Almost 150 young people have been named in WorldSkills UK’s official squad, marking them as candidates for the team that will head to WorldSkills 2021 in Shanghai.

Winners from the national finals at WorldSkills UK LIVE in November were among the 137 young people announced to be joining Squad UK today.

They will now undertake an intensive 18-month training process, fitted around their study and employment commitments, to bring them up to world class standard before the final team for China is picked.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson offered his congratulations to the competitors, and said he is “excited to see another talented group of young people preparing to showcase their skills on the global stage”.

One of those looking forward to more competing is squad member Finlay Champion, 18, from Chichester College Group.

He secured his place after winning silver in the furniture and cabinet making at the national finals, a tournament that he “really, really enjoyed”.

“One of my favourite things is competing,” he told FE Week. “I think that’s the most enjoyable time I’ve had making a piece of furniture. I think it’s the challenge of trying because you’ve already got the challenge and the timber you just need to assemble it all.

“But having to do it in a short space of time with competitors and people watching you, it’s just a fun atmosphere.”

It was a massive boost to my self confidence in having been chosen

He said finishing his piece at the finals was what got him picked for the squad, but he is now working on “being quicker at doing it better” – ensuring he can produce top-quality work in the time allotted at a tournament.

Martina Grumitt, squad member in jewellery is “very proud” to have been selected to be a part of the squad.

She said: “It was a massive boost to my self confidence in having been chosen, and I will focus on developing my skills in fine jewellery making, for my future in the trade.”

Jack Bateson, 19, from BAE, is representing mechanical engineering CAD on the squad and said it was his “dedication” that earned him a spot.

He previously competed in the national finals in 2018 where he won gold and was invited back to compete in 2019 to be in with a chance of making the squad.

“I’m honoured to represent the UK and represent my company,” he said.

City of Glasgow College is contributing the most squad members of any provider – seven; while both Toyota Manufacturing and Southern Regional College are sending six a piece; and New College Lanarkshire and Gower College Swansea are each sending five.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann said he was “very excited we are on the road to Shanghai”.

“After the brilliant national finals we have gone through a more stringent process in looking at the finalists, encouraging people and assessing people to come into squad and I feel we’ve got a really good, strong squad to go into the first stage of our international training programme.”

He said WorldSkills UK is “gunning to regain our position in the top 10”, after the UK slipped to twelfth place at WorldSkills Kazan 2019, having coming tenth at the competition before in Abu Dhabi 2017.

WorldSkills Shanghai will run from 22 to 27 September 2021.

FE Week is the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK will be following Squad UK’s journey throughout the process.

The full list of Squad UK members is below:

Competitor First Name	Competitor Last Name	Competition	Organisation Name
Abigail	Stansfield	CNC Milling	BAE Systems
Adam	Purvis	Chemical Laboratory Technology	Southern Regional College
Alex	Rendall	Electrical Installation	Bridgwater and Taunton College
Alex	Howe	Joinery	West Suffolk College
Andrew	Mcdonald	Wall and Floor Tiling	Leeds College of Building
Arron	Orr	CNC Turning	Fort Vale Engineering
Ashleigh	Hellowell	Cooking	Royal Garden Hotel
Aubrey	Whiteside	Car Painting	Riverpark Training and Development
Balveen	Nota	Construction Metal Work	Dudley College
Bayley	Harris	Hairdressing	Hyfforddiant Ceredigion Training
Belinda	Nightingale	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Ricoh UK Products Ltd
Ben	Lewis	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Ben	Beckett	IT Network Systems Administration	North East Surrey College of Technology
Ben	Simcox	Aircraft Maintenance	Raytheon Systems Ltd
Ben	Kidner	Electrical Installation	Rogers Restorations Ltd
Ben	Metcalfe	Patisserie and Confectionary	Trafford College group Altrincham campus
Benjamin	Martin	Electrical Installation	Nesbitt Electrical Installation
Billie Jo	McKenzie	Automobile Technology	South West College
Bradley	Ellison	Mechatronics	UTC Sheffield
Brendan	Duddy	Plastering and Drywall Systems	North West Regional College
Bridie	Kilby	Painting and Decorating	Leicester College
Cameron	McKnight	Cyber Security	Belfast Metropolitan College
Carwyn	Roberts	CNC Milling	Coleg Cambria
Celt	John	Cooking	Coleg Ceredigion
Charles	Samson	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Magellan Aerospace (UK) Ltd.
Charlotte	Phillips-Poupard	Beauty Therapy	Pembrokeshire College
Chloe	Holliday	Restaurant Service	Brockenhurst College
Chloe	Lloyd-Hughes	Cooking	North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Chloe	Millington	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Ricoh UK Products Ltd
Chloe	Williams	Beauty Therapy	Weston College
Clara	Agnew	Floristry	CAFRE
Connor	Stow	Patisserie and Confectionary	Hull College
Connor	Cruden	Plumbing and Heating	Moray College
Connor	Patterson	Building Information Modelling	New College Lanarakshire
Craig	Kennedy	Car Painting	Riverpark Training and Development
Dan	Slaney	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Danny	Hills	Welding	Lakes College West Cumbria
Danny	Bunphaung	Cooking	South Eastern Regional College
Darren	Houston	Building Information Modelling	New College Lanarakshire
David	Davies	Aircraft Maintenance	Raytheon Systems Ltd
David	Fryer-Winder	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Dominic	Dray	Refrigeration and Air Conditioning	Eastleigh College
Donna	Blainey	Visual Merchandising	City of Glasgow College
Dylan	Calvert	Wall and Floor Tiling	Southern Regional College
Dylan	Gillanders	Wall and Floor Tiling	Southern Regional College
Ellie	Mumby	Hairdressing	Grimsby institue
Ellie	Ruff	Visual Merchandising	South Leicestershire College
Emily	Jones	Restaurant Service	Coleg Cambria
Erica	Czerny	Hairdressing	Strode College
Erik Geza	Petnehazi	3D Digital Game Art	City of Glasgow College
Erjon	Berisha	Electronics	Belfast Metropolitan College
Ewan	Payne	Aircraft Maintenance	Royal Air Force
Finlay	Champion	Cabinet Making	Chichester College Group
Gareth	Jarvis	Aircraft Maintenance	British Airways Maintenance Cardiff
George	Hutchison	3D Digital Game Art	City of Glasgow College
George	Schenbri	Jewellery	The Goldsmiths’ Company
Graeme	Nevin	Auto Body Repair	Riverpark Training and Development
Hannah	Beckley	Floristry	Warwickshire College – Moreton Morrell College
Harry	Colgrave	Joinery	Exeter College – Construction Training Centre
Harry	Chaundy	Automobile Technology	GTG Training
Harry	Funnell	Landscape Gardening	Myerscough College
Harry	Maddox	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Shrewsbury Colleges Group
Harry	Jackson	Welding	Stainless Metalcraft Ltd
Hedydd	Davies	Restaurant Service	Coleg Ceredigion
Holly Mae	Cotterall	Beauty Therapy	Reds Hair Company
Isaac	George	IT Network Systems Administration	North East Surrey College of Technology
Isabella	Skipp	Patisserie and Confectionary	Havant and South Downs College
Jack	Bateson	Mechanical Engineering CAD	BAE Systems
Jack	Newton	Refrigeration and Air Conditioning	Crowther and Shaw LTD
Jack	Day	Web Technologies	Highbury College, Portsmouth
Jack	Hodgkinson	Landscape Gardening	Myerscough College
Jack	Hinks	Landscape Gardening	Myerscough College
James	Boyes	Cabinet Making	Moulton College
James	Digger	Architectural Stonemasonry	York College
Jamie	Kennard	Cabinet Making	Parkway Interiors Ltd
Jessica Rose	Ancill	3D Digital Game Art	Birmingham Metropolitan College
Joe	Austins	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Joel	Keen	CNC Milling	Rolls-Royce Plc
Jordan	Cliffe	Architectural Stonemasonry	Building Crafts College
Josh	Jones	Car Painting	NPTC Group – Pontardawe College
Josh	Sibley	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Josh	Harvey	Architectural Stonemasonry	Weymouth College
Kalem	Kerrigan	Plastering and Drywall Systems	Errigal Contracts
Kamil	Zmich	Mechatronics	UTC Sheffield
Katie	Graham	Patisserie and Confectionary	South Eastern Regional College
Kieran	McShane	Construction Metal Work	Burnley College
Kirsty	Frazer	Beauty Therapy	Southern Regional College
Lavanya	Hemanth	Chemical Laboratory Technology	Middlesex University
Lewis	Newton	Web Technologies	Highbury College, Portsmouth
Lewis	Boyle	Painting and Decorating	Leeds College of Building
Lewis	Dymock	Chemical Laboratory Technology	New College Lanarakshire
Lewis	Batchelor	Mechanical Engineering CAD	New College Lanarakshire
Liam	McCauley	Architectural Stonemasonry	Forth Valley College
Liam	Hughes	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Liam	Whitby	Mechatronics	Hydro Extrusion
Luke	Myers	Bricklaying	Bishop Burton College
Luke	Jowett	Cyber Security	Walsall College
Madeline	Rowe	Jewellery	London Artworks
Martina	Grumitt	Jewellery	M A Griffin
Matthew	Bundy	Automobile Technology	Skillnet
Matthew	Goddard	Aircraft Maintenance	Titan Airways
Matthew	Sutton	Auto Body Repair	Training 2000 Limited
Menna	Williams	Hairdressing	Coleg Sir Gar
Minahil	Nawasz	Building Information Modelling	New College Lanarakshire
Molly	Lawton	Health and Social Care	Pembrokeshire College
Morgan	McNeil	IT Network Systems Administration	Cardiff and Vale College
Morgan	Swift	Wall and Floor Tiling	City of Glasgow College
Morgan	Roberts	Welding	Lakes College West Cumbria
Nathan	Evans	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Neil	Donnolly	Mechanical Engineering CAD	New College Lanarakshire
Nick	Bundy	Landscape Gardening	Gadd Brothers Trees and Landscapes
Odhran	Connolly	Wall and Floor Tiling	Southern Regional College
Oliver	Shimwell	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Owen	Gallimore	Architectural Stonemasonry	Portland Stone Firms
Paul	Hayter	Mechatronics	UTC Sheffield
Paulina	Skoczek	Restaurant Service	Gower College Swansea
Phoebe	McLavy	Hairdressing	Coleg Sir Gar
Rhys	Watts	Electronics	Gower College Swansea
Ross	Findlay	3D Digital Game Art	City of Glasgow College
Ross	Fiori	Joinery	NCG Carlisle College
Ryan	Lee	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Shrewsbury Colleges Group
Sam	Everton	Cooking	Pembrokeshire College
Samuel	Miller	IT Network Systems Administration	City of Glasgow College
Samuel	Henderson	Plumbing and Heating	Scottish & Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation
Saskia	Godley	Visual Merchandising	North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Shane	Powell	Hairdressing	Coleg Gwent
Simona	Federova	Restaurant Service	City of Glasgow College
Stefan	Bargan	Cyber Security	Walsall College
Steven	Megaw	Cooking	Southern Regional College
Thomas	Williamson	Electrical Installation	Coleg Cambria
Thomas	Mills	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Ricoh UK Products Ltd
Thomas	Moule	Manufacturing Team Challenge	Shrewsbury Colleges Group
Thomas	Nowell	Painting and Decorating	Truro and Penwith College
Thomas	Griffin	Web Technologies	Weston College
Will	Gale	Mechatronics	Toyota Manufacturing Ltd
Zack	Evans	Web Technologies	NPTC Group – Neath College
Zara	Morgan	Beauty Therapy	Pembrokeshire College

The UK is to take its first steps towards hosting the international WorldSkills competition by gauging interest from the sector.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann announced his organisation is “interested in exploring” a bid to host the competition in an interview with FE Week today.

However, they cannot do it alone: Bentley-Gockmann said they “need to hear from our partners whether there is broad support to consider doing it”.

“Because a significant investment would be needed to host WorldSkills, so we need to start having conversations with partners and that’s why I’m saying this now at the beginning of the new decade.”

The UK last hosted the WorldSkills tournament, which brings young people from all around the world to compete in skills-based competitions, in London in 2011.

The most recent occasion was last year in Kazan, Russia; where the UK won a haul of two gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze.

While European countries will test their skills against one another at EuroSkills in Austria this year, the next global tournament will be held in Shanghai in 2021 and Lyon in 2023.

“It has been a decade since it was last in the UK so we’re certainly interested in exploring, with our partners, the feasibility of hosting,” Bentley-Gockmann said.

Ahead of Chancellor Sajid Javid’s Budget in March, when it is expected he will announce more about investing in skills, Bentley-Gockmann said he is “asking the question of our partners ‘is it something that we should be looking to do?’”

“It is actually a means to a bigger end: helping drive excellence into the UK’s skills sector and helping meet the ambition of governments across the UK to have a world class skills system.

“Given the focus on FE and skills, given the economic need to drive up standards in technical education, economically and in terms of our productivity challenge, should we be thinking about hosting WorldSkills as we’re galvanising activity and bringing people together on that agenda.”

If there is enough interest, he said the UK would perhaps look at the 2027, 2029 or 2031 competition, but could not say which year  the UK would bid for, or what city it would be held in.

Bentley-Gockmann explained the next step in the bidding process would be a feasibility study, which would look at the return the country would get on its investment in the competition and how it aligns with their public policy and skills policy objectives.

Someone with an intimate knowledge of putting on these competitions is former WorldSkills International president Simon Bartley, who was instrumental in running London 2011.

He said the UK would have to announce what city and what year they want to hold a competition in at least five years before they put a bid in for that tournament and that the WorldSkills member states usually decide the venue four years before the competition.

But he thinks it would be “brilliant” if the UK got to host and other WorldSkills member states would welcome coming back to the UK.

The UK may face stiff competition from the likes of South Africa and India – the two big countries which are yet to host a tournament – as well as Japan, which lost out to France for 2023.

Bartley said: “The government would really have to step up to the plate in regards to keeping their word about the importance of technical education in a way a British government has not really done since five or six years before we hosted London.

“The event has changed a lot and while I don’t think a country needs to spend as much money as Russia has done or China will do, there is still a pretty hefty financial commitment for the host country to have.”

Bartley said: “It’s very difficult to determine how much it’s going to cost” – some countries can hire competition venues for free, while others will not be able to, for example.

“WorldSkills is not so hung up now about how much a competition’s going to cost. It’s much more interested in knowing the things that are absolute key requirements for its success are in place: whether that’s government money or sponsorship money.”

 

Emma Hardy is to be Labour’s new shadow FE and HE minister, with a pledge to continue “fighting” government for greater investment in the sector.

The MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle and education select committee member snapped up the position after it was offered to her by shadow education secretary Angela Rayner today.

She takes on the role from Gordon Marsden, who was shadow HE and FE minister until he lost his Blackpool South seat in last month’s election.

Speaking to FE Week, Hardy said it is vital that she and Labour continues to not let government “get away with anything” while the party undergoes its current leadership election.

“The majority they’ve [the Conservatives] got means they can push through pretty much anything and the role of the opposition becomes even more important.”

She joined parliament following the 2017 general election and is a former primary school teacher and union activist.

Hardy said her experience on the education select committee has been “absolutely vital in my learning for the other areas of education”.

“I want to continue what I’ve been talking about with apprenticeships, how do you take people from being 16 years old all the way through a clear pathway to become fully qualified in a profession if you are not going to go down the A-level route.

“At the moment it doesn’t feel like is a very joint up system and I think as shadow minister for both FE and HE allows me to bridge that gap to look at how they work together.”

But her main priority for FE will be funding.

“It is no surprise I want to talk about funding – I’ve lobbied on the Raise the Rate and Love Our Colleges campaigns and that is something I will keep fighting for,” she told FE Week.

“My concern with this government, however, is with the rhetoric that is coming out, that they might be looking at increasing the FE budget by decreasing HE. I am a bit concerned as they both play a vital role and are both equally important.

“FE has to have its status raised and valued way more than it has in the past but not at the expense of HE.”

Hardy also touched on T-levels, stating that she has “many reservations” and she will continue to challenge government on their development.

“The feedback I’m getting from colleges is that they are not keen on them so it might be one of those policies that falls at the first hurdle,” she said.

On her party’s idea for a National Education Service, Hardy said it is a “fantastic” idea with principles behind it that she “buys into” – but it will be for Labour’s new leader to decide if they want to continue developing the policy.

Hardy’s first appearance at the dispatch box will be on 20 January, which “of course I am looking forward to”, she says.

Since joining parliament, Hardy has contributed to multiple Westminster Hall debates on college funding. In May 2018 she joined Hull College staff on the picket line during strike action, and she has commented in FE Week on the ongoing government investigation at the college.

The chief executive of education giant City & Guilds is stepping down.

Chris Jones will leave on 31 January, after 12 years in post.

Managing director of City & Guilds, Kirstie Donnelly, will become interim chief executive while a permanent replacement is sought.

Announcing the move on Twitter, Jones said: “I’ve decided now is the right time for me to step down as CEO of City & Guilds and get on with doing something different.

“It has been an honour to serve as CEO of such a fabulous, purpose drive organisation and I know I am leaving the Group in capable hands with Kirstie Donnelly.”

I’ve decided now is the right time for me to step down as CEO of @CityGuildsGroup and get on with doing something different. It has been an honour to serve as CEO of such a fabulous, purpose drive organisation and I know I am leaving the Group in capable hands with @K_DonnellyMD.

— Chris Jones (@ChrisJones_CEO) January 7, 2020

The organisation’s chair, Sir John Armitt, said the board of trustees and City & Guilds Group colleagues “all wish to thank Chris for the significant contribution he has made to the organisation over the past 12 years and we wish him well for the future”.

Aside from leading City & Guilds, Jones has been the chair of college group Activate Learning since 2016.

He was chief executive of Harcourt Education from 2004 to 2008 and before that spent four years as senior vice president of LexisNexis Group.

Lecturers in FE have the lowest levels of positive wellbeing and “stand out” as having high levels of anxiety among educators, a study has found.

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) today published an analysis of national data examining the latest trends on teacher wellbeing in England following “a growing list of headlines” which indicated their mental health is worsening.

The think-tank said research has shown wellbeing is important as it affects staff retention and their students’ outcomes.

By looking at the Office for National Statistics’ annual population survey, the EPI found the anxiety of FE lecturers is “markedly above that of other graduates,” including school teachers.

The report said: “FE lecturers stand out with high levels of anxiety and the lowest levels of positive wellbeing among educators, a worrying observation given that FE has also suffered the greatest cut in funding of any phase of the past decade.”

In addition, the EPI highlighted that “all educators, with the exception of FE teachers, report worthwhileness levels well above the graduate average”.

The EPI said this data could be considered the closest measure to occupational wellbeing.

The future prospects for staff in the sector did not appear to be optimistic either.

The report concluded “wellbeing amongst senior leaders [in schools] and FE lecturers is either plateauing or falling, and anxiety is not improving”.

It said a possible explanation is that both FE lecturers and school senior leaders have had to deal with “increasing pressure from accountability systems and, particularly in the FE sector, budget squeezes”.

This decline took place while most educators’ wellbeing improved over the past seven years.

Other sources used in the research included the Department for Education, the Work Foundation, the National Foundation for Education Research, the Education Support Partnership, Ofsted and our sister newspaper FE Week.

Hadlow College has begun transferring campuses to other providers after it became the first to enter education administration last year.

The Mottingham campus, which has 186 learners and 23 staff, was taken over by Capel Manor on 1 January.

Hadlow’s interim principal Graham Morley called it an “important step” towards resolving the financial issues facing the college which “removes some of the uncertainty for both the staff and students with regards to the future direction of the campus”.

He gave his thanks to the staff for their help in making the transfer possible: “It is sad to have to say goodbye to valued colleagues, all of whom have displayed the highest levels of professionalism in exceptionally challenging times.”

Hadlow went into administration in May with £40 million in debts, after accusations of wrongdoing by its former leadership team piled up.

The transfer to Capel Manor is part of a three-way split the FE Commissioner recommended for Hadlow and its sister college West Kent and Ashford College, which went into administration in August.

A report by administrators BDO released this morning revealed that by the end of March, East Kent College is expected to have taken control of Hadlow’s Canterbury and WKAC’s Ashford campuses.

Meanwhile, North Kent College will run the Hadlow campus and its Greenwich facilities, as well as WKAC’s Tonbridge provision and its Princess Christian Farm – a facility for people with learning disabilities in Kent.

Both colleges have been approached for comment.

Capel Manor College is a land-based college, like Hadlow, with 3,000 students and 300 learners spread across five campuses in London.

It is rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, most recently at a short inspection in 2016. Its 2017/18 accounts show it generated a surplus of £357,000, had 261 employees and a financial health rating of ‘outstanding’.

It is envisioned Mottingham will be fully-integrated into its new parent college, and new courses will be put on at the campus, including in horticulture, garden design, turf management, environmental conservation and arboriculture.

Capel Manor principal Malcolm Goodwin said they are “truly excited” about including Mottingham in their existing family of campuses.

Hadlow has already had to sell off its Betteshanger country and business parks to developers, which today’s BDO report showed brought in £1.47 million for the college.

An earlier report by the administrators detailed how the college owed money to 300 creditors, many of which were small businesses.

During an intervention by FE Commissioner Richard Atkins, it was found the boards both failed in their fiduciary duty and put the “sustainability of both colleges and learners at risk”.

The principal and deputy principal of both colleges, Paul Hannan and Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, as well as Hadlow chair Theresa Bruton all resigned from their roles after the commissioner visited.

The former leaders are currently being investigated by the Insolvency Service. If there is evidence of misconduct, and it’s in the public interest, measures such as director disqualification could be enforced.

The highest-paid principal in the country, who led a college which is under investigation after it found an unexplained deficit of around £6 million, has retired with immediate effect.

Judith Doyle stepped down from her role at Gateshead College on December 31.

FE Week understands Doyle had previously informed the board of her intention to retire at the end of this academic year.

A spokesperson for Gateshead College said the decision to bring this forward was “hers in the belief that it was in the college’s best interests to step aside now enabling the new three-year plan to be delivered by the team with the support of the ESFA and FE Commissioner”.

In December, FE Week revealed an investigation had been launched at the college following an unexplained deficit in the last financial year.

It was also understood that its finance director went on sick leave after the finding.

Doyle has spent 33 years in the FE sector and was appointed principal of Gateshead in 2013, having previously held the position of deputy principal.

The college received an ‘outstanding’ grade from Ofsted following a full inspection in July 2015.

Prior to this, Doyle was a student at the college and then worked as a part time English teacher.

She was the highest paid college leader, according to published accounts last year, receiving a salary of between £340,001 and £350,000.

The college previously told FE Week that “the published accounts take into account an accrual for a remuneration scheme payable in respect of a three-year period”. Her salary for 2019/20 was set at £252,000.

Deputy principal Chris Toon has taken over as acting principal with immediate effect.

John McCabe, chair of the board of governors at Gateshead College, said: “We are really sorry to see Judith retire and are very proud of her many achievements at Gateshead College.

“I know I am joined by the board, her colleagues from across the college, the FE sector and wider North East region when I say she’ll be greatly missed.

“Gateshead College means everything to Judith. She has worked here for such a long time and her dedication, strength of leadership and sense of team has had a huge impact on the college, her staff and colleagues and the thousands and thousands of students that have passed through the doors on her watch.”

Doyle was made a CBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2018.

A provider to the Premier League has scored well while a national laboratory training firm has done even better over a quiet festive break for Ofsted reports.

The only two other reports published during that period for FE were less impressive: FBP Ventures made ‘insufficient progress’ in one area; while HOB Salons failed to improve on a grade three.

But Skills Republic, an independent training provider, was found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ in three areas of an early monitoring visit concerning its provision to 52 apprentices.

The majority undertake apprenticeships in hospitality, project management and accounting, while 12 have recently started the level 3 sporting excellence professional standard.

A large majority of Skills Republic’s apprentices work with a single employer in the Premier League football sector – the provider’s website lists Chelsea football club as a client – and Ofsted reported their programmes “align very closely” with employers’ needs and students’ career aims.

A strong relationship between managers and apprentice supervisors allows employers to contribute to both the development and delivery of programmes, and learners develop transferable skills and behaviours for “a range of challenging and fast-paced work environments”.

Fellow independent provider NPL Management outpaced Skills Republic by making ‘significant progress’ in two areas of an early monitoring visit, which covered its provision of the level 3 metrology technician standard to 12 apprentices.

The standard teaches apprentices how to perform measurement tasks and offers “significant benefits” for apprentices at the provider, which is based at the National Physical Laboratory which sets measurement standards on things like medicine dosages and climate change data for the UK.

Learners have access to “good employment prospects” once they are qualified, as well as “valuable” jobs during training, inspectors wrote.

“They find the work fulfilling and interesting and relish working on, for example, research projects with universities,” the report continues, while employers also value the opportunities NPL makes available for its employees.

Employer provider HOB Salons, which operates 25 hair salons in London and the home counties, failed to make the cut for a higher grade than its existing ‘requires improvement’ rating.

It delivers to 72 apprentices in hairdressing, as well as four traineeships, but inspectors found leaders and managers “have not done enough to ensure that the quality of education is good” across all of their provision.

But, they remarked, leaders have made gradual improvements to the training and have “effectively” improved the quality of training in salons through more regular tuition.

Also, they have worked with salon managers to ensure learners are fully supported to cope with the challenges of a full-time apprenticeship programme; but with not enough impact on stemming the number of apprentices leaving the programme early.

FBP Ventures, an independent provider, received one ‘insufficient progress’ rating for its provision to 38 apprentices as it was found most were on zero-hours contracts and “too many” of them do not get paid for all the off-the-job training they undertake.

But it was also reported that the off-the-job training was an “effective programme” designed by tutors and employers, and managers understand end-point assessment for apprentices so most aspire for either a merit or a distinction grade.

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
FBP Ventures Ltd	21/11/2019	02/01/2020	M	N/A
NPL Management Ltd	03/12/2019	21/12/2019	M	N/A
Skills Republic Ltd	05/12/2019	23/12/2019	M	N/A

 

Employer providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
HOB Salons	05/12/2019	24/12/2019	3	3