Coronavirus: ‘Furious’ AELP boss says government wants skills sector to collapse

The government’s goal seems to be for the skills sector to “collapse”, a “furious” Mark Dawe has told FE Week after officials failed to provide apprenticeship funding support during the Covid-19 crisis.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive tonight lambasted the “disgraceful” decision and demanded an urgent meeting with skills minister Gillian Keegan.

New guidance released by the Department for Education stated that policy “does not allow payment for services in advance of delivery”, so funding for apprenticeships cannot be made until the training has taken place.

The situation has left providers in a “battle to survive”.

Dawe told FE Week: “I am furious that after weeks of discussions the government has made no attempt to provide any assurance to independent providers and end-point assessment organisations as to any future funding relating to any of their delivery.

“It seems their goal is for the sector to collapse and remove any delivery to apprentices, other learners and their hundreds of thousands of employers.  As things stand tonight, there is only one word – disgraceful.”

Here is his reaction in full: “The omission of any DfE funding support for apprenticeships and other skills training goes completely against the assurance offered by the Secretary of State to the House of Commons last week.

“We are left to conclude that the government is not serious about apprenticeship training or any other forms of skills training continuing while the pandemic goes on or that it is very happy to preside over many independent training providers (ITPs) going out of business over the next three months.

“How are providers expected to implement the proposed flexibilities in today’s statement if they have vastly reduced income coming in? It is now a battle for survival. The majority of provider staff will be furloughed which means they will not be available to support the training of apprentices and other learners.

“Coming after Friday’s guaranteed funding support for mainstream FE provision, the DfE statement adds insult to injury. For example, it says that “government policy does not allow payment for services in advance of delivery” and yet this is precisely what it announced for colleges on Friday.  ITPs delivering adult education, traineeships and other forms of training have similarly been offered zero assurance by today’s statement.

“Then on apprenticeships, the statement goes further and lays down terms for clawback of funding from independent training providers if the crisis means that apprenticeships can’t be completed.  Given that it is not their fault that they cannot gain access to apprentices or assess them, this is beyond the pale.

“Unless the government urgently rethinks its stance that it has had two weeks to think about, we are likely to see the start of the collapse of the training and assessment sector over the next week unless action is taken on funding, and those employers who want training and assessment to continue will have no place to go when this is over.

“Colleges only deliver 2 per cent of apprenticeship training.  This means that they are no position to rush in and fill the gaps that will appear in key sectors and in many towns and rural areas across the country, including the Red Wall areas, if ITPs, who deliver nearly seven out of 10 apprenticeships, start going bust.  Niche provision in sectors like textiles will also suffer very badly.

“Another important point on the quality of provision is that nearly all ITPs have made the transition across to the new apprenticeship standards whereas less than six months away from the switch-off of frameworks, many colleges are lagging in making the change.

“So employers looking to get back on their feet after the end of the pandemic will find that the apprenticeships that they want won’t be available to them.  And soon that other oven-ready solution of EU migrant labour won’t be there either to fill the gaps.

“What about this year’s school-leavers aged 16 or 18?  Where are the opportunities going to be for them if lots of apprenticeship training providers are no longer around?

“This is why any further delay on a funding support package for apprenticeships and ITPs is totally unacceptable.

“AELP has this evening demanded an urgent meeting with the apprenticeships and skills minister.  We also hope that MPs on the Commons Education Committee will be raising these issues with the minister when she appears before them on Wednesday.”

FE minister writes to apprenticeship providers about COVID-19 response

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

 

 

 

 

College funding support confirmed, and 4 other key points from latest DfE Covid-19 guidance

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.

Coronavirus: Ofsted pauses publication of inspection reports

Ofsted has paused the publication of inspection reports during the coronavirus crisis and promised that it will have “do the right thing” as its mantra going forward.

Deputy director for FE and skills Paul Joyce (pictured) told an FE Week webinar on Saturday they had taken the decision because they are “well aware providers have enough to deal with”.

“There are a number of providers that will be expecting a report to be published imminently,” he said.

“We will continue to send the report to providers but they won’t be published until further notice and we’ll obviously let providers know when that will be at some point in the future.”

Pressed on whether this meant providers ought to ignore the watchdog, Joyce said that was “very good advice”.

This decision was part of the inspectorate’s mantra to “do the right thing” going forward, he added.

Ofsted said there are 50 FE and skills inspection reports being held over until the providers reopen as normal.

The watchdog announced last week that it would suspend routine inspections until further notice. It had come under fire for not halting inspections sooner.

Joyce told the webinar a visit could now only be triggered if the inspectorate learns of safeguarding concerns or incidents which need “really urgent action”. The threshold to trigger an inspection would be “really high”, he stressed.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said last week that education providers should close from today, except for the children of key workers and the most vulnerable students.

Joyce said that Ofsted is working “very closely” with the Department for Education about “potential redeployment of our staff if that’s required”, which might “include to support providers to deal with that situation”.

It has also been decided Ofsted will pause all its work around handling complaints related to inspection reports, Joyce revealed.

The watchdog will not be contacting providers in relation to new or existing complaints and they will not be sending out complaint outcomes until further notice as well.

One provider asked if they have had a report approved, can they share it with students and stakeholders. Joyce said the watchdog would not step in the way and be “stopping good news getting out” if it is a positive result.

The inspectorate will also be working with the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency, as well as sector bodies, to help independent training providers which have been suspended from new starts after a poor early monitoring visit.

“It will be focused on doing the right thing but it is a bit early to say what the right thing is. That’s on my agenda,” Joyce said.

When business does return to normal, he said they will put out some guidance about any changes to policy or practice they need to inspect the intervening period of provision.

He did give five pieces of advice to providers, which is to “try and do the right thing”, provide “whatever help and support you can”, “follow the advice and guidance being provided”, “keep talking with agencies” like Ofsted, and “stay well”.

 

Coronavirus: Universities warned over rush to unconditional offers

The universities regulator has said it will use “any powers available” to prevent institutions from switching students’ offers to unconditional in the wake of the government’s cancellation of this summer’s exam series.

Following the announcement last week that GCSE and A-level grades will be based on teacher assessment this year, the Department for Education warned that a small number of universities have changed “a significant proportion” of their offers to undergraduate students from ‘conditional’ to ‘unconditional’.

Nicola Dandridge, the chief executive of the Office for Students, said it would be “quite wrong” for any university to respond to the coronavirus crisis by making offers “that may undermine the sustainability of the university system and increase the financial pressure on other providers”.

Michelle Donelan (pictured), the universities minister, has demanded a two-week moratorium on unconditional offers, warning that changing offers at this stage “risks destabilising the entire admissions systems”.

“I am asking for a two week pause while we work with the sector over this period on admissions arrangements,” she said.

It follows moves by the government to clamp down on the use of unconditional offers, which has increased substantially in recent years. School and college leaders are concerned the offers discourage students from working hard during their final year.

Donelan said the country faced “unprecedented circumstances”, but that it was “essential that we create a period of stability for both students and universities”.

“As universities seek to secure attendance for the next academic year, I would ask them to refrain from changing existing offers to unconditional offers as it risks destabilising the entire admissions systems,” she said.

Dandridge, who has been vocal in her opposition to the inappropriate use of unconditional offers, said many universities and colleges were responding to coronavirus “with innovation and ingenuity”.

“But it is critical that every university and college puts the student’s interest first in these difficult times,” she added.

“So, I want to make it very clear to any university or college – and its leaders and governors – that if any university or college adjusts any offer to students, or make any unconditional offers, during this two week moratorium we will use any powers available to us to prevent such offer making on the grounds that it is damaging to students and not in their interests.”

Alistair Jarvis, the chief executive of universities industry body Universities UK, said the institutions were “doing all that they can to support students with great examples across the country. It is important that these efforts are not undermined by inappropriate admissions practices increasing worry and pressure for applicants.”

The DfE said students who accept an unconditional offer will be able to release themselves as part of the UCAS self-release process to explore other options during clearing. The process was introduced last year and almost 30,000 students used it.

Admissions service UCAS has also announced that it will extend the deadline for pupils to make decisions on their offers by two weeks. The deadline is usually early May.

DfE reveals how it will provide grades for A-level and GCSE students this summer

The government has confirmed it will use teacher assessments to provide calculated grades for students this year.

The aim is to provide grades to learners before the end of July. They will be “indistinguishable from those provided in other years”, and students will have a chance to resit an exam if they don’t think the grade is fair.

On Friday, officials published further details of how it will replace GCSEs and A-levels this summer after exams were scrapped amid the coronavirus outbreak.

It states exam boards will “ask teachers to submit their judgement about the grade that they believe the student would have received if exams had gone ahead”.

This is an opportunity to at least point the way to a less brutal system.

Teachers should consider evidence including performance on mock exams and non-exam assessment.

Ofqual said “clear guidance on how to do this fairly and robustly this will be provided to schools and colleges”.

“The exam boards will then combine this information with other relevant data, including prior attainment, and use this information to produce a calculated grade for each student, which will be a best assessment of the work they have put in.”

Ofqual and exam boards “will be discussing with teachers’ representatives before finalising an approach, to ensure that it is as fair as possible. More information will be provided as soon as possible.”

Ofqual said it will also “aim to ensure that the distribution of grades follows a similar pattern to that in other years, so that this year’s students do not face a systematic disadvantage as a consequence of these extraordinary circumstances.”

If pupils “do not believe the correct process has been followed” then they can appeal.

If they don’t feel their calculated grade reflects their performance pupils can also resit an exam “at the earliest reasonable opportunity, once schools are open again. Students will also have the option to sit their exams in summer 2021.”

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Cancelling exams is something no education secretary would ever want to do, however these are extraordinary times and this measure is a vital but unprecedented step in the country’s efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.

“My priority now is to ensure no young person faces a barrier when it comes to moving onto the next stage of their lives – whether that’s further or higher education, an apprenticeship or a job.

“I have asked exam boards to work closely with the teachers who know their pupils best to ensure their hard work and dedication is rewarded and fairly recognised.”

However Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the details leave “many questions unanswered”.

But he said teachers are the “experts in their subjects, they know these qualifications inside out, they know their students, and they have the professional skills to assess them accurately.

“We do not subscribe to the notion that exams are the only credible way of assessing qualifications, and this is an opportunity to at least point the way to a less brutal system.”

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “We are working tirelessly to support students affected by these unprecedented and difficult circumstances and to develop, quickly, a fair and consistent process. We know that schools and colleges urgently need to know what they will need to do, and when.”

DfE suspends process for defunding qualifications with low enrolments

The Department for Education has suspended the process for defunding thousands of legacy qualifications at level three and below with low enrolments amid the coronavirus crisis.

But for qualifications with no enrolments, officials will continue with that process under an “expanded timeframe”.

A consultation on plans to remove funding for more than 5,000 qualifications at level three and below was launched by the government in February.

Those at risk are courses that are currently not being studied by any learners or have cohorts of fewer than 100, and are coming to the end of their three-year operation.

The plan was to stop their funding by August 2021, and the deadline for organisations to submit appeals for keeping individual qualifications under review was 27 March.

But following a plea to delay the process from the Federation of Awarding Bodies owing to colleges and other education settings being ordered to close, Education and Skills Funding Agency chief executive Eileen Milner has agreed to alter the arrangements.

“Recognising the rapidly changing nature of the current situation, and taking account of recent announcements, we are proposing to run the no enrolment process only this year, offering, on top of the four week extension for evidence you suggested, a further window to submit evidence during September,” she told FAB boss Tom Bewick in an email, seen by FE Week, today.

“We will not run the low enrolment process this year, but re-launch that in the autumn, as part of the second cycle of review of funding approval decisions, with qualifications in scope potentially having funding approval withdrawn from August 2022.”

An email outlining the changes will be sent to all awarding organisations today.

It will inform them that the deadline to submit the “relevant accompanying evidence” for qualifications with no enrolments is now extended to 30 April 2020.

“Qualifications with low enrolments which are included on the published list will retain funding approvals for 2021 to 2022,” it will add.

“These qualifications will be in scope to have funding approval removed from August 2022.”

Exact timescales for the revised arrangements will be revealed “in the autumn”.

Bewick said his federation was “pleased that the ESFA is responding so flexibly to our members at this incredibly challenging time”.

“These postponements will free up some of the time of awarding body staff to focus on the immediate crisis of dealing with Covid-19, including ensuring that various assessments continue for apprentices and vocational technical qualification students.”

Free recording: FE’s response & requirements to Coronavirus pandemic

On Saturday FE Week hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the latest legislation and guidance from the government regarding the response to the coronavirus pandemic, for the FE and skills sector.

Presented by Shane Mann, publisher of FE Week, he was joined by Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes, Association of Employment and Learning Providers boss Mark Dawe, FE Commissioner Richard Atkins, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE and skills Paul Joyce, and Holex director Sue Pember.

You can watch it back for free by clicking here.

Further FE Week webinars will be announced throughout the Pandemic to help support the sector.

£1m rap collaboration sends apprenticeship site visits soaring

The government has celebrated nearly tripling the interest in apprenticeships after spending more than £1 million on the release of a grime song as part of its Fire It Up campaign.

FE Week can reveal the unusual partnership between a YouTube entrepreneur, rapper and the Department for Education (DfE) cost £542,009.65 to deliver, with an additional £323,446.42 spent on its partnership with The Guardian newspaper and £215,426.51 with streaming platform Spotify.

However, the DfE refused to disclose the individual fees paid to the famous participants on the grounds that it is “personal data”, which means the total amount is likely to be much higher.

FE Week has requested an internal review of our Freedom of Information request to find out these costs.

Jamal Edwards MBE, the founder of online music platform SBTV, collaborated with artist P Money, producer Teddy Music (aka Silencer) and director Matthew Walker, who previously worked with stars including Skepta, Stormzy and JME, to create the single and shoot the music video.

The DfE did confirm that it spent £44,000 on the production of apprenticeship track The Calling, and it said the launch event cost £8,800.

No fee was paid to SBTV, which uploaded a series of three behind-the-scenes videos to its platform with more than one million subscribers on YouTube.

The song has now had more than 100,000 views on P Money’s own YouTube channel (said to be much higher than the DfE’s usual organic figures) as well as almost 90,000 views on SBTV’s channel.

The partnerships contributed to a 171 per cent increase in the number of users of the apprenticeship website in January to March compared to the same period last year, from 300,380 to 814,991, and a 180 per cent rise in sessions, from 385,998 to 1,079,207.

An extra 270,000 people were also reached through YouTube and Instagram.

A DfE spokesperson said: “This campaign was designed to directly appeal to young people and their parents to showcase the huge range and diversity of apprenticeships on offer.

“The success of this campaign shows that by thinking differently, whether it’s by using grime artists or drones, you can successfully reach new audiences and open their minds to the idea that a life-changing apprenticeship could be right for them.”

In response to the FOI, the DfE added that it worked with partners it knew “young people, in particular, respond to, follow, trust and respect”.

For example, Edwards was selected as a digital influencer to increase reach and engagement for his “large and diverse” audience and background, which made him a “great fit” for the campaign.

The YouTube entrepreneur previously said he was “passionate about showing £1m rap collaboration sends apprenticeship site visits soaring young people that there are many ways to reach their potential” and that he hoped the track would “help get the message out” that apprenticeships are not just for trades such as plumbing and construction.

Seven apprentices volunteered to help record, produce and promote the song, working on sound and video production, drone engineering, logistics, lighting, hair styling, marketing and social media.

Their parents, teachers and employers also volunteered to take part.

Shola West, a 19-year-old level 3 digital marketing apprentice at WhiteHat Apprentice BAME Network, organised the launch party event, promoted it on Twitter and Instagram and recorded a voiceover for the Spotify advert as part of the Fire It Up campaign.

West previously told FE Week it was a “great experience” because it showed she was able to put the skills developed during her apprenticeship into practice.

She called the opportunity to work with Edwards and P Money “really exciting” and added that her involvement made the digital marketing apprentice consider working in creative industries in the future.

The Fire It Up campaign was first launched in January last year. The latest phase started in January 2020 and will run until the end of this month, which is considered a key application and recruitment period.