Latest news from FE Week

Higher education admissions process set for radical shake-up

The government is set to move closer to meeting a manifesto commitment to reform the higher education admissions process.

Earlier this week, UCAS put forward two new “radical” options, one of which is a “post-qualification offers” model where all students, including those on technical and vocational routes, would be offered college and university places at the same time, after their final qualification results in the summer. UCAS made clear this model was its preferred approach.

The other is a “post-qualification application” model, where all students would start the whole application process after their results came through. To allow time for their applications to be submitted, assessed, and for offers to be made and decided upon, the university term would need to begin in January.

Currently, applicants to college or university are given predicted grades by their current education provider, from which colleges and universities can decide whether to offer them “conditional” or “unconditional” offers, and the applicants can then rank their offers in order of preference.

This system has created concerns around the accuracy of predicted grades, especially for disadvantaged applicants whose grades are more likely to be under-predicted, and “conditional unconditional” offers, which offer applicants an unconditional place as long as that university is their first-preference choice.

Writing for FE Week, John Cope, director of strategy, policy and public affairs for the admissions service UCAS, said the current system also creates an “unhelpful split” between academic and technical results and offers, and so “life-changing decisions” on whether to pursue a place at college, university or elsewhere can be made on “imperfect information”.

Reforming the admissions system was a commitment in the Conservative Party’s manifesto, which pledged to “improve the application and offer system for undergraduate students”, with an approach “underpinned by a commitment to fairness, quality of learning and teaching and access”.

Cope argues a post-qualification model could “significantly” level up the playing field for further education and skills providers and create an “offer window” where they and universities could attract applicants at the same time.

UCAS’s modelling coincides with publication today of an 18-month review from Universities UK (UUK), the representative organisation for vice-chancellors, which recommends further consideration be given to reforming undergraduate admissions, based on a post-qualifications model.

This comes after their poll of 1,500 adults who applied for college or university in the UK between 2015 and 2019 found 56 per cent of recent applicants feel universities and colleges should only make offers after people have received their results.

Responding to the report, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, said there was “growing consensus” in favour of ending the reliance on predicted grades, and moving to a post-qualification system.

Also commenting on the report, the Office for Students, which has banned “conditional unconditional” offers until next September, warned that while there is “widespread recognition” that the current system is not working, a post-qualification admissions system “is not a magic bullet for fair access”.

UPDATE: Hours after this article was published, the education secretary Gavin Williamson announced that he plans to launch a consultation on changing the HE admissions process so that students receive their offers only once they have obtained their final grades.

No date for when the consultation will launch was given.

Reforming admissions offers opportunity to achieve parity between HE, FE and apprenticeships

A plan of action by UCAS could significantly level the playing field for HE, FE and apprenticeships, writes John Cope

UCAS has called this week for serious consideration of changing the way we do higher education admissions, with Universities UK also publishing the conclusion of their Fair Admissions Review today. This comes off the back of a welcome manifesto commitment from the government to consider admissions reform.

As with most debates in education, though, the focus will inevitably be on undergraduate degrees and universities. We saw this with the publication of the Augar Review, with most reaction obsessing about recommendations on tuition fees, but overlooking the important proposals on adult education, higher technical qualification, and colleges.

While publications like FE Week do a good job balancing the debate, all of us need to play our part. And yes, that must include UCAS. I’ve no doubt that if you ask most people what UCAS does, the answer will normally be “the university admissions service, right?”. Most will forget that the “C” stands for colleges – and that universities increasingly use UCAS to advertise their apprenticeships.

This perception needs to change – although interestingly around half of those surveyed currently filling out their UCAS application for next year have told us they’re interested in apprenticeship options.

As well as shifting perception, UCAS needs to overhaul our own systems and processes which, if we are honest with ourselves, are still designed to support three-year undergraduate degrees. We will be setting out plans on how we expand to better support wider choice in the coming months.

These plans will only work, however, if the UK’s application and admissions system is set up in the best way. This is especially relevant for FE and higher technical qualifications, meaning admissions reform offers an important opportunity. Colleges and independent providers need to take it seriously and make sure their voice is heard, especially if there is a consultation.

At the root of admissions reform will be addressing the fact we currently ask people to write their application, choose their courses, and narrow down their options to just two choices based on predicted grades, rather than actual results. It also means that there’s an unhelpful split between academic and technical results days. As a result, life-changing decisions can be made on imperfect information and with the potential next steps in education or training fragmented.

At UCAS, we have been looking closely at potential options for reform. While there are several being contemplated, one in particular stands out for serious consideration in our view and is the option that would likely work best for FE. This model of post-qualification admissions keeps the application writing and research pre-results but would move course offers by universities and colleges so they are made only on actual grades – this avoids the January start model. The reason that this could work better for FE is that it creates an opportunity to combine academic and technical results day, as well as create a new “offer window” where universities, colleges and others could make offers to applicants all at once – whether this window is a day or a few weeks is up for debate. UCAS would also be able to meaningfully integrate apprenticeship options into this window.

This model, if done in the way described, would mean applicants who have done A-levels, an applied general, or a T Level would be able to choose from the full range of next steps at the same time.

I’m not going to pretend this change would be a silver bullet or is enough on its own – it’s not. It could, however, significantly level the playing field and open the door to further changes UCAS and others could make to achieve genuine parity between HE, FE, and apprenticeships.

What is most critical is that any reform of higher education admissions includes voices from FE colleges, independent providers and the whole skills sector. It is an important opportunity and shouldn’t be viewed as just relevant to higher education.

Government careers agency fails to persuade majority of schools to engage with FE and HE

Less than half of the schools in the government’s multi-million pound network of careers hubs have met a target for providing “encounters with further and higher education”.

A report published today by the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) shows that while more schools are meeting the eight Gatsby benchmarks for good careers guidance, progress towards full compliance remains slow.

“Encounters with further and higher education” is the seventh benchmark and sets a target for every pupil by the age of 16 to have had a “meaningful encounter with providers of the full range of learning opportunities, including sixth forms, colleges, universities and apprenticeship providers”, which should include the “opportunity to meet both staff and pupils”.

But today’s CEC data shows that just 47 per cent of the more than 2,000 schools in the quango’s careers hubs fully achieved the target by March 2020.

The figure was even lower when the CEC looked at achievements in the rest of its network of almost 2,000 schools and colleges not in hubs – where 26 per cent met the target by the same period. For those schools not in the CEC’s network, 13 per cent met the target.

The findings chime with concerns from the education select committee about non-compliance with the Baker Clause – a law introduced in January 2018 that stipulates schools must ensure a range of FE providers have access to pupils from year 8 to year 13 to provide information on technical education and apprenticeships.

The committee questioned Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman on this issue during a hearing this week. Spielman said inspectors have found examples of non-compliance in schools and pledged to give careers guidance the “attention it deserves” when inspections restart.

Asked why they thought schools were struggling to provide encounters with FE providers for pupils, a CEC spokesperson said: “There has been sustained improvement in the number of young people having encounters with further and higher education. This improvement represents a threefold increase over two years.

“These are rigorous and demanding standards for schools and colleges. In order to achieve the criteria, they must achieve a range of measures such as meeting a full range of FE and HE providers and information about a broad range of apprenticeships.”

Today’s CEC report shows that overall national performance towards all eight of the Gatsby benchmarks has doubled since 2016/17 – schools and colleges have moved from achieving 1.87 of them on average to 3.75 as of March 2020.

Progress is higher when looking only at schools and colleges in career hubs – they are achieving 4.8 of the target on average.

The other benchmarks that appear to be proving most difficult to meet include “a stable careers programme” and “addressing the needs of each student”.

The CEC has come under fire in recent years from high-profile people in the sector like education select committee char Robert Halfon, who has accused the quango of making little progress in improving careers education in England despite receiving millions from the public purse.

The first 20 careers hubs, for example, launched in 2018 and were backed with £5 million, covering 710 schools and colleges. A further 19 opened or expanded in 2019 and were given with £2.5 million as the programme scaled up to cover 1,300 schools and colleges.

An additional 882 schools and colleges joined the programme in September 2020 backed with an extra £2 million.

Figures obtained by FE Week’s sister title Schools Week last year revealed that the CEC itself had received almost £100 million since launching in 2014 to boost provision.

Careers hubs comprise colleges working with local schools and universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to pool their expertise on improving careers education in their area.

They include a “hub lead” who works with school and college leaders to provide “strategic support” on their careers plan and access to business networks, as well their delivery against the Gatsby benchmarks.

A CEC spokesperson said: “The evidence shows performance on this measure is significantly better in CEC’s Careers Hubs and network, proving that targeted investment has accelerated progress.”

Profile: John Laramy, principal and CEO, Exeter College

JL Dutaut meets a principal who is ideally placed to talk about building back better

Exeter College has become a magnet for the government. Just over a year ago, Gavin Williamson visited to talk about T levels. He was back again in June, this time virtually, and six weeks ago it was the prime minister’s turn – not just for a photo op, but to deliver a major policy speech on the future of the sector.

Modestly, its principal, John Laramy, says he doesn’t “quite know how it how it came about. Somebody somewhere obviously said ‘Exeter College seem to be doing an OK job’, and off the back of that they came for a visit.”

In truth, it’s no surprise at all. The first general further education college in England, founded in 1869, Exeter College was crowned best college in the country by FE Week two years running in 2016 and 2017 and hasn’t been out of the top five (of 172) in the past four years. It’s been Ofsted ‘good’ since 2008 and ‘outstanding’ since 2014.

Laramy, who will mark 12 years at the college this January, having joined as vice principal in January 2009, has been in its top job for nearly five of those. And one of the features of Johnson’s speech really resonated with him: “Now is the time to end this bogus distinction between FE and HE,” he exclaimed.

That point alone made Exeter the ideal location for delivering that speech. As Laramy explains: “One of the things we benefit from in Exeter is how the schools, the college and the university all work together. It’s not about competing, it’s about collaborating. And because of that, Exeter scores really well on stats like productivity, and it’s got very low levels of unemployment in normal times. I don’t think it’s an accident.”

Given the economic pressures facing the country, it’s obvious why a recipe with such hearty results is particularly politically palatable. But there are many more reasons why the town and its college exemplify so well the government’s vision for education. Exeter College’s apprenticeships provision is noteworthy. Its collaboration with the University of Exeter extends to their co-running of Exeter Maths School – a darling project of this government, which Williamson has pledged would eventually reach every region. It has embraced T levels as one of its early adopters. And its facilities are second to none. But it has also been held back by disinvestment.

Exeter College can’t accommodate the students who want to study here

“We need to invest in skills, and we need to invest in FE,” said Johnson on his visit, after beaming about spending a part of the morning sampling Exeter’s “awesome” facilities with the students. “Let us begin by admitting that part of the problem is that not every FE college is as superb as Exeter College.”

But the truth is that not even every part of Exeter College is as “awesome” as the one he visited. And leaky ceilings are a characteristic understatement by the PM of the problems facing the college estate nationally.

In its last report, Ofsted called Exeter College’s facilities “exceptional”, but among its many sites around the town the one that could be expected to be its showpiece – the Hele Road town centre site, whose tower block, built in 1963, is the third tallest building in town – is increasingly inoperable. It will cost an estimated £70 million to knock it down and build new accommodation. “The legacy accommodation is one of my top challenges at the minute. This year, we’re hiring three rooms – meeting rooms in a hotel – because Exeter College isn’t able to accommodate the students who want to study here.”

Despite the funding announcement, there is little clarity about how it will be allocated and what the expected standards will be. But the college’s need is so great that it can’t afford to wait. “I’m quite hopeful,” says Laramy, “but we’ve taken quite a risk by developing quite a detailed plan without the funding to support the build.”

And that’s not all. “My second biggest challenge is the funding reductions that we’ve seen over the past ten years. It has slightly improved this year. But it’s still not a point where, you know, we don’t want to employ OK teachers, we want to employ brilliant teachers. And for that, particularly the technical areas, you need to match what the market pays for things like engineering, aerospace, construction and digital programming.”

Given these acute challenges, Laramy’s past makes him a conspicuously serendipitous appointment. For starters, he’s from Devon and has only left the area for a year to do his PGCE at the University of Greenwich. “That was my year in the big smoke,” he muses. He was raised as an only child on the family’s farm, which kept both of his parents occupied. The family no longer own the farm, but his memory of it is rather idyllic.

And he might still be there today, were it not that he was unable to start working there at 16. Instead, he joined the construction industry. Every leader I’ve interviewed manages to find a link between their previous career and education – some more tenuous than others. In Laramy’s case, ten years in construction is apposite. It may well explain the trust that Exeter’s governing body has placed in his strategy of developing plans for a major re-development “on spec”.

Yet his practical knowledge isn’t the aspect of the industry he himself singles out as relevant. “Construction is a people business. It’s about getting a team to coalesce around a vision of what you want to achieve. You could be the best construction manager in the country, but if the painters the plumbers, the carpenters, the bricklayers aren’t great, trained professionals, you won’t get a great building. I can be the best leader in the country, but if the teachers at the college aren’t brilliant, the students won’t get a great experience.” So with his BSc in construction management, when it comes to that second challenge of recruiting and retaining excellent teachers, it looks like he is well qualified too.

It won’t hurt either that he is highly personable. Of his school experience, he offers only that “I was the kid who had in all my school reports ‘John’s bright but can’t be bothered’” – testament perhaps to being a “people person” from the start, but testament also to an upbringing that valued practical work at least as much as its academic counterpart. Of pressure to go to university, for example, he says: “Honestly, it wasn’t part of my upbringing.”

In many ways, his experience confirms the line the prime minister seems to be following with his education strategy. Laramy holds a HNC in construction – from Exeter College, no less – as well as his “foreman’s book”, but also his BSc and a master’s in educational leadership, not to mention his teaching qualification. “I’ve benefited because I’ve had the university experience but I’ve done those part time,” he says.

He has worked throughout, accumulating knowledge and experiences of a practical and academic nature simultaneously. A karate enthusiast, he discovered through the marital art that he enjoyed teaching the younger members. “And then at 26 I just thought, actually, I could do this for ever or I could do something different. I’ve tried to have the ethos that you don’t regret things you’ve done, only the things you haven’t done.” So he sold his sports car – a Volkswagen Corrado – and invested the proceeds in teacher training. His first job came at North Devon College (now part of PETROC), where he stayed a decade, eventually becoming its head of curriculum.

Particularly in technical areas, you need to match market pay

In essence, Laramy’s career gives the lie to more than the “bogus” distinction between FE and HE. It shows that the idea of a linear progression, a single-track or single-industry career, is also suspect. But so is flexibility without foundations. A sense of place and a sense of agency and direction also matter.

So much for the individual, but as Laramy makes clear – no doubt based on his construction experience here too – you get what you pay for. That goes for buildings, and it goes for staffing them too. “You can’t build a system where the plumbing teacher is paid less than the plumber,” he tells me.

Even with greater investment, there are limits to modelling a national policy on Exeter. Laramy is right to praise the collaboration between education institutions in the town, but it’s hard to envisage how that could translate to larger conurbations where students have a choice of multiple FE providers. Collaboration means something very different to The Manchester College principal, Lisa O’loughlin, for example.

One thing’s for certain though: when it comes to building back better, the government have chosen the right place and the right person to visit for advice.

The winners of the BAME Apprenticeship Awards 2020

Outstanding black, Asian and minority ethnic apprentices, as well as employers and providers leading in increasing the diversity of apprenticeships, were celebrated at a stellar awards ceremony this week.

Twelve individuals, ten employers and one provider walked away victorious from Wednesday night’s BAME Apprenticeship Awards 2020, which were held on YouTube and Facebook after the Covid pandemic forced plans for an in-person ceremony (in Edgbaston in July) to be abandoned.

But, hosted by the star of BBC comedy show Man Like Mobeen, Tez Ilyas, and Capital Xtra host Remel London, the new setting allowed the event to become what awards organisers ThinkFest called an “awesome online extravaganza”, which featured a musical performance from Aston Performing Arts Academy.

Over 100 apprentices were shortlisted for awards, which cover everything from accounting and finance to transport and logistics, and head judge Olga Bottomley said the year had been “fantastic” and the quality of the apprentices has been “phenomenal”.

“It has been a pleasure to be a part of such an amazing cause that really highlights diversity in apprenticeships,” she added.

The judging panel included Errol Ince, vice principal for STEM at London South East Colleges, former National Union of Students president Shakira Martin, and NOCN managing director Graham Hasting-Evans.

Apprentice of the year went to Kimmy Kimani, 26, (pictured left) who is completing a business administration apprenticeship with Milton Keynes College, and who won after developing a keen interest in thwarting misconceptions and myths about apprenticeships, showing her online following of 150,000 the true value of the vocational programmes.

Judges said that while all those shortlisted were “exceptional”, the award “had to go to her for her sheer commitment” as she had gone “above and beyond” by building a “fantastic platform and network where she can shout about apprenticeships”.

Employers were also recognised for their contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion in apprenticeships, with the small employer of the year award going to law firm Thrive Law, and the large employer award going to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Learning provider of the year was awarded to the JGA Group for having worked with BAME communities to “address real issues related to knife crime and county lines, removing barriers, and creating real opportunities for learning and employment”, the judges said.

They led by example, having several people from BAME backgrounds on their board as well as a network of “inspiration” role models from those communities.

Judges added: “They are actively promoting the positive benefits of apprenticeships across many sector areas and continue to raise awareness of the opportunities they generate.”

JGA was credited for making “real change and real impact within and by BAME communities”.

The event was run in partnership with education company Pearson, and Cindy Rampersaud, its senior vice president of BTEC and apprenticeships, said: “We were delighted by the number of high-quality applicants received this year.

“It has been another great opportunity to showcase and celebrate so many inspirational BAME apprentices and to learn about their individual journeys.

“We are so proud to be sponsoring these awards, seeing so many realise their potential, ambition and aspirations.

“We would like to thank all the participants, the nominees, and winners for taking part in these awards and wish them all continued success.”

Pictured:

Top, left to right: Remel London, host; Kasim Choudhry, creative director, Thinkfest; Safaraz Ali; founder, Thinkfest; Tez Ilyas, host
Bottom, left to right: Edwin Ladd, Photographer; Thinkfest; Khoram Hedayati, visuals director, Thinkfest

The full list of winners:

Apprentices:

Accounting and Finance – Haider Ali of Rolls-Royce
Legal and Professional Services – Kimmy Kimani of Milton Keynes College
Health, Medical and Social Care – Pal Kaur of Walsall Council
Carers Award – Chipo Parirenyatwa – Mitchell’s Care Homes
Charity, Voluntary and Public Services – Chantel Fry of EMH Group
Retail, Hospitality and Tourism – Raginee Scudamore of University of Buckingham
Engineering and Manufacturing – Ashaan Grewal of Royal Mail
Construction Services – Romario Cazaubon – Mace Group
Media and Marketing – Sofia Mumtaz of Google
Digital and Technology – Hammad Shah of Suez Recycling and Recovery
Transport and Logistics – Hiba Abo Slo of Arup
Judges Choice – Samah Rafiq of Coca-Cola European Partners
Apprentice of the Year – Kimmy Kimani of Milton Keynes College

Employers:

Financial, Legal and Professional Services – EY
Health, Medical and Social Care – PJ Care Ltd
Charity, Voluntary and Public Services – HMRC
Retail, Hospitality and Tourism – Travis Perkins Plc
Engineering and Manufacturing – Bombardier
Construction – JS Wright & Co Ltd
Creative and Digital – IBM
Transport and Logistics – Transport for London
Small Medium Employer – Thrive Law
Large Employer – Great Ormond Street Hospital

Providers:

Learning Provider of The Year – The JGA Group

Could an FE white paper signal government support to host the skills Olympics?

The much-anticipated FE white paper could provide impetus and galvanise support for a bid to host the international WorldSkills competition in the UK.

That’s according to the chief executive of WorldSkills UK Neil Bentley-Gockmann, who spoke to FE Week on the first day of the organisation’s International Skills Summit, which is taking place today and tomorrow.

He announced in January, before Covid-19 engulfed the UK, his organisation was interested in exploring bidding to host the competition – which triggered an enormous sector response, spearheaded by FE Week’s Back A Bid campaign, and led to education secretary Gavin Williamson calling for the sector to support the idea.

Asked today whether he thought the FE white paper, expected to introduce major reforms to the sector, would help remind people of the bid and attract support to it, Bentley-Gockmann said: “Yes it would. I think it would have a galvanising effect, and would provide impetus to really get some detailed conversations going about feasibility.”

He said hosting would be a “massive undertaking,” but “now is the opportunity to be thinking ambitiously, now is the time to be thinking ahead and about the legacy from the white paper.

“Now is the time to be thinking for the medium- and long-term and sending a really strong signal that the UK is interested in hosting WorldSkills as part of that ambitious strategy.

“It would be a great opportunity for the country, the skills systems, and more importantly, a great opportunity for the next generation.”

At the summit, education select committee chair Robert Halfon and former skills minister Anne Milton both voiced their support for a bid.

Shane Mann (top) speaking with Robert Halfon and Anne Milton

Speaking with Shane Mann, the managing director of FE Week publisher Lsect, Halfon called the idea a “no brainer”, while Milton said she would lobby for it, as would a “queue” of skills ministers and education select committee chairs.

They join a string of other figures from the education sector who have backed bidding, including Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, broadcaster Steph McGovern, Pearson’s senior vice president for BTEC and apprenticeships Cindy Rampersaud, and numerous college principals.

Owing to the pandemic, every future WorldSkills competition has been put back a year, including the next two in China and France, so competition organisers WorldSkills International (WSI) have yet to come out with when countries can bid to host a tournament.

Former WSI president Simon Bartley told FE Week in January the UK would have had to put in a bid five years before the competition they wished to host.

Any UK bid would be subject to a feasibility study, which would include discussions around cost and where in the UK the competition would be located.

Bentley-Gockmann said he did meet with Williamson in March to discuss an ambition to host, but there has been “no movement” on the bid since earlier this year due to Covid-19.

The International Skills Summit is a virtual replacement for the annual WorldSkills UK LIVE event, which was cancelled once the pandemic hit Britain.

The new event is gathering politicians, sector representatives and business leaders from across the UK and abroad to discuss the UK skills system and how it can be improved through embedding lessons learned from the UK’s participation in the WorldSkills competitions.

The show must go on: online resources to support delivery during lockdown 2.0

With Boris Johnson announcing a second national lockdown on Saturday, we continue to face much uncertainty and disruption to our delivery of education and it is hard to imagine there will be mush change this academic year – a reality Michael Gove reflected over the weekend.

Although schools, colleges, providers, and universities will remain open, everyone will be facing significant ongoing challenges

There will likely be limited face-to-face contact times and reduced class sizes, as fears grow over outbreaks and spread of infection.

For those offering remote learning to students at home, the focus will be how to keep them engaged, and questions over just how effectively you can teach them new content and provide a semblance of a routine in education and training for these students.

But the show must go on and we must continue to adapt to the changing circumstances.

Most of us are looking for online and blended alternatives to help deliver key areas of our curriculum and are considering how to best transition from classroom-based delivery to online learning.

Whilst we continue to strive for quality delivery and maintain momentum, it is crucial that we consider what good online and blended learning looks like as we shift to digital learning.

It is crucial that we don’t employ the same ‘knee-jerk’ reaction this time round.

The lessons learnt?

When the first lockdown was imposed in March, hundreds of colleges and training providers had to quickly find alternative ways to deliver classroom experiences online.

Everyone agrees we will move into a world of “new normal” and education online will not just be a short-term reaction to the pandemic, but as a long-term solution and real opportunity.

Online learning should be a classroom not a library. Relying on Zoom and YouTube, and creating a dump of existing PDFs and PowerPoints, isn’t the best way to engage and inspire learners. We can’t just replicate face to face on a computer and a “lift and shift” approach (as I am sure we have all realised over the last 6 months). It just doesn’t work.

Nor will these methods prove successful in delivering the rigour expected by Ofsted to effectively progress learners through to their final qualifications.

A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found head teachers believe a third of pupils were not engaged with set work during the first lockdown
A survey by the National Union of Students found over a quarter of students (27%) struggled to engage with the online learning provided during the first lockdown with many finding online teaching ‘boring’ and the course content being ‘mediocre’

While many learners thrive learning online, for others it is a real challenge, and it requires a range of new resources and tools to keep them engaged and support their progression.

It takes real investment and skill to create effective e-learning content for your students and trainees, and without it there is a risk of poor student engagement, retention, and achievement.

Support for your organisation – online resources, distance learning qualifications, learning technology and subcontracting

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We can support you to deliver online learning content and qualifications in subjects across personal development, employability, business, finance, health and social care, early years, digital skills, wellbeing, and mental health.

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Ofqual’s independence questioned as regulator ‘buried its head in the sand’ during exams fiasco

The education select committee has accused Ofqual of “burying its head in the sand” by ignoring repeated warnings in the run-up to this year’s disastrous exams, claiming the regulator instead chose to follow orders from ministers and “hoped for the best”.

As well as questioning the independence of the regulator, committee chair Robert Halfon also took aim at the influence ministers may have had over decisions and the Department for Education’s failure so far to produce requested papers detailing the decision-making behind scrapping exams.

A letter to education secretary Gavin Williamson also states exams must go ahead in 2021 and “robust contingency planning must be in place as soon as possible to ensure this can happen”.

Halfon said the “fallout and unfairness” from the cancellation of exams will “have an ongoing impact on the lives of thousands of families”.

“But such harm could have been avoided had Ofqual not buried its head in the sand and ignored repeated warnings, including from our Committee, about the flaws in the system for awarding grades.”

He writes that although Ofqual were “clearly aware” that its controversial algorithm would cause problems for high achieving pupils in historically low attaining schools it “believed the number would be statistically small and could be addressed through an appeals process”.

It also recognised the approach would benefit smaller schools, such as private schools, and place pupils at large schools and colleges at a disadvantage.

Halfon said it was “revealing” that Ofqual ploughed ahead instead of raising issues at the time.

The letter states: “We regret that Ofqual decided not to raise wider concerns about the fairness of the model they were being asked to implement.

“They had every opportunity to do so when they came before us in June. Instead, they simply followed the ministerial direction and hoped for the best.”

Halfon explains the “whole episode calls into question Ofqual’s independence” from government.

While ministers are able to issue directions to Ofqual – the regulator is not required to follow these directions.

The committee concluded it was unacceptable that the regulator had taken up a “half-way house position where lines of accountability for standards are blurred”.

It was also revealed that the committee is of the opinion that if running a full schedule of exams this year was not possible there should be at least be exams in ‘core subjects’.

“There must be exams in at least English, maths and the science subjects, so that students are tested in these core curriculum subjects”, Halfon wrote.

This suggestion echoes comments made yesterday by Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman when speaking in front of the education committee.

Spielman, who is chairing Ofqual’s new “recovery committee”, said holding exams only in core subjects was “the kind of option under consideration” for next year.

However she caveated this suggestion and said “every option creates some unfairness”.

GCSE and A-level exams are currently scheduled to go ahead as normal next summer with the addition of a three-week delay to help pupils make up for any time lost learning due to coronavirus.

Halfon also noted that the select committee had not yet been provided with the “relevant information and papers” by the Department for Education relating to the decision to cancel exams in 2020.

Despite ministers assuring the papers would be provided in early September they have “not materialised”.

He said he expected the papers by Monday, November 23, so that the committee “may complete our investigation”.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is completely unacceptable that the government has apparently thus far failed to supply relevant papers and the minutes of meetings requested by the committee.

“We seem to be no nearer understanding what steps ministers took to ask the right questions at the right times to assure themselves on behalf of the public that the system for awarding grades would work and wouldn’t fall apart in the way that it did.”

Colleges fear enrolment surge could see 20,000 sixth formers go ‘unfunded’

Around 20,000 “unfunded” 16 to 18-year-old students are studying in colleges this year following a surge in enrolments due to Covid-19, according to the Association of Colleges.

The membership body said that the number – caused by the Education and Skills Funding Agency basing college funding on lagged learner numbers – equates to around £120 million.

It comes a week after the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that because of FE’s lagged funding system, exceptional rises in student numbers could generate a real-terms fall in funding per student this year despite FE’s £400 million boost for 2020/21.

An AoC members’ survey released today found that nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of colleges have seen an increase in 16 to 18 enrolments while costs have soared to makes campuses Covid-secure.

The association estimates that most (£225 million) this year’s £400 million funding boost has been absorbed by the additional costs that include personal protective equipment, cleaning, technology, transport, and extra staff.

To make up for the unfunded learners and Covid-19 costs, the AoC has called on the government to reallocate unused apprenticeship funding to colleges.

The AoC says that apprenticeship starts have fallen 60 per cent in comparison to the levels seen during 2019 and for 16 to 18-year-olds, the drop is even greater, at 79 per cent.

The association claims that with many workplaces shut or unable to take on apprentices, the reduced numbers are likely to remain in 2021 and 2022.

However, the AoC could not say how much it expects the apprenticeships budget to be underspent by, nor how they knew that there would be an underspend considering the carry over funding that has been building since the launch of the levy in 2017.

The government is also making a big push to increase apprenticeship starts post-pandemic, including new employer cash incentives that can see businesses receive £3,000 for taking on an apprentices aged 16 to 18 from August 2020 until 31 January 2021.

The DfE was approached for comment but did not say at the time of going to press whether it projects an apprenticeship underspend itself.

But, as FE Week revealed in July, £330 million of the 2019-20 apprenticeships budget was unspent and handed back to the Treasury.

In 2017-18 – the first year of the levy – around £300 million was surrendered. The DfE previously said it did not surrender an apprenticeships underspend in 2018-19.

Making the case for reallocating unused apprenticeship funding to colleges, AoC chief executive David Hughes said: “Sadly, many young people have not been able to secure the apprenticeship they want, so have turned to their local college to provide the training and education they know will help them when the jobs market picks up.

“Colleges have welcomed them, designed study programmes to meet their specific needs and want to help them get ready for the future. Unfortunately, though, the funding system which works well in a stable world, is not designed for such big in-year growth. In many cases it means that colleges are supporting hundreds of unfunded learners at a time when Covid has already increased their costs and put pressure on their budgets.”

He continued: “At no extra cost to Treasury, a redirection of unusable apprenticeship funds to colleges could help these young people pave a way to a promising future. We want this to be for the next two years, giving time for the labour market to pick up again and businesses to recover from the downturn. By which point thousands of young people will be work-ready and have the skills employers will need to get back on their feet.”

While the ESFA’s 16 to 19 funding system does have mechanisms to allow colleges to apply for in-year growth if they have a spike in student numbers, the AoC has previously pointed out that this is based on affordability.