The Careers and Enterprise Company has released new analysis showing how post-16 providers are faring against the eight Gatsby benchmarks.

It is a follow-up to the quango’s “State of the Nation” report put out in September that showed colleges’ and schools’ progress in meeting the markers of excellence in careers guidance had “accelerated”, after they achieved an average of three in 2018/19, compared to 1.34 when they were first measured in 2014.

Today’s publication details how many of the benchmarks have been achieved, partially achieved or not achieved, specifically by the 262 FE providers using the CEC’s Compass tool, which measures a provider’s progress against the standards.

The report breaks it down by 154 general FE colleges, 85 Sixth form colleges (including 16 to 19 academy converters and free schools) and 23 special post-16 providers.

FE providers were previously warned by the Department for Education they had to meet the benchmarks by the end of this year or risk incurring financial penalties.

Here’s the rundown of how each post-16 provider type is performing against the benchmarks…

Benchmark 1 – A stable careers programme

A greater proportion of sixth form colleges have achieved this standard than either general FE or special providers.

But over 90 per cent of colleges reported they have a careers programme written down that has “explicit backing” from their senior leadership team.

Programmes were published online by 75 per cent of colleges.

And by the end of the 2018/19, 96 per cent of the FE colleges and 99 per cent of sixth form colleges and schools had a careers leader in place.

Benchmark 2 – Learning from career and labour market information

Sixth form colleges were more likely to have positive outcomes than the other provider types, with 66 per cent of them having achieved this benchmark compared to 43 per cent of general FEs.

In 58 per cent of colleges and 71 per cent of sixth form colleges and schools, over three-quarters of learners use “up-to-date labour market information and information about career paths during their programme of study”.

Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of each learner

Post-16 providers are trumping secondary schools against this benchmark, which encompasses factors such as whether colleges support learners towards positive career destinations.

Ninety per cent of FE colleges and 97 per cent of sixth forms report they maintain accurate data on learner destinations for three years after they leave college, which is an area the report says secondary schools “struggle with”.

Benchmark 4 – Linking curriculum learning to careers

General FE colleges outpaced sixth forms and special institutions on this benchmark with a 67 per cent achievement rate.

All staff need to link curriculum learning with careers to meet this benchmark, and 81 per cent of colleges reported the majority of their learners learn about the relevance of their subject to future careers through the curriculum.

Benchmark 5 – Encounters with employers and employees

Research quoted in the report shows learners who have regular encounters with working people, at careers fairs or enterprise competitions, have better labour outcomes.

Colleges have improved on this benchmark from last year: 81 per cent ensured all or most learners have at least one encounter in 2018/19, compared to 67 per cent in 2017/18.

But it was specialist colleges that fared best in this standard, where 44 per cent had achieved.

Benchmark 6 – Experiences of workplaces

Special institutions excelled here again, with 74 per cent having achieved the benchmark; which says every learner should have first-hand experience of a workplace.

But there was a marked variation between provider types: 58 per cent of colleges also achieved the benchmark, compared to just 26 per cent of sixth forms.

Benchmark 7 – Encounters with further and higher education

General FE colleges came off poorly here: learners were more likely to have meaningful encounters with other FE, apprenticeships and HE providers if they went to sixth form.

Special post-16 institutions were also lagging behind SFCs: just 13 per cent have achieved the benchmark compared to 38 per cent.

Benchmark 8 – Personal guidance

Over 90 per cent of general FE and sixth form colleges reported they had made interviews with a qualified careers adviser available to learners, as the benchmark demands.

But the report warns not all learners may take up the opportunity, and there may not be enough careers advisers for all learners to receive an interview.

CEC interim chief executive John Yarham’s conclusion

“College leaders and staff are pursuing the careers education agenda with energy and enthusiasm.

“The positive progress they are making is delivering real results for students – broadening opportunity and improving life chances.

“It is encouraging to see the changes made to shape the system to fit the college context is reaping rewards for the sector and their students. Engagement is growing and execution picking up pace.”

More than 30 colleges based outside London are set to lose millions in funding for delivering training to adults in the capital next year.

Greater London Authority officials have revealed plans to contract with just four colleges that are not located within “reasonable travel-to-learn distances for London learners”.

If approved, it means that 32 fewer organisations, who currently have combined adult education budget allocations of over £13.4 million with the GLA, will be funded from 2021/22.

The proposal was disclosed in the GLA’s agenda for its next AEB mayoral board meeting, which is scheduled for tomorrow.

It comes after mayor Sadiq Khan signed off on a crackdown on funding for training providers based outside of the capital’s “fringe” – typically more than 30 miles away from central London.

Officials say the majority of funding given to these colleges is subcontracted to firms based in London who are then charged a “substantial” management fee – a practice that the GLA wants to limit.

Out-of-area colleges were previously asked to submit a business case for why their funding should continue, based on the type of provision they offer and the groups of learners they support.

The final decision on which out-of-area colleges will continue to gain funding from the GLA is expected to be made at tomorrow’s meeting.

A spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment at this stage, or reveal the names of the four colleges that look set to keep their funding.

The GLA previously said it will consult on how best to use the returned £13.4 million as part of its next Skills for Londoners framework consultation, which is expected to launch this month.

Options include running a separate AEB procurement exercise or funding uplifts for certain learners and qualifications.

The AEB for the capital, which tops £300 million annually, was devolved from the Education and Skills Funding Agency to the GLA in August 2019.

The government will only accept proposals from providers in 20 of England’s 38 local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas for its upcoming Institutes of Technology tender.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson announced at the Conservative party conference in September that a further eight IoTs were to be created through a new £120 million competition.

His promise came months after the FE Week revealed cold spots with the first 12 IoTs, which began to open in September 2019. There were none planned for the north west and the east of England.

A ‘wave two prospectus’ was published by the Department for Education today and states that the new 12-month competition will launch “later in the year”.

It adds that only proposals from the 20 LEP areas that are currently not covered by an IoT will be eligible to apply (see map).

All applications must meet the “strict minimum conditions” set out in wave one and be a collaboration involving further education, higher education and employer partners.

The prospectus does not detail the exact criteria, but the first IoTs had to involve colleges with at least a grade two from Ofsted and have good financial health.

The first wave of IoTs are being created through a £170 million pot of capital funding.

They are a collaboration between colleges, universities and employers, and specialise in delivering higher level technical training at level 4 and 5 in STEM subjects, including digital, advanced manufacturing and engineering.

Williamson said: “Institutes of Technology will play a vital role in our plan to transform higher technical education across the country, helping to level up skills and unlock growth and opportunities.

“We are making good progress to establish the first wave of IoTs and I look forward to welcoming the second wave of applicants, completing our high-quality national network.”

A university has been told to repay £119,000 by its funding body after an investigation found a payout to its ex-principal – who now chairs an influential college commission – breached financial rules.

The Scottish Funding Council, which oversees further and higher education funding north of the border, has today published its report into the University of Aberdeen and its former boss Sir Ian Diamond.

Diamond, who is leading the College of the Future commission, triggered his 12-month notice for his role as university principal in July 2018 – the same month he retired from the role.

He originally announced his plans to retire in August 2017.

The former principal’s total remuneration disclosed in the university’s financial statements for 2017-18 was £601,000. This included a salary of £282,000, pension contributions of £30,000 and “contractual notice period payment and related expenses” of £289,000.

After examining over 500 pieces of evidence, today’s report states that in approving the terms of the settlement agreement, there was “no documented assessment of value for money”.

Officials found that the university was paying two principals while Diamond was on gardening leave.

“By defining the former principal’s ‘formal’ notice date as the date immediately preceding both the successor principal taking up his post and the former principal moving to a 12 month period of ‘gardening leave’, the university incurred the cost of two principals over the 2018-19 financial year,” the report said.

“In addition, over the 2017-18 financial year, the principal received his full salary while having significantly fewer duties and responsibilities than those constituting the full role of principal, and we have seen no evidence that the value for money consequences of that arrangement were assessed.”

The report notes that the ‘Heads of Terms’ for the settlement agreement were approved by the remuneration committee, but there is “no evidence that sufficient documented information was supplied so that members could be assured university policies and interests were observed”.

The settlement agreement was “correctly disclosed”, according to today’s review, but “in our view the additional payment of £60,000” for “outplacement support should also have been disclosed”.

The SFC concludes that there was “non-compliance with several financial memorandum requirements”.

Officials have now said it requires £119,000 to be repaid and for the university to undertake an externally-facilitated review of its governance procedures and culture.

Esther Roberton, who was elected in 2019 to the role of senior governor of the University of Aberdeen, said the university accepts the findings and has “already repaid the £119,000 to the Scottish Funding Council”.

“We will address the issues raised in the report and take lessons from it,” she added.

A spokesperson for the university confirmed that Diamond has not had to personally repay any of his settlement agreement.

Diamond, who became the UK’s National Statistician in October, was unveiled as the chair of the College of the Future commission in May 2019.

The commission includes 16 people and aims to set out a “new vision” for colleges in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

It is being supported by nine organisations including the Association of Colleges.

Leaders of colleges in England have previously faced questions over payments they received during their notice periods.

In May, the University and College Union criticised pay rises and 12-month notice period extensions for all the executives at Stephenson College, which came into force in 2015 ahead of a merger consultation.

And Mike Hopkins, the former principal of Sussex Downs College, was paid £80,000 by the college while on gardening leave for five months after his provider merged with Sussex Coast College Hastings last year.

This was despite the fact Sussex Downs was facing a deficit of £1.9 million and planning a wave of staff redundancies. He also received a final payout for leaving, but it is not known how much this was.

Gillian Keegan has been named as the new apprenticeships and skills minister.

She joined the Department for Education as a parliamentary under secretary of state on Friday following Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.

Her title was confirmed this evening along with all ministerial portfolios. It is not clear at this stage, however, if she will be responsible for the whole further education brief, including oversight of colleges.

The DfE told FE Week that more information on portfolio splits will be confirmed at a later date.

The department has been missing a dedicated apprenticeships and skills minister since Anne Milton resigned in July 2019.

Since then Gavin Williamson, who was reappointed as education secretary in last week’s reshuffle, has led on FE and skills personally.

Keegan is the MP for Chichester and is herself a former apprentice. She was elected to parliament for the first time in 2017.

Her website states that she is the “only degree level apprentice in the House of Commons”.

She started work as an apprentice at Delco Electronics aged 16 and whilst learning about she was sponsored to study a degree in business studies at Liverpool John Moores University.

For the next 25 years she worked and lived abroad, working in the manufacturing, banking and IT industries, according to her website.

It adds that her “experience of a comprehensive and wide ranging apprenticeship provided her with a foundation of skills and knowledge that helped continue a 27 year long business career”.

She is the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for apprentices, and was made an “apprenticeship ambassador” by Milton in February 2019.

Keegan sat on the influential Public Accounts Committee until she was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Treasury in December 2018.

She has since held posts in the Ministry of Defence, served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary and the Department for Health.

The DfE also confirmed tonight that Michelle Donelan is the new universities minister, as revealed by FE Week last week.

Baroness Berridge has been announced as the new academies minister, taking over from Lord Agnew, and Nick Gibb will continue as the schools minister.

With the budget less than a month away, and the prime minister confirming the apprenticeship levy needs reform, there are signs that the government could quickly revisit the original tax credit recommendation from 2012.

Education select committee chair Robert Halfon has called for the policy to be introduced on numerous occasions over the past year.

He told an Annual Apprenticeship Awards parliamentary reception last week that he finds it “incredible” that if companies invest in research and development “they get a research tax credit, hundreds of millions of pounds a year”.

“Why on earth isn’t there such a thing as a skills credit where, if companies invest in skills and apprenticeships, they get a skills tax credit from the Treasury to incentivise businesses to do more, whether it is an apprenticeship, adult learning, or whatever it may be,” Halfon added.

It is an idea favoured by Baroness Alison Wolf, who now advises the prime minister Boris Johnson on skills three days a week.

In October 2019, during an education select committee hearing, Halfon asked Wolf: “Should there not be a skill or social justice tax credit for businesses if they genuinely reskill their employees?”

The baroness replied: “I think there should – if one can figure out a way of doing it that will not be open to massive fraud. It would be a very good idea.

“As you say, you have double tax credits for research. Why not have double tax credits for training? Off the top of my head I think it is a really good idea, but like so many of these things the question is whether it is actually doable without having either a massive amount of semi-fraud or a massive amount of expensive apparatus looking at it.

“I think it would be a really interesting thing to consider.”

The idea of skills tax credits was first mooted in the 2012 Richard Review of Apprentices, which was conducted by former Dragons’ Den star Doug Richard (pictured).

He called for employers to pay providers directly for apprenticeship training.

Richard said tax credits, or other forms of government incentives, should then be dished out to employers as the government pays its part of apprentice training.

“Instead of the money for providers coming from the government, they [providers] now have the more granular challenge of having to collect their money from employers,” he explained.

“The employers only get the credit if they show they’ve spent the money. It means if the employer wants it done, they can’t hold the money back from the provider.”

He added: “There are differences here, profound ones, but if you net out the whole system, a provider still largely ends up providing training and getting paid through a government subsidy. But now its customer — as always should have been the case — will be the employer, not the government or one of its agencies.

“It changes who the training provider has as their customer. The customer should have the money — it focuses the mind of the vendor. I feel strongly about this point, and I think it’s the heart of the review.”

Asked if they were considering skills tax credits in the run up to the budget, a Treasury spokesperson said: “We already provide tax relief for employee training through a 100 per cent corporation tax deduction. We keep all tax reliefs under review.”

They added that in order to consider more generous tax treatment, there must be a clear economic case made for government intervention, so that any measures are well-targeted and provide value for money for the tax-payer.

The next budget will be held on March 11.

As the run-up to WorldSkills 2021 picks up pace, FE Week reporter Fraser Whieldon went behind-the-scenes at a Squad UK bootcamp to find out how we train our competitors for the international stage

Nearly 120 skilled young people came from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to Loughborough last weekend for their first bootcamp to prepare them for competing in either WorldSkills Shanghai in China next year or EuroSkills Gratz in Austria 2020.

Currently, they are known as Squad UK, a large group of potential competitors who will be whittled down to Team UK, the select few going to China and Austria.

“Training managers tested squad members’ commitment, motivation and reaction to criticism”

I joined them on Saturday morning, during introductions from Olympianturned-WorldSkills-performance coach Peter Bakare and WorldSkills UK deputy chief executive Ben Blackledge.

After which, the squad members split up into groups to take part in teambuilding activities, such as sorting themselves into an alphabetical line without speaking.

I took part with one of the groups when they had to pass each member through a hoop, which my team achieved by standing in a line and having a couple of them run up the line, passing the hoop over one person’s head, then up from the feet of the next person.

It was a fun icebreaker and a great way for the squad to gel as a possible team, but there was a serious purpose to it.

Training managers were using the bootcamp to measure each squad member’s so-called “soft skills”: their attitude, commitment, motivation and how they react to criticism.

Linzi Weare, the training manager for hairdressing, was looking to get her four-person squad of competitors down to three this week, so: “It’s possibly going to be a really quick journey for one person.”

 

The squad also took sessions on how to use social media, as from now on “they are ambassadors for Squad UK and for the vocational system,” says Blackledge.

He is responsible for the “always evolving” training programmes WorldSkills UK runs, and says this year they have looked at a more “data-driven” approach and analysed what factors helped competitors perform better before, such as the support they get during the process.

They are also looking at how they put in performance milestones and how they do pressure testing in a “more systemic way”, Blackledge explained.

I saw an example of this emphasis on data in a talk by WorldSkills performance coach Karl Bartlett, where he asked squad members to sign up for an app that allows him to monitor what they eat and tell them what they are missing out on.

Blackledge describes the new focus as “brilliant for Squad UK and eventually Team UK, but also it is vital for the mainstreaming of what we do”.

“How does this get taken back into the classroom and back into colleges and training providers to have that understanding that this is what makes the marginal difference or the big difference in performance?”

Towards the end of the day, squad members took turns signing a Union Jack and waited for their turn in a queue that stretched around the conference centre in which the bootcamp took place.

But the bootcamp is also about getting the training managers up to snuff: on the Friday, they met to share strategic and technical information and good practice.

Christian Notley from Chichester College, chief expert for cabinet making, told me he had been making sure managers “share their knowledge” as WorldSkills has “a huge wealth of skills and information which are applicable to other training managers”.

“It’s good to talk to new experts and I can learn to come up with new ideas and it’s a great way to really drive ourselves forwards and upwards,” he added.

Naomi Radbourne was one new training manager I met on the day; she has taken over hair and beauty from Jenna Wrathall Bailey MBE, who helped lead the UK to a string of gold medals at competitions including Sao Paulo in 2015, Abu Dhabi in 2017 and Kazan in 2019.

Bearing that in mind, I asked Radbourne how she was going to keep up that level of quality: “It’s very much a strict training programme. It’s about having that openness with the competitors as well, making sure they’re getting exactly what they need, and we are pushing them as much as possible to be the best they can be through training and personal development.”

Formerly a competitor, Radbourne feels she is better acclimatised to a support role. When she was competing, her nickname was Mary Poppins because “I always pulled something out of the bag for other competitors and never for myself”, such as hairbrushes and facial mitts.

With that level of commitment, a fresh training regimen, and the wealth of experience behind them, things are looking bright for WorldSkills UK.

What makes you want to compete in WorldSkills?

FE Week spoke with a number of Squad UK members throughout the bootcamp to find out how and why they got involved in the elite tournament.

Lavanya Hemanth, Laboratory Technician competitor

For a lot of squad members, this would have been their first bootcamp. But not so for Lavanya, who says she has received a “golden ticket” to try again at competing in WorldSkills, after narrowly missing out on a place to go to Kazan.

Although another competitor ended up representing the UK in the chemical laboratory technician competition at last year’s tournament, Lavanya was still within the age range, so WorldSkills UK let her rejoin Squad UK to take another shot.

The Middlesex University student is determined to compete in Shanghai, but wants to improve on her interactive skills: “I don’t really go along and talk to people. I’m not an extrovert, I’m an introvert. So I will probably try to work on communication and being part of the team.”

But the improvement she sees is not just while she’s competing: Lavanya has also noticed an improvement when she is working on her undergraduate project in the laboratory.

“This actually gives me the confidence to work on my own in the lab, as it’s the same technique in a different place.”

But her experience with WorldSkills also helps her work in tandem, for instance, with her supervisor: “I’m learning through this journey,” she believes.

She first found out about WorldSkills from her tutors and initially just went along to see what it was like, “but once I was into the competition and the spirit and the confidence it brings” she got very engaged. Having attended a bootcamp last year, she said she personally feels she “deserves it more” this time around.

Madeline Rowe, Fine Jewellery Making competitor

Madeline is another competitor looking to represent the UK internationally, but things could have been very different for her.

“I did A-levels and was planning to go to university to do photography. My grandfather heard something in the news that said the jewellery trade is finding it hard to recruit people.”

Having always enjoyed design and technology at school, Madeline found a course with the Goldsmith’s Centre in London, deferred her place at university and now works for David Marshall at The London Art Works.

The support from her employer to compete has been “great”, she says, as they’re “totally up for anything I need to do and are happy to contribute towards anything.

“But of course, WorldSkills themselves have been great contributors, helping me get to and from these things.”

At the bootcamp, she was looking to get to know her squad mates: “I’ve always been difficult with the icebreaking, so I feel like, in terms to this morning, I’ve already gotten to know a couple of new faces, so that’s definitely helped a lot.”

She found the team-building activities of the morning useful because, if she is picked for Shanghai, “it’ll be nice to know a few more faces”.

Spending time with the other squad members was something Madeline used to help with the stress of competing in front of an audience at WorldSkills LIVE: “I’m not used to people staring at me all the time.”

But, with the other competitors, “we’re all in the same boat” and they went out together after LIVE, which she found to be a “nice place to make connections and get to know people and especially people from across the country who are doing the exact same thing as you”.

“It’s just a great little networking system.”

Cameron McKnight, Cyber Security competitor

Competitors take part in WorldSkills for many reasons. For Cameron, it was another chance to improve his skills in the area he obviously loves.

Cyber security, Cameron says, is under “constant threat… It’s evolving every day, with companies and enterprises across the world being attacked by cyber criminals. So my goal is to use the knowledge and skills I gain from WorldSkills and I’m excited to apply that to future careers.”

He said it was an “absolute honour to participate in this first bootcamp”, which he described as “very, very good”, adding it would be a privilege to participate in future events as well.

He came third in the cyber security competition at the WorldSkills LIVE, and was looking forward to getting stuck in with training. He hopes to gain new skills and knowledge at the bootcamp, as well as meeting new people and collaborating with his squad mates.

Cameron feels they “definitely” need the support of their training providers to get through the process. His own support comes from Belfast Metropolitan College, where he is studying cyber security technician infrastructure.

Many of the competitors talk about the support of colleges in terms of giving them time to compete. Cameron also highlights how his lecturers’ knowledge backs up his training.

Competing while at Belfast has been “especially useful” as he has “lecturers who specialise or come from a line of industry”.

In fact, the majority of his tutors specialise in a wide range of areas which Cameron says are applicable to cyber security. 

 

The crisis hit National College for HS2 has hired a team of lawyers to stop Ofsted publishing a highly critical report, FE Week can reveal.

The government-backed flagship college launched in 2017 but has struggled to recruit learners and this time last year received close to £5 million in a bailout deal to keep the doors open.

In November, inspectors visited the college – renamed last year as the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure (NCATI) – for the first time and found the quality of provision to be so poor they were set to award the lowest grade possible, a grade four.

“The inspection and report are the subject of litigation”

Governors were quick to instruct lawyers to block the publication by filing for a judicial review at the High Court. They have also voted to stop publishing board minutes, as well as delayed signing off the accounts.

The Department for Education was initially cautious of commenting during the legal proceedings, but have since confirmed they placed they college in formal intervention on December 6. A notice to improve and a Further Education Commissioner report will be published shortly.

It is understood that a court date for the judicial review is yet to be set.

Despite being handed a financial notice to improve – and being in receipt of a £4.55 million government bailout to sign off its 2017/18 accounts – the college did not need permission to use public funds on legal proceedings.

The DfE said the college is not required to seek approval for legal expenses following formal intervention – because as independent organisations governing bodies are subject to their own fiduciary responsibilities.

Chair of the college board is Alison Munro, chief executive of HS2 Ltd from January 2009 to September 2014, and subsequently managing director of HS2 Phase 2 until her retirement in August 2017, when she was awarded a CBE.

A DfE spokesperson did add that the board must act in the best interests of the college, as a charity.

As spokesperson for Ofsted told FE Week “The inspection and report are the subject of litigation. The report has not been published. In the circumstances, we are not able to say more.”

The college also said it could not comment on the Ofsted result as “there is a legal process taking place”.

The influential Public Accounts Committee is set to be reformed next month, and FE Week understands that – subject to members agreeing – its first evidence hearing will be an update on HS2 on March 4, which will likely include questions on the national college.

This is the second judicial review to be launched by an FE provider following a grade four Ofsted judgement in recent years. The country’s former largest training provider, Learndirect, lost its High Court battle with the education watchdog in 2017.

It led to a National Audit Office inquiry, a Public Accounts Committee hearing, and, ultimately, the government terminating the provider’s £100 million funding contracts.

The Ofsted report is not the only thing NCATI is keeping hidden from the public, as it confessed to FE Week it has temporarily suspended the publication of board minutes as of last month.

The decision was taken because of “exceptional circumstances in which the college was currently operating” – namely “so as to not prejudice an independent review taking place into HS2”, a spokesperson said.

Learners and stakeholders interested in how the college is being run will have to make do with corporation board minutes on NCATI’s website. These go up only to December 2018 and February last year for the audit committee, and none have ever been published for its search, governance and remuneration committee.

Suspending publication means the records of meetings taken during NCATI’s transition from the National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR) will not be published until at least July 2020.

NCATI has also failed to sign off its 2018/19 accounts, a situation the college said the ESFA is “aware of, as we are working with their team to be in a position to finalise the statements”.

The National College for High Speed Rail rebranded as NCATI in 2019 and announced plans to expand its provision to cover transport areas other than the high-speed rail industry, to which it had been dedicated ever since it was opened by then education secretary Justine Greening.

It denied that the name change was related to the troubled HS2 project.

The college currently advertises rail-related apprenticeships between levels 3 and 6, as well as higher national certificates and higher national diplomas, foundation degrees, and full-time courses at either level 3 or 4.

Hopes were initially high for the college, with the likely construction of a high-speed rail line connecting London with the midlands and north, HS2, near to their campuses at Birmingham and Doncaster. Moreover, it is being led by Clair Mowbray, a former employee of the line’s builders, HS2 Ltd.

Yet according to a recently-published government review of National Colleges, delays in announcing HS2 contractors meant employers were unable to commit to the apprenticeship volumes they had originally anticipated at the college.

In addition to this, and other factors such as a high-speed rail apprenticeship being granted a lower-than-expected funding band, the government review found NCHSR did not meet its learner targets for 2018/19, along with two other National Colleges.

The HS2 college had already received £40 million in capital funding from the ESFA to construct buildings and purchase equipment.

A further £12 million was provided by the Sheffield City Region combined authority, and the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.

HS2 Ltd also loaned NCHSR £2,906,000 in 2018 and £2,804,000 in 2017.

The college signed up just 96 students when it first opened, even though it aims to be taking on 1,200 a year by 2022.

NCATI said it is confident the prime minister’s decision this week to give the greenlight for the construction of HS2 provides “the certainty the college, our partners, industry and learners have been seeking”.

When he made his announcement in the Commons this week, the prime minister confirmed HS2 would be an opportunity to embed skills, saying the project “will drive jobs and apprenticeships for young people for a generation to come”.

An ‘inadequate’ for NCATI would be the worst handed to any of the four open National Colleges: National College for Digital Skills, which opened in 2016, achieved a grade two in 2018; while National College Creative Industries, which also opened in 2016 before dissolving this year, received a grade three last year and has now set up as a limited company.

The National College for Nuclear is split across two hubs at Bridgwater and Taunton College in Somerset and Lakes College in Cumbria, both of which are grade two.

A fifth National College, for onshore oil and gas, is on hold by its overseers – United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) – while “greater clarity and progress by way of timing and the scale of production activities is ascertained”.