The government will allow apprentices to have a “break in learning” if they cannot be assessed due to the coronavirus.

Training providers usually incur a financial penalty under normal funding rules if they record a break in learning that is not driven by the learner, but this move “should protect funding” where the assessor is ill.

The Department for Education released the latest guidance, which applies to apprentices who have reached gateway and those who have experienced gaps in training to Covid-19 related illness, today.

It stated: “The normal breaks in learning process should be followed and therefore we only need notifying once a break in learning has exceeded four weeks.”

The latest advice also permits employer driven breaks if an apprentice’s employer has to follow government advice to take action that results in an apprenticeship having to be paused. 

The DfE said: “In these occasions a break in learning can be used where there will be a break of longer than four weeks.”

It stressed that all stakeholders need to “recognise that the health and wellbeing of individuals is a higher priority than performance measures” and advised adhering to the current escalation process of raising end-point assessment (EPA) issues through external quality assurance providers in the first instance.

In order to “maintain the integrity of high quality assessment of apprenticeships”, the situation will continue to be monitored and further advice and modifications relating to specific assessment methods will be issued if necessary.

The Institute for Apprentices and Technical Education is expected to publish further guidance in response to the coronavirus shortly.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) said the measures will “help to alleviate the difficulties that the spread of the Coronavirus is already causing in respect of providers, EPAOs, apprentice employers and apprentices themselves” but called for more action to be taken urgently.

AELP chief executive Mark Dawe said: “We welcome the prompt change to the break in learning rule, but it’s vital for the DfE to recognise and respond to the fact that in asking individual training providers and EPAOs to request exceptional treatment by learner is unrealistic.  The system simply couldn’t cope with the volume and therefore we need a change to a rule which will apply to everyone.

“As well as breaks in learning, AELP will be asking the DfE to look at possible impact in relation to face-to face-delivery and assessment, time limits on EPA and rules around payments up to gateway and completion.  Measuring success in the future, which affects the funding and official registration of apprenticeship training providers, will need to allow for these circumstances.”

He added that the government should address apprenticeship contract payments to providers and the need for a coherent approach to all further education and skills providers to ensure they survive “what is likely to be a period of falling attendance and falling recruitment”.

There has been three reported deaths, and 280 cases of coronavirus in total in the UK to date.

See the guidance in full below:

In order to support the sector during any disruption which may be experienced due to Covid-19 these are the initial recommendations from the Department for Education:

1. Apprentices who are ready for assessment – i.e. who reach gateway and cannot be assessed due to assessor illness or Covid-19 related measures, will be allowed to have a break in learning. This should protect funding and completion of apprenticeships and should be reflected in the July completion rules.  The normal breaks in learning process should be followed and therefore we only need notifying once a break in learning has exceeded 4 weeks.  A break in learning must occur before the learner is recorded as completed.  Apprentices can go on a break in learning between completing the learning activity (learning actual end date) and the assessment, but there would be no requirement to record in this in the ILR as it will not have an effect on funding.
   

2. Apprentices who experience gaps in training due to Covid-19 related illness in the workplace or off the job can classify this period as a break in learning.  The normal breaks in learning process should be followed and therefore we only need notifying once a break in learning has exceeded 4 weeks.
   

3. Usually breaks in learning are only permitted where they are learner driven, however we are aware that there may be occasion where an employer who is following government advice may take action that results in an apprenticeship have to be paused.  In these occasions a break in learning can be used where there will be a break of longer than 4 weeks. The normal breaks in learning process should be followed.
   

4. In order to maintain the integrity of high quality assessment of apprenticeships we are going to monitor the situation and will issue further advice and modifications relating to specific assessment methods if necessary.
   

5. We advise adhering to the current escalation process of raising EPA (end-point assessment) issues through EQAPs (external quality assurance providers) in the first instance.
   

There is a need for everyone (employer, provider, EPAO, Apprentice) to take a reasonable and balanced approach in these situations and to recognise that the health and wellbeing of individuals is a higher priority than performance measures. 

We know that good communications between each of these parties is important to the successful delivery of EPA anyway. So, in these circumstances that communication becomes even more important. 

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) will shortly be publishing guidance for this area in response to potential disruption from Covid-19.

One of the largest college group’s in England had its grade three from Ofsted confirmed, in what was otherwise a varied week for further education.

The result was for Capital City College Group’s first inspection since being formed from a merger of City and Islington College, Westminster Kingsway College, and The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London – which were all previously rated ‘good’ – in 2017.

Inspectors found the merger had brought about a “degree of instability” in the leadership team, most notably at its Islington campus and in its management of apprentices.

Chief executive Roy O’Shaughnessy told FE Week in December he was trying to “dim the expectations” by self-grading as ‘requires improvement’ after the provider was surprised by a £10 million deficit in 2018/19.

But the watchdog did find “staff and governors have worked hard to manage the merger” and have established a “successful vision for the college”.

Learners, of which there are 25,000, “value their time at college, where staff encourage learners to widen their expectations and aspirations,” inspectors added.

Blackburn College, after receiving two ‘requires improvement’ grades in two years, was found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ in two areas of a monitoring visit.

New principal, Fazal Dad, has implemented “an effective programme of cultural change” with “an ethos of continuous improvement” now pervading the college, so a decline in the quality of education has been halted.

Haringey Sixth Form College was handed a grade three this week, dropping from a grade two. But inspectors found leaders “have been successful in re-establishing the college’s purpose and instilling enthusiasm in staff and students” after reconsidering the curriculum offer to ensure it meets young peoples’ needs.

Another grade three sixth form, Itchen College, had a better week after it was found to be making ‘significant progress’ in every area in a follow-up monitoring visit.

This is because leaders and managers have “continued to embed a culture of high expectations for staff and students” by ushering in changes to the management of the curriculum which have led to improvements in teaching practice and an uplift in students’ achievement.

Winstanley College was commended by Ofsted, as although it has dropped from a grade one awarded in 2007 to a two, it has “created a culture of high expectations” through the introduction of three non-negotiables for its 1,699 students: attendance, being on time to lessons and being ready to learn.

The Sixth Form College, Solihull bounced from a grade three to a two this week, with the report noting how the majority of the 1,958 students move into higher education and the college works with stakeholders, including universities, to provide learners with the opportunities to follow in-demand careers.

Brighton and Hove City Council achieved its fourth ‘good’ grade in a row for its adult and community learning provision, which is run by two subcontractors and two partner organisations.

An “ambitious curriculum” helps learners overcome barriers like low income, unemployment and mental illness.

Bristol City Council received the same result, and staff actively promote community cohesion by providing learners with volunteering opportunities at large events like a carnival.

Independent provider Skegness College of Vocational Training Limited has maintained its grade two. Inspectors reported most of the 96 learners gain the qualifications and develop the skills they need to find and sustain employment.

RHG Consult also fared well, making ‘significant progress’ in two areas of its early monitoring visit.

The 168 apprentices can “clearly explain” how their programme meets their career aspirations and know they lack the breadth of understanding to move on to the next management tier.

ECM Southwest was found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in all three areas of an early monitoring visit. Leaders cannot confirm the eight apprentices have received their full entitlement to off-the-job training as they have not developed effective processes to track it.

As for safeguarding, not all of ECM’s staff have undergone a disclosure and barring service check and leaders do not understand the requirement for apprentices and staff to receive ‘Prevent’ training.

Associated Neighbour Training Limited, Cambridge Marketing College, Code Nation Limited, Geason Apprenticeships Limited, Institution of Railway Operators Limited, The Association of Health Professions in Ophthalmology and Universal Skills Centre Ltd all made ‘reasonable progress’ in every area of an early monitoring visit.

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Associated Neighbour Training Limited	19/02/20	02/03/20	M	N/A
Cambridge Marketing College	6/2/20	05/03/20	M	N/A
Code Nation Limited	5/2/20	02/03/20	M	N/A
ECM Southwest Limited	5/2/20	02/03/20	M	N/A
Geason Apprenticeships Limited	12/2/20	02/03/20	M	N/A
Institution of Railway Operators Limited	19/01/20	04/03/20	M	N/A
RHG Consult	14/02/20	05/03/20	M	N/A
Skegness College of Vocational Training Limited	11/2/20	02/03/20	2	2
The Association of Health Professions in Ophthalmology	19/2/20	4/3/20	M	N/A
Universal Skills Centre Ltd	12/2/20	02/03/20	M	N/A

GFE colleges	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Blackburn College	23/01/20	02/03/20	M	3
Capital City College Group	24/01/20	03/03/20	3	N/A

Sixth form colleges (incl. 16-19 academies)	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Haringey Sixth Form College	30/01/20	05/03/20	3	2
Itchen College	12/02/20	04/03/20	M	3
The Sixth Form College, Solihull	11/2/20	04/03/20	2	M
Winstanley College	03/02/20	04/03/20	2	1

Adult community learning	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Brighton & Hove City Council	12/02/20	02/03/20	2	2
Bristol City Council	12/02/20	02/03/20	2	2

A training provider with more than 2,500 learners has entered administration, FE Week has learned.

Progress to Excellence Ltd (PtE) has closed down two months after it was judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, leaving apprentices desperate for help to finish their course.

PtE’s financial accounts showed there were 140 employees for the year ended March 31, 2018 but it is unclear how many people the firm employed when they went bust.

Global consulting firm Duff & Phelps have been appointed as the administrators but were unavailable to comment at the time of publication.

Affected learners have taken to the comments section of FE Week’s website to complain that they received short to no notice about the closure over the last two weeks.

Many of them said they were due to complete their programmes in the coming weeks.

One adult learner said PtE “owe a lot of people an apology” while another added they were “very angry and shocked”.

A student who was hoping to finish in March also commented they had thought the course was their “way forward but [its] gone to nothing”.

Moreover, an apprentice due to complete a level 5 claimed to have been “totally left in the dark [as] to what will happen next,” having received no correspondence, and said they only found out through FE Week’s website following a report on PtE’s grade four in January.

The company confirmed at the time that it would be exiting the apprenticeship market with immediate effect, and would also be stopping to offer funding for courses via advanced learner loans.

Katy Lennon, then acting chief executive officer, previously told FE Week: “All employers and learners are being notified of this situation, and where necessary, they will be supported by ourselves and the Education and Skills Funding Agency to find suitable alternative training to support their professional development.”

FE Week attempted to contact the provider’s bosses this week but did not receive a response.

This week, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “Following an inadequate Ofsted report, Progress to Excellence Ltd notified us of its intention to file for administration. As a result of this notification a termination letter was issued for the apprenticeship provision.

“We are acting swiftly to secure alternative high-quality provision for the learners that are affected.”

It has also set up a dedicated email, progress-to.EXCELLENCE@education. gov.uk for enquiries from concerned learners, parents or employers.

At the time of inspection in December, there were 2,008 apprentices, 609 adult learners and “a very small number of learners on traineeship programmes” at the Wirral-based provider.

The education watchdog reported that PtE’s leaders’ and governors’ growth strategy to expand the curriculum “had a negative impact on the quality of education and training that apprentices and learners receive”.

“Too many” apprentices and learners experienced “disruption to their learning because of staffing issues”, who told inspectors that they were “having a poor experience”.

A former assessor at PtE, who wished to remain anonymous, supported Ofsted’s findings and told FE Week it was “like a revolving door there”.

They said that some staff members had warned the firm its expansion was going “far too quickly” and “if things do not change, there will be no company”.

In the provider’s 2015 Ofsted report, it trained around 1,900 learners.

The ex-employee also claimed the experience “totally put me off getting another job in education”.

PtE, which was established in 1997, dropped from grade two to grade four in January.

Its apprenticeship programmes included health and care, business and engineering and manufacturing at levels 2 to 5 while adult learners, who all used advanced learner loans to pay for their courses, studied hairdressing, beauty and fitness at level 3 and 4.

PtE subcontracted out around 250 apprentices to four subcontractors.

Despite action being taken by the new chief executive after she identified a decline in quality, “too many apprentices” told Ofsted they were having “a poor experience” and about on- fifth of current apprentices were beyond their planned end dates. In 2017- 18, more than one-third of apprentices did not achieve their apprenticeship.

The inspectorate said governors failed to hold previous senior leaders to account, apprentices were routinely not placed on the right apprenticeship and training and assessment officers did not ensure that all learners are on the correct programme.

Knife crime in colleges has more than doubled in recent years, new figures suggest, which has prompted leaders to introduce metal detectors and enforce bag searches.

The data obtained by FE Week from 22 of the 39 police forces in England reveal that almost 400 offences with the bladed objects have been recorded in colleges since 2015.

There were 39 in 2015, a figure that rose to 64 and then 71 in the following two years respectively. Offences in colleges peaked at 120 in 2018, but declined to 104 last year.

Knife crime more generally has been steadily on the rise since records began in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, the ONS cautions that “data can be affected by changes in recording practices, policing activity and victims’ willingness to report crime”.

While each police force has different methods of recording the data, the offences included possession, assault, threats or use of violence, grievous bodily harm, wounding, harassment, rape, robbery, criminal damage and affray.

“Carrying weapons doesn’t make students safe, it puts them more at risk”

However, full national figures for college offences are likely to be much higher than this because the London Metropolitan Police, which records the highest knife crime rates across the whole country annually, refused to release data in response to FE Week’s Freedom of Information request.

The findings come a month after two students were stabbed near a college in Cheshire and another teenager was attacked by the entrance to a college in Northampton.

College bosses across the country have reacted to the growing problem by investing thousands of pounds in new equipment, but some have warned they are often restricted by a lack of funding.

Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) searched and screened a total of 514 students across their two sites in September 2019 and January 2020, using handheld metal detector wands and random selection generators.

The group spent almost £3,300 on the equipment and training, of which £1,000 was awarded by Newcastle Borough Council.

Lesley Morrey, director of student engagement and partnerships at NSCG, said there were no “areas of concern” and the only object found was a fruit knife. “We want [students] to understand that carrying weapons doesn’t make them safe, it puts them more at risk,” she told FE Week.

Students “felt that we were taking their safety very, very seriously” and parents had praised the measures at open evenings. As a result, she believes the policy has “paid dividends” and had “the desired impact”.

Jayne Holt, assistant principal for learning services at Walsall College, said her college has “always worked proactively” with West Midlands Police to carry out knife arch operations as well as undertaking other safeguarding measures within the institution and alongside other agencies.

East Coast College principal Stuart Rimmer also told FE Week the college uses targeted and random bag searches in combination with tutorial sessions on knife crime. He said: “Working in the prevention space feels positive and is well received by students.”

London South East Colleges established a “Twilight College” in 2019, as a result of several high-profile reports of knife crime in the capital. It delivers extra-curricular activities four days a week from 4pm to 6pm, when students may be more vulnerable to becoming a victim of knife crime on their way home.

This month, survey results from the college found 82 per cent of students agreed that they felt safer travelling home after attending, and four-fifths would like to be able to stay even later.

Principal Sam Parrett said expanding the initiative with “limited resources is challenging and we have had to (and will continue to) divert resources to it”.

“We would like this to be recognised with additional funding to support our capacity to develop this important area of work,” she added.

An Ofsted research report into knife crime in London from March 2019 found the “biggest barrier” that colleges face when tackling the issue was the cost.

Further data released in September 2019 by the education watchdog found that seven colleges in the capital use knife detection wands and six use knife arches. It also showed that five use stop-and-search, and seven use “anonymous reporting procedures”.

The inspectorate reported the common denominator of students who were found carrying bladed objects was their “vulnerability”, with almost all having experienced poverty, abuse, neglect or living within troubled families.

Iryna Pona, policy manager at the Children’s Society, which works with young people at risk of, or affected by, criminal exploitation, said the data obtained by FE Week was “a real worry”.

“Exclusions only provide them with more time to spend on the street getting into trouble”

“Colleges could do more to spot the early warning signs that a student may be at risk,” she continued.

According to Pona, “too often” there is a rush to exclude students. She claimed colleges should work to understand and address the underlying reasons for concerning behaviour, and that colleges should raise incidents of a young person carrying a knife with their local children’s social care team as a safeguarding concern.

“We know that funding cuts mean capacity can be an issue and the government must ensure all colleges have the resources they need,” Pona added.

A 2019 report by the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime also found colleges were said to not always engage well with students who were starting to get involved with street gangs or low-level criminal activity, with permanent or temporary exclusions only providing them with “more time to spend on the street getting into trouble”.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Knife crime is a complex and worrying issue which AoC is working on with a range of national agencies and policy makers.

“We know that colleges take safeguarding and the security of their staff and students extremely seriously, based on a strong culture of non-violence. Sadly, there have been some serious incidents in colleges which always have a wide-reaching, long-lasting impact but those cases are relatively rare.”

Hughes added that no single institution can tackle knife crime alone and that he has been impressed with the partnerships which colleges have been developing with local partners, including local violence-reduction units, community safety partnerships and resilience forums.

In January, a new “Lives Not Knives” report by social justice charity Nacro revealed young people aged 15-to-19 believe they are not protected by the police, and that harsher penalties would not deter those who carry knives out of fear.

It called for an “urgently needed” shift on prevention, for interventions to be focused on tackling the underlying causes of violence as well as the provision of funding to support students who have been excluded.

A government spokesperson declined to comment on the figures obtained by FE Week but said engagement in education is a strong protective factor against involvement in violence and that it is important for colleges to equip children with the skills they need to be safe. 

Whitehall is lapping up the MBA apprenticeship that the education secretary Gavin Williamson is “unconvinced” provides value for money, FE Week has found.

The Department for Work and Pensions told this newspaper it had 86 on the controversial programme, including those in the application process, while the Ministry of Defence has 17, with seven being “onboarded”.

And the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport had two taking the level 7 senior leader apprenticeship standard with the Open University.

The Department for Education itself has 34 staff on the programme.

Several government departments – including the Home Office, Cabinet Office, and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – said they had none.

Williamson made his comments in a letter to Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education chief executive Jennifer Coupland ordering a review of the standard last week, adding: “I recognise that looking again at this standard may be unpopular with some levy payers.

“Whilst respecting the decisions that employers make about which apprenticeships and apprentices are best for their organisation, I am of the view that we absolutely need to safeguard the integrity of the apprenticeship brand and value for money of the levy.”

Shadow further education minister Emma Hardy has gone further by calling for degree apprenticeship funding to be limited to people aged under 25, those without a first degree, and in sectors with skill shortages.

She told the Annual Apprenticeship Conference this week the government’s “rushed implementation of the apprenticeship levy has resulted not in an increase in apprenticeship opportunities for the most disadvantaged, but quite the opposite”.

The integrity of the apprenticeship brand is not being damaged

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman used her speech at conference to express concerns that doubling the number of higher-level apprenticeships in general between 20116/17 and 2018/19 is to blame for a 45 per cent drop in starts at level 2 during that period.

However, the chief executive of the University Vocational Awards Council’s chief executive Adrian Anderson has defended keeping the MBA apprenticeship as “apprenticeships have just as important, if not more important, role in developing new progression routes and higher-level occupations for under-represented cohorts” as supporting them into lower-paid jobs

He added that stopping the senior leader apprenticeship would have a “detrimental effect” on the NHS and police, which UVAC believes to be among the biggest users of the standard.

FE Week found several hospital trusts advertise the level 7 apprenticeship on their websites, and Health Education England, which oversees training for NHS staff, reported it has 13 staff on an apprenticeship with an MBA. 

The Department for Health and Social Care does not have any.

“Government should be proud of the policy success of the apprenticeship reforms,” Anderson continued.

“The integrity of the apprenticeship brand is not being damaged. Apprenticeships are increasingly being seen as an aspirational programme and not just a programme for other people’s children.”

But degree apprenticeships like the senior leader standard, which has a maximum funding band of £18,000, have been criticised for taking up great chunks of the apprenticeship budget.

The National Audit Office said employers are developing and choosing more expensive standards at higher levels than was expected by the Department for Education, which was “absorbing” more public funding.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education predicted in 2018 the levy could soon be overspent.