The organisation behind the UK’s performance in international skills competitions is launching the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence project to train around 1,000 FE lecturers.

WorldSkills UK has today announced the three-year project backed with £1.5 million from awarding organisation NCFE.

Five training managers – fresh off mentoring WorldSkills UK competitors for various skill challenges in EuroSkills Graz this year and WorldSkills Shanghai next year – will be employed full time to work for the centre.

They will be recruited by the beginning of May and it is expected that they will be drafted into colleges and training providers from September.

WorldSkills UK said provider applications to take part in the project should come from those suited to each managers’ skill area: for instance, if it is announced a training manager from a construction background has been hired, a provider focused on construction will be expected to apply.

We know what it takes in training techniques to achieve global industry standards

The manager will work with lecturers in different subjects at the provider to “train the trainer”, while “digital masterclasses”, featuring recorded sessions with training managers from other countries delivering “top-level training”, will be offered.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann (pictured centre) said his organisation was “uniquely placed to undertake such a project” as they know “just how high the global industry standards are set and we know what it takes in training techniques to achieve them”.

Providers can apply for one of twenty places in the first year if they meet certain criteria, which includes over 1,000 16 to 18-year-olds on their roll.

NCFE chief executive David Gallagher said this first year will establish the centre’s way of working: “What is the Centre of Excellence in detail? How does it work with the sector? How do we make sure it does not become another tickbox for continuing professional development (CPD)?”

A further twenty providers will be selected for years two and three of the project, ten for each year, and Gallagher says these stages will focus on “improving educational outcomes”, such as Ofsted scores and increasing the number of people competing internationally.

WorldSkills UK aims for the project to ultimately benefit 120 FE providers and nearly 1,000 lecturers through sharing of the digital masterclasses over the three years.

Gallagher hopes the centre will encourage institutions which are not heavily involved in WorldSkills to decide if they want to be more actively involved in the movement.

WorldSkills UK deputy chief executive Ben Blackledge made clear the centre “is not about us saying we can come and fix” professional development for lecturers.

“We’re saying there is excellence in the FE sector and is there something small we can do to help facilitate best practice and invest a bit in these tutors and trainers?”

Another aim of the centre is “influencing setters of training standards” and Blackledge says his organisation has had initial conversations with the Department for Education and Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education about how this can be a “more formal and systemic approach to influencing standards”.

They are having ongoing conversations with the government’s teams on FE workforce and T-levels to help with those programmes of work as well.

All apprenticeship starts will be managed through the government’s digital apprenticeship service from 1 November 2020, the Education and Skills Funding Agency announced today.

The transition will bring an end to provider funding allocations, secured through a procurement process, being used to train apprentices with small non-levy paying businesses.

Contract extensions for the allocations will however be issued at the end of this month to cover them until the full rollout of the digital service commences.

Only larger employers with an annual total pay bill of over £3 million who pay the apprenticeship levy can draw down funding for an unlimited number of starts from the online service.

Small employers were originally expected to have access to the service in April 2019, but this was delayed for another year to “ensure a more gradual transition”.

The long-awaited transition began last month, but small employers have been capped initially and can only make reservations for up to three apprenticeship starts.

So a dual running system remains in place until November, meaning employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy are able to access training either through a limited number of providers with an unspent funding allocation or from any of the registered providers via the online apprenticeship service.

Confirming the date for when non-levy payers will be given full access to the apprenticeship service, the ESFA said today: “It is our intention that all new apprenticeship starts, for employers of all sizes, will be managed through the apprenticeship service from 1 November 2020.

“Until 31 October 2020 smaller employers will continue to be able to access apprenticeships through the apprenticeship service or via existing procured contracts held by training providers (as well as via transferred funds from employers who pay the apprenticeship levy).”

They added: “Training providers with an existing procured contract will receive an extension to their existing contracts to cover the new financial year. The extensions will fund carry over costs for existing apprentices as well as new apprenticeship starts.

“However, to align with our intention for all starts to be through the apprenticeship service from 1 November 2020, the funding for new starts using the extended contracts will only be available up to and including 31 October 2020.”

Training providers have been told they must ensure they have signed the contract extension before the current contract expires on 31 March 2020.

 

An FE Commissioner report published today praised a council’s response to a grade four from Ofsted, after the result “reinvigorated” their resolve to improve adult learning with “new and enthusiastic” staff.

North Lincolnshire Council was referred to commissioner intervention after it was rated ‘inadequate’ in almost every area of a full inspection in June last year when it had 1,250 learners.

Its provision includes courses for English for Speakers of Other Languages at pre-entry level, and from entry-level to level 3 for qualifications in such subjects as mathematics, ICT, and business administration.

Commissioner Richard Atkins has reported the inspection result “reinvigorated the council’s resolve to redouble their efforts to ensure adult and community learning was at least good”.

People across the council’s service have “a renewed sense of purpose” due to a staff restructure where senior leaders made “significant changes”, such as introducing lead tutors with core responsibilities for areas like teaching and assessment, data, mathematics and English.

This restructure was managed “effectively”, the commissioner’s team found, with “shrewd” appointments at the managerial, tutor and support levels providing much needed clarity around roles and responsibilities.

But Atkins recommended the council must ensure these new staff receive sufficient support to help them grow into their managerial roles through tailored coaching and mentoring, which ought to be introduced by September.

Governance has also undergone a shake-up, after it was reported the council’s elected members and leaders were “not effective enough in monitoring the performance of the service and holding leaders and managers to account” before the Ofsted inspection.

A new governing board for the council’s adult education and community learning service has been put together, under the leadership of the “well-qualified” head of access and inclusion at the council and made up of governors with “a wide and rich skill set and significant relevant experience”.

Board members have been investigating leaders’ and managers’ knowledge, understanding and rigour, while their key performance indicators and risk measures proved to the commissioner they are dedicated to overseeing a curriculum which serves local needs well.

After Ofsted reported “too many” of the courses were just for recreational purposes only, provision was “completely overhauled” and local schools, employers such as British Steel, teachers and other staff were involved in designing the current course offer.

The council, the commissioner’s report reads, now makes much better use of labour market information and data to continually review the curriculum offer.

He wrote: “Courses are now wholly organised around the needs of the local residents, especially those living in the most deprived areas and who would otherwise not be in education.”

Former minister for the FE market Theodore Agnew wrote to the council earlier this month, after the report, and called the action they have taken following the inspection “encouraging”, while warning there is still “capacity for improvement”.

Especially in terms of the “overly optimistic” self-assessment reports, which are “insufficiently critical” about performance.

The commissioner found although achievement data improved by 4.5 per cent between 2017/18 and 2018/19, it is still well below national achievement rate levels.

Tracking and monitoring of all learners is yet to be embedded and the council has been given until the commissioner’s stocktake visit in November to do this.

As is the case with the council’s progress in accurately identifying key weaknesses in the self-assessment report, also due in November.

Since the full inspection, Ofsted has returned to the council and found it was making ‘reasonable progress’ in every area of a monitoring visit.

The council has been contacted for comment.

A Blackburn-based catholic sixth form college is no longer “sustainable” due to falling student numbers, the FE commissioner has claimed.

St Mary’s College, which is the smallest sixth form college in England, received two visits from Richard Atkins’ team in 2019 and has now been placed in “supervised status”.

It was first warned four years ago of its deteriorating financial position and urged at that time to find a merger partner or academise. It has survived on its own since then, but its ability to continue doing so appears to have come to a head in the past few months.

The college is now operating under extreme financial pressure

Plans were previously developed to create a formal federation between Liverpool Hope University and Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College but this “did not address the financial weaknesses at St Mary’s directly”, today’s report said.

The FE Commissioner has now concluded the college could not continue as a stand-alone entity beyond the current year and “urgently requires” a restructure, with a merger the most likely solution.

St Mary’s College was declared to be at “serious risk of financial failure” while a “weak” balance sheet was said to provide “no resilience against unforeseen events and raises questions as to future solvency”.

Atkins’ report reported that it was clear the college is “now operating under extreme financial pressure”, which it said was the result of years of falling student numbers.

ESFA 16 to 19 student allocation numbers show a steady decline over the last three academic years: in 2017/18, there were 892 recorded, which decreased to 818 in the following year and 703 this year – a 21 per cent drop.

Against a capacity of 1,250, there was only 653 students on roll at the time of the FE commissioner’s visit in November.

But comments by these learners regarding teaching, learning and support were positive and they unanimously believed they would achieve their desired outcomes and destinations, according to the FE commissioner. 

The Blackburn-based college “provides good academic experience and outcomes to students, many of whom are very local to the college and reluctant to travel”, today’s report said.

Ofsted had declared it was a ‘good’ provider after a full inspection in April.

While St Mary’s College currently forecasts that the number of students will rise in 2020/21, the report cautioned that the degree of optimism must be balanced against inaccurate historic growth predictions.

The FE Commissioner found that the provider has only been able to operate because of income received from its preschool nurseries and higher education provision but that these could not be relied upon, with funding from the ESFA “insufficient” to sustain its mainstream level 3 programme.

In addition, the sixth form college’s governance was reported to be “in a transition” and criticised for being “not strong enough” in its current form to support structural change, despite calling governors “well qualified, purposeful and united in their wish to drive the college forward”.

Vice principal Elissa Best has taken on the responsibilities of interim principal while Mark Conboy was appointed the new chair of governors.

In a letter published alongside today’s report, former Department for Education minister Lord Agnew said it was “clear that previous efforts to secure the college’s financial position since being placed in intervention have failed”.

“The college is currently operating under extreme financial duress and is unsustainable without immediate exploration of possible structural solutions,” he added.

Agnew was particularly “concerned” by the FE Commissioner team’s observation that the college’s current governance arrangements are “unsuited to supporting structural change”, and “strongly advised” the college now works with a National Leader of Governance to “urgently address” these “deficiencies”.

Previous efforts to secure the college’s financial position have failed

FE Week understands it is St Mary’s status as a fully inclusive Catholic college which is proving problematic when it comes to mergers and academisation.

The college confirmed a structure and prospects appraisal, taking place from February to April, “will consider a range of options”.

A spokesperson for St Mary’s College told FE Week: “The challenging financial situation faced by St Mary’s College has been well documented; the college remains a ‘going concern’ and continues to provide good quality education for many learners.

“Work with the ESFA and FE Commissioners team continues to explore long term, sustainable solutions for the college, with all staff continuing, as always, to focus on the delivery of quality educational provision for the local communities that we serve.”

They declined to provide an update on this or comment on a potential merger.

In the latest financial accounts for 2018/19, the provider recorded a £347,264 deficit, an increase from £249,781 in 2017/18.

The statement also noted that Barclays bank, through which the college has £2.88 million worth of loans outstanding, continues to be supportive despite breaches in covenants and a reservation of rights letter.

Funding rates for some apprenticeship standards could be cut by almost half under new proposals being put forward by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

A consultation on plans for a “more transparent” system for setting apprenticeship funding rates for standards, based on “independent evidence”, was launched today.

But the institute also published an impact assessment detailing how significant rate reductions could result and made it clear the new method “strengthens value for money, by supporting employers to pay the appropriate costs for training and enabling more employers to access funding”.

Officials have proposed three models: ‘core’ method which includes five categories (see below), core with sector subject weighting, and core with employer input. The values used in the models are based work undertaken by the IFF Research, a research agency, on behalf of the IfATE.

The impact assessment was carried out to test each model on nine existing standards last year.

FE Week analysis shows that eight of the nine standards would see their funding rate drop under all three of the proposed models.

Rates dropped by an average of 30 per cent using the ‘core’ method.

And when the core with subject weighting, or the core with employer input models were applied, the average rate across the 9 standards fell by 18 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

For three of the tested standards, their funding rates dropped by more than 40 per cent using the ‘core’ model.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief policy officer Simon Ashworth said: “We welcome the greater transparency but nonetheless it’s worrying that the interim impact analysis modelling points to a significant downward trend in funding.

“If this were representative of the final outcome, the implications for high quality delivery could be bad. Therefore AELP will be studying this very closely.”

The institute has said that there is “no intention” to reset current funding bands using the final new model in the short-term.

It would be for use on “wholly new or fundamentally changed apprenticeship standards rather than to review the existing stock of standards”. But where a request for a standard to be reviewed or revised is submitted, “we anticipate that a variation of the model would be used”.

A spokesperson for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) said: “The purpose of this consultation is to make sure funding recommendations are evidence-based and transparent.

“We want the decision making process to be clearer to employers, providers, awarding organisations and everyone else involved with delivering apprenticeships.

“It is a positive step to help address previous concerns about funding band decisions and we welcome as much constructive input as possible.”

The sector has until 6 April to respond to the consultation.

 

Core model

The IFF’s research found that eligible costs of apprenticeship training and assessment could be divided into five categories: teaching, consumables, formative assessment, end-point assessment (EPA), and administration (and eligible overheads).

The institute’s proposed approach is to “set a value for each of these five categories” and the maximum funding band would be “the sum of the five values” (see table).

The pricing of consumables would range from £100 to £400 and be advised by individual trailblazer groups for each standard, while EPA would be based on a quote provided by the end-point assessment organisation.

For teaching, formative assessment and administration, the IFF research suggested that these costs tend to increase as duration increases. So, the values for these three categories will be generated by multiplying a monthly rate by the planned duration (in months) of the apprenticeship.

The costs for these three categories have been set at £130 per month for teaching, £30 for formative assessment, and £30 for administration.

Where an apprenticeship requires the achievement of one or more mandatory qualifications, the IfATE has said £300 can be added (only once per apprenticeship) to the formative assessment value.

The institute says this “predictable and simple” core model would enable it to make transparent recommendations in a consistent way and achieve greater value for money.

However, officials noted that in some cases there may be other factors which lead to differences in costs and the core model “might not be able to capture those differences”.

To address this, it has set out set out a further two options “for capturing differences in delivery costs for different types of apprenticeship”.

 

Core with sector subject weighting

For this option, Sector Subject Area (SSA) in ‘programme cost weightings’ (PCW) would be applied to teaching costs, as this category had the “greatest variation” between standards in the IFF’s research.

This weighting is already used for publicly funded adult education and is also used provide uplifts for subjects identified by the Office for Students as “high cost” teaching areas in higher education.

One of five rates, ranging from £130 to £220 per month, would be applied to each of the IfATE’s 15 apprenticeship routes.

The IfATE states that the benefits of this option are a “completely automated and transparent process” which “better reflects the variation between costs than the core model”.

The option would also “significantly decrease the burden on trailblazer groups providing indicative training cost data”.

However, the institute added, this weighting “wouldn’t be sufficiently flexible to respond to costs which are unusual for a sector”, so some funding bands could still come out higher or lower than the current band.

 

Core with employer input

The IFF’s research found that, on average, contact time with apprentices was split approximately 90 per cent in group teaching and 10 per cent in one-to-one settings. It also found that when apprentices were taught in groups, the average class size was 12. The £130 per calendar month rate, in the core model, is based on these averages.

If a trailblazer group considers that, for their apprenticeship standard, this value would be “insufficient” and teaching would need to be delivered differently to this ratio, and they could provide evidence to support this, then then their teaching costs value would increase.

And similarly, if employers consider that consumables for their apprenticeship standard are typically unusually high for their route, their cost could increase as long as sufficient evidence is supplied and signed off by the IfATE.

The trailblazer group would need to provide an itemised list of consumables required per apprentice and their cost as the evidence.