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. 

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.”

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.

The board of the government’s apprenticeship agency has “stressed” the need for a funding band methodology that “works, is clear and easy to understand”, following years of trailblazer group criticism.

Minutes from a meeting in September, published today, show the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is carrying out a “funding improvement project”.

Robert Nitsch, the apprenticeship quango’s chief operating officer, “reminded” the board that the aims of this project were to “redefine a funding process that is clear, easy to understand and draws upon the best available evidence”.

In May, the institute made “several changes” to improve the current funding process, but the minutes state the board was keen to see improvements to two particular areas – affordability and quote moderation.

“The next phase of the project is a fundamental redesign of the funding process and the board will be kept abreast of progress over the coming months,” they added.

“The board expressed their desire for a more discursive paper to enable further debate at the next board meeting in November. The board stressed the need for a methodology that works, is clear and easy to understand.”

The IfATE’s funding band decisions, particularly their lack of transparency, have been an issue for many in the FE sector ever since the institute launched, and has led to various appeals and subsequent delays to standards getting up and running.

In an interview with FE Week in February, then chief executive Sir Gerry Berragan acknowledged that it is a “common refrain that we are very secretive about how we do funding band calculations”.

He committed to becoming more transparent, but added that the institute was not willing to share the formula it uses to calculate funding bands for apprenticeship standards as it fears employer groups will “misuse” it to “inflate their costs”.

In May, the IfATE announced it would start evaluating the impact of its controversial funding band reviews, and promised to “take action” where reductions have made delivering apprentice training unviable.

The IfATE has held two funding band reviews over the past two years which have both prompted sector outrage.

The trailblazer group behind three popular management apprenticeship standards in the first review, for example, was backed by more than 150 employers – including retail giant Tesco – in its fight to overturn plans to slash their funding bands by up to £5,000.

Meanwhile, the trailblazer group creating three FE teaching standards, which had been in development since 2015, accused IfATE of exceeding its powers last year after claiming their proposed funding bands were just half what they would cost to deliver.

The group claimed that the recommended funding bands were not “based on evidence and on a formal, transparent process”.

The group successfully appealed the decision and two of the funding bands were increased, but it severely delayed the rollout of the standards until this year.

And earlier in 2019, many care apprenticeship providers said they would be pulling out of offering the level 2 adult care worker and level 3 lead adult care worker standards after the IfATE rejected calls to double their funding rates.

 

Oldham College learners have teamed up with BBC Breakfast to deliver a Christmas tree and a carol concert to a lonely local pensioner.

After Terrance went on the show to talk about how he had spent every Christmas alone since his mother died 20 years ago, college leaders put their heads together and agreed they had to do something for him.

They got on the phone to BBC Breakfast to organise Terrance’s festive surprise and to find out his favourite carol – Silent Night – so they could set the choir to work rehearsing it while they carried out some emergency Christmas shopping.

A caravan of gifts, singers and a Christmas tree then met up with Breakfast presenter Dan Walker around the corner from Terrance’s house on Wednesday night.

After Walker went to speak with Terrance, he let in learners from the nearby college to erect and decorate a Christmas tree in his front room.

They then helped the emotional Terrance, who volunteers with Age UK, to go outside and hear the choir deliver their rendition of Silent Night.

Terrance also received a specially-made Oldham College Christmas card signed by staff and students, a luxury hamper, wine and gift vouchers.

Blown away by all the messages. Thank you again for the kind words about Terrence. This is Sophie – one of the students from @OldhamCollege. She signed up to be an @age_uk volunteer after meeting him last night 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#Lonliness #BBCbreakfast pic.twitter.com/qiFOVCl7FH

— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) December 12, 2019

“This is what Christmas spirit is truly about,” said Oldham principal Alun Francis.

“We were so proud and privileged to be able to help Terrance. His volunteering for Age UK is a real asset to the community – two students were so touched by their visit that they immediately signed up as volunteers themselves.

“We are delighted to have been able to help warm the hearts of the nation ahead of the festive season. This is a story about what represents the very best of us all and showcases the amazing work that all FE colleges – not just ours – do with our communities.”

❤️ Our next guest on #BBCBreakfast: @JohnBarrowman was so blown away by Terrence’s story he’s got an extra #Christmas gift 🥰⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VhECaotsks

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) December 12, 2019

Terrance will not spend this Christmas alone: he is seeing his 90-year-old friend Nancy, whom he met through Age UK.

And as an added bonus, actor and singer John Barrowman has offered Terrance VIP tickets to his Fabulous Christmas Tour in Sheffield.

Oldham’s musical endeavours do not stop there, however: the college is also in the running to be Christmas number one with its single Christmas With You, and all its proceeds will go to Stop the Traffik, a charity which fights human trafficking.

At the time of writing it has been played almost 4,000 times on Spotify and had over 4,500 views on YouTube.

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has today published its second research report into T-levels.

It follows a roundtable event in October which included six providers due to deliver the new qualifications from September 2020, as well as government and sector body representatives.

The first report, published in June, was based on interviews with half of the first 50 T-level approved providers.

FE Week has pulled out the latest key findings…

1.  Providers will have just six months to work out how to teach T-levels

The full specification for T-levels will not be available until March 2020, which leaves just six months for the first three pathways – childcare, digital and construction – to be made ready for teaching, including the summer break.

This was a “cause for concern” among providers and it was commented that while the childcare T-level will need less work to prepare, as it is similar to the CACHE level 3 diploma in childcare and education, the construction and digital pathways “included more content that was completely new for providers”.

2.  Major work needed to raise awareness

“Delegates felt there remained significant work to do to raise the awareness and understanding of T-levels among young people, parents and carers, and employers,” the report reads.

This is despite the best efforts of the ‘NexT Level’, a campaign costing the taxpayer over £3 million to help recruit the first wave of learners for T-levels.

Providers said that without the detailed specifications they could not always answer students’ and employers’ more detailed questions about the qualifications.

3.  WANTED: Learners for T-levels

Providers were positive about meeting their student recruitment targets, but this was because “they had set conservative targets which they felt were achievable”.

There were, however, concerns regarding school “protectionism” which is making it a struggle to promote T-levels in schools with sixth forms.

And learners could be put off by “the size of the qualification”: young people who rely on part-time jobs or had caring responsibilities would find it difficult to meet the 600 minimum guided learning hours requirement as well as the 315 hour minimum industry placement.

It was brought up that how those 600 hours would be spent, being instructed towards an exam-based assessment, would not attract students looking for workshop-style delivery and continuous assessment.

The question of how learners from rural areas could get transport to class and to their industry placement was also listed as a “concern”.

4.  Industry placements need more flexibility

One of the most controversial aspects of T-levels is the requirement for learners to go on a 315-hour industry placement; the previous NFER roundtable found providers were concerned about a lack of viable placements.

Recognising the challenge, the Department for Education introduced flexibilities earlier this year, including allowing the placements to be taken with two different employers.

However, educators have called for further flexibility in what counted towards the industry placement; specifically, they wanted project-based learning and work-related learning to count towards it.

The NFER said: “This would enable the engagement of employers who lacked capacity to support a placement and did not have a physical base,” namely digital businesses.

5.  WANTED: Staff for T-levels

Challenges in attracting staff from the construction, digital and engineering sectors will be “particularly severe,” says the report, because their industries can pay higher salaries.

Another hurdle providers spoke about was keeping staff’s industrial knowledge and skills up to scratch; an issue some providers have addressed by setting up a bank of freelance staff they can draw on to deliver part of the digital T-level.

6.  Will completing a T-level enable learners to progress on to a level 4 apprenticeship?

T-levels’ “lack of” occupational competencies – the knowledge, skills and attributes for a vocational career – has raised doubts about whether learners completing the new qualification will be able to progress on to a level 4 apprenticeship.

This was particularly the case in technical and practically-orientated apprenticeships like construction and engineering, and will put a dent in “an important selling point for T-levels”: the size and scale of the industry placement.

It will also be up to universities whether they accept T-levels, which carry UCAS tariff points. There were questions over whether the Russell Group would accept them, which may influence other universities and could “tarnish” T-levels in the minds of parents.

7.  Could T-levels be a block on social mobility?

The requirement for learners to have a grade four at GCSE maths and English was seen as a barrier to accessing T-levels, according to the NFER.

And the scale of the guided learning hours requirement and the industry placement is, as highlighted earlier, anticipated to be a problem for learners with part-time jobs or caring responsibilities.

As the specialist focus of T-levels and its exam-based assessment will not suit all learners, providers instead want the level 3 vocational and technical offer to “continue to provide young people with a range of options and learning styles, as well as broader vocational study”.

On that point…

8.  Providers plea for BTECs and other AGQs to stay

“T-levels are heralded as ‘gold standard’ qualifications but applied general qualifications are an established route with a licence to practice,” the report reads.

Yet earlier this year the government launched a consultation on withdrawing funding for thousands of AGQs, ahead of T-levels’ introduction.

There remain “some concerns” around what is going to happen to BTEC/Cambridge Assessment level 3 vocational students “if some or all of these qualifications are discontinued and what might be the unintended consequences”.

It was felt at the roundtable, which was attended by a Department for Education representative, that the breadth and specialisation of AGQs and T-levels were different enough “that different types of qualifications can thrive alongside each other”.

When asked for a response, the DfE pointed out they had recently launched their T-level campaign to increase awareness and said it is working closely with HE providers and their decisions around admissions policies will be made in due course.

A Team UK competitor has been appointed to the international WorldSkills Champions Trust, making him its sole representative from the country and one of just 11 from around the globe.

Dan McCabe, who competed at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 in 3D Digital Game Art, is also the first person from that skill competition to join the trust, which is part of the international WorldSkills movement separate from the UK operation.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann has congratulated Dan, calling him a “brilliant member of the Team UK alumni” who will “help champion mental strength in young people as part of his work”.

McCabe himself has said: “So excited to have been appointed as a European representative for the WorldSkills Champions trust.

“As many of you know WorldSkills UK is a huge part of my life and who I am. So, this is an incredible honour to go global, becoming one of three European representatives and one of 11 representatives in the world.”

So excited to have been appointed as a Europeron Representative for the Worldskills Champions trust. As many of you know @worldskillsuk is a huge part of my life and who I am. So this is an incredible honor to go global, becoming one of three europeons and one of 11 in the world https://t.co/kQCu3ko6Vg

— Dan McCabe (@DanM3D) December 11, 2019

The other representatives are all former competitors and the trust was established as an advisory group to work closely with the main WorldSkills organisation.

The trust works to raise engagement among former WorldSkills competitors, who are known as champions, and promote involvement in WorldSkills projects, initiatives and activities.

McCabe will now have to go through “an intensive training camp” in early 2020.

It comes at a time of increasing demand for the trust’s help: WorldSkills said “increased requests for former and current Champions Trust representatives to speak at technical and vocational education and training events around the world demonstrates that WorldSkills Champions serve as an authentic voice of youth in the global skills debate”.

The current representatives will hold their posts for two years. A a new group will be selected in 2021.

It is the latest international win for Team UK after they picked up two gold medals, one silver, one bronze and 15 medallions for excellence at WorldSkills Kazan 2019 in Russia earlier this year.