, goal setting, time management, attention control.

“So that will be online seminars around thinking about your skills and employability skills and what employers are looking for, such as CV writing and interview preparation.”

He added that next year’s LIVE event could also become more virtual to reach more parts of the country.

“We’re thinking about potentially a virtual LIVE as part of our thinking about how we make the event accessible from anywhere in the UK, as well as people coming into it physically from West and East Midlands.

“If you can’t get to a LIVE event, we want to explore how you make it virtual so wherever you are in the country, you can experience what’s going on.”

Claudia Harris to step down as Careers and Enterprise Company CEO

The chief executive of the Careers and Enterprise Company is to step down to run a firm that supports mid-career switchers to train as software engineers.

Claudia Harris, a former adviser to Tony Blair who was appointed as the CEC’s first leader five years ago, will leave this month to become CEO of Makers, a firm she currently chairs.

John Yarham, who has been acting CEO since Harris began a period of maternity leave in November, will continue to lead the organisation until a permanent CEO is appointed.

Harris said it had been an “honour” to lead the organisation “and have the opportunity to support young people as they make that vital transition into the world of work”.

“Throughout, we have maintained a laser focus on those young people in communities where support is most needed, originally defined as ‘cold spots’, and many of those regions now lead the way nationally in providing outstanding careers education.”

The CEC was set up by education secretary Nicky Morgan in 2014 to improve careers education across England.

It now presides over an extensive network of paid enterprise co-ordinators, trained professionals who work with schools and colleges to develop career plans and make connections with businesses, and enterprise advisers, volunteers from the business world who work with individual schools and colleges.

The company is also responsible for overseeing the government’s network of careers hubs, groups of between 20 and 40 secondary schools and colleges who work together to help each other meet the so-called Gatsby benchmarks of good careers education.

Christine Hodgson, the CEC’s chair, said under Harris’s leadership the company had “established a national network that is transforming careers education across England”.

“A dynamic and resilient partnership of schools, colleges, employers and local agencies is supporting young people in communities across the country, working towards a new standard for careers excellence using the Gatsby benchmarks.”

The announcement comes after the government confirmed last year that it would continue to support the company with grant funding, after ministers admitted dropped their ambition for the quango to become self-sustaining.

Figures obtained by FE Week’s sister publication FE Week last year revealed the organisation has now received over £95 million from the public purse.

The company has come under increasing pressure in recent years to prove its value for money.

In May 2018, Harris and Hodgson were quizzed by MPs about the company’s £2 million research budget, its staffing structure and a lack of evidence that the organisation is making a difference.

The organisation was further criticised in November 2018, when the House of Commons youth select committee urged the government to commission an independent review into whether the CEC is doing a good job helping poorer students get work experience.

And later that month, the company was blasted for spending more than £200,000 on two conferences, with MPs demanding to know why private sponsorship was not sought.

But Harris said today she was proud of the company’s record.

“Progress has only been achieved through genuine partnership and the passion and commitment of teachers, careers leaders, employers and colleagues from LEPs and local agencies across the country. I am grateful to have worked on something that matters so much with people who care so much.”

Demise of subcontracting brokers – finally

Using brokers in subcontracting deals will be a “serious breach” of funding rules next year, the government said today as it announced the first steps to clamping down on subcontracting in FE.

Training providers have also been told to publish a “rationale” for subcontracting, their management fee structure and a list of subcontracting partners on their websites by October 31.

The measures were outlined in new subcontracting guidance for 2020/21, published today by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Last month, the ESFA released its response to a consultation that was run earlier this year and proposed major changes to subcontracting.

The agency wants to see a “significant reduction” of the practice in FE and will roll out strict measures, such as volume caps, over the next three years.

For academic year 2020/21, the ESFA said today that the use of brokers to source a subcontracting partner is “not permitted and will be treated as a breach of contract/funding agreement”.

“By brokers we mean where a third-party matches, for a fee, a provider with an unused allocation with a provider that can secure enrolments of learners to utilise it,” the agency explained, adding that they have “strengthened our levers to act and will do so where we find cases of provision being subject to brokerage”.

FE Week has reported on multiple cases of brokers cashing in on last minute subcontracting deals in recent years.

In March we revealed on how a learner find firm was attempting to broker a subcontracting deal for 16 to 18-year-old trainees who had already completed their placement at football clubs.

The only other change coming into force next year is a requirement for “all providers to publish a clear educational rationale for their subcontracting position on their website alongside their management fee structure and a list of subcontracting partners”.

The guidance states that directly funded institutions should “set out in their organisation’s strategic aims their reason for subcontracting, which must enhance the quality of their student offer”. The rationale “should be signed off by governors and boards and published on their website”.

The ESFA said they expect this information to be published by 31 October 2020 and it should be “easy to navigate to from the front page of the organisation’s education and training web pages”.

Other reforms will be introduced in 2022 and 2023.