Colleges and sixth forms will need an extra £1.1 billion on top of the government’s recently announced spending boost to fully reverse cuts since 2010, new research has found.

This increases to £1.4 billion to “ensure that spending on T-levels is additional to an unchanged level of spending per student”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ annual report on education spending in England.

Report co-author Luke Sibieta said chancellor Sajid Javid’s vaunted spending boost of £300 million (in 2019-20 prices) amounted to a “small rise” against the backdrop of cuts since 2010-11.

Between 2010-11 and 2018-19, spending per college learner fell by 12 per cent in real terms, after cuts during the 1990s and low growth in the 2000s.

In 2018-19, the IFS has calculated, spending per learner was £4,800 in sixth-form colleges and £5,900 in further education colleges.

The £1.1 billion that would be needed to reverse the cuts would include £320 million for 16–18 colleges and £730 million for school sixth forms.

The boost, meanwhile, will only lead to a real-terms per-learner increase of four per cent in 2020-21; seven per cent below the 2010-11 level for colleges, and 20 per cent for sixth forms.

Deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association James Kewin said the IFS findings highlight the “huge reductions in 16 to 18 funding that we have had to contend with since 2010”.

“But rolling back the funding cuts imposed since 2010 is the wrong target. The key issue to focus on is what level of funding is required to deliver a high-quality sixth form education now, and in the future?

“It is also important to shift the focus from T-levels onto the vast majority of 16 to 18-year-olds that pursue, and will continue to pursue, a non-technical course.”

Chief executive of the Association of Colleges David Hughes said the report shows “the reality of a decade of cuts to colleges”.

And while the chancellor’s spending announcement was “welcome”, “it must be followed by long-term investment to reverse ten years of continuous cuts and reform”.

The IFS also calculated spending on adult education has fallen by two-thirds since 2003-04, due to cuts of 32 per cent up to 2009-10 and 47 per cent since then; driven by a drop in learner numbers from 4.4 million in 2004-05 to 1.5 million in 2017-18.

What spending there is on adult education and training is increasingly focused on apprenticeships, with 54 per cent of the spend on adult education and training diverted to apprenticeships or work-based learning, compared to 21 per cent in 2003-04.

Policy director of adult education network HOLEX Sue Pember said the report “demonstrates adult education is under-resourced and the lack of government funding has led to a sharp decline in adult student numbers.

“HOLEX trusts the Treasury and DfE will now listen, take note and do something about it in the next spending review round.”

The IFS has also found over 60 per cent of apprenticeships are at A-level equivalent or higher, and FE Week has previously reported starts on higher-level courses, such as the level 6 chartered manager programme, have shot up since the levy was introduced and are soaking up available funds, leaving little for non-levy payers.

The CBI called on the government this week for a £100 million yearly top up to the levy to stop it becoming a “roadblock to the government’s wider and welcome efforts to modernise the skills system”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We recently announced a £14 billion investment in schools – the biggest cash boost for a decade.

“Alongside this, we announced a significant real terms increase in funding for 16 to 19 year olds in 2020-21 to make sure we can continue to develop world class education to rival countries on the continent. We also provided £700 million extra for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

“Together this package will give all young people the same opportunities to succeed and access the education that’s right for them regardless of where they grow up. The Prime Minister is clear that education is one of his main priorities, and we want a system that boosts productivity, improves social mobility and equips children and adults with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.” 

Labour is “looking at all options” for an overhaul of the school and college accountability system, including replacing Ofsted, Angela Rayner has said.

In an exclusive eve-of-conference interview with FE Week’s sister paper FE Week, the shadow education secretary repeatedly refused to rule out scrapping the inspectorate and replacing it with a new system to hold education providers to account.

Rayner said the idea of replacing the watchdog, a move favoured by the influential National Education Union, had been discussed by Labour’s national policy forum and that “various different options” are being considered by the party as it prepares to flesh out its plans for a National Education Service.

Despite having been announced as a flagship policy by Jeremy Corbyn during his first leadership campaign in 2015, the National Education Service is still little more than just an umbrella term for a series of existing policies including free education “from cradle to grave” and scrapping the GCSE English and maths forced resits policy.

The second of two consultations held to feed into Labour’s plans focused on accountability, and it was common knowledge that party policy advisers had been looking at the future of Ofsted.

Rayner said the idea of abolishing Ofsted “is something that’s come out through the policy forum”.

“Obviously people have views across our party on that and we’re looking at all options at the moment,” she said.

“I think [the system] drives bad practice at the moment, and I don’t think it’s Ofsted that does that, I think it’s the politicisation through the DfE’s politicians who have done that.

“I do think there are issues with the current set-up – with Ofsted – and we are looking at that and in the near future I’ll say more on it.”

The National Education Union has long called for the scrapping of Ofsted. Its joint general secretary Mary Bousted has repeatedly warned that the inspectorate has become a “weapon of fear and terror”.

Asked what Labour might put in place instead, Rayner accepted some form of accountability system was needed.

“Parents need to feel confident and I will need to feel confident that our state system is performing to the best of its ability so we recognise we need a system in place, but we also recognise there are current weaknesses in the system.”

Rayner, who has now been in her job for more than three years and served opposite four secretaries of state, is unapologetic about the time taken to develop firm plans for the NES.

“I think the responsibility of creating something as radical as the National Education Service means you have to be evidence-based,” she said, pointing to the “huge amount of information” available “just on further education, tertiary education alone”.

“I could spend 10 years doing a PhD on it and not get through the literature, so I think it’s entirely responsible to do what we’ve done” she added, and pointed to Labour’s lifelong learning commission, “which will report shortly”.

Rayner continued: “There’s so much we’ve already done, and so much for us to achieve, but it’s right to do it in a way that’s based on evidence, so we don’t undermine the principles of what we’re trying to achieve before it even gets off the ground.

“It’s very simple. It’s a national education service, free at the point of use, from cradle to grave. I think most people understand that.

“The question is, when you get in the weeds, everybody wants to talk about every fine minutiae of what it means to them at that point, and I totally understand that, and I welcome the discussion and value people’s opinion on that, and we will continue to move towards that.”

The shadow education secretary confirmed Labour would come up with updated education spending plans for its next manifesto.

Colleges and training providers are being asked how prepared they are for Brexit by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

The latest update from the agency, published today, asks FE providers to complete a survey on their level of “readiness and confidence” ahead of the UK’s planned departure from the EU.

“The results from these surveys will be used to determine what further advice sectors may need from government to support their preparations ahead of 31 October,” its introduction reads.

Questions cover whether providers have informed students and staff from the EU about the immigration arrangements after Brexit in the event of a deal or a no deal, and arrangements for all EU and non-EU migrants from 2021.

The ESFA also wants to know if FE providers have advised prospective and current students “how they can find more information about their eligibility for funding and places in relation to academic year 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021”.

It also asks whether providers have contacted food suppliers to make sure they are planning for the potential impacts of a no deal Brexit by ensuring their secondary suppliers are prepared and plans are in place to adapt menus.

“As a priority, the department would be grateful if providers could arrange for an appropriate person to complete the short survey by Friday 27 September,” the ESFA said.

The Department for Education put out advice for FE and apprenticeship providers earlier this year which said EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens who qualify for the EU Settlement Scheme would remain eligible for funding for FE courses and apprenticeships in England after Brexit.

It also said the UK could only continue to participate in the European Social Fund programmes until their closure if the UK left with a deal.

Apprentices at an employer provider are expected to be on unpaid leave for two months during a business shutdown while still on their training programme, Ofsted has found.

Outdoor learning business Kingswood Learning and Leisure Group will likely be suspended from new starts after the early monitoring visit found it had made ‘insufficient progress’ in all areas of its provision to 100 apprentices on framework and standard apprenticeships in activity leadership level 2 and outdoor activity instructor level 3.

The core business of the employer, which has nine centres across the UK and one in France, is to provide outdoor learning experiences to school children.

While apprentices are sent home for two months during quiet periods, Ofsted found they do not get enough sufficient time to continue training when the business is busy, so most fall behind.

Leaders and managers were criticised by the education watchdog for not having up-to-date information on apprentices’ progress and assessors do not consider a learner’s prior knowledge.

Nor are training plans personalised for the learner, and as a result “many apprentices do not see why the training is relevant to them, and their subsequent progress is slow,” inspectors wrote.

Apprentices and their centre managers do not get detailed knowledge about the requirements of end-point assessment, so learners do not know how to achieve high grades.

Also holding learners back is a lack of high-quality English and maths support, meaning too few apprentices develop those skills to a sufficient standard for passing external tests.

The report reads: “Assessors do not always highlight to apprentices the areas of their skills that need further development.

“In the few instances where they do, apprentices do not re-submit their improved work.

“A significant number of apprentices are currently not on track to finish their apprenticeship.”

Kingswood, the website for which shows it provides activities like archery and zipwire for schoolchildren, was also found lacking in safeguarding: apprentices at some centre do not feel safe as leaders and managers do not identify and coordinate their safeguarding adequately.

For example, when apprentices return to work from injuries, they are not sufficiently risk assessed to determine whether they are fit to carry out certain activities.

Ofsted did find some positives at the provider: Kingswood apprentices do “benefit from good quality on-the-job learning from centre managers” and they develop knowledge and skills that enable them to facilitate a wide range of activities, like abseiling and team sports, safely and independently.

A spokesperson for Kingswood said: “We are clearly disappointed by Ofsted’s findings, we have been actively working on the issues highlighted.”

This includes investing in more people to support apprentices, ensuring the existing systems are more robust and are being properly implemented at every level, and going to the National Apprenticeship Service for guidance and support.

The spokesperson added: “Safeguarding is at the heart of what we do, whether that is supporting the young people who attend our centres or our colleagues.

“Our policy is that anyone who has been absent through injury or illness cannot return to work unless they have been confirmed as being able to work by a medical practitioner.

“Our apprenticeship programme is very much in its infancy and we believe the positive steps we have already taken will pay huge dividends in the future for the apprentices themselves, our customers and the business as a whole.”

The provider declined to comment on the rationale for not paying apprentices during the business shutdown period.

The Department for Education has surpassed the government’s public sector target for recruiting apprentices for the second year in a row, the education secretary has claimed.

Ever since the apprenticeship levy was launched in April 2017, public-sector bodies with 250 or more employees have been set a target of employing at least 2.3 per cent of their total staff as new apprentice every year until 2021.

The DfE said today that it has had 354 apprentices in training since the rule came into force, in areas such as cyber security, digital marketing, project delivery and software development at all levels.

A total of 116 of those apprentices were new starters at the department in 2017/18, which the DfE said equated to 2.5 per cent of its total workforce.

In 2018/19, this rose to 177 apprentice starts – 2.9 per cent of the DfE’s 6,080-strong workforce.

The department also claimed today that it is “on track” to exceed the target again in 2019/20.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “It is fantastic news that we have exceeded our target for two years in a row – making us one of the top recruiters of apprentices across government.

“There are some brilliant apprenticeship opportunities within the department as well as across the public sector. Our apprentices are working in a range of exciting roles from cyber security, public relations and accountancy.”

Data released today via a freedom of information request showed that the DfE has drawn down £983,000 since the levy’s introduction in April 2017 up until 31 July 2019.

“This is the amount that we have spent on learning in that period and doesn’t include any other incentive payments,” the DfE said.

The public-sector apprenticeship target covers the period April 1 to March 31 each year.

It’s an average target across the years 2017/18 to 2020/21 to “give flexibility to organisations to manage peaks and troughs in recruitment”.

Overall progress towards the target stood at 1.4 per cent after 2017/18.

Public sector bodies have until the 30 September to submit their figures for 2018/19.

Former Richmond-upon-Thames College principal Robin Ghurbhurun has been made managing director of FE at Jisc, after recently resigning from the college for “personal reasons”.

FE Week reported in July Ghurbhurun had gone on leave from the college around the time the FE Commissioner’s team were investigating financial failings amid plans for an £80 million investment in a new building.

The college, which generated a £2.4 million deficit in 2017/18, later confirmed he had left with immediate effect.

This morning, Ghurbhurun’s LinkedIn page has been updated with the information he has become Managing Director (Further Education and Skills) at education technology company Jisc, with effect from this month.

He had previously been a trustee and non-executive director of Jisc up until July, one of a number of roles he combined with his work as a high-profile leader of Richmond-upon-Thames since 2014.

Roles such as chair of the Association of Colleges technology portfolio group, board member of the association’s London Regional Committee, committee member of the Richmond-upon-Thames Chamber of Commerce, and director and trustee of The Richmond-upon-Thames School.

His new job is one of a number of leadership roles within Jisc, which has a ream of executive directors and officers on its leadership team.

A Jisc spokesperson confirmed that Ghurbhurun will join the firm on 23 September, and will focus on ensuring the company supplies coordinated and responsive digital services to the FE and skills sector.

The spokesperson said he will be reporting directly to the chief executive, Paul Feldman.

Ghurbhurun has been approached to comment.

The UK is the only country where more than half of people feel university did not prepare them for their career, new research by Pearson has found.

A total of 51 per cent of 1,001 UK respondents aged 16 to 70 said as much for Pearson’s first ever Global Learner Survey, while only 45 per cent of respondents from Italy, Spain, Germany, France believed the same.

The figure was even lower in the US, where 45 per cent said university failed to prepare them for their working life, and in Brazil and China where 33 per cent felt this.

In the UK, 73 per cent believed a degree gives students an advantage in getting a job – the lowest of any surveyed area – compared to 77 per cent in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt; and 66 per cent in the UK think a vocational qualification is more likely to result in a good job with career prospects than a university degree is.

More people in the UK and Australia (57 per cent) said “you can do ok in life today without a university degree” than any of the other countries surveyed.

Pearson’s findings will raise concerns about the value people in the UK are getting from higher education, with the education publisher’s head of innovation communications Laura Howe saying: “There are a number of indicators that people are supportive of higher education, but they’re looking for additional options to what universities are providing now.”

The importance people are placing on lifelong learning is also reflected in the survey, with 74 per cent of UK respondents agreeing colleges and universities should offer better options for working adults, while 55 per cent agree the world is shifting to a model where people participate in education over a lifetime.

An even greater percentage, 86, believe people need to keep learning or retraining throughout their career to stay-up-to-date.

Pearson’s head of UK schools Sharon Hague said one of the “strong messages” from this report “is there is going to be a really growing need for upskilling, retraining, and short courses”.

Laura Howe added: “Working adults really want universities to be part of the lifelong education solution”, and said the report was a “massive opportunity” for providers to expand their offering.

Although Chancellor Sajid Javid announced a £400 million boost for learners aged 16 to 19 in his spending review, there was nothing for adult education.

And after education secretary Gavin Williamson wrote in FE Week he was “determined to put FE centre stage”, adult education expert Sue Pember told him to realise: “FE is not all about 16 to 19, but also covers adult learning and all levels of educational ability”.

The scale of the challenge in providing lifelong learning to the UK has been raised by education select committee chair Robert Halfon, who called for an adult community and learning centre in every town at the launch of his committee’s inquiry into lifelong learning.

The Labour Party’s own commission on the subject found “deep-seated” challenges, including a fall in real-terms funding of nearly a half since 2009-10 for adult education and apprenticeships.

Addressing the desire for retraining, the Augar review of post-18 education and funding called on the government to introduce a lifelong learning loan allowance at levels 4, 5 and 6 for adults without a degree.

Nicola Dandridge , chief executive of the Office for Students, the regulator for higher education in England, said: “There are clear personal and societal benefits to higher education. The skills and knowledge learned in our universities, colleges and other higher education providers set people up for life.

“We know – for example – that on average graduates earn significantly more over the course of their careers than non-graduates. And there are many wider benefits to higher education which continues to offer enormous benefits to our economy and wider society.

“Higher education has never solely been about future career prospects, but higher education providers should be mindful of students’ concerns around how their course can more effectively prepare them for the world of work.”