Three FE colleges in England have been announced as winners of the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for 2018-2020 in a ceremony at St James’s Palace.

London South East Colleges, Dudley College of Technology and Tyne Coast College were among the 22 education providers recognised in the awards. They were recommended by the prime minister and approved by the Queen.

The prizes will be officially presented by a senior member of the Royal Family in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February.

Dr Sam Parrett, principal of London South East Colleges, said: “London South East Colleges has a very long history of supporting technical and vocational education and this award is a real celebration of our work, reflecting our well-regarded and high-performing education group.

“It’s also fantastic to be representing FE, showcasing some of the pioneering and innovative work that is taking place in our incredible, yet often overlooked, sector.”

London South East Colleges, based in Bromley, was chosen in recognition of the technical and vocational education on offer, including its “pioneering” of a strategic engagement programme within the construction industry.

Tyne Coast College, created from a merger of South Tyneside College and Tyne Metropolitan College, was chosen for creating digital scenarios that allow naval architects to design and implement projects at the South Shields Marine School.

Principal John Roach said: “Our 3D modelling team is in a field of its own in the UK in the expertise it has developed over the past two decades, and its achievements should be celebrated.

“We are known throughout the world for the strength of our maritime training, but this award gives us the global recognition we deserve in another field entirely.”

Dudley College of Technology, the largest provider of advanced vocational and technical education and apprenticeships in the West Midlands, was awarded the prize for “contributing to the economy of the region”.

The college’s chief executive Lowell Williams said: “I see this honour as recognition that further education can be the driver for economic regeneration, particularly of struggling towns in areas of the country that have been left behind by the under investment of successive governments, over many years.

“We never gave up on our vision. We took investment risks. And we always believed in the transformative power of further education. It goes to show so much can be achieved by so many people working together in one place for the good of that place.”

A total of 275 prizes have been awarded to 49 further education colleges and 98 universities since the awards were created in 1993. They are granted every two years.

The only other college to win an award outside of England was Belfast Metropolitan College.

Sir Damon Buffini, chair of the Royal Anniversary Trust, which manages the prizes, said: “Colleges and universities throughout the UK do exceptional work year after year that delivers benefits well beyond the institution – positively affecting education, the economy and wider society in many different ways.

“The criteria are demanding, and competition is strong; it is a great incentive to our colleges and universities to think critically about the direction of their work and its application and relevance in today’s world.”

The 22 award-winning UK further and higher education institutions were recognised this time for “ground-breaking work and pioneering research” in a range of disciplines including science, engineering, education, the humanities, the environment and medicine.

Entries to the scheme are invited in any subject area and are subject to assessment in a process managed by the Royal Anniversary Trust, an independent charity.

PIC: London South East Colleges celebrating winning The Queen’s Anniversary Prize

Refugees who achieved their qualifications after fleeing thousands of miles from their home nations are among the 11 winners of the WEA 2019 Educational Impact Awards.

The awards, which took place this evening, recognise learners, tutors, volunteers, partners and staff from across the nation who have “transformed their own lives and the lives of others through lifelong learning”.

Such as ten refugees and asylum seekers who completed their qualifications after fleeing from Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq and have now won the outstanding student group for Science for ESOL Glasgow.

Seven of them gained SCQF level 4 and three gained a certificate of participation during their resettlement process, which the WEA says “gives inspiration to ESOL students across the country that there are different pathways available”.

The WEA’s deputy chief executive Jo Cain gave her congratulations to the winners, saying they are a “fantastic example of how adult education benefits individuals, their families and the communities they live in”.

She added that the awards “are a great way to recognise the impact of adult education”.

The winner of the Olive Cordell foundation student award, learner Hava Cil, has been accepted to study PGCE maths at the University of Oxford after moving from Turkey and studying with the WEA to improve her English.

The outstanding regional partner award has gone to the Dolphin Women’s Centre for providing local women in Washwood Heath – one of Birmingham’s most deprived wards – with creative courses and training and educational courses to support employment.

For his inspiring work teaching art classes to students with varied needs including students with MS, dementia and with mental health needs, Frank Ferrie was presented with the award for outstanding tutor.

Cathy Kirk took home the Olive Cordell foundation tutor award for her efforts with an intensive ESOL programme with the WEA.

Anne Hollis was recognised in the impact in the local community category for being instrumental in starting Reaching Out art classes and widening its reach.

“At a time when many classes are no longer running for students with disabilities,” the WEA said, “the programme has remained full and varied with student success and progress at the centre”.

The social impact award was won by Adult Signpost Haverhill for “their inspiring work with adults who risked becoming marginalised and socially excluded due to mental health conditions”.

And the outstanding student award has been won by Sarah Marie Birks, who started with the WEA’s Helping in Schools programme, which led to her getting a teaching assistant position. She is now starting a BA in education culture and childhood.

Twelve regional award winners have also received awards; and WEA fellowships were bestowed on NOCN group managing director Graham Hasting-Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute Stephen Evans and the executive chair of Together TV and former chief executive of the Media Trust Caroline Diehl.

FE Week is the official media partner of the WEA 2019 Educational Impact Awards, which are taking place as part of the association’s Adult Education Works campaign.

 

The winners are as follows:

• Outstanding student: Sarah Marie Birks
• Outstanding student group: Science for ESOL Glasgow
• Outstanding volunteer: Norma Hinson
• Impact in your local community: Anne Hollis
• Outstanding tutor: Frank Ferrie
• Outstanding staff member/team: Sam Jones
• Outstanding staff team: Midlands Engine ESOL project
• Outstanding regional partner: Dolphin Women’s Centre
• Social Impact award: Adult Signpost Haverhill
• Olive Cordell foundation tutor: Cathy Kirk
• Olive Cordell foundation student: Hava Cil

Kendal College has been announced as the top college in FE Week’s annual league table for 2019.

This year’s NICDEX rated 172 FE colleges across England in four categories: employer satisfaction, learner satisfaction, 16 to 18 positive progression and adult progression into work.

The criteria is based on performance measures published by the Department for Education.

Kendal College was awarded the title with the highest overall average point score of 37 out of 40.

Principal Kelvin Nash told FE Week: “Kendal College are both proud and delighted to top the NICDEX league table this year.

“The college has a unique culture of support, ambition and maturity that is embedded in everything that we do, which means that our staff, students, and employers all work together in partnership.

“This whole college approach is why I believe we have been recognised as one of the country’s top colleges, and for that I have to thank all the staff and students for making Kendal such a positive and enjoyable place to be.”

Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group came second in this year’s poll with a score of 35.

Abingdon and Witney College came third with a score of 34.

Petroc was crowned the winner last year, after knocking 2016 and 2017 champion Exeter College off the top spot.

In the 2019 NICDEX, Kendal College scored highly in all of the four categories, securing 90.7 per cent for employer satisfaction, 89.8 per cent for learner satisfaction, 85 per cent for 16 to 18 positive progression and 66 per cent for adult progression into work.

Nash said every student was “capable of achieving great things” and he is proud that they have spoken “so positively” about their time at Kendal College.

“As a college we do everything we can to help our students to excel in their studies, and prepare them to think about life after Kendal, and this is reflected in the fact that a high majority of our students now find themselves in sustained employment, further study or higher education,” he added.

The annual college league table, now in its fourth year, was created by FE Week editor Nick Linford.

“The NICDEX was an enjoyable intellectual challenge to create an annual performance table with an overall score, from a mix of key measures,” said Linford.

“Most importantly, NICDEX is transparent. The four measures that make up the NICDEX are published by the DfE.”

Click here to read the full NICDEX supplement.

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to invest an extra £1 billion in FE, including VAT refunds for colleges.

“Further Education is vital route to learning and we will invest to support it,” the party has written in its manifesto, which was published today (click here to read).

The Sixth Form College Association has welcomed the £1 billion boost, which is believed will be used mainly to raise the funding rate for learners aged 16 to 18 – the SFCA has been campaigning for this to be raised to £4,760 with their Raise the Rate campaign.

Association chief executive Bill Watkin said this would “help to ensure that colleges and schools have the resources they need to provide every 16 to 18-year-old with a high-quality education”.

VAT costs, on average, for each sixth form college totals £350,000 a year, according to the SFCA.

Watkin said this scrapping this “learning tax” is the right call as it means more cash can be spent on front-line education for students.

Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes said: “It’s great to see another major further education announcement from a major political party. It is clear, whoever you talk to that colleges play a huge role in answering the big questions facing the country.”

According to the association, refunding VAT would be worth £150 million to general FE colleges annually.

The Liberal Democrats would also invest to clear the backlog of repairs to school and college buildings “so they are safe places to learn in” – although the party has not put a figure on how much this would cost.

The party also wants to expand the apprenticeship levy to “help prepare the UK’s workforce for the economic challenges ahead” by diverting 25 per cent of the funds raised from companies going into a ‘Social Mobility Fund’ targeted at areas with the greatest skill needs.

New sector-led National Colleges to back up a major expansion of high-quality apprenticeships, including higher apprenticeships, has also made it into the Liberal Democrats’ 100-page document.

These national colleges would be “centres of expertise for key sectors”, such as renewable energy, to deliver the high-level vocational skills that businesses need.

Which sounds very similar to the national colleges launched by the Conservatives in 2014 – one of which is surviving on a taxpayer bailout and is looking at dissolving while another has dramatically altered its offering after also receiving a bailout.

The party wants to create a ‘Young People’s Premium’, which would be based on the same eligibility criteria as the pupil premium that schools currently benefit from, but a portion of it would be paid directly to a young person aged 16 to 18.

There is also the Skills Wallet, which would give adults £10,000 to spend on education and training over 30 years, that was announced last week.

Improvements to wider vocational education are also on offer: the Liberal Democrats would seek to “improve careers advice and links with employers in schools and colleges” to include skills for entrepreneurship and self-employment.

Its manifesto also pledged to establish a Student Mental Health Charter which will require all universities and colleges to “ensure a good level of mental health provisions and services for students”.

According to the party’s own costings, their promises for further education, skills and youth services would cost £1.6 billion.

The Liberal Democrats are the first major political party to launch their manifesto for this year’s general election.

The Conservatives have so far pledged a £1.8 billion capital investment for colleges, while Labour has announced a raft of pledges for lifelong learning.

Labour’s manifesto is expected to be launched tomorrow.

Pictured: Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson and the party’s education spokesperson Layla Moran.

A learner with hearing and speech difficulties who also works as a carer for his twin sister is among the winners of the Association of Colleges’ Student of the Year Awards 2019.

The gongs, which include Young Student, Adult Student, Apprentice and Higher Education Student of the Year, were given out at the annual AoC conference gala dinner in Birmingham tonight.

They followed the introduction of the first-ever AoC President’s Award, earlier in the day, which was handed to a team of students from Brockenhurst College for their petition during the Love Our Colleges campaign.

Steve Frampton, AoC President, said: “Each year the level of applications is extremely high, and it goes to show the fantastic work that students are doing in colleges as well as the lengths colleges go to support their students.

“They have done amazingly well to win and should rightly be proud of their achievements.”

Billy Gibbons, from South Essex College, claimed the top prize for ‘Young Student of the Year’.

The student, who has profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, speech and language delay, developmental delay and an auditory processing impairment, achieved a D*D* in his 90 Credit Diploma in public services.

Gibbons, who also helps as a carer for his twin sister, obtained a distinction in every assessment.

He recently went to Buckingham Palace to receive his gold Duke of Edinburgh award and has completed training as a fire cadet within Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.

The runners-up in the category were Sibgha Amin, from Stoke on Trent College, and Macy Sheil, from Trafford College.

‘Apprentice of the Year’ was won by Tia Whelan, from Leicester College.

Whelan completed a three-year plumbing course before starting her property maintenance operative apprenticeship at UK Gas, where she is the first female in the team.

She now takes on her own work experience students and has visited 10 schools and colleges over the last six months to speak to students about the construction industry and promote the programme to female students.

Leicester College staff said Whelan, who is dyslexic, is also working at distinction level.

Lauren Polson, from London South East Colleges, and Luke Leech, from Bournemouth & Poole College, were both runners-up.

Ryan Kimber, from the Isle of Wight College, beat Roxanne Willoughby, from the Northern College and Malcolm Thwala, from Hugh Baird College, to win ‘Adult Student of the Year.’

He achieved D*D*D* in his Extended Diploma Engineering Level 3 BTEC after being diagnosed with brain and spinal cancer in 2016.

Kimber was headhunted by GKN Aerospace to design a project for their craft apprentices as a result of successful work placements.

He also volunteers for CLIC Sargent.

The college’s chair, Nicholas England, said: “It has been a privilege to see how much this young man has developed during his time at the college.”

The Higher Education Student of the Year was awarded to Benjie Kusita, from Bradford College, who is studying a BA (Hons) Media Makeup with Special Effects, ahead of Matthew Chilvers, from Loughborough College, and Henry Green, from Weston College.

Earlier in the day Frampton announced a new prize, the President’s Award, which was established to recognise those who have made a unique and lasting impact on the further education sector.

Brockenhurst College were the first ever winners, in recognition of their work in the Love Our Colleges campaign.

The college’s online petition gathered more than 70,000 signatures, which paved the way for a debate in Westminster about college funding.

 

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has today recommended a new, more “robust approach” to subcontracting in an effort to avoid an outright ban.

Subcontracting in FE, the practice of one provider paying another to deliver the training, has never been far from scandal and controversy. It has already been banned for advanced learner loan funded courses.

In what the AELP describes as a “last chance saloon” for subcontracting apprenticeships and adult education budget funding, its chief executive, Mark Dawe, claims “by incorporating the recommendations in our submission into its rules, the agency can avoid ministers demanding a ban”.

“Examples of subcontracting malpractice do not justify at all a call for an outright ban on subcontracting”

The ESFA announced plans last month for a radical overhaul of its subcontracting rules amid high-profile cases of fraud, while Ofsted has launched research into the practice.

In its submission, the AELP said the “vast majority” of subcontracting is “high quality” and officials must not take a “damagingly blunt” approach to address the behaviours of a small number of providers.

The requirement and expectations of main providers who subcontract out government funding should be “much more robust” in order to ensure integrity.

AELP has produced a checklist of the “minimum expectations” of the main provider, which they say is significantly above and beyond the current ESFA rules and “should be adopted across the sector”.

This includes: acceptable fees, charges and additional services, quality monitoring and quality assurance, MIS, audit and ILR services, and contracting management (read the full report here).

The association says there also needs to be clarity on the “different types of subcontracting and what is and what isn’t a subcontract to help alleviate confusion across the sector, including with employers”.

AELP has used its submission paper to again call again for fees and charges not to exceed 20 per cent of the funding – a recommendation that has been adopted by the Greater London Authority and other mayoral combined authorities with devolved adult education funding.

This maximum cap would “block the profiteering of a small number of providers who commoditise their privileged access to government funding and ensure value for money”.

AELP adds that there should be a clear policy on management fees and charges being only applicable to core funding and not additional funding “designed to support specific groups of learners or to support certain additional needs”.

ESFA should also procure funding from providers that is “continuously subcontracted out on a transitional basis”, the association’s submission said.

“Recent examples of subcontracting malpractice do not justify at all a call for an outright ban on subcontracting in the sector, but a much more robust approach on the part of the ESFA and Ofsted would make a huge difference in stopping further examples occurring,” Dawe (pictured) said.

“Over the last ten years, AELP feels that the ESFA has rather dragged its heels in making the required changes needed in its funding rules to put the issue to bed and we are probably now in the last chance saloon.”

“Let’s have no more prevarication around this issue”

He added: “Let’s have no more prevarication around this issue which has been damaging the sector’s reputation for far too long. Change the rules now.”

Eileen Milner, the chief executive of the ESFA, sent a sector-wide letter last month warning of rule changes to subcontracting and that she will take strong action against any provider that abuses the system.

She said there are currently 11 live investigations into subcontracting, with issues underpinning them ranging in seriousness from “complacency and mismanagement”, through to matters of “deliberate and systematic fraud”.

She revealed the government will review its current subcontracting rules later this year.

Ofsted’s research will mainly look at whether management fees, which have controversially grown to as much as 40 per cent on subcontract values, are having a detrimental impact on learners’ education.

There have been a number of high-profile subcontracting scandals in recent years. The most recent involved Brooklands College and resulted in the ESFA demanding a £20 million clawback.

A Labour government would train 80,000 people a year in a new climate apprenticeship programme, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to announce today.

It is part of a raft of apprenticeship reforms being unveiled; including allowing levy funds to be spent on a wider range of accredited training and extending the time allowed for employers to spend their allocation.

Labour has said it would also double the amount of money businesses are allowed to transfer to non-levy paying small and medium-sized businesses.

The climate apprenticeships programme, which is intended to help the UK pivot to a green economy, will be paid for by diverting 25 per cent of the apprenticeship levy and “by any dividends over the cap paid into Labour’s Inclusive Ownership Funds – expected to be £700 million by 2024”.

Jeremy Corbyn will tell the Confederation of British Industry conference today: “Climate apprenticeships will offer training to school leavers and workers looking to change jobs mid-career, creating the engineers, technicians and construction workers we need to transition to a green economy.”

Labour says they will deliver 320,000 apprenticeships in England during their first term in government, and by 2030, the programme will have created 886,000 apprenticeships.

Corbyn will argue only Labour “will deliver real change” as the government has “failed to deliver apprenticeships” after a 20 per cent fall in starts since the levy reforms were introduced in 2017.

Apprenticeships on the climate programme will be trained as engineers and technicians in renewable energy and transport; civil engineers and skilled tradespeople in sustainable construction; designers, welders and fabricators in low carbon industries; and sustainable agriculture and forestry specialists.

Labour said the global green economy is currently valued at $4 trillion, and is projected to grow to $9 trillion in value by 2030.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Mark Dawe said: “Labour have obviously given careful consideration to reforming the levy and the climate apprenticeships target for a whole term doesn’t seem unrealistic.  These apprenticeships are vital for the future and we support investment in the training of our young people and workforce for this important sector.”

Although it is not yet clear how much extra time Labour will grant, employers currently have 24 months to spend their levy allocation.

But one area Labour might run into more difficulty is widening the levy: the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has estimated the apprenticeships budget will be overspent this year and by up to £1.5 billion by 2021/22.

The National Audit Office has also warned of a “clear risk” to the financial sustainability of the apprenticeship programme, after finding the average cost of training hit double what the government had predicted.

Dawe said it is “premature to start talking about the levy being used for other forms of training” considering the levy is already being overspent on apprenticeships.

This evening the Department for Education (DfE) has said there remains “no immediate safety concerns” at a college halls of residence with cladding that has failed a safety test, despite a university student halls catching fire.

It is understood that around 100 people were evacuated and two people suffered minor injuries at a Bolton University halls of residence last night.

An investigation by FE Week in October revealed Highbury College, in Portsmouth, has requested up to £5m in financial support from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to replace Grenfell-style cladding that had ‘failed’ a safety test.

The DfE spokesperson also said tonight that they are still considering the funding application and a decision “will be made in due course.”

A spokesperson for Highbury College confirmed The Tower, which is clad in the same aluminium composite material as the Grenfell Tower which caught fire in June 2017, has had resident students under 18-years-old since September 2016.

Students under 18-years-old in onsite residential accommodation would be in-scope for an Ofsted social care inspection.

But when FE Week asked Ofsted last month why they had not inspected the residential provision at The Tower Ofsted said the ESFA had not made them aware of it.

Highbury College also blamed the ESFA for not telling Ofsted that they had resident students under 18-years-old on the premises, because they claim they had “declared in the college Individual Learner Record from 2016/17 onwards and as such would have been accessible to the ESFA.”

The college had also been telling parents that the Tower was regulated by Ofsted.

And with Ofsted not being made aware, the college has saved around £5,000 over the past three years in what the inspectorate calls an “annual routine fee, set in regulations by the DfE, for the inspection of the college’s residential provision.”

This afternoon Ofsted told FE Week that the DfE had still not asked them to undertake an inspection of the residential provision at The Tower.

A spokesperson said: “We inspect residential provision in colleges at the request of DfE. When they inform us that a college has residential provision, we will inspect it within the timescale in our policy. But, if they want us to go in sooner, they can ask us.”

The fire at Bolton University halls, which is understood to have involved a different type of cladding, prompted the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, to write “to all university vice chancellors” this afternoon.

Williamson tweeted that he had asked them to “review fire safety procedures and safeguards across residential, teaching & research accommodation.” And “report back to me as swiftly as possible.”