Why FE colleges need “big data” in the battle to recruit apprentices

Smart technology that transforms data management is available in an FE college near you, says Richard Alberg

Big data is everywhere; it enables the analysis of how we shop, vote and even make our way around cities. But what can it do for further education, particularly when it comes to the highly competitive apprenticeship market?

Technological innovations have amplified our capacity to store large data sets and use them to understand human behaviour. Whether by default or design, FE colleges, like education in general in the UK, have yet to fully embrace the potential of big data to help recruitment, retention, completion, career, course innovation and business development, to name but a few benefits.

The reluctance in some quarters is understandable. Data, as the academic Rebecca Eynon points out, comes with ethical dilemmas over privacy and its potential use to whittle out failing students, teachers and institutions. Furthermore, making sense of the vast amount of raw data out there is a huge job. You can download local apprenticeship market data from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), but these come as massive spreadsheets. Understanding the trends that can inform decisions elude all but the most motivated.

However, I would argue that data should be essential to the work of the FE sector, since apprenticeships are one of the fastest-growing post-16 training routes. Apprenticeships are complicated. Each learner is an individual with her/his idiosyncrasies. Programmes generally last for more than 12 months and are split between workplace and training centre. Add in compliance, audit and Ofsted, and it is easy to see how, with multiple learners, there are many moving parts where things can go wrong.

Colleges must also decide which programmes to offer. Apprenticeship standards require curriculum development, an expensive undertaking. Ensuring that the college invests its scarce resources in the right areas matters.

Using data to analyse learner progress is also a challenge. Data has to be exported from several systems – CRM, ePortfolio, LMS and funding – and then brought together. It can take an analyst several days, so unsurprisingly it is rarely done. Since there are often errors in the data, management can become sceptical about the information and revert to gut instinct.

Is there a solution?

For a while now, some of the more sophisticated training providers have been investing in very smart technology that transforms data management. Two elements are available, and we are on the cusp of a third.

We are on the threshold of using artificial intelligence in education

The first is end-to-end delivery in a single technology platform and one database, which helps administrative efficiency and eliminates double-keying of data. And it means that any required information can be generated instantaneously from this single database. There is no need to bring diverse data sets together because it is all in one place. Many industries, from medicine to banking, use this kind of structured data to help with regulatory compliance.

The second element is about interpreting and processing the data. Business intelligence tools, such as Microsoft’s Power BI and Tableau, are becoming popular. These allow you to select fields from a database and then view them visually, drilling in and out as required, making the intelligent business management decisions that lead to success.

For example, we created an interactive mapping project from ESFA apprenticeship data, that shows which apprenticeship standards and frameworks are being delivered in localities across all providers. Data like this enables college managers to plan around growth areas and market gaps with greater ease.

Finally, I believe we are on the threshold of using machine learning or artificial intelligence in education. Much of how it will evolve is still speculation, but machine learning can draw on the vast array of structured data to identify institutional patterns around efficiency, retention and completion rates.

And much like the recommendations we receive from Spotify or Netflix, algorithms can target students with courses or career options and can deliver personalised learning.

There is no getting away from the inevitable. Colleges that embrace data will be the colleges that prosper.

How we can get the talent pipeline flowing properly

Only by employers and educators working closely together can the UK’s chronic and increasing skills gap be closed, says Sandra Kelly

Employers must take ownership of the skills agenda to ensure that vocational programmes reflect what industry really wants and needs. The recent funding-band cuts across multiple sectors just go to show how important it is for employers to be proactive and to work in partnership.

The importance of this employer-led ethos really hit home when we invited the head of the Food Teachers Centre (a 5,000-strong self-help group for secondary-school teachers) to one of our quarterly Hospitality Skills & Quality Board meetings.

The idea was to exchange ideas to address the vastly reduced number of students on food-related courses at schools, which is set to have a profound impact on the talent pipeline, apprenticeships and full-time college hospitality and catering courses.

It’s no exaggeration to say that some of them looked shell-shocked to learn that fewer than 50,000 students in the UK are now taking GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition – 50 per cent less than a decade ago.

Budget cuts and the new Ofsted inspection framework offer nothing to guarantee food education. This challenge is amplified by the fact that hospitality and tourism have one of the highest levels of skills gap of any sector.

It is estimated that by 2024, they will need to recruit an additional 1.3 million people (‘People & Productivity’, People 1st report, 2017).

On another occasion, we arranged for last year’s AA College Restaurant of the Year, Milton Keynes College, to meet with the Hospitality Skills and Quality Board to share what works well, and to set out why they refuse to work with employers that fail to provide a quality student experience.

The employer-led approach at the heart of both these initiatives highlights the need to encompass the whole talent pipeline. There’s no reason why this approach can’t be applied elsewhere.

FE colleges, for example, could be invited to meet with employer-led boards in other sectors where curriculums are being delivered. After all, why would you not want to influence and collaborate with employers who are actively investing in apprenticeships and further education in their workplaces?

One of the challenges with change initiatives is that to succeed they must be deeply embedded at a cultural level. Whilst it’s true that infrastructures and frameworks provide a platform for colleges to develop innovative partnerships, a sound strategy and effective communication at all levels helps to set the tone.

Our employer-led college accreditation board is an approach that can be mirrored in other sectors. Similarly, the partnership we have established with the AA for the AA College Restaurant of the Year award for student-run college restaurants is an idea that can be replicated in other sectors.

We need more initiatives like these to give the colleges an opportunity to be creative and really stretch the boundaries of what’s possible.

Another way to do this is to collaborate with the government and other key stakeholders. The Aviation Industry Skills Board, for example, is working closely with the Department of Transport to ensure the Aviation 2050 strategy delivers a ready supply of talent to meet current demand and future need.

Ultimately, these types of initiatives can only succeed if employers are fully engaged and working in partnership with education. Having industry around the table to develop entry-level standards for apprenticeships and the future T-levels simply isn’t enough.

We need to capitalise on the energy and passion of committed employers. This means not only unearthing what’s happening to their talent pipeline, but also taking collective responsibility to finding a sustainable solution.

Skills shortages are without doubt one of the biggest challenges currently facing the UK economy. It’s time to take action now.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 287

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving.

Zamzam Ibrahim, President, National Union of Students (NUS)

Start date: July 2019

Previous job: Vice President (Society and Citizenship), NUS

Interesting fact: Even as a baby, she has had a drive to succeed, bypassing the crawling stage by going straight from sitting upright to walking

Dawn Chadwick, Governor, Northumberland College

Start date: July 2019

Concurrent job: Founder and director, Dawn L Chadwick Insolvency

Interesting fact: In her spare time, she enjoys competing in horse riding events.

Garath Rawson, Principal, Doncaster UTC

Start date: September 2019 

Previous job: Vice principal, UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park

Interesting fact: He is a fluent Spanish speaker.

Kerry Patterson, Governor, Northumberland College

Start date: July 2019

Concurrent job: Head of HR, Tharsus Group

Interesting fact: She met Prince Charles at St James’ Palace.

Hinds blames colleges as their share of apprenticeships slumps to 26 per cent

Apprenticeships delivered by colleges fell to just 26 per cent last year, according to analysis by FE Week, and education secretary Damian Hinds has accused colleges of “not winning enough” funding.

When asked by the education select committee last week about financial constraints within the FE sector, Hinds blamed colleges for failing to secure more apprenticeship funding.

“The cash available for apprenticeships is doubling over the course of the decade,” he said. “I want FE colleges to be winning more of it.

“They are not winning enough of it today. No one is stopping them winning it, but it is not happening enough and I would like it to happen more.”

This is not the first time colleges have been urged to increase their uptake in apprenticeships. In 2015, the then skills minister Nick Boles told the Association of Colleges conference to stop letting private providers “nick your lunch”.

Our analysis of starts in the year to July 2018 found colleges’ market share for apprenticeships has shrunk from 31 to 26 per cent.

The official statistics also reveal that colleges are particularly struggling to win business in the new world of standards and large levy-paying employers.

They only delivered 19 per cent of all starts with levy-paying employers in 2017-18, while private providers delivered 66 per cent.

And in terms of standards, of the total starts on these new apprenticeships in 2017-18, colleges delivered just 18 per cent of them. Private providers delivered 72 per cent.

“Colleges exist to fulfil their mission, not to make profit”

FE Week approached a number of colleges that have experienced sharp declines in apprenticeship numbers in recent years, and the majority blamed their reduction or the move away from subcontracting.

The rules for subcontracting changed in May 2017, and main providers can now no longer subcontract entire apprenticeship programmes. Instead they must “directly deliver” more than a “token” number of apprenticeships to each employer.

In addition, many providers that were previously subcontractors are now on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers and so are able to contract directly with levy-paying employers.

Several colleges also mentioned the impact of the wider apprenticeship reforms in 2017, namely the controversial 20 per cent off-the-job training requirement, which is widely cited as the biggest barrier to apprentice recruitment.

A closer look at individual examples shows how Newham College had 890 non-levy starts last year, but only 40 that were levy funded. And of all of its starts in 2017-18, Newham only did 20 on standards.

Elsewhere, data for East Sussex College Group shows that it had 1,470 starts last year, of which just 120 (8 per cent) were levy funded. And figures for Croydon College reveal that of its 140 starts in 2017-18, none was on standards.

FE Week contacted all three colleges to try to find out what was stopping them from offering training to large employers and apprenticeship standards, but they did not respond at the time of going to press.

Teresa Frith, senior skills policy manager for the AoC, said that competing for large, national contracts with levied employers is “outside” of colleges’ mission to “support specific communities”.

“It’s possible that some organisations are making large surpluses from apprenticeships (particularly degree apprenticeships) but where colleges are growing their apprenticeship activity, they’re spending the revenue on training,” she told FE Week.

“Colleges exist to fulfil their mission, not to make profit.”

She added: “The main reason for the reduction in colleges’ market share is the low levels of non-levy funding allocations which are severely restricting colleges’ ability to recruit new apprentices, and this in turn is forcing colleges to turn away employers.”

Colleges are, however, attempting to reverse this trend.

The Collab Group, for example, has launched a range of partnerships in an effort to boost the number of apprenticeship starts for its 35 college members.

In March, the group announced a “strategic partnership” with the Association of Professional Sales and developed the “sales academy programme”, based on the level 4 B2B sales executive apprenticeship standard.

“We have built a set of innovative training materials to guide and develop the skills of professional salespeople, helping them to be significantly more productive and effective as sales ambassadors for their companies and UK industry,” it said at the time.

Collab’s chief executive, Ian Pretty, said the group’s colleges “will benefit greatly from this partnership”.

In February, Collab also partnered up with the UK Parliament to launch a programme that will see its colleges train “25 apprentices to work in the most important buildings of the UK government, including the House of Commons, House of Lords and the iconic Elizabeth Tower/Big Ben”.

One month earlier, Collab and its colleges had formed another partnership, this time with the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust. In this alliance, the parties will “collaborate to provide digital apprenticeships to local housing associations”.

In the same month, Collab also partnered with Energy & Utility Skills to “connect leading UK colleges with the country’s leading energy and utility employers to inspire more learners into industry apprenticeships as they develop a sustainable workforce for a post-Brexit economy”.

‘Sorry’ Dudley College boss calls for support and advice as auditing system gets ever more complex

The leader of a high-profile college has called for greater support in navigating the government’s increasingly complex and high-stake audit system, after falling foul of data rules.

Lowell Williams, chief executive of Dudley College, says there is a “spectrum of issues” arising out of audits that have created an environment that doesn’t encourage “people to work together to solve the core problem”.

“I’m a national leader of further education and we go in and work with colleges on teaching, learning, engaging staff, communication and strategic planning, but I’m not aware of an equivalent line of support available for people getting the data systems right,” he said.

We’re going from no support to audit of the nth degree

“I would like the possibility for the sector to sit down openly with the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the audit firms and say, ‘We are having difficulty with some of this stuff’, and feel they can do that if they have made mistakes and that they won’t be castigated for it.”

Williams was speaking exclusively to FE Week just months after Dudley College had to pay back more than £500,000 to the Department for Education after an audit exposed numerous late withdrawals of learners, non-compliance with breaks in learning, and overstated achievement rates.

The chief executive of the Ofsted grade one college apologised for the “blunder” at the time and said he had even considered resigning over it.

But since then, his team has made a catalogue of significant improvements in their data tracking and recording processes, which will help to prevent the errors that have occurred in previous years.

Williams is now planning to share the results of the “action plan” (click here to read) with the wider sector, and wants a tripartite partnership between government, audit firms and providers to tackle the complex system.

He said the range of providers falling foul of audits go from “very serious calculated fraudulent activity at the extreme end, to, at the other end, mismanagement of complex data”.

One of the most “difficult things” for Dudley was that it “has been associated in the same breath as people who are doing some of this stuff for profit and personal private profit, in a way which warrants investigation by the police”, Williams said.

He continued: “There is virtually nowhere you can go if you are a college principal with a data issue which doesn’t end up in difficulty for you, and that is the problem.

“We gave back half-a-million pounds which we hadn’t anticipated doing. Our financial health was in a place where we gave it back and that was OK, but for others, that could have been a destabilising number. There is no incentive for people to be open about the difficulties they have.

“We’re going from no support to audit of the nth degree, in the most complex and difficult funding system that one could imagine, with huge consequences at the end of it.”

Williams said the fault does not just lie with ESFA staff, because their capacity has been “diminished over the years”.

“There was a time where if you did have an issue you could ring somebody up and they would come in and have a chat and give support and advice,” he explained.

“I sense the agency has pushed themselves to ensure they’re not held accountable for public funds being wasted.”

FE Week revealed in February that several dozen providers had been hit with recent mystery audits, after the ESFA raised concern about the reliability of their data. They not only faced a funding clawback, but were also removed from the official achievement rate tables.

Dudley College is planning on sharing its follow-up audit report, conducted by auditing firm RSM last month, with the sector from today (July 5).

“We will invite any college that wants to discuss it further to have a discussion with us,” he said.

“We’re quite happy to make that report available and the formulas and everything that goes with it if other people would like to use it.”

Williams concluded: “At the end of the day it was the college’s error, it is our responsibility to get the administration right as well as Ofsted right. We have now learnt a hard lesson about not being complacent for the need to check and double-check every aspect of your individual learner records management to get it right.”

Sudden closure of DfE’s Apprenticeship Delivery Board slammed as ‘surreal’

A board that was set up by government to increase apprenticeship starts has been quietly binned – with officials claiming its objectives have been “fulfilled”.

This reason “borders on the surreal”, according to shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, especially after a new co-chair was appointed as recently as July 2018, who described the board’s work as “so important” at the time.

The Apprenticeship Delivery Board (ADB) was launched four years ago and had representatives from high-profile employers, including the likes of Barclays, Fujitsu and the NHS as members.

BBC’s Claire Paul

Its key purpose was to: “Implement an employer-engagement strategy to deliver an increase in high-quality apprenticeships starts, and to support a greater volume and more diverse number of people applying for and starting apprenticeships to meet growing demand.”

But after months of inactivity, and with no board meeting minutes published since October, FE Week asked if it was still running.

After initially stating that there would be an update “in due course” two weeks ago, a Department for Education spokesperson has now said: “The Apprenticeship Delivery Board fulfilled its objectives and was dissolved on June 24.”

Trudy Harrison (pictured), MP for Copeland and the board’s co-chair, told FE Week the decision was taken “by both chairs in conjunction with the ESFA after extensive thinking about the remit and functions of the board”.

The board’s other co-chair was Claire Paul, the director of leadership development and new talent at the BBC. She only attended two meetings after joining in July. She declined to comment on its closure.

The minutes of the board’s last meeting in October suggest there was no plan to shut it down, especially as it was agreed to change its name to the “Apprenticeship Sector Development Board with immediate effect”.

They also state the co-chairs had asked that “board member sector delivery plans be completed by the end of December 2018”.

“Claire and Trudy also plan to arrange individual meetings with each board member before the next board meeting in February 2019,” the minutes add.

Furthermore, minutes from the meeting in July state how Harrison reported that her experience in her constituency “is that there is still a need for more employers offering apprenticeship positions” – another clear sign that the board had not yet fully achieved its objectives.

Marsden said the situation “borders on the surreal”.

“We know there have been all sorts of problems with the delivery board, with its management, with the people appointed, and the fact they were not transparent with their minutes, and now we’re told it has fulfilled its objectives.”

The controversial board member Marsden referred to was David Meller, former co-chair of the Presidents Club, which faced allegations of sexual harassment by guests at its January 2018 charity dinner. He was co-chair of the ADB at the time, but stood down shortly after the scandal.

Gordon Marsden

Marsden continued: “This doesn’t exactly give employers, or indeed anybody, wanting to engage around apprenticeship delivery much confidence.

“When the new government comes in, and whoever is education secretary or skills minister, they need to work very hard at engagement and also engagement with apprentices themselves. Again, we have an apprentice group but use of it by officials and ministers has certainly in any formal sense been negligible.”

He said he will table a parliamentary question to find out what the criteria was for the board “having fulfilled its objectives”, as he believes their impact has been “barely on the radar”.

The ADB’s closure comes hot on the heels of the education secretary Damian Hinds admitting the government will miss its target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by next year.

“If you look only at the number of people starting an apprenticeship, then that target is not going to be reached,” Hinds told the education select committee last week.

Hinds did not give a fresh timetable for reaching the starts target, which was set in the Conservative Party’s 2015 election manifesto. Instead, hr said the focus ought to be on the quality of apprenticeships.

Ofsted watch: Busy week with good news for most providers

It has been a promising week for all types of FE providers, with 22 positive reports published by the education watchdog.

However, the week wasn’t without its bad news, with three ‘insufficient progress’ early monitoring visits and one provider dropping from grade two to three. Two other providers were also rated ‘requires improvement’.

Crewe Engineering and Design UTC was graded ‘good’ in its first inspection, after the education watchdog found a “nurturing culture” driven by the principal and supported by senior leaders, staff and governors.

Inspectors said students with previous poor experiences of secondary education thrive and develop a strong understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and that governors know the college well and have considerable expertise in the college’s specialisms of engineering, design and manufacturing.

ROC College, a specialist independent college in Devon and part of the charity United Response, was also rated ‘good’ across all provisions in its first ever inspection.

Leaders and managers were commended for promoting high aspirations for learners, resulting in good progress from their starting points.

Ofsted found that learners develop useful skills and positive attitude to learning, with many making better-than-expected progress towards independence.

Meanwhile, East Riding of Yorkshire Council maintained its grade two rating thanks to its leaders’ “clear and ambitious vision for adult education”.

“Managers successfully monitor and improve the performance of staff and tutors,” Ofsted said.

“Consequently, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the previous inspection.”

And Millennium Performing Arts, a dance and drama school, saw its rating increase from grade three to two thanks to improvements in the quality of the apprenticeship provision and the outcomes for students since the previous inspection.

Ofsted said leaders and managers have established an ethos of developing individuals to excel in their performance skills, and that almost all students achieve their diplomas in dance or musical theatre.

Elsewhere, a number of providers received good feedback in their first monitoring visits since they won direct government contracts to deliver apprenticeships and adult education provision.

Adult Training Network Limited was found to have made ‘significant progress’ across the board after establishing a curriculum that closely meets the needs of learners and employers in the local area.

Staff provide “effective initial advice and guidance to learners” to ensure that they place them on the appropriate level of course, Ofsted said.

Fashion – Enter Limited also made ‘significant progress’ in its first visit after developing a well-structured apprenticeship programme for the fashion industry.

Inspectors found leaders and managers work very well with employers to create and fill apprenticeship vacancies, and that employers invest in their apprentices and benefit greatly from the value that the programme brings.

Two employer providers, RPC Containers Limited and R S Fleet Installations, also made ‘significant progress´ in their apprenticeship provisions.

Free to Learn Limited made ‘significant progress’ in two of the provisions and ‘reasonable’ in another, while Creative Process Digital Limited was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in one provision and ‘reasonable progress’ in the other two areas judged.

Also this week, Hadlow College was found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ in all areas in its first Ofsted monitoring visit since it went into administration in May.

East Coast College was also found making ‘reasonable progress’ across the board in its first monitoring visit since it merged with Lowestoft Sixth Form College in August.

Ofsted increased UK Training & Development Limited’s grade from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’ following an improvements in leaders’ rigour with which they monitor the quality of the provision.

However, they have yet to ensure that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good and not enough apprentices achieve their qualifications or achieve high grades.

On the other side, Construction Gateway Limited received a grade three rating from Ofsted in its first inspection, with leaders and managers criticised for not knowing enough about the quality of teaching and learning for apprentices, and not planning effective improvements.

Waltham Forest Chamber of Commerce Training Trust Limited dropped from a grade two to three due to the low number of apprentices achieving their qualifications within planned time and due to trustees not having a good enough overview of the performance of the provider.

Moreover, The Academy Hub received three ‘insufficient progress’ across the board in a monitoring visit, Bior Business School Limited received two ‘insufficient progress’ and one ‘reasonable’, and Home Group Limited received one ‘insufficient progress’ and two ‘reasonable progress’.

Employer provider Vantec and nine private providers – Chrysos H.R. Solutions Limited, NCAL Limited, Rosewood Management Services Limited, Kemble Training Limited, Elevated Knowledge, Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic, Lewtay Training Limited, The Finance and Management Business School and Total Training Company – made ‘reasonable progress’ across all provisions during their first monitoring visits since delivering apprenticeships.

GFE Colleges Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
East Coast College 23/05/19 02/07/19 M n/a
Hadlow College 20/06/19 05/07/19 M

1

 

Independent Specialist College Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
ROC College (part of United Response) 12/06/19 04/07/19 2 n/a

 

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Home Group Limited 16/05/19 02/07/19 M n/a
Free To Learn Ltd 30/05/19 04/07/19 M n/a
Adult Training Network Limited 20/05/19 01/07/19 M n/a
Chrysos H.R. Solutions Limited 11/06/19 04/07/19 M n/a
Fashion – Enter Ltd 28/05/19 01/07/19 M n/a
Construction Gateway Limited 05/06/19 02/07/19 3 n/a
NCAL Ltd 05/06/19 03/07/19 M n/a
Creative Process Digital Ltd 06/06/19 03/07/19 M n/a
The Academy Hub Ltd 30/05/19 02/07/19 M n/a
Rosewood Management Services Limited 22/05/19 03/07/19 M n/a
Kemble Training Limited 20/06/19 02/07/19 M n/a
UK Training & Development Limited 14/05/19 02/07/19 3 4
Bior Business School Limited 29/05/19 05/07/19 M n/a
Elevated Knowledge Ltd 12/06/19 05/07/19 M n/a
Elite Training, Assessing And Development Cic 05/06/19 05/07/19 M n/a
Lewtay Training Limited 12/06/19 05/07/19 M n/a
The Finance And Management Business School Limited 05/06/19 05/07/19 M n/a
Total Training Company (Uk) Limited 29/05/19 05/07/19 M n/a

 

Adult and Community Learning Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
East Riding of Yorkshire Council 11/06/19 03/07/19 2 2
Waltham Forest Chamber of Commerce Training Trust Limited 04/06/19 05/07/19 3 2

 

Employer providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Vantec Europe Limited 29/05/19 01/07/19 M n/a
RPC Containers Limited 11/06/19 04/07/19 M n/a
R S Fleet Installations Ltd 05/06/19 05/07/19 M n/a

 

Other (including UTCs) Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Millennium Performing Arts Ltd. 04/06/19 04/07/19 2 3
Crewe Engineering and Design UTC 04/06/19 03/07/19 2 n/a

Former Dragon hits out at IfATE over cut to level 3 and 4 standards

The chair of major high-street employer Ryman, ex-Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis, has accused the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education of “damaging” apprenticeship quality.

This follows IfATE’s decision to cut funding to the level 3 retail team leader and the level 4 retail manager standards, from £5,000 to £4,000 and £6,000 to £5,000 respectively.

Paphitis told FE Week that reducing those funding bands is “damaging to the quality apprenticeships we want to offer”, as it will mean training providers could struggle to provide learners with the breadth of learning experience that Ryman would prefer.

Both are popular standards, with 5,119 starts for the retail team leader standard, and 2,369 for the retail manager standard, according to latest ESFA starts data to January 2019.

The stationery giant may be forced to pay top-ups to finance the programme it wants providers to deliver, Paphitis said.

He added: “We are great believers in quality, not quantity. Reducing the costs will make it even harder for some companies to spend their pot in the way it was originally intended.”

The retail apprenticeships were two of 17 standards that had revised funding bands published this week, following a review by the IfATE.

This latest stinging criticism of IfATE’s decision-making will not be welcomed by skills minister Anne Milton, who told FE Week she wanted the quango to have a much more “collaborative relationship” with providers.

There is little sign of that this week, with hospitality apprenticeship provider HIT Training accusing the institute of engaging in a “race to the bottom”.

Two level 3 hospitality standards have been cut from £5,000 to £4,000 this week: hospitality supervisor and senior production chef.

A spokesperson said the institute “always call on us for support when there is a funding band review, but frankly, it seems that in spite of providing a significant evidence base, they invariably choose the cheapest option”.

“We will cut our cloth to suit, but it is a real pity high-quality provision will be removed from the sector,” they added.

People 1st, which represents the standards’ trailblazer groups, appealed against IfATE’s decision to cut the four standards.

All four appeals were rejected by IfATE, as were two against cuts to the level 3 bus and coach engineering technician standard, which was cut from £18,000 to £16,000; and the level 3 heavy-vehicle service and maintenance technician, which was cut from £18,000 to £15,000.

The cuts may mean training providers decide these two standards are not viable to run, warned the standards’ trailblazer group representative, head of fleet at First Bus Jon Harman.

Of the 17 new funding bands published this week, only one standard had an increase: the level 3 highway electrician/service operative, from £9,000 to £12,000.

Six remained the same, while ten have had cuts.

There have been two funding band reviews, in May last year and the following December, which have led to several standards having funding cuts, including the popular chartered manager degree apprenticeship.

Three funding band reviews from December are outstanding.

An IfATE spokesperson said: “The aim for all standards reviewed is to ensure they have the most appropriate funding band to support high-quality delivery, and provide value for money for employers and taxpayers.

“Each standard has been considered on its own merits following the same approach used throughout the review process to ensure consistency.”

The spokesperson said IfATE had worked collaboratively with trailblazer groups and collated evidence that was used fairly and in a balanced way.

“We welcome feedback and will assess the impact of any changes to funding bands over the coming months, taking action where appropriate.”

BTEC award winners 2019 unveiled

The winners of the ninth annual BTEC Awards have been recognised at a ceremony featuring performances, celebrity appearances and a bucket load of vocational talent.

Awards were presented to 21 winners in 20 categories, following deliberations by an expert panel of 52 judges, including the managing director of FE Week publisher Lsect, Shane Mann.

The winner of the creative media student of the year award, Sam Pope from The Bath Studio School, was described by his teacher as a “serious talent” who “goes beyond what is expected” while mentoring classmates too.

His short films have even landed him a role in an upcoming professional feature film by award-winning director Kae Bahar.

The awards were held in Westminster and run by Pearson, and its president in the UK, Rod Bristow, said: “All of those that won this year deserve huge congratulations and stand every chance of continuing that success into the careers they are now ready to start.

“This year’s awards are a fantastic celebration of them, alongside the schools, colleges, universities, training providers, and employers, who have underpinned their efforts.”

Hosting the awards was TV’s Steph McGovern, and the ceremony was also attended by Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock, presenting the award for School of the Year.

The winner of the business and enterprise student of the year award, Ttanya Sachdev from Braeburn International School Arusha in Tanzania, earned her award after starting her own tuck shop business for teachers and students.

Performing at the ceremony were the four winners of the Showstopper Challenge, groups from schools and colleges offering BTECs in the performing arts: Deanery High School, D16 Performing Arts College, Jackie Palmer Academy and Bury College.

In a recent poll, Pearson has found that two thirds of medium sized businesses have hired BTEC graduates in the last five years. One such graduate is the winner of the hospitality, travel and tourism student of the year award Luke Bearpark from Exeter College, who has landed himself a job on the international cabin crew for British Airways.

Another college winner was East Surrey’s Francesca Horn, the winner of the art and design student of the year gong, whose work has previously been featured on BBC News.

The winner of the child, health and social care student of the year award, Teanna Maguire from Sir John Deanes sixth form college was described as a “shining star” with an “exemplary work ethic”.

Kasra Soltani, only came to England four years ago, yet his time and effort at Croydon College earned him this year’s construction student of the year award.

Shalini Rajan, the winner of teacher of the year, was said to be “empowering her students by embracing modern teaching and learning strategies” at The Winchester School in Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

 

The winners are:

  • BTEC Art and Design Student of the Year: Francesca Horn, East Surrey College, UK
  • BTEC Business and Enterprise Student of the Year: Ttanya Sachdev, Braeburn International School Arusha, Tanzania
  • BTEC Child and Social Care Student of the Year: Teanna Maguire, Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College, UK
  • BTEC Construction Student of the Year: Kasra Soltani, Croydon College, UK
  • BTEC Creative Media Student of the Year: Sam Pope, The Bath Studio School, UK
  • BTEC Engineering Student of the Year: Ryan Kimber, Isle of Wight College, UK
  • BTEC Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Student of the Year: Luke Bearpark, Exeter College, UK
  • BTEC Land-based Student of the Year: Chloe Rochester, Bishop Burton College, UK
  • BTEC Music Student of the Year: Katie Cherry, Holmer Green Secondary School, UK
  • BTEC Performing Arts Student of the Year: Millie Davey, Scarborough TEC, UK
  • BTEC Public Services Student of the Year: Ryan Jolly, East Surrey College, UK
  • BTEC Science Student of the Year: Abbie Densham, Exeter College, UK
  • BTEC Sport Student of the Year: Dominika Bzdon, Nelson and Colne College, UK
               
  • BTEC Apprentice 16-18 of the Year: Connor Coupland, Leeds College of Building, UK
  • BTEC Apprentice 19+ of the Year: Christopher Meredith, Leeds College of Building, UK
  • BTEC School of the Year: Milton Abbey School, UK
  • BTEC College of the Year: Sunderland College, UK
     
  • BTEC Teacher of the Year: Shalini Rajan, The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates
  • BTEC Tutor of the Year: Gwyn Williams, Abingdon and Witney College, UK
  • BTEC Students of the Year 2019: 
    • Josephine Kiaga, Braeburn International School Arusha, Tanzania
    • Christopher Meredith, Leeds College of Building, UK