Training providers are “having to turn their backs” on up to 40,000 small businesses due to the shortfall in apprenticeship levy funds.

According to the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), two-fifths of 135 apprenticeship providers surveyed are having to reject small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to recruit apprentices.

Recognising the problems, the government yesterday announced small employers would be let on to the digital apprenticeship service to access funding. Until now, this had been open only to levy-payers.

However, owing to the affordability issues, SMEs will be capped at just three starts each.

One unnamed provider in AELP’s survey reported: “We are having to turn our backs on small and micro businesses who have supported apprenticeships for many years, because we do not have funding available.”

29 per cent of providers have “significantly reduced” recruitment

More than half of the non-levy providers surveyed said their funding allocation was not sufficient to cover both the cost of existing apprentices and of new starts from an SME.

One calculates it will have used up its allocation by February, leaving two months in which it will have no funding.

Five providers said they were going to close their business as a result of the funding shortfall.

According to the AELP, the proportion of training providers with a non-levy contract which have actually stopped recruitment of apprentices for smaller employers has reached 31 per cent.

Another 29 per cent have “significantly reduced” recruitment.

Over half of providers are now focusing more on delivering apprenticeships for levy-paying employers, as respondents with a non-levy contract said they were unable to meet demand from an average of 59 SMEs.

AELP calculates that if this was extrapolated to cover the nearly 700 providers which have had a non-levy contract since April 2017, anything up to 40,000 SMEs could be adversely affected by the shortfall.

The association has reiterated their call for the restoration of the £1.5 billion apprenticeship budget available to SMEs before the levy was introduced.

Chief executive Mark Dawe (pictured) called it “totally unacceptable” for both small businesses and young people that so many of them can’t start apprenticeships “because of failures in how the levy funding system works”.

SMEs do not pay the apprenticeship levy and rely on funding being left over from it for their programmes after levy-paying employers have first taken back their entitlement.

In August 2019, the results from a previous AELP survey of providers revealed that three-quarters could not meet SME demand due to levy shortages.

This came after FE Week broke the news last February that providers were turning away apprentices from small businesses.

But these shortages, and their impact, have not escaped the attention of the government: in 2018, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education reported the apprenticeships budget could be overspent by £1.5 billion by 2021/22.

And the National Audit Office warned last March that there was a “clear risk” the apprenticeship programme was not financially sustainable after the average cost of training hit double the government’s predictions.

Even the Department for Education’s permanent secretary has admitted to the Public Accounts Committee that “hard choices” had to be made to avoid the apprenticeships budget going into the red.

The government has invested millions in a ‘Fire It Up’ advertising campaign to drum up support for apprenticeships, but according to one provider in the AELP report: “Employers fail to understand why the government ran an apprenticeship advertising campaign when a business’s preferred training provider has insufficient funding.”

The campaign was launched with a blaze of publicity in 2019 and backed with £2.5 million, with then-education secretary Damian Hinds saying its aim was to “shift deeply held views and drive more people towards an apprenticeship”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said they have increased investment in apprenticeships to over £2.5 billion, double what was spent in 2010-11 in cash terms.

“To support smaller employers to take advantage of the benefits apprentices can bring to their business, from this week, we are making funding available for up to 15,000 additional apprenticeship starts and giving smaller employers access to training through our digital apprenticeship service.”

A leaked government assessment report reveals how leaders at Hull College Group employed “close family members” and created a culture where staff would not speak out for “fear of being exited at short notice”.

FE Week reported last month that the chief executive, Michelle Swithenbank, and vice principal for HR, Julie Milad, had been suspended and then quit.

But the chair of governors, Dafydd Williams, emailed staff on the last day of term claiming the lawyers from Eversheds, commissioned to undertake an independent investigation, had found “no impropriety” on the part of Swithenbank.

Managers feel uncomfortable about speaking out for fear of being exited

The government has declined to officially comment on the outcome of the investigation.

Despite this, an FE Commissioner ‘intervention assessment report’, seen by this newspaper, is highly critical of employment practices.

The report, dated November 2019, says: “A governance manager was appointed at the end of August 2019 following an external recruitment process. The successful post holder is the daughter of the vice principal human resources [Julie Milad], who is a member of the senior leadership team.

“A number of staff and managers in the college perceive there is a conflict of interest in these two roles being performed by close family members.”

Governors had “insufficient involvement in establishing governance arrangements” and the FE Commissioner concludes: “Clerking arrangements have not been sufficiently independent from the executive and have fallen below acceptable standards.”

The report also found “many staff felt reluctant to voice their concerns to senior leaders because of a lack of trust”.

And after the sudden departure of a senior employee in the summer of 2019 “who lodged grievances against the college and the principal”…“the spirit of openness that had begun was no longer evident and too many managers now comment about a culture that does not tolerate ‘non-compliance’”.

FE Week reported last month how staff felt bullied and were quietly paid to leave after agreeing to sign non-disclosure agreements.

The FE Commissioner, Richard Atkins (pictured above), along with his deputy, Andrew Tyley and two advisors, heard similar stories during their interviews with staff on 30 and 31 October.

“It would appear that the extensive and ongoing use of settlement agreements and confidentiality clauses at the college has eroded the trust and confidence of a number of staff and managers in the employment practices of the college (twenty of these agreements have been implemented between March and August 2019),” the report states.

“Several key staff have left the college and significant concerns have been raised from a cross section of staff and managers who feel uncomfortable about raising concerns or speaking out for fear of being exited from the organisation at short notice.”

FE Week approached the college and government for comment, but they declined the opportunity, other than to say the report is due for publication next month.

Emma Hardy, the local MP and recently appointed shadow secretary for FE by Labour, said: “I am very concerned about the reputational damage to the college along with the way the leadership treated staff in recent months.

“I have asked the chair of the college to share with me the investigation report written by the lawyers at Eversheds.”

The purpose of the FE Commissioner assessment, it says, “is to report on the progress the college has made since it was first placed in formal intervention [in 2016]”.

Since then “the fresh start/recovery plan commenced in March 2018 with a substantial package of restructuring funds totalling £51.7 million” and much of the report is to “assess the capacity and capability of leadership and governance at the college”.

The broader findings from the assessment reveal governors “not exercising effective oversight”, and “minutes have not been published on the college website for over a year”.

Minutes remain unpublished and the college did not respond over several days to requests from FE Week for copies of board minutes.

And despite the record bailout, there remain serious concerns over declining income levels, particularly from the 16 to 18 year-old courses.

The FE Commissioner’s report said that “16 to 18 student recruitment in 2018/19 fell significantly below the allocated number and this has resulted in a £3.436 million (27 per cent) reduction in lagged programme funding in 2019/20”.

They have fallen again this year which, the report adds, “is deeply disappointing given the apparent strong start to enrolments reported at the start of term”.

The assessment document says this is “particularly disappointing when taking into account the college’s substantial expenditure on marketing of over £1 million.”

FE Week reported last October concerns over the use of the marketing budget by Graham Raddings, who at the time was the budget holder.

Raddings quit last year, shortly after marrying then chief executive, Swithenbank.

The report concludes that “overall leadership at the college at this point in time does not demonstrate the necessary capacity and capability to lead the college forward positively” and “good financial health is not yet secure”.

Suspended principal and vice principal quit but college chair claims lawyers found ‘no impropriety’

As first reported by FE Week, the chair of governors, Dafydd Williams, commissioned an “independent” investigation into allegation of nepotism and inappropriate use of funds in September 2019.

Williams, head of communications and corporate affairs at Associated British Ports and former leader of City of York Council, joined the board as chair in January 2019.

At the time the education minister, Lord Agnew, told this newspaper that “any financial wrongdoing, if it has occurred, is treated extremely seriously and we will be carefully monitoring events as the information becomes available”.

The investigation got off to a shakey start, after FE Week revealed the college lawyer was doing the work and Williams subsequently switched law firms.

The leaked government assessment confirmed the “chief executive [Michelle Swithebank] was suspended by the board in October 2019 pending the outcome of an independent investigation undertaken by Eversheds”.

And “following consideration of the interim findings from the Eversheds reports at the November board meeting, the vice principal human resources [Julie Milad] was also suspended”.

On the last day of term, Friday 20 December, the chair emailed all staff to say: “As you know, Eversheds has been conducting a thorough review of our operational arrangements, and I must stress it has found that there has been no impropriety on the part of Michelle. Nevertheless, Michelle has informed us that she wishes to move on.”

Williams added: “Our VP HR and Professional Services Julie Milad has also informed us that she wishes to move on…due to family responsibilities.”

 

 

Small employers can now use the digital apprenticeship service – but they will be initially capped at just three starts each owing to ongoing affordability issues.

Updated Education and Skills Funding Agency rules, published today, revealed that the long-awaited transition to the system has begun for non-levy payers.

The move will more than double the number of providers with direct access to funding for non-levy payers, including most universities.

A dual running system will be in place until Autumn 2020, which means employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to access training either through a provider with an existing government contract or via the apprenticeship service.

Non-levy payers are able to reserve funding for an apprenticeship in advance of recruitment or an offer of an apprenticeship being made to an existing employee, through a new mechanism called “reserve my funding”.

“This reservation ensures that employers can plan, and that funds will be available to pay for the training from the point the apprenticeship starts,” the agency’s guidance states.

“The employer must then turn this ‘reservation’ into a ‘commitment’ once the training provider and an apprentice are confirmed. At this point funding can be released to the training provider in the usual way.”

But to allow the ESFA to manage this transition, and to ensure the programme overall remains affordable, it will initially only allow employers to make reservations for up to three apprenticeship starts.

Employers can also reserve funding for apprenticeship standards only, not frameworks.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ chief policy officer, Simon Ashworth, welcomed the move.

“Given the current funding challenges within the levy system, this is a sensible approach,” he said.

“The good news is that providers without a contract will finally be able to access the market which means that more SMEs, especially in niche sectors and rural areas, should be able to start offering apprenticeships again.

“The chancellor in his budget now needs to back the ESFA’s efforts to move us towards a proper demand-led system for apprenticeships.”

In December 2018 projections from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education predicted the levy could be overspent by up to £1.5 billion in 2021/22.

The National Audit Office then expressed concern about the financial sustainability of the apprenticeship system, before the DfE’s top civil servant warned of “hard choices” that needed to be made. 

FE providers can now bid to deliver T-levels in the third year of their rollout, the Department for Education (DfE) announced today.

Expressions of interest have been invited from “high performing” providers who want to deliver the new technical qualifications in 2022/23.

Eight new T-levels, in sectors such as legal, accounting and manufacturing, will be available, in addition to the ten T-levels that will already on offer from 2020 and 2021. 

The T-level Action Plan 2019, published by the DfE in October, said the selection criteria had been developed “to expand the number of providers delivering T-levels so the momentum behind the programme continues to build and to ensure good quality providers are delivering in 2022”.

This marked a change from previous years when the ESFA stated a desire to select a “relatively small number” of providers so it could “continue providing the right level of support in the early stages of rollout”.

For 2022, colleges, independent training providers, university technical colleges or schools, which are currently delivering to at least ten “qualifying students” per T-level subject area level at route level, can apply.

Qualifying students include those that are 16-18, on level 3 technical or vocational qualifications, with at least 360 guided learning hours, from within the sector subject areas for the relevant T-level.

All providers must be rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and must have at least “satisfactory” financial health.

Providers who do not yet have an Ofsted rating but would like to express an interest in delivering T-levels need to be able to demonstrate that they have an “equivalent standard of quality”.

DfE guidance states that officials “reserve the right to exclude any provider where a notice to improve is in place, where a provider is at risk of financial difficulty or where there are any other known issues that could prevent or affect quality delivery”.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said this is a “brilliant opportunity for further education providers to be at the forefront” of delivering T-levels, which will “radically shake up technical education as we know it”. 

“From the very start, we’ve worked hand in hand with further education providers and leading employers to ensure these courses will give young people the skills and experience to land them great jobs and provide employers with the workforce they need to make sure this country continues to thrive on the global stage,” he added.

The T-levels to be taught from 2022 include financial, maintenance, installation and repair, design and development, management and administration and human resources.

The two-year courses will be equivalent to three A-levels and include classroom learning as well as a mandatory industry placement of at least 315 hours – approximately 45 days.

More than 100 further education providers are already preparing to deliver T-levels.

The first three new qualifications, in the digital sector, construction as well as education and childcare, will be introduced in September 2020.

A further seven T-levels will be available from September 2021.

A remaining seven, including courses in agriculture, environment and animal care, catering and hospitality, creative and media, and hair and beauty, will be rolled out from 2023 to bring the total to 25.

The closing date for applications for 2022/23 is midnight on 28 February 2020.

The government has insisted it remains committed to Erasmus+, despite MPs voting against requiring officials to negotiate continuing full membership of the programme last night.

The Liberal Democrats had tabled the amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill to make keeping the UK in the EU’s education and youth programme after Brexit an objective, but it lost by 344 votes to 254.

However, a Department for Education spokesperson said today it “is committed to continuing the academic relationship between the UK and the EU, including through the next Erasmus+ programme if it is in our interests to do so”.

“The vote last night does not change that,” he added.

“As we enter negotiations with the EU, we want to ensure that UK and European students can continue to benefit from each other’s world-leading education systems.”

Erasmus+ is an EU scheme that currently offers opportunities for UK citizens to study, work, volunteer, teach and train abroad in Europe and offers access to funding for adult education.

There was no mention of the programme in the Conservative manifesto ahead of last month’s general election.

The bid to ensure it was on the Brexit negotiating table failed after 336 Conservative and eight Democratic Unionist Party MPs voted against it.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson and schools minister Nick Gibb were among those who voted it down.

Layla Moran MP, the Lib Dem spokesperson for education, said: “Staying in Erasmus should be a no-brainer.

“Universities warn that no-UK led scheme could ever match the reputation and extensive partnerships that Erasmus has to offer. But rather than voting for our amendment, Conservative MPs are willing to let Ministers negotiate away our membership of Erasmus if they think they could do a better job.

 “It is time the Government got serious about this – are they in favour of staying in Erasmus or not?”

Speaking in favour of the amendment before the vote, she also claimed access to the programme could be secured through negotiations “but we would be an associated third country and that would never be as good as the programme we are part of now”.

According to research by the Association of Colleges (AoC), 100 colleges have taken part in the most recent cycle of the scheme – from 2014 to 2020 – which has awarded them around €77 million to fund over 30,000 placements.

The AoC study, published in October, also showed that 94 per cent of the colleges could not offer their students the chance to complete a placement abroad without Erasmus+ or a post-Brexit replacement programme.

Emma Meredith, AoC’s International Director, described Erasmus+ as a “brilliant programme for opening up the world for young people and helping show people from across Europe that the UK is open to them”.

“UK colleges will still be able to apply for Erasmus+ funding in 2020 during the ‘transition period’.

“There is a definite risk that UK participation could stop in 2021, or that Erasmus+ could be replaced by another mobility programme,” she told FE Week.

“However, despite the vote this week in Parliament, the UK/EU political declaration says that the two sides will negotiate continuing UK participation in programmes like Erasmus.

“At AoC, we’re optimistic that securing the Erasmus+ programme for college students will be high on the negotiating priority list and that officials are aware of the value of Erasmus+ to the UK college sector.”

Commenting on yesterday’s vote in the House of Commons, University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady, added: “Wilfully abandoning Erasmus would be a worryingly closed-minded move.

“The many benefits from having the opportunity to study abroad – from boosting employment prospects, to learning other languages and from other cultures – are well documented. I have seen those benefits first-hand having set up Erasmus agreements and taught students on Erasmus projects.”

 

A police force has been censured by Ofsted for the “poor” quality of its apprenticeship delivery and for not taking prior learning into account, following an early monitoring visit.

The Chief Constable of Northumbria (referred to as Northumbria Police in the report) began training its own apprentices in May last year and had 30 apprentices who handle emergency and non-emergency calls in the police’s communications centre at the time of the inspectorate’s visit.

The watchdog found the employer provider had made ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of its provision, which covers the level 2 customer service practitioner standard and the level 3 emergency service contact handling standard.

“The quality of programmes has, until recently, been poor and apprentices have made slow progress”, inspectors wrote, owing to not enough staff resources being put in to deliver the programmes and because leaders did not plan them effectively.

Staff do not take into account their apprentices’ “considerable” experience in customer service and call handling when planning their learning – providers must take prior learning into account for each apprentice, according to ESFA funding rules.

Instead, all apprentices complete the same programme of learning, regardless of their starting points.

The majority of their learning is delivered during an intensive block of initial training and mentoring, which inspectors say apprentices are right to value highly.

But this meant “apprentices do not have enough ongoing study time throughout their programmes to complete their learning and prepare for their end-point assessments”, the report adds.

Furthermore, it was also found no formal arrangement existed between Northumbria Police and an external provider they use to deliver English and maths training to their apprentices.

As apprentices undertake this towards the end of the programmes, the watchdog reported they cannot benefit from developing those skills for the full duration of their training.

Colin Christie, head of people services at Northumbria Police, said he was “naturally disappointed” by aspects of the Ofsted report, but “it is important to recognise it only looked at two new internally delivered courses with a small number of apprentices”.

“The inspection does highlight we have been proactive in addressing a number of issues which we had already identified. This includes appointing additional resources to manage and coordinate the programmes.

“The report also praises the ‘well-qualified and highly experienced’ officers who deliver the courses and the ‘high level of welfare support’ provided to apprentices.”

“I want to make it clear that the findings in this report do not impact on our wider ability to recruit apprenticeships into the Force of which we are currently approaching 200. The majority of which are undertaking training for our highly-commended Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship which is co-delivered through Northumbria University.”

There are signs leaders have started to get a grip of provision: several months ago, they appointed new staff to manage the programmes and have ceased recruiting apprentices so staff can focus on supporting the existing ones, “most of whom are already overdue in completing their programmes”.

Although it had voluntarily stopped recruiting, Northumbria Police said it has now been suspended from recruiting new apprentices for these standards by the ESFA, in line with the agency’s rules.

Leaders were also complimented by inspectors for implementing a curriculum which supports apprentices to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to carry out their specialist roles.

During the training, apprentices develop communication techniques like building rapport and showing empathy to callers.

They get to respond to simulated and then live calls under supervision, which helps develop their confidence and skills to work independently.

“Programmes contribute well to meeting the organisation’s workforce development needs,” inspectors recorded.

‘Reasonable progress’ was made in safeguarding, with its effectiveness being “central to the work of Northumbria Police”.

The force provides high level of welfare to its apprentices, which is particularly important as they deal with calls they can find stressful or even traumatic, Ofsted’s report said.

A high-profile college that uncovered a shock £6 million deficit when the finance director went on sick leave has put 26 jobs at risk and says it is considering an application for emergency funding.

Gateshead College has remained tight-lipped on how the shortfall came about. However, it has confirmed a new interim finance director was appointed last month and that the principal Judith Doyle CBE retired with immediate effect.

Deputy principal Chris Toon has taken over as acting principal of the grade one college.

“These proposals will help us address some short-term financial pressures”

He announced a redundancy consultation is underway today.

“Currently 26 posts are at risk, mainly from business support areas, however no final decisions will be made until consultation concludes,” Toon said. “We have opened a voluntary severance scheme to mitigate as far as possible the number of compulsory redundancies.

“These proposals will help us address some short-term financial pressures the college is facing at the moment.”

A team of independent forensic accountants was drafted in after the unexpected deficit was found “to establish the explanation” and its investigation will be completed by the end of January.

A spokesperson for Gateshead College said: “We appointed a highly experienced interim financial director just before the Christmas break and he and the executive team, supported by governors, are working on the college’s recovery plan.

“This includes options for short-term funding loans and we are in close dialogue with the ESFA while we assess what is required.

“Our absolute focus is on retaining the highest standards of teaching and learning while addressing the current financial situation.”

It was previously confirmed that a new three-year financial plan, which is hoped to return the college to a surplus by 2020-2021, is to be delivered with the support of the ESFA and FE Commissioner.

The college declined to comment on the details of the deficit until the investigation is concluded. Governing board minutes do not offer any mention or explanation of the shortfall.

Gateshead recorded a surplus of £748,000 in 2017-18, according to its latest accounts. They add that the financial objectives for 2018-19 had included achieving a surplus of £535,000 and continuing to improve the college’s financial health score to reach ‘outstanding’.

In the latest minutes from the college’s audit committee, which met on June 19, 2019, a number of items, including the risk-management plan presented by the finance director, were withheld as confidential.

There were also confidential items in the most recent meetings of the board of governors on July 4, 2019, such as the draft budget for 2019-20 presented by the finance director, and on October 10, 2019, including the principal’s strategic update.

Judith Doyle retired with immediate effect on December 31.

The college said she had previously informed the board of her intention to retire at the end of this academic year.

A spokesperson for Gateshead said the decision to bring this forward was “hers, in the belief that it was in the college’s best interests to step aside now, enabling the new three-year plan to be delivered by the team with the support of the ESFA and FE Commissioner”.

Prior to this, Doyle was the highest-paid principal in the country, receiving a salary of between £340,001 and £350,000 in 2017-18.

The college’s financial statements for the year ended July 31, 2018 also showed six other key management staff were paid between £110,001 and £190,000.

Doyle spent 33 years in the FE sector and was appointed principal of Gateshead in 2013, having previously held the position of deputy principal. She was one of seven principals to be chosen by the FE Commissioner to advise government officials on skills policy in 2018.

Gateshead received an ‘outstanding’ grade from Ofsted following a full inspection in July 2015.

Almost 150 young people have been named in WorldSkills UK’s official squad, marking them as candidates for the team that will head to WorldSkills 2021 in Shanghai.

Winners from the national finals at WorldSkills UK LIVE in November were among the 137 young people announced to be joining Squad UK today.

They will now undertake an intensive 18-month training process, fitted around their study and employment commitments, to bring them up to world class standard before the final team for China is picked.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson offered his congratulations to the competitors, and said he is “excited to see another talented group of young people preparing to showcase their skills on the global stage”.

One of those looking forward to more competing is squad member Finlay Champion, 18, from Chichester College Group.

He secured his place after winning silver in the furniture and cabinet making at the national finals, a tournament that he “really, really enjoyed”.

“One of my favourite things is competing,” he told FE Week. “I think that’s the most enjoyable time I’ve had making a piece of furniture. I think it’s the challenge of trying because you’ve already got the challenge and the timber you just need to assemble it all.

“But having to do it in a short space of time with competitors and people watching you, it’s just a fun atmosphere.”

It was a massive boost to my self confidence in having been chosen

He said finishing his piece at the finals was what got him picked for the squad, but he is now working on “being quicker at doing it better” – ensuring he can produce top-quality work in the time allotted at a tournament.

Martina Grumitt, squad member in jewellery is “very proud” to have been selected to be a part of the squad.

She said: “It was a massive boost to my self confidence in having been chosen, and I will focus on developing my skills in fine jewellery making, for my future in the trade.”

Jack Bateson, 19, from BAE, is representing mechanical engineering CAD on the squad and said it was his “dedication” that earned him a spot.

He previously competed in the national finals in 2018 where he won gold and was invited back to compete in 2019 to be in with a chance of making the squad.

“I’m honoured to represent the UK and represent my company,” he said.

City of Glasgow College is contributing the most squad members of any provider – seven; while both Toyota Manufacturing and Southern Regional College are sending six a piece; and New College Lanarkshire and Gower College Swansea are each sending five.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann said he was “very excited we are on the road to Shanghai”.

“After the brilliant national finals we have gone through a more stringent process in looking at the finalists, encouraging people and assessing people to come into squad and I feel we’ve got a really good, strong squad to go into the first stage of our international training programme.”

He said WorldSkills UK is “gunning to regain our position in the top 10”, after the UK slipped to twelfth place at WorldSkills Kazan 2019, having coming tenth at the competition before in Abu Dhabi 2017.

WorldSkills Shanghai will run from 22 to 27 September 2021.

FE Week is the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK will be following Squad UK’s journey throughout the process.

The full list of Squad UK members is below:

Competitor First Name	Competitor Last Name	Competition	Organisation Name
Abigail	Stansfield	CNC Milling	BAE Systems
Adam	Purvis	Chemical Laboratory Technology	Southern Regional College
Alex	Rendall	Electrical Installation	Bridgwater and Taunton College
Alex	Howe	Joinery	West Suffolk College
Andrew	Mcdonald	Wall and Floor Tiling	Leeds College of Building
Arron	Orr	CNC Turning	Fort Vale Engineering
Ashleigh	Hellowell	Cooking	Royal Garden Hotel
Aubrey	Whiteside	Car Painting	Riverpark Training and Development
Balveen	Nota	Construction Metal Work	Dudley College
Bayley	Harris	Hairdressing	Hyfforddiant Ceredigion Training
Belinda	Nightingale	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Ricoh UK Products Ltd
Ben	Lewis	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Ben	Beckett	IT Network Systems Administration	North East Surrey College of Technology
Ben	Simcox	Aircraft Maintenance	Raytheon Systems Ltd
Ben	Kidner	Electrical Installation	Rogers Restorations Ltd
Ben	Metcalfe	Patisserie and Confectionary	Trafford College group Altrincham campus
Benjamin	Martin	Electrical Installation	Nesbitt Electrical Installation
Billie Jo	McKenzie	Automobile Technology	South West College
Bradley	Ellison	Mechatronics	UTC Sheffield
Brendan	Duddy	Plastering and Drywall Systems	North West Regional College
Bridie	Kilby	Painting and Decorating	Leicester College
Cameron	McKnight	Cyber Security	Belfast Metropolitan College
Carwyn	Roberts	CNC Milling	Coleg Cambria
Celt	John	Cooking	Coleg Ceredigion
Charles	Samson	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Magellan Aerospace (UK) Ltd.
Charlotte	Phillips-Poupard	Beauty Therapy	Pembrokeshire College
Chloe	Holliday	Restaurant Service	Brockenhurst College
Chloe	Lloyd-Hughes	Cooking	North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Chloe	Millington	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Ricoh UK Products Ltd
Chloe	Williams	Beauty Therapy	Weston College
Clara	Agnew	Floristry	CAFRE
Connor	Stow	Patisserie and Confectionary	Hull College
Connor	Cruden	Plumbing and Heating	Moray College
Connor	Patterson	Building Information Modelling	New College Lanarakshire
Craig	Kennedy	Car Painting	Riverpark Training and Development
Dan	Slaney	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Danny	Hills	Welding	Lakes College West Cumbria
Danny	Bunphaung	Cooking	South Eastern Regional College
Darren	Houston	Building Information Modelling	New College Lanarakshire
David	Davies	Aircraft Maintenance	Raytheon Systems Ltd
David	Fryer-Winder	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Dominic	Dray	Refrigeration and Air Conditioning	Eastleigh College
Donna	Blainey	Visual Merchandising	City of Glasgow College
Dylan	Calvert	Wall and Floor Tiling	Southern Regional College
Dylan	Gillanders	Wall and Floor Tiling	Southern Regional College
Ellie	Mumby	Hairdressing	Grimsby institue
Ellie	Ruff	Visual Merchandising	South Leicestershire College
Emily	Jones	Restaurant Service	Coleg Cambria
Erica	Czerny	Hairdressing	Strode College
Erik Geza	Petnehazi	3D Digital Game Art	City of Glasgow College
Erjon	Berisha	Electronics	Belfast Metropolitan College
Ewan	Payne	Aircraft Maintenance	Royal Air Force
Finlay	Champion	Cabinet Making	Chichester College Group
Gareth	Jarvis	Aircraft Maintenance	British Airways Maintenance Cardiff
George	Hutchison	3D Digital Game Art	City of Glasgow College
George	Schenbri	Jewellery	The Goldsmiths’ Company
Graeme	Nevin	Auto Body Repair	Riverpark Training and Development
Hannah	Beckley	Floristry	Warwickshire College – Moreton Morrell College
Harry	Colgrave	Joinery	Exeter College – Construction Training Centre
Harry	Chaundy	Automobile Technology	GTG Training
Harry	Funnell	Landscape Gardening	Myerscough College
Harry	Maddox	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Shrewsbury Colleges Group
Harry	Jackson	Welding	Stainless Metalcraft Ltd
Hedydd	Davies	Restaurant Service	Coleg Ceredigion
Holly Mae	Cotterall	Beauty Therapy	Reds Hair Company
Isaac	George	IT Network Systems Administration	North East Surrey College of Technology
Isabella	Skipp	Patisserie and Confectionary	Havant and South Downs College
Jack	Bateson	Mechanical Engineering CAD	BAE Systems
Jack	Newton	Refrigeration and Air Conditioning	Crowther and Shaw LTD
Jack	Day	Web Technologies	Highbury College, Portsmouth
Jack	Hodgkinson	Landscape Gardening	Myerscough College
Jack	Hinks	Landscape Gardening	Myerscough College
James	Boyes	Cabinet Making	Moulton College
James	Digger	Architectural Stonemasonry	York College
Jamie	Kennard	Cabinet Making	Parkway Interiors Ltd
Jessica Rose	Ancill	3D Digital Game Art	Birmingham Metropolitan College
Joe	Austins	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Joel	Keen	CNC Milling	Rolls-Royce Plc
Jordan	Cliffe	Architectural Stonemasonry	Building Crafts College
Josh	Jones	Car Painting	NPTC Group – Pontardawe College
Josh	Sibley	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Josh	Harvey	Architectural Stonemasonry	Weymouth College
Kalem	Kerrigan	Plastering and Drywall Systems	Errigal Contracts
Kamil	Zmich	Mechatronics	UTC Sheffield
Katie	Graham	Patisserie and Confectionary	South Eastern Regional College
Kieran	McShane	Construction Metal Work	Burnley College
Kirsty	Frazer	Beauty Therapy	Southern Regional College
Lavanya	Hemanth	Chemical Laboratory Technology	Middlesex University
Lewis	Newton	Web Technologies	Highbury College, Portsmouth
Lewis	Boyle	Painting and Decorating	Leeds College of Building
Lewis	Dymock	Chemical Laboratory Technology	New College Lanarakshire
Lewis	Batchelor	Mechanical Engineering CAD	New College Lanarakshire
Liam	McCauley	Architectural Stonemasonry	Forth Valley College
Liam	Hughes	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Liam	Whitby	Mechatronics	Hydro Extrusion
Luke	Myers	Bricklaying	Bishop Burton College
Luke	Jowett	Cyber Security	Walsall College
Madeline	Rowe	Jewellery	London Artworks
Martina	Grumitt	Jewellery	M A Griffin
Matthew	Bundy	Automobile Technology	Skillnet
Matthew	Goddard	Aircraft Maintenance	Titan Airways
Matthew	Sutton	Auto Body Repair	Training 2000 Limited
Menna	Williams	Hairdressing	Coleg Sir Gar
Minahil	Nawasz	Building Information Modelling	New College Lanarakshire
Molly	Lawton	Health and Social Care	Pembrokeshire College
Morgan	McNeil	IT Network Systems Administration	Cardiff and Vale College
Morgan	Swift	Wall and Floor Tiling	City of Glasgow College
Morgan	Roberts	Welding	Lakes College West Cumbria
Nathan	Evans	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Neil	Donnolly	Mechanical Engineering CAD	New College Lanarakshire
Nick	Bundy	Landscape Gardening	Gadd Brothers Trees and Landscapes
Odhran	Connolly	Wall and Floor Tiling	Southern Regional College
Oliver	Shimwell	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Owen	Gallimore	Architectural Stonemasonry	Portland Stone Firms
Paul	Hayter	Mechatronics	UTC Sheffield
Paulina	Skoczek	Restaurant Service	Gower College Swansea
Phoebe	McLavy	Hairdressing	Coleg Sir Gar
Rhys	Watts	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Ross	Findlay	3D Digital Game Art	City of Glasgow College
Ross	Fiori	Joinery	NCG Carlisle College
Ryan	Lee	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Shrewsbury Colleges Group
Sam	Everton	Cooking	Pembrokeshire College
Samuel	Miller	IT Network Systems Administration	City of Glasgow College
Samuel	Henderson	Plumbing and Heating	Scottish & Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation
Saskia	Godley	Visual Merchandising	North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Shane	Powell	Hairdressing	Coleg Gwent
Simona	Federova	Restaurant Service	City of Glasgow College
Stefan	Bargan	Cyber Security	Walsall College
Steven	Megaw	Cooking	Southern Regional College
Thomas	Williamson	Electrical Installation	Coleg Cambria
Thomas	Mills	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Ricoh UK Products Ltd
Thomas	Moule	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Shrewsbury Colleges Group
Thomas	Nowell	Painting and Decorating	Truro and Penwith College
Thomas	Griffin	Web Technologies	Weston College
Will	Gale	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Zack	Evans	Web Technologies	NPTC Group – Neath College
Zara	Morgan	Beauty Therapy	Pembrokeshire College

The UK is to take its first steps towards hosting the international WorldSkills competition by gauging interest from the sector.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann announced his organisation is “interested in exploring” a bid to host the competition in an interview with FE Week today.

However, they cannot do it alone: Bentley-Gockmann said they “need to hear from our partners whether there is broad support to consider doing it”.

“Because a significant investment would be needed to host WorldSkills, so we need to start having conversations with partners and that’s why I’m saying this now at the beginning of the new decade.”

The UK last hosted the WorldSkills tournament, which brings young people from all around the world to compete in skills-based competitions, in London in 2011.

The most recent occasion was last year in Kazan, Russia; where the UK won a haul of two gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze.

While European countries will test their skills against one another at EuroSkills in Austria this year, the next global tournament will be held in Shanghai in 2021 and Lyon in 2023.

“It has been a decade since it was last in the UK so we’re certainly interested in exploring, with our partners, the feasibility of hosting,” Bentley-Gockmann said.

Ahead of Chancellor Sajid Javid’s Budget in March, when it is expected he will announce more about investing in skills, Bentley-Gockmann said he is “asking the question of our partners ‘is it something that we should be looking to do?’”

“It is actually a means to a bigger end: helping drive excellence into the UK’s skills sector and helping meet the ambition of governments across the UK to have a world class skills system.

“Given the focus on FE and skills, given the economic need to drive up standards in technical education, economically and in terms of our productivity challenge, should we be thinking about hosting WorldSkills as we’re galvanising activity and bringing people together on that agenda.”

If there is enough interest, he said the UK would perhaps look at the 2027, 2029 or 2031 competition, but could not say which year  the UK would bid for, or what city it would be held in.

Bentley-Gockmann explained the next step in the bidding process would be a feasibility study, which would look at the return the country would get on its investment in the competition and how it aligns with their public policy and skills policy objectives.

Someone with an intimate knowledge of putting on these competitions is former WorldSkills International president Simon Bartley, who was instrumental in running London 2011.

He said the UK would have to announce what city and what year they want to hold a competition in at least five years before they put a bid in for that tournament and that the WorldSkills member states usually decide the venue four years before the competition.

But he thinks it would be “brilliant” if the UK got to host and other WorldSkills member states would welcome coming back to the UK.

The UK may face stiff competition from the likes of South Africa and India – the two big countries which are yet to host a tournament – as well as Japan, which lost out to France for 2023.

Bartley said: “The government would really have to step up to the plate in regards to keeping their word about the importance of technical education in a way a British government has not really done since five or six years before we hosted London.

“The event has changed a lot and while I don’t think a country needs to spend as much money as Russia has done or China will do, there is still a pretty hefty financial commitment for the host country to have.”

Bartley said: “It’s very difficult to determine how much it’s going to cost” – some countries can hire competition venues for free, while others will not be able to, for example.

“WorldSkills is not so hung up now about how much a competition’s going to cost. It’s much more interested in knowing the things that are absolute key requirements for its success are in place: whether that’s government money or sponsorship money.”