The number of apprenticeship starts in England dropped by 7 per cent in the first half of 2019/20, new government data has revealed.

Provisional figures in the latest individual learner records return show there were 209,900 starts recorded from August 2019 to January 2020 compared to 225,800 in the same period in 2018/19.

For the single month of January, provisional figures show there were 28,200 starts in 2020 compared to 29,100 in the same publication published in 2019, a 3 per cent drop.

The Department for Education pointed out that the individual monthly apprenticeship starts figures are produced for “transparency purposes but are generally less robust for making comparisons given different reporting patterns by providers during the year”.

When comparing the first half of 2019/20 with the same period in 2018/19, starts at level 2 fell by the most – from 84,200 to 68,000, a 19 per cent drop.

At the same time, starts at the higher levels jumped 16 per cent from 42,500 to 49,400.

Starts were also hit hardest for young people: 68,600 people aged 16 to 18 started an apprenticeship between August 2018 and January 2019, but this figure dropped by 12 per cent for the same period in 2019/20 to 60,600.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Apprenticeship starts have fallen but the reforms we introduced mean that apprenticeships are now longer, higher-quality and include more off-the-job training.

“We believe this is the right approach, and we will not sacrifice quality for quantity.”

They added: “We are working with employers of all sizes to make sure more people get the skills they need to get ahead.

“We want to see more people benefitting from apprenticeship opportunities in the future, and we will continue to work with employers and learning providers, particularly given the impact coronavirus will have on our economy.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, wasn’t as optimistic.

“Sadly we are now in unchartered territory with experts predicting that the country is heading for a deep recession. Fewer jobs will inevitably mean fewer apprenticeship opportunities,” he said.

“Our push in the comprehensive spending review will be for a reversing in the decline in starts for young people and ensuring that there is a strong rung at the foot of the ladder of opportunity for them in the form of more level 2 apprenticeships.

“An immediate priority is to remove apprenticeships for 16 to 18 year olds from levy funding and put them back within mainstream DfE budgets in common with other 16-18 provision.”

The response of the Department for Education to the coronavirus outbreak and the impact of the disease on schools, colleges and training providers will be investigated by an influential committee of MPs.

The parliamentary education committee has launched an inquiry into the impact of COVID-19 on education and children’s services.

It follows criticism of the government’s support for education providers during the pandemic.

The committee will explore the impact on “all aspects of the education sector and children’s social care system and will scrutinise how the Department for Education is dealing with the situation”.

The effect on apprenticeships and other workplace-based education courses will also be probed, as well as the “financial implications of closures for providers, including higher education and independent training providers”.

MPs will also look specifically at the implementation of the critical workers policy, including “how consistently the definition of ‘critical’ work is being applied across the country and how schools [and colleges] are supported to remain open for children of critical workers”.

The effect of cancelling formal exams, including the “fairness of qualifications awarded and pupils’ progression to the next stage of education or employment”, will also be investigated, along with the support for students and families during closures, particularly disadvantaged groups.

Robert Halfon (pictured), the committee’s chair, said: “The education committee recognises that the closure of schools has been a massive decision with huge implications and would like to put on record its thanks to the education secretary and ministers who are having to make tough decisions in very difficult circumstances.”

Halfon added he would “particularly also like to thank all the education professionals – the staff, the teachers, the ancillary staff – who are doing everything possible to continue to educate our children. We recognise that this is in incredibly worrying time for all”.

The Department for Education released new data into the views and experiences of apprenticeships today.

A survey of more than 5,000 apprentices was carried out while around 4,000 employers were also surveyed.

FE Week has pulled out the key findings.

 

Apprentices

 

1. Awareness is on the rise

Understanding that their course or training was part of an apprenticeship has risen to 76 per cent, from 70 and 67 per cent in 2017 and 2015 respectively.

Awareness among level 4+ apprentices has “particularly increased” from 57 per cent in 2015 and 64 per cent in 2017 to 81 per cent in 2018/19

 

2. But satisfaction has fallen

Overall 86 per cent of apprentices were satisfied with their apprenticeship and 7 per cent were dissatisfied. However, satisfaction has decreased, and dissatisfaction has grown, compared to the 2015 and 2017 surveys (89 per cent and five per cent in both years). 

 

3. Just 30% comply with the off-the-job training rule

The survey results found that many apprentices have experienced significantly less training than required by apprenticeship funding rules.

Only 30 per cent of apprentices received formal training equivalent to at least 20 per cent of their working hours, while 50 per cent received either no formal training or an equivalent to less than 10 per cent of their working hours.

Overall, the proportion of apprentices undertaking formal training decreased to 82 per cent from 86 per cent.

 

4. Large majority go into employment

Only four per cent of respondents were unemployed following an apprenticeship although this was higher in apprentices with a disability (nine per cent) and those who had completed for arts and ICT apprenticeships (eight to nine per cent). 

Employers

 

5. Offers mostly go to young people

Employers were more likely to offer, or have ever offered, apprenticeships to those aged under 19 (74 per cent) or between 19-24 (80 per cent) than to those aged 25 plus (53 per cent).

However, the amount offering to those aged 25 and over increased from 46 per cent in 2015 and 2017 while the other proportions remained similar.

 

6. Apprenticeships for existing staff on the rise

The proportion of employers whose apprentice completers were all existing staff prior to the apprenticeship starting has increased to 31 per cent from 27 per cent.

The number of employers who recruited brand new apprentices declined to 64 per cent, down from 69 per cent in 2017.

 

7. Employer satisfaction on the rise

Eighty-five per cent of apprentice employers were satisfied and 63 per cent reported they were very satisfied.

This was a slight increase from 2017, when 84 per cent were satisfied but another drop from 2015 when 87 per cent were.

Overall, five per cent of employers were dissatisfied, a small decline from six per cent two years prior.

 

8. Impact of the levy

Among large employers eligible for the levy, 24 per cent reported that, as a result of the reforms, they had increased or started apprenticeships for existing employees.

In addition, 18 per cent had increased apprenticeships for managers.

 

9. Level 6 and 7 apprenticeships

The apprenticeship levy, or funds in an apprenticeship account, were provided as the most likely reason for employers to offer a level 6 or 7 apprenticeship (24 per cent) – this rose to 42 per cent for employers with 50 or more employees at the site.

Employers offering these were larger in size (67 per cent had 25 or more employees at the site).

Ofqual is “urgently” working out how to calculate grades for students studying vocational and technical qualifications this year, but the “complex landscape” means there is not a “one size fits all” solution.

Last week the government announced that the upcoming summer exams series has been scrapped amid the coronavirus outbreak.

On Friday, it was revealed that teacher assessments will be used to provide calculated grades for A-level and GCSE students this year.

Ofqual, the exams regulator, said today they are “considering” how similar arrangements to those could be applied to vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs), which include tech levels and applied generals, such as BTECs.

Some form of teacher calculated grade, or “other form of estimation based on assessment that has already taken place”, will be “possible in many cases”.

But for other qualifications, it “might be more appropriate to adapt the assessment or delivery arrangements so that everyone can have confidence in the outcome”.

“And for some qualifications that signify occupational competence or award a licence to practise in safety-critical industries, assessment might need to be delayed in order to ensure public safety and meet the needs of employers,” Ofqual continued.

“There are many different types of qualification, awarding organisations, learner groups and assessment approaches, so the landscape is complex and it is clear that one size will not fit all circumstances.”

The exams regulator said it is working with the Department for Education, awarding organisations, other regulators and the wider sector to “develop and publish a clear approach for the different categories of VTQs in the coming days”.

“We are working as quickly as possible to develop an approach which enables learners to get the qualifications they deserve and that they need to progress,” they added.

The aim for GCSE and A-levels is to provide grades to learners before the end of July. FE Week has asked if this goal also applies to VTQs.

The government has this evening released a package of measures that it hopes will help apprenticeship training providers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

It also applies to apprentices, employers, end-point assessment organisations and external quality assurance providers.

Here are the key points from the guidance:

 

1. No funding support

The government appears to offer no funding support for apprenticeship training providers during the crisis.

Its guidance says providers will only continue to be paid “retrospectively for the training they have delivered and can evidence”.

Government policy “does not allow payment for services in advance of delivery,” it claimed.

The ESFA added that it “reserves the right to recover funding which was claimed for and paid to the training provider, but for which the training provider was found not to be eligible”.

 

2. Face-to-face end-point assessments can be rescheduled or ‘modified’

End-point assessment organisations and external quality assurance providers are encouraged to engage and agree where remote assessment can replace face-to-face assessment, or where a simulated environment is to be used.

Apprentices who are deemed ready for assessment, and cannot be assessed due to COVID-19 related issues, will be able to have their EPA rescheduled. Where there is a “specified time limit for EPA post gateway”, a further pause of 12 weeks is allowable.

Apprentices whose gateway is being delayed are allowed a break in learning, with an extension to the assessment timeframe.

 

3. Breaks in learning rule softened – but providers still won’t be paid

Funding rules currently state that a break in learning must be initiated by the apprentice.

The government will now allow employers and training providers, temporarily, to also report and initiate a break in learning where the interruption is greater than four weeks.

Training providers will not receive payments for learners who are on breaks in learning.

 

4. Go to Treasury if you’re struggling financially

The guidance states that where the COVID-19 outbreak results in loss of income due to ceased or reduced delivery of training, training providers “should consider their eligibility and apply for the wide range of financial support that HM Treasury has already announced for businesses”.

 

5. Apprentices made redundant to find a new employer within 12 weeks

Where apprentices are furloughed (granted a leave of absence) or placed on unpaid leave, employers and training providers have been urged to consider whether a break in learning would be appropriate.

Where apprentices are made redundant, it is the DfE’s ambition that they will be supported to find alternative employment, and continue their apprenticeship within 12 weeks.

The training provider “must support the apprentice to find another employer” where redundancies take place.

In instances where a significant number of apprentices are made redundant, the ESFA said it will attempt to provide “exceptional practical support to the apprentices and training providers to secure alternative employers for the individuals”.

 

6. ‘Distance learning’ encouraged

The government is “encouraging and supporting employers, and training and assessment providers, to make use of distance-learning tools wherever possible and practicable to do so”.

 

7. Arrangements for disrupted training delivery in March

Where training has been delivered this month, but a break in learning has begun, or is expected to start before the end of March, to ensure payment for these apprentices, training providers have been told to:

    include these learners in their March ILR submission as on programme

    record, retain and submit evidence in the usual way

    record a break in learning in their April ILR submission

    ensure that these learners are not recorded as permanently withdrawn from their apprenticeship, by entering the ‘Completion status’ field of the ILR as ‘6’, denoting that the learner has temporarily withdrawn from learning due to an agreed break in learning

The DfE makes clear that training, which cannot be delivered in March, but for which the training provider receives payment, should be delivered within the “remainder of the apprenticeship, and the previously agreed total cost of the apprenticeship, before the planned end-date”.

Where the training is not completed, the ESFA “reserves the right to recover payment”.

 

8. Employers urged not to pause or stop payments to providers for March

During March, levy-paying employers “should not use the apprenticeship service to ‘pause’ or ‘stop’ payments to the training provider, where some training has been delivered in March”, the DfE says.

Doing so will result in the training provider not receiving any payment for these apprentices.

 

9. Arrangements for April and beyond

For a break in learning greater than four weeks that begins on or after 1 April, the apprenticeship should be ‘paused’ by the employer through the apprenticeship service at the point the break in learning begins.

The employer should “not ‘stop’ the apprenticeship through the apprenticeship service as this will prevent it resuming subsequently”.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan has today written to independent providers and other non-college stakeholders in an effort to address their concerns following the coronavirus outbreak.

Read the letter in full below.

 

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to write to you and thank you for all of your hard work and continued commitment during what I know is a very difficult time.

We are facing an unprecedented challenge and I recognise that as teachers and leaders working to provide education, training, and assessment and to support your learners, you are on the frontline of our national effort.

UK COVID-19 response 

I appreciate that the changes announced by the Secretary of State last Wednesday, to education and training delivery from 23 March, will have a huge impact on you as leaders, as well as your staff members and learners.

Education, training and assessment providers who operate as businesses or charities are able to access the Government’s package of measures to support businesses to withstand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Details of this support are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses. We are working closely with HM Treasury to monitor how the support packages are benefitting organisations and to consider any further action which may be required.

I have already heard hugely impressive stories on how providers across the country are reacting – including using online resources to continue to deliver education for your learners, offering support for the community in your areas and establishing crucial communications channels with learners, parents and employers. These illustrate how you are pulling together with ingenuity at this time and typify the spirit that runs through our brilliant further education sector. I’d like to thank you for all the work you have put in so far and for all that is surely to come in the coming weeks.

Funding

I understand that, alongside your priority to deliver learning and care for your students, the situation we are in carries financial implications for many institutions. I am aware of some of the issues you are facing, including those raised by sector representative organisations including the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and HOLEX, and we are working hard to mitigate this impact as much as we can. The Chancellor has announced a series of wider measures to support employers and employees, recognising the significant impacts caused by Covid-19.

For grant funded providers, I can confirm that the ESFA will continue to make scheduled 16-19 and AEB monthly payments for the remainder of the year. Your allocations for 2020/21 will have been confirmed by the end of March, and payments will be made as scheduled. I hope this provides you with the funding certainty you require as you seek to address the impact of responding to Covid-19.  For other funding streams, we will be making decisions on where existing rules and models may need to be modified in relation to any planned reconciliation and future year allocations.

We have today published more detailed operational guidance for FE providers here www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision and will continue to add to this to make sure providers have the latest information.

Apprenticeships

In this difficult time, I know that providers and employers are doing their best for their workforce. I want to support that by ensuring that wherever possible apprentices can continue and complete their apprenticeship, despite any break they need to take as a result of COVID-19. I, through the ESFA, am committed to working with training providers, end-point assessment organisations and external quality assurance organisations to mitigate the impacts of this disruption and maintain the integrity of apprenticeships.  I am hoping that together, with the expertise, support and commitment that you continually demonstrate, we can support apprentices and their employers through these extraordinary and difficult times.

Today we are publishing our apprenticeship response to COVID-19 – www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response. This document sets out how we are responding to the impact of COVID-19, as part of our cross-Government efforts.  We are implementing new measures to make it easier for apprenticeships to continue and complete in a different way if they need to or to break and resume an apprenticeship later when that becomes possible. The document explains the temporary flexibilities that we are introducing to the programme during the pandemic and provides answers to questions related to these changes and other common questions. We will continue updating this guidance in line with new queries and/ or further support measures being introduced.

Alternatives arrangements for exams

You will also be aware that we have taken the difficult decision to cancel all exams this summer. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we know that this will be disappointing for students who have been working hard towards these exams. We have been working closely with the exam boards and qualifications regulator Ofqual to put in place alternative arrangements.

There are a very wide range of different vocational and technical qualifications as well as other academic qualifications for which students were expecting to sit exams this summer. These are offered by a large number of awarding organisations and have differing assessment approaches – in many cases, students will already have completed modules or non-exam assessment which could provide evidence to award a grade. We are encouraging these organisations to show the maximum possible flexibility and pragmatism to ensure students are not disadvantaged.

Ofqual is working urgently with the exam boards to set out proposals for how this process will work and will be talking to teachers’ representatives before finalising an approach, to ensure that the approach taken is as fair as possible. For more details please see our guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020. More information will be provided as soon as possible. 

Communication with the sector 

I recognise that the current situation is throwing up queries and concerns that many of you are working through and my officials are already speaking regularly with provider bodies and unions to make sure we are alive to the issues that you are all facing and the questions that you have. I am also in contact with representatives of the sector on the impact of Covid-19 and will continue to engage over the coming weeks.     

Accurate information is clearly vital at a time like this, and the latest government guidance is available on GOV.UK, including advice for all education settings and critical worker classifications.

To help maintain the flow of information and ensure we are alive to the issues affecting you all, I would encourage you to keep in touch and raise any queries via your ESFA territorial team or for apprenticeships, via the Apprenticeship Service helpline by telephone on 08000 150 600 or email at helpdesk@manage-apprenticeships.service.gov.uk

We are certainly in an extraordinary situation and I am extremely grateful for the huge amount of work being done across the sector to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on our staff, students, and institutions.

Yours sincerely,  

Gillian Keegan MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills

 

 

 

 

The government confirmed it will honour all payments to grant funded providers for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year, in new guidance published today.

The operational guidance for general FE colleges, sixth form colleges and other post-16 FE providers listed a number of measures enacted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

FE Week pulled out the following five key points:

 

1) Colleges to be financially supported

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) allocations for 2020/21 will be confirmed by the end of the month and payments to grant funded providers will continue to be made.

The Department for Education said it recognises that the coronavirus situation carries “financial implications for many institutions, and we are working to mitigate the impact as much as we can”.

The guidance confirmed existing support arrangements will remain in place for colleges in significant financial difficulties, including short term solvency support through emergency funding.

Furthermore, the Student Loans Company will continue to make scheduled fee payment to providers for Advanced Learner Loans.

 

2) ID ‘critical worker’ parents

Until further notice, colleges have been told to only stay open for vulnerable children and those of “key workers” (list here).

The DfE has recommended that colleges ask for “simple evidence” that the parent in question is a key worker, such as their “work ID badge or pay slip”.

It would be “overly burdensome on key sectors at this critical time to ask employers to write a letter on behalf of their employees”.

3) Train staff in distance learning

Some colleges, according to the guidance, have already indicated they aim to run a regular timetabled offer of online learning, which is “excellent practice if it can be reasonably maintained”.

Where possible, colleges have been urged to prepare staff on distance learning practice through bitesize/refresher training sessions focused on how to use college virtual learning environments.

They should also use tools already available at the college including physical and digital resources, and how to make use of cloud storage systems, ensuring staff and students have log-in details and know how to access online content.

Accessible guides on distance learning should also be given to students, and colleges should consider “lesson capture” to allow students to “dip in and out of lessons at their own pace”.

Leaders should also “consider how you will deploy your staff to ensure safeguarding and security policies are maintained”.

FE Commissioner Richard Atkins and his team have offered their services to college leaders, and National Leaders of Governance are also ready to offer any support they can. They can be contacted via email on FEC.OPERATIONS@education.gov.uk.

4) No exams will be taking place in colleges this summer

The guidance outlines how exam boards will be asking teachers who know their students “well” to submit a set of evidence, including performance in mock results and their judgement about the grade that they believe the student would have received if exams had gone ahead.

In regards to vocational and technical qualifications, the DfE added that it is working with Ofqual to “see what flexibility and pragmatism can be applied to ensure students are not disadvantaged”.

 

5) No Ofsted or FE Commissioner inspections either

The guidance confirms Ofsted inspections and FE Commissioner intervention visits and non-critical ESFA intervention have been suspended until further notice.