T Levels: positive preparations continue but challenges remain

Support for T levels remains buoyant among schools, colleges and independent training providers, but the qualifications still face a host of challenges, writes Suzanne Straw

This week, NFER published an update to its summer T levels report. Our previous study highlighted significant enthusiasm for the new qualifications, alongside some key challenges. In this latest update, as providers move closer to accepting their first T level students, they continue to be enthusiastic about their preparations and positive about progress regarding work placement flexibility and UCAS points.

However, despite preparations going well, there remain underlying concerns in key areas, particularly awareness of T levels. Providers are optimistic about the Department for Education’s NexT Level awareness raising campaign, launched in October this year, but whether it will gain sufficient traction with parents/carers and prospective students ahead of decision-making on post-16 options remains to be seen.

In our earlier T level interviews and the roundtable discussion held with providers and wider sector representatives in October, providers raised concerns about their ability to gain timely access to schools to speak to students and make them aware of T levels and other technical and vocational pathways.

Of course, this was something that the ‘Baker Clause’ aimed to help with. Introduced in January 2018, it stipulates that schools must allow colleges and training providers access to every student in years 8 to 13 to discuss the non-academic routes available to them.

Providers have set modest targets for their first round of student recruitment

However, research carried out by IPPR one year after its introduction showed that the clause had made minimal difference, with more than 70% of colleges saying they were still finding it difficult to access schools in their area.

It will be important that the national awareness raising campaign is sustained beyond this initial recruitment phase. Providers have set modest targets for their first round of student recruitment, with an estimated 2,000 students taking the first T levels from next September. To put this number into perspective, there were 594,000 young people in England who were aged 16 at the start of the academic year in September 2018.

Whilst providers are generally confident about achieving their initial student targets, they are concerned about the recruitment of larger numbers in the longer term, particularly without ongoing awareness raising and further clarification around two other issues of key importance to students.

The first relates to progression routes from T levels. Providers we spoke to welcome the allocation of UCAS points. However, universities are free to decide whether they will accept the qualifications at all. Reservations have already been expressed by Russell Group universities and questions raised regarding the types of courses T level students may be able to progress onto. The decisions of Russell Group universities could influence other universities and have the potential to tarnish T levels in the minds of parents/carers and prospective students.

Further questions remain around progression to apprenticeships. Although challenging to deliver, the time allocated to the industry placement is an important selling point for T levels. However, there is still uncertainty as to whether completing a T level will enable learners to progress onto a level 4 apprenticeship due to lack of occupational competencies. This is a particular issue for more practically-orientated apprenticeships such as construction and engineering.

Other potential challenges expressed by providers in recruiting students relate to the size of the qualification and the number of guided learning hours. For young people reliant on part-time jobs and/or who have caring responsibilities, the time commitment may prove too great and at odds with the current flexibility provided by qualifications such as BTECs, which are available in a range of sizes and can be studied alongside A levels.

These are just a few of the concerns expressed to us throughout our conversations with providers over the course of this year. They are not the only ones. The enthusiasm and commitment of the colleges, independent training providers and schools we have spoken to is not in question. They are determined to be as ready as they can be for September 2020 and to deliver high-quality qualifications. However, whether students will have sufficient awareness, understanding and confidence to choose them remains to be seen.

Surprise £10m deficit fault of ‘inept’ staff, says college boss

“Genuine ineptness” has led to a surprise £10 million deficit at a large London college group, its chief executive has told FE Week.

Capital City College Group (CCCG) had budgeted for a £750,000 surplus for 2018/19, which was revised downwards by July to a deficit of £5.1 million and following an independent investigation in September now sits at an eye-watering £9.7 million.

This latest revelation comes after an already rocky few years for CCCG, in which unplanned multi-million-pound deficits of £5 million in 2016/17 and £6 million in 2017/18 have already led to job cuts.

“It was honestly like a punch to the head”

And its boss, Roy O’Shaughnessy, said he is expecting Ofsted to come knocking for the group’s first ever inspection between January and July 2020, and he’s trying to “dim the expectations” by self-grading at ‘requires improvement’.

He joined the college group as chief executive from the charity sector in September 2018 and, despite the historic deficits, persuaded the board in November to end pay disputes by agreeing that staff on the lowest wages would receive a rise of up to five per cent.

In what the University and College Union described at the time as a “landmark pay increase” the college chair, Alastair da Costa, boasted that “we are fortunate that as a group with some financial strength, we are in a position to do so”.

And at a board meeting the following month the governors were told “there was nothing to indicate that the budget breakeven position prior to taking into account the impact of the recent pay award, should not be achieved”.

O’Shaughnessy says he was alerted to concerns by a new finance director and immediately called in the accounting firm Ernst & Young to conduct a forensic two-week audit in September.

They found that the previous finance team were not matching the right costs into the correct financial year and around half of invoices had no purchase order, leading to final costs coming in much higher than was planned for.

According to O’Shaughnessy, Ernst & Young also discovered that short term agency staff costs had ballooned, the group was over optimistic on some of its income streams, and there were unforeseen additional redundancy costs.

CCCG’s board of governors met to discuss the final financial statements today and agreed to sign off on the accounts.

“The fact that we were operating in the blind was a very serious warning”

In a sit-down interview with FE Week, O’Shaughnessy says the news hit him like a “punch to the head” when he found out, and said he felt misled by former staff in some cases.

He added that there were no signs of fraud, but described the issues as “genuine ineptness”. Five top management posts in the group’s finance team have been replaced over the course of this year.

Speaking candidly, he said the “single biggest learning” for others across the sector is that “if you are going to create these mega groups, you can’t just take the personnel who have been running something one third of the size, move them up, not have the software systems and infrastructure in place and expect those people to do it.

“In any commercial activity where you’ve got a £130 million organisation you’ve got to be pretty certain that your four to six key people are really up to the task and [our] finance was incredibly under-experienced for that.”

CCCG’s total operating deficit for 2018/19 actually reached £16.5 million after its pension adjustment was added.

O’Shaughnessy said he has been in communication with the Education and Skills Funding Agency over the shock deficit and they are happy with the actions CCCG has since taken. The group will not be put into formal intervention, but “light touch” monitoring will be in place.

No bailout funding has had to be requested as the group has “no borrowings, a strong balance sheet and a strong asset base”.

He said the board has taken the financial situation “very personally” but questioned how it wasn’t spotted by the group’s own auditors “much earlier”.

“I’m not sure that if your auditors do not give you a good heads up and your executive team is not on the ball that the governors could know about it.”

He added, however, that from an executive staff point of view, he has been “absolutely amazed” by the “complete lack of anyone who is willing to say that they are in any way responsible for this from the day this group was put together”.

CCCG’s landmark five per cent pay rise costs the group over £2 million per year. Knowing what he does now, does O’Shaughnessy regret the substantial award?

“The fact that we were operating in the blind was a very serious warning to any group, but I don’t think that the pay award has in any way contributed to this massive problem,” he said.

“I believe the FE sector is deceiving itself if it believes it can go year in, year out without balanced, sustainable budgets that include pay awards. I think for us it was right.”

Asked if his board agrees, O’Shaughnessy said: “The chair does. I would say the rest of the board haven’t expressed strongly that it was a big mistake, but I would completely understand half of them maybe even from the beginning wondering whether it was the right thing to do.”

Staff were not given another pay award this year.

Breaking down how last year’s deficit suddenly grew by £4 million over the summer, CCCG’s new finance director, Rachael White, said around £500,000 was redundancies “where we’d been through some restructuring and had additional costs over and above what we originally forecast”.

In addition, £1.1 million was for agency costs where a short term or casual worker filled a post. Westminster Kingsway was the main culprit for this and spent £8 million plus VAT on agency staff in 2018/19. O’Shaughnessy said “someone probably dropped the ball” on this spending and White added that oversight of those costs during the financial year was lacking.

The “single biggest failure”, which cost the group an extra couple of million pounds, was that around 52 per cent of invoices had no purchase order record.

“I think that’s where there was, maybe not a culture of deceit, but a culture of just not being aware of the consequences of not putting on the table the honest truth and figuring out how the group sits around and solves it,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“In some cases I think I was misled but that is probably the case in any organisation where you don’t have good leadership management structures.”

Lastly, commercial income was down by around £400,000.

White said internal controls were missing, which she put down to the three individual colleges coming together – City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College merged in August 2016, with The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London joining them the following year.

“I think a lot of it has been where colleges have merged and there’s probably been no re-alignment or reassessment of what is an efficient or controlled environment to work within.”

After discovering the issues, White and O’Shaughnessy put in “really quick controls” to “drive our costs down”.

“Roy and I have since physically signed every single purchase order,” White said.

“We’ve had to put a freeze on recruitment of non-teaching roles. We’ve been stripping back non-pay expenditure that is non-essential and doesn’t affect the student experience. We’ve been moving agency staff over to substantive posts, so a lot of good stuff.”

For 2019/20 CCCG had originally planned for a breakeven position, but following recent months they’ve revised this figure to a £2.5 million deficit, excluding pension adjustments.

This would be some achievement considering last year’s £9.7 million deficit, but O’Shaughnessy has a plan in place to reach it.

“It doesn’t look like it was fraudulent, genuinely ineptness”

Firstly, CCCG has a house near Arsenal football stadium on its books which it rents out. It has taken the decision to sell it this year, but only if it goes for £1 million.

The group is also planning to consult on a restructure which will mostly impact management, corporate services and back office staff.

“We are now going systematically through our back office services and bringing them down to really benchmark standards rather than what has probably grown with the three groups just throwing people together,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“We don’t want to be using taxpayer money for any role that is not actually contributing to the student experience.”

He added: “We’re taking this very burdensome senior structure that starts with the group and goes down to deputy principal level, really fine tuning that and making it lower cost.”

Andy Forbes, who was principal of City and Islington College, left in November and his position hasn’t been replaced. Meanwhile Kim Caplin, the principal of Westminster Kingsway College, is retiring in April.

An advert for a new “executive” principal will go out in January but CCCG’s new “best” structure, the model of which is still to be decided on, could involve having two principals leading the three individual colleges, with O’Shaughnessy leading the group.

 

O’Shaughnessy warns of ‘too cosy’ FE sector

Roy O’Shaughnessy joined CCCG in September 2018 following a 20-year career in the charity sector.

He spent the previous 10 years at Shaw Trust, which helps disabled and disadvantaged people into employment and independent living.

Speaking as an “outsider”, he said he has found the level of staff commitment to be “absolutely incredible” but warned the FE sector is “too cosy”.

During his interview with FE Week, he offered the following advice for improving the sector.

“I’m really glad I took the opportunity [to join CCCG], I haven’t doubted it except for a brief moment when Rachael told me about the new deficit in September.

“The power of FE to transform lives is incredible – as strong as anything I’ve seen in the charity sector.

“My belief is it is still too cosy in FE”

“The challenge we face – and it cannot be impossible to solve – is to balance our budgets whilst providing appropriate pay awards and ensuring effective wraparound services for our most complex (roughly 25 per cent) learners, to ensure all of our learners are given the high quality education and support they need to succeed and to transform their lives.

“My sense is this problem of chronic underfunding has been building for ten years and so anyone thinking that there can be an instant answer has got their head in the sand.

“At the same time, if we are able to come up with fit-for-purpose models going forward, there is no reason why FE shouldn’t lead all of the private training. I think the fixed costs that we have, which constrain how agile and flexible we can be, are a much bigger challenge.

“FE still feels quite a lot like a traditional charity sector model whereby you are paid by inputs or processes. In Shaw Trust, we made the shift to an outcomes-based funding model in 2009 with the Work Programme, and I think it will be important to do the same in FE now.

“People are very afraid of losing the heart of FE. My belief is it is still too cosy in FE, people don’t realise the world is changing around them and if we don’t adapt others are going to take our space. We need to lead the way rather than saying ‘why we can’t lead the way?’

“I am a fan of being held accountable for what you’re paid and what the results are. I think there should be a very strong correlation between what it costs and what the outcomes are.

“This is a hard thing to say, but I don’t think people in jobs in FE actually have had to deal with as much change as the private sector and charities and all those who were dependent on their performance judging what they were going to get next.

“It can sometimes feel like there is a ‘them and us’ culture in the sector between managers and teaching staff. To win the day we will need to work as one and trust each other that we are trying to achieve the same thing. We will only do this by being open, transparent and honest with each other.”

NDAs: demystifying the notorious ‘gagging’ order

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are often perceived as a tool to suppress or cover up inappropriate behavior, writes Tom Long. But do they deserve their shady reputation?

This week, FE Week revealed an investigation into Hull College’s alleged extensive and inappropriate use of NDAs. It follows reporting earlier this year by the BBC that universities were misusing them, and by FE Week that their use is on the rise in large multi-academy trusts.

In the wake of the #MeToo scandal, public awareness about NDAs has grown significantly, but they are shrouded by an air of mystery and suspicion. At their base level, they are simply tools to ensure confidentiality. This could be through the drafting of a standalone agreement, or through a confidentiality clause as part of a wider settlement agreement, which compels two parties to hold information confidentially. 

In practice, these types of clauses are most often used when an employer terminates someone’s employment and there needs to be a level of certainty that the exiting individual won’t use any insider information to damage the business or won’t make any derogatory comments about their former employer, for example. By signing a settlement agreement, in return for a payment, the employee waives all claims against their former employer.

NDAs become problematic when there are background circumstances around the termination of employment which are covered up, and the employee is left feeling ‘gagged’ and unable to expose mistreatment.

The idea of simply paying someone to prevent them from telling their story resonated with the public and fuelled scrutiny around the widespread misuse of NDAs as a result of the #MeToo scandal. To see this affecting one college prominently this week, and perhaps others, is concerning.

Higher standards of behaviour are expected when taxpayers’ money is at stake

Their use in the education sector is by-and-large no different from any other industry. They are a standard tool used by employers when terminating employment contracts. However, because of the large amounts of public funding received by education institutions and their status as public organisations, higher standards of behaviour are expected when taxpayers’ money is at stake.

Their alleged misuse has cast them in a bad light, but NDAs form a perfectly normal part of business, particularly where there are genuine commercial reasons for including a confidentiality clause in a settlement agreement. Employers should however assess carefully, on a case-by-case basis, whether to use a confidentiality clause and what information it should restrict.

If in the serious situation that the employee has been subject to harassment or discrimination, employers should think long and hard about whether it is appropriate to put in place an agreement which would prevent them disclosing their treatment.

Instead, if there are genuine commercial reasons to seek some confidentiality provisions as well as allegations of discrimination or harassment, it would be wise to state that an additional, separate, investigation is ongoing to provide reassurance that the allegations are being taken seriously.

Individuals can disclose information as whistleblowers under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. However, this is narrow in scope and permits them in most circumstances only to talk to their employer, which is not entirely helpful.

NDAs are firmly on the political agenda and tweaks to the legislation are likely on the way following a government consultation. Rather than full reform, the amendments would expand disclosure rights, allowing employees to take any sensitive information to the police, healthcare professionals and legal advisers.

Updates are also going to be accompanied by widespread guidance, from parties such as the Equality & Human Rights Commission, ACAS and the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority – to ensure that individuals are receiving the best possible advice when faced with a confidentiality clause.

NDAs – and confidentiality clauses – are here to stay and they play an essential role in many everyday business operations. Unfortunately, their alleged misuse in the education sector and beyond has made them a focus for public distrust. Education institutions must tread carefully to ensure they are using them in the most legitimate and effective manner.

 

Ofsted watch: Providers score highly in first run of early monitoring reports for specialist colleges

Two providers scored highly in the first run of Ofsted early monitoring reports for specialist colleges, in a week that saw a struggling general FE college receive its ninth inspection report in just six years.

From autumn 2019, Ofsted started to carry out monitoring visits to independent specialist colleges newly ESFA-funded from August 2018 onwards.

The first of these reports was published on Tuesday, when Aurora Boveridge College, a day and residential college for 46 16 to 25-year-olds, made ‘significant progress’ in all three areas judged.

Inspectors found its leaders “have very high expectations of what students can achieve,” and have introduced a level three maths programme for learners who enjoy the subject and want to do it at A-level.

They reported the provider used high needs funding “very effectively” and a lot of learners found its location in rural Dorset conducive to their learning.

The other specialist provider which received one of these new monitoring visits, which were set out in Ofsted’s new inspection framework, was Lighthouse Futures Trust.

It received ‘reasonable progress’ ratings in all areas, with the inspectorate praising its supported internship scheme for young people aged 18 to 25 years in Leeds.

Most of the interns have autism spectrum conditions or emotional or mental health needs and leaders work “relentlessly” to ensure programmes lead to “meaningful and sustainable employment”.

Ofsted said it had decided, as with other new private providers, to do a monitoring visit within 24 months of the specialist colleges beginning to operate. These monitoring visits will be covered by the inspectorate’s existing budget – no new funding has been made available.

Fellow specialist RNIB College Loughborough had a short inspection following a grade two rating in 2017, which it has retained this time around.

Elsewhere, general further colleges had a mostly negative week.

City of Bristol College, which has 2,900 16-18 students, just under 4,000 adult learners and 1,066 apprentices, received its ninth inspection report since 2013, when it was rated ‘inadequate’.

It moved up to ‘requires improvement’ in 2017, and its latest full inspection also provided a grade three.

Ofsted said the learning of many young people and apprentices has been “interrupted” by changes to the curriculum and gaps in teaching staff, but most are “optimistic” that leaders are tackling these problems this year.

Suffolk New College, which was rapped by Ofsted in July for failing to protect learners from “acute risk of self-harm”, was also handed a grade three this week for its provision to 2,254 study programme learners, 1,000 adult learners, 208 learners with high needs and 500 apprentices.

This is partly because managers did not assess the needs of learners on supported learning courses accurately on their entry to the college, so many of them are on programmes that are too easy for them.

Managers “lack aspiration” for what supported learning course learners can and want to do, and their students do not rapidly learn the skills they need to become more independent.

But leaders and managers were commended for securing the financial sustainability of the college, and for the “effective” use of subject experience by well-qualified teachers.

Colleges’ one bright spot was Cheshire College – South and West achieving its first ‘good’ score since it was formed from a merger of South Cheshire College and West Cheshire College.

Governors were commended for continuing to securing improvements in quality of education during the merger process.

Employer provider North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust achieved a grade two in its first full inspection. Its 251 apprentices “come to work and want to make a difference,” inspectors wrote.

The provider places the apprenticeship programme at the heart of its workforce development programme and plan off-the-job training in a “logical” way to help employees link theory to practice.

Independent training providers have had a ‘good’ week: The Derbyshire Network, The Lightbulb Limited, L.I.T.S. Limited all kept that grade from a previous inspection.

Gower College Swansea was found to be making ‘reasonable progress’ in safeguarding after originally being rated ‘insufficient’ at an early monitoring visit.

However, TVS Education has been found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of an early monitoring visit.

Leaders do not intervene when an apprentice, of which it has 88, is at risk of not completing their programme.

Governance arrangements at TVS are “weak” and “nobody holds senior managers to account for their performance”.

Several other providers had early monitoring visits and made ‘reasonable progress’ in every area: Floortrain (GB), Merlin Supply Chain Solutions Ltd, Wildes Education Limited, YH Training Services Limited, Zenith People Limited, Catch 22 Charity Limited.

GFE Colleges Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Cheshire College – South and West 15/11/2019 10/12/2019 2 N/A
City of Bristol College 12/11/2019 11/12/2019 3 3
Suffolk New College 12/11/2019 13/12/2019 3 M

 

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Floortrain (GB) 21/11/2019 09/12/2019 M N/A
Gower College Swansea 26/11/2019 11/12/2019 M M
Merlin Supply Chain Solutions Ltd 21/11/2019 10/12/2019 M N/A
The Derbyshire Network 12/11/2019 11/12/2019 2 2
TheLightbulb Limited 29/10/2019 12/12/2019 2 2
Wildes Education Limited 21/11/2019 10/12/2019 M N/A
YH Training Services Limited 14/11/2019 12/12/2019 M 3
Zenith People Limited 21/11/2019 12/12/2019 M N/A
Catch 22 Charity Limited 20/11/2019 13/12/2019 M 3
L.I.T.S. Limited 11/11/2019 13/12/2019 2 2
Makers Academy Limited 21/11/2019 13/12/2019 M N/A
TVS Education Limited 27/11/2019 13/12/2019 M N/A

 

Adult and Community Learning Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
BOSCO Centre 13/11/2019 13/12/2019 2 2

 

Employer providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 12/11/2019 13/12/2019 2 M

 

Specialist colleges Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Aurora Boveridge College 07/11/2019 12/12/2019 M N/A
Lighthouse Futures Trust 13/11/2019 12/12/2019 M N/A
RNIB Charity trading as RNIB College Loughborough 20/11/2019 13/12/2019 2 2

Colleges need to recognise incremental progress in GCSE resits

The GCSE resits policy continues to be controversial, but it’s really a matter of emphasis, writes Bill Jones. To prioritise their students, colleges should focus on progress rather than pass/fail measures

Back in 2015, government introduced a policy that required colleges to support students who’d narrowly missed out on GCSE grade 4 in maths or English to continue with those subjects or risk funding. That policy was controversial, and continues to affect the sector, but in the face of some baffling criticism, Luminate Education Group decided to plough its own furrow. 

Instead of acquiescing that our students would be caught in a cruel cycle of re-sits, or lowering our bar by releasing those who’d narrowly missed out on a grade 4 to study the functional skills instead, we insisted that even those who’d achieved a level 2 (over 2500 or over 40% of our 16-18 year-old students) should pursue the GCSE in maths and/or English.

That decision was led by two key factors. First, judging by its low national pass rate at levels 1 and 2, the functional skills qualification is difficult for many students to achieve. It is not the soft option it is portrayed as. Furthermore, it isn’t recognised by many employers or valued by many students themselves.

The allure of GCSEs, rightly or wrongly, is that they are a much better passport to well-paid, secure employment and higher education for our students. Securing that advantage for as many of our students as possible is essential if we are to be the vehicle of social mobility that the further education sector proudly claims to be.

We’ve worked on a ‘grow-your-own’ pipeline of future teachers

Many of our students come from very deprived backgrounds. Over 50 per cent are from the lowest decile on the index of multiple deprivation. Many are highly able and very motivated but have underachieved for diverse reasons. Unsurprisingly, many have low levels of confidence and poor self-esteem. They are capable of so much more than their GCSE grades suggest and we are convinced that changing mindsets around a crude pass or fail distinction can benefit them hugely.

Focusing on progress rather than pass rates takes the pressure off students and allows them to focus on the skills and subjects that they need more development in. We provide coaching and confidence-building activities alongside the more conventional English and maths input.

It isn’t without its challenges. Like many colleges, we struggle to recruit and retain English and maths teachers who have the skills and qualities to work with the sheer number of students with complex and diverse needs on our rolls, some of whom can exhibit challenging behaviours. In response, we’ve worked on a ‘grow-your-own’ pipeline of future teachers and coaches who learn their craft alongside fully qualified and experienced peers, overseen by some truly marvellous advanced practitioners and managers. This is beginning to bear fruit.  

Our English progress scores have increased from -0.45 in 2016 to +0.14 in 2019, a move from Quartile 4 to 1 in three years. Maths progress scores have increased from -0.51 in 2016 to -0.10 in 2019, a move from Quartile 4 to 2. We are delighted with the results, but we know we can develop and improve the model so much more. As with our students, so with us. It’s not about passing or failing an external test, but about the progress we make and continue to make.

As an organisation, we are determined to increase still further the proportion of those who narrowly missed out at school who go on to achieve a grade 4 or higher. In the end, all this progress means that many students will continue on the trajectory they are now set on and eventually achieve grade 4, opening up more opportunities for their futures. 

We are convinced that our approach is a good one. It is by far the best way to keep our expectations high for all of our students and to demonstrate our belief in their potential. At least, that will remain true until government policy changes and there are better options than a binary choice between GCSEs and functional skills.

AAC Awards 2020 finalists revealed

The national finalists of the 2020 AAC Apprenticeship Awards have been announced.

Forty-four organisations and individuals have been shortlisted in 22 categories after more than 350 entries were submitted by colleges, training providers and employers.

The awards were first launched in 2017 by FE Week and the Association of Education and Learning Providers (AELP).

Managing director of FE Week publisher Lsect Shane Mann said: “Nominations were up by 20 per cent this year, which is great and shows there is a real appreciation across the sector for celebrating individuals and organisations.

“This particular Apprenticeship Awards looks at employers and providers offering outstanding world-class apprenticeships.”

He said the judging panel, which included representatives such as CocaCola’s Sharon Blyfield and chair of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network Jason Holt, found it “incredibly tough” to decide the finalists.

“What is great to see is just how much amazing stuff is taking place, which is a real privilege,” Mann added.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during the Annual Apprenticeship Conference gala dinner on March 3 at the ICC in Birmingham.

Those shortlisted will also be invited to attend a special celebratory reception at the Houses of Parliament, hosted by education select committee chair Robert Halfon, on February 5.

Former apprenticeships and skills minister Halfon received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the first ever AAC awards.

On this year’s awards, AELP chief executive Mark Dawe said: “Not only has the quantity of entries increased but there has been a step change in quality of the submissions.

“More importantly I was bowled over by the inspiring work performed across the sector every day.

“It was a lovely reminder of why I do what I do and the impact our sector has in communities and businesses across the country, across every sector at all levels of learning.”

The deadline for applications for the 2020 awards was extended last month due to demand.

There are two types of awards: Route Apprenticeship Provider of the Year and National Awards.

The former will celebrate excellence in 15 individual apprenticeship routes, and winners will be named “apprenticeship provider of the year”.

For these awards, judges were looking for high levels of engagement with employers and apprentices, sustained commitment to working with employers in the sector, how provision adapts to meet employer requirements and evidence of high levels of learner retention, progression, positive outcomes, high-quality teaching and tutoring.

Entries were accepted from employers, providers and individuals involved in the development or delivery of recognised apprenticeships in the UK, including both frameworks and standards.

Last year, in the second edition of the event, several new categories were introduced and have been maintained this year, including an award to recognise employers and providers’ work with SEND apprentices and to increase diversity.

More than 500 people attended the event in 2019 and the winners included the Royal Air Force, which took home apprentice employer or the year, InComm Training, which was awarded apprentice provider of the year, and AELP chair Martin Dunford, who won the lifetime achievement prize.

The awards are part of the sixth Annual Apprenticeship Conference, which is held in partnership with the Department for Education, on March 2 and 3.

Across the two days, more than 1,250 delegates will be in attendance, with over 60 workshops, plus keynote speeches from Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, chief regulator of Ofqual Sally Collier, conference chair and broadcaster Kirsty Wark and much more.

The national finalists of the 2020 AAC Apprenticeship Awards are listed below. 

Click to enlarge

Johnson government a thumbs up for FE investment but sad to lose Marsden and Milton

The huge 80 seat majority and return of the Conservative Party to government now puts the spotlight on Boris Johnson’s FE and skills manifesto pledges.

Significant sums of additional funding for the sector will, we are promised, form part of the government’s next budget.

From 2021 there will be, the manifesto says, a National Skills Fund with £600 million of “new funding on top of existing skills funding”, a total of “£3 billion over the parliament.”

In addition, close to £2 billion in capital funding has been ear-marked for an ‘estate upgrade’ over the next five years, starting with £194 million in 2021.

Yes, more can and should be done to reverse the real terms cuts to post-16 funding rates and overall fall in adult education spending.

And, it remains unclear how the impending apprenticeship budget overspend will be avoided.

But the manifesto commitment to nearly £5bn in new funding over the next parliament shows Boris Johnson was serious when he said from the dispatch box in July that he would make further education and skills “a priority for this government”.

And last month the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson could not have been clearer when he told FE Week our sector would be “at the heart of what we’re going to do.”

So after years of cuts to FE and skills funding under the David Cameron and then Theresa May governments, these Johnson pledges to invest again can’t come soon enough.

Far less positive for the sector has been the loss of Gordon Marsden.

Marsden has been an incredibly hard working shadow minister, at the heart of Labour’s education team in seven of the last nine years, promoting the cause for both further and higher education.

He has also invested considerable time explaining Labour policies at our events and to our journalists since the day we launched in 2011, for which I am grateful.

Another champion of FE that sadly won’t be returning to Parliament is the former Conservative skills minister and independent candidate Anne Milton.

Milton fought hard for further education but, and through no fault of her own, she was mostly ignored within a Theresa May led government and Treasury that refused to listen.

Johnson has promised he will lead a government that is now listening to FE and as our readers have come to expect, we will be watching and scrutinising the detail of announcements over the coming months.

Loan scandal victims still waiting for debts to be cancelled

The government has admitted to not contacting any of the hundreds of FE loan scandal victims despite having the power to cancel their debts.

The education secretary has been able to cancel advanced learner loans for learners left in debt when their provider goes bust since July 1, 2019, following a change in legislation.

But in response to a Freedom of Information request, the Department for Education (DfE) said “268 students have been identified as in scope and are to receive a letter to that effect” but “none” of them have had their loans partially or fully cancelled.

It is understood that as many as a further 423 students could be in scope for a debt write-off.

The admission has prompted criticism from the National Union of Students, who said “too often learners don’t receive clear and timely communication, and too often they are not given the level of priority they deserve”.

The FOI response said those in scope were previously made aware that they are “not in repayment in 2019-20 and they will be contacted in the next steps.

“The department is, with the Student Loans Company (SLC) and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), currently assessing each case in which a student is in repayment deferment. Students will be notified in the coming few months.”

The DfE would not be drawn on why those in scope had not yet been written to.

The government first asked the SLC to defer loan repayments for affected learners during the April 2017 to March 2018 tax year, and extended deferrals in subsequent tax years.

While individual learners are assessed on a case-by-case basis, former students from John Frank Training, which went into liquidation on November 30, 2016, were expected to be in scope of the new legislation.

Mussarrat Bashir, 55, was undertaking a level 3 BTEC certificate in hospitality at the provider when “a few months in, everything just fell apart” and she was left with an £8,000 debt.

She was later offered a place on a course in Chester, but this was “not viable” as she worked full-time in Stoke-on-Trent, where she had previously been studying on the same site.

Bashir, who now works as a tutor assessor, said: “Any loan on you is always a restriction. It affects your credit history.

“It is stressful when you’ve got other pressures like family. I’m a single parent, I’ve got my own burdens.”

Bashir alleges she has never received any communication regarding loan repayment deferral and has had to make repayments over the last three years, although these claims could not be verified at the time of going to press.

The SLC and DfE were approached for comment about the accusations but, at the time of publication, the SLC could only confirm that Bashir’s loan is now in deferment and she will be contacted shortly about her eligibility for loan cancellation.

“You just want it off your [mind]. It’s been dragging on for a very long time now. We should have the assurance it is done and dusted,” Bashir added.

In the response to the FOI request, the DfE said a greater number of 691 students are “currently not required to make repayments on their advanced learner loan as these loans have been identified as possibly being in scope of the regulation.

“If these students have other loans, which are not potentially in scope of the regulation, they will be required to make repayments on those if they have reached their statutory repayment due date and meet the current repayment threshold.”

According to the DfE, those that are determined to be eligible will be required to reply to the SLC for cancellation to proceed.

Juliana Mohamad Noor, NUS vice president for further education, said: “The Department for Education and the Student Loans Company must work together to ensure that those learners whose provider went bust before they completed their course have their loans cancelled as soon as possible.

“These figures continue to highlight the need for the Department, the SLC and providers to work together so students have clarity on how they are protected in the event of provider failure, including the treatment of their student loans.”

An SLC spokesperson said they and the DfE have “continuously worked closely together to bring a resolution for these customers.

“We have written to them ahead of each new tax year to make sure that they are aware that their loan repayments continue to be deferred, and to ensure that no customer is financially disadvantaged while they await a decision.

“The legislation that allows the cancellation of these loans was enacted in summer and we will be writing to customers in the coming weeks to make them aware of their eligibility to have their loan cancelled and to outline the next steps of the process.”

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden loses seat

Labour’s shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden has lost the battle to keep his parliamentary seat.

Marsden lost out to the Conservative Party candidate Scott Lloyd Benton, 12,557 votes to 16,247.

FE Week previously reported it was looking likely Marsden would lose the election for the Blackpool South constituency after YouGov’s Multi-level Regression and Post-stratification (MRP) model, which successfully predicted the 2017 election result, observed the area was leaning towards the Conservatives.

The Tories lost out on this seat to Labour by 2,500 votes at the 2017 general election.

Marsden’s loss means it is unlikely he will be kept on as shadow FE and HE spokesperson.

His first stint as a shadow minister for FE was from 2010 until 2013, before he moved to cover the transport brief for two years.

Then, in 2015, he returned to shadow the FE portfolio and has served Labour in that role for four years.

Prior to entering parliament, he was an Open University lecturer and editor of a history magazine and after entering Parliament in 1997, he served in the Labour government as parliamentary private secretary to a number of different secretaries of state.

During his time as shadow further and higher education minister, he has been a highly-visible presence on the Labour frontbench during education questions and backbench debates.

He has also been a regular speaker at sector conferences, including for the Association of Colleges, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, and FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference.

And when Labour launched its adult education policy for this election, it did so in Marsden’s constituency.