A university centre at the troubled West Nottinghamshire College has had to revise down its learner growth numbers by a massive 76 per cent.

A report by local enterprise partnership D2N2 reveals Vision University Centre, based on the college’s main campus in Mansfield, is aiming to increase its number of students by just 140 in 2019/20 instead of its original estimate of 589.

D2N2 awarded West Nottinghamshire College a £2.6 million grant in September 2015 for the Vision University Centre Project.

The centre opened in Autumn 2016, costing a reported £6.5m to build and offers qualifications such as Higher National Certificates, Higher National Diplomas, foundation degrees, and top-up awards.

However, it suffered when the cap on higher education student numbers was removed, making the market more competitive and leading to colleges seeing a downturn in their HE student numbers: West Nottinghamshire College experienced a drop of 125 higher education students between 2016/17 and 2017/18.

In both of those years the college also offered a series of two hour and full-day “master class sessions”, but the decision was taken this year to drop the programme, due to “dwindling numbers and a lack of interest on behalf of local employers”.

The college has been impacted by other unexpected actions, according to the D2N2 report, which was first reported on by the Local Democracy Reporting Service for the Nottinghamshire Post.

“The withdrawal of the nursing bursary by the government has had an impact on the college’s access to nursing programme, by far the largest course in the portfolio,” it said.

By the time the report was published in May, the college had met only 48 per cent of its 2018/19 target of 1,308 students for the centre.

West Nottinghamshire College is in dire financial constraints. As FE Week revealed in March, its government bailouts rocketed to more than £10 million in just six months.

It has had to slash jobs to make millions of pounds in savings, largely due to changes in subcontracting rules in 2017 which meant the college had to drastically scale back its apprenticeship provision and sacrifice a fortune in management fees.

Its leader, Dame Asha Khemka, resigned last October and the role of principal is being taken over by Andrew Cropley in July, while Sean Lyons took over as the new chair in February.

The college is now looking at re-basing its HE offer; by offering apprenticeships at level 4 and above, reviewing its short course offering, and running a wider range of HNDs and top-up courses.

The D2N2 report says: “The college believes there remains potential to increase higher level provision within the local area.”

Business management courses which are currently run by the college could also be re-worked with the development of degree-level apprenticeships.

However, the report warns there is a risk that funding for higher level and degree apprenticeships, particularly in leadership and management, will be removed.

This comes after the Association of Employment and Learning Providers called for level 6 and 7 apprenticeships to be frozen out of levy funding, as the Institute for Apprenticeships and the National Audit Office had warned the levy budget could soon be overspent.

A college spokesperson admitted its “ambitious” targets for the university centre have proven “extremely difficult” to achieve.

“Market conditions have significantly changed and the competition has grown, with many universities now making unconditional offers to prospective students,” they continued.

However, the spokesperson insisted there remains a “clear need to provide high-quality, affordable and accessible higher education” to the centre’s local communities.

“We believe our new plan is achievable and sustainable going forwards.”

Staff at two colleges will go on strike again this week as part of an ongoing row over pay – with one recording its tenth day this year.

Members of the University and College Union at West Thames College and New City College will be on the picket line from 7am tomorrow, with the Tower Hamlets branch of the latter also taking a further day of action on Thursday.

The latest walkouts by West Thames College staff means its strike days have now hit double figures for 2019. The dispute, according to the UCU, centres on the “failure of the college to make a decent pay offer to staff who have seen the value of their pay decline by 25 per cent in the past decade”.

Staff at the college walked out for four days last month, following action in January and March.

Members of the UCU at New City College also went on strike for three days in May.

The union said further strikes were planned if the colleges refused to make a decent offer, and that they could “not hide behind government cuts if it wanted to avoid further disruption”.

It comes after the UCU formally submitted its annual pay claim to the Association of Colleges last month, which calls for: £1 extra per hour for all staff, the living wage to be the minimum wage in further education, and an additional five days’ annual leave per year.

UCU regional official Una O’Brien said: “UCU members at West Thames College and New City College are not prepared to stand by and allow their colleges to hold down their pay.

“It is simply not acceptable for the college to say that nothing can be done because finances are tight. Other colleges have shown what can be achieved when they engage seriously with us to address members’ concerns over pay and conditions.”

New apprenticeship providers came in for some stinging criticism this week, with three found to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in early monitoring visits.

The only wholly positive report was for adult and community learning provider Sunderland City Metropolitan Borough Council, which climbed its way up to ‘good’ after being rated ‘inadequate’ in January 2018.

Since then, the council has wound down its apprenticeship provision and “elected members, leaders and managers have addressed rapidly the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection,” the education watchdog said.

Student achievement is now “very high”, and around two-thirds of learners move on to employment, work-related activities or study at a higher level after their programme has finished.

Leaders, staff, subcontractors, tutors and learners “promote a culture of pride, respect and tolerance which embraces the diversity and values of the service,” inspectors added.

One of the poor performing new apprenticeship providers was Took A Long Time Limited, an employer provider for the owners of the Wildwood and dim t restaurants. It was found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of a monitoring visit.

Inspectors found its 58 apprentices self-assessed their skills and knowledge at the beginning of the course, and managers are not involved in this process to check its accuracy.

As apprentices are recruited from the company’s existing staff for chef and hospitality standards and already have experience of preparing and serving food within a commercial environment, they do not develop substantial new knowledge and skills.

Ironically, the 58 apprentices at Took A Long Time had not made sufficient progress in developing their English and maths skills.

Serial entrepreneur Angela Middleton’s new private provider, The Teaching and Learning Group, was also found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of a monitoring visit.

Middleton said the provider, which has 24 apprentices, “has made substantial progress since the review”.

Adult and community learning provider Gloucestershire Enterprise Limited also did not perform well, being found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of an early monitoring visit of its apprenticeship provision.

Leaders were “unaware” too many apprentices are not on track to complete their programme within the expected time, because systems to track apprentices’ progress have been implemented too slowly.

Although apprentices receive regular progress reviews, the large majority of these do not focus enough on how learners can improve their skills, knowledge and behaviour and apply them in the workplace.

All three ‘insufficient’ new apprenticeship providers are likely to soon be suspended from recruiting new apprentices, in line with ESFA rules, until they improve to at least a grade three.

Elsewhere, GTG Training bounced back from an ‘insufficient’ monitoring report it received in September 2018, and has now been rated ‘requires improvement’ across the board.

It should now have its apprentice recruitment suspension lifted by the government.

Since the previous inspection, leaders have worked “hard to improve the provision” for its 251 apprentices and have made “significant investments in staffing and resources that are beginning to address the weaknesses” previously identified.

The quality of training in the workplace is “good”, inspectors added.

However, managers were criticised for not coordinating apprentices’ on- and off-the-job training “effectively; as a result, too many apprentices make slow progress and do not achieve their potential”.

The provider also does not give English and maths a “high enough priority” and targets for learning and assessment are “not sufficiently specific and measurable”.

The final FE report published this week was for Tagadvance Limited, which has 75 apprentices and was found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ across the board in its first monitoring visit.

Its leaders and managers have developed an effective programme of on- and off-the-job training and apprentices receive “challenging” workplace projects and assignments to complete, through which they develop new skills on top of those needed for their jobs.

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
The Teaching and Learning Group	18/04/2019	28/05/2019	M	N/A
GTG Training Limited	10/05/2019	31/05/2019	3	M
Tagadvance Limited	29/04/2019	31/05/2019	M	N/A

 

Adult and Community Learning	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Sunderland City Metropolitan Borough Council	09/04/2019	28/05/2019	2	M
Gloucestershire Enterprise Limited	25/04/2019	31/05/2019	M	N/A

 

Employer providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Took Us A Long Time Limited	16/04/2019	28/05/2019	M	N/A

The Prime Minister delivered a speech this morning in response to the much anticipated Augar review on post-18 education. Theresa May spoke passionately about the strong case for much more investment in FE, which in her own words has been “left overlooked, undervalued and underfunded”. FE Week was in attendance and has transcribed her speech in full:

 

“Your report is a ground-breaking piece of work. Because it is one that in compelling detail the challenges confronting all of us who care about post-18 education in all its forms.

It’s a sector that since 2010, the government has consistently supported. We’ve increased the funding flowing to universities, delivered more high-quality apprenticeships, developed brand-new technical qualifications on a par with A-levels.

Yet as we have just heard, there remains much to be done.

The UK boasts some of the finest universities in the world. Universities that we can be proud of and all governments should pledge to support and protect.

But in technical education, we have fallen behind other leading nations. Our further education colleges have the potential to transform lives and grow the economy, but the FE landscape can be confusing to navigate.

Too many students, parents and employers see FE as a second-best option

Too many students, parents and employers see FE as a second-best option and successive governments have failed to give it the support it needs. For nearly 20 years, there has been a relentless focus on getting 50 per cent of young people into HE.

Yet most have lost sight that the original target referred not just to university degrees; it quite rightly covered the whole higher education spectrum, including vocational and technical qualifications.

And that’s why in February last year, I set Philip a clear yet ambitious challenge: to break down the false boundaries between further and higher education.

To look at all the options open to young people and to say how they could be improved and how the state should support students so every school leaver, and indeed every adult learner, can follow the path that is right for them.

With today’s report, Philip and his expert panel have provided a blueprint for how those improvements and changes could be carried out.

As we’ve heard, it makes many recommendations across FE and HE, the proposals on adult and lifelong learning are also important.

Decisions about whether and how to implement these recommendations will not fall to me, but to the next government.

But regardless of the debate to come, there can be no doubt this report represents a major landmark. And that the data, analysis and insights it contains will help us to deliver a post-18 education system that truly works for everyone.

That needs to begin with further education.

Our FE and technical colleges are not just places of learning, they are vital engines of both social mobility and of economic prosperity; training the next generation and helping deliver our modern industrial strategy.

But for too long, FE has been allowed to stagnate with student numbers falling. With MPs, civil servants, and yes, even journalists overwhelmingly coming from university backgrounds, it’s no surprise, perhaps, that attention has drifted away from other post-18 options.

I found it rather telling that despite the wide-ranging remit of the panel, in the years since the review was launched, the debate around it has concentrated almost exclusively on what it will mean for universities.

As the panel argues, this focus on academic routes, at the expense of all others, has left FE overlooked, undervalued and underfunded.

Routes into and through our colleges are confusing and opaque.

There is no equivalent of the clear, straightforward and comprehensive UCAS system.

And this system isn’t just bad for students, it’s bad for our economy. By failing to equip more of our young people with the technical skills they will need to compete in the jobs of the future, we have hampered our ability to compete on the world stage.

Businesses here in the UK regularly tell me they struggle to find workers with the technical qualifications they need, but their rivals overseas have no such problems. As the report says, in Germany, 20 per cent of the workforce holds a higher technical qualification. Here in the UK, just four per cent of 25-year-olds could say the same.

Behind that statistic lies an immeasurable number of opportunities missed and potential wasted both for individuals and employers.

We will have to invest much more in FE, the buildings, the equipment and of course staff

So reinvigorating FE is vital if we are to help all develop the skills they need to get on, and if we are truly to make a success of our modern industrial strategy.

Now as Prime Minister, it is something I have worked hard to do. Let us make sure there is an education and training place for every 16-19-year-old who wants one. We’re rolling out T-levels, new high-quality technical qualifications on par with A-levels. We’ve committed to Institutes of Technology in every major English city and this year announced the first 12. And we are creating more high-quality apprenticeships that deliver for students and employers alike.

But while these reforms have made a real difference, it is clear that if the half of young people who do not go to university are to have the skills they need for the future, then we must go further. It’s not enough to simply say that FE and HE should be seen as equals. As the report argues compellingly, to make that happen we will have to invest much more in FE, the buildings, the equipment and of course staff who are expert in their field.

And making a success of FE is not just about an increased funding, it’s about giving these young people a genuine choice about their education. So more also needs to be done to ensure that further and technical options are every bit as attractive a path for students as more academic options, including by reforming the sector so colleges can thrive.

That will mean more specialisation and collaboration, while also continuing to make sure all young people have access to a college in their area. And reforms to ensure the courses offered by colleges deliver the skills that are needed by local businesses.

And of course, we also need to make sure that only high-quality qualifications are on offer.

That FE students are appropriately supported by government and that the route to FE is as streamlined and clear as possible, just as it is for universities.”

 

FE Week editor Nick Linford got the chance to question the Prime Minister after her speech. Telling her she sounds like she’s in opposition when she describes investment in FE, he asked: “Why hasn’t more happened before now? And why are we waiting for a spending review?”

Here’s how May responded:

 

FE Week also caught up with chair of the post-18 education review Philip Augar. Here’s what he had to say:

The government should introduce a “lifelong learning loan allowance” at levels 4, 5 and 6 for adults without a degree, a major review of post-18 education has said.

An independent panel, led by Philip Augar (pictured), will today publish its long-awaited findings and recommendations which aim to create a more “joined-up system” and fix the funding imbalances between HE and FE.

It includes a host of views that’ll be welcomed by the FE sector, including proposals of an increased base rate of funding and an additional £1 billion capital investment over the coming spending review period.

The report seeks to rebuild further education

The report also calls on the government to scrap advanced learning loans for those aged 24 and over studying their first full level 2 and 3 qualifications.

One of the report’s main recommendations is for an individual “lifelong” entitlement to student finance. This is proposed to be set as a financial amount equivalent to four years’ full-time undergraduate degree funding: £30,000, under the panel’s recommended fee cap of £7,500 per year.

It could be used for vocational or academic courses from levels 4 to 6 at any stage of an adult’s career for full and part-time students.

To “encourage” retraining, flexible and “second chance” learning, it was recommended that this should be available “in modules where required”.

Under these arrangements, Augar’s report said individuals would be able to “work, move on or move up, and still have the opportunity to return to study later, using any outstanding loan allowance, and in the subjects, and at the levels, that suit their careers”.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, told FE Week the recommendation to make first full level 2 and 3 qualifications fully funded regardless of age is “fantastic news because for many it will do away with advanced learning loans that have not been successful”.

“It puts everyone on the same footing to wanting to learn about level 3, whether they go to college or university, the funding the maintenance the support is there,” he added.

Explaining why an individual “lifelong” entitlement is needed, Augar’s report said: “Overall, we believe that introducing a flexible lifetime loan allowance would make a fundamental and positive difference to the relative attractions of part-time, adult, and level 4/5 study, and would strongly encourage young people to think about their higher education in terms of a lifetime of employment.

“A lifetime loan allowance would also ensure that there are new incentives for borrowers both to be price-sensitive, and to take a loan for only part of their current fees, thus retaining some entitlement for future years, should they need it.”

The Augar review, which had a panel of five members including Blackpool and the Fylde College boss Bev Robinson, was first announced by the Prime Minister Theresa May in February 2018. Its report was supposed to be released in early 2019 but it got delayed because of Brexit.

It was first thought that the findings would act as final decisions and be implemented in the government’s upcoming spending review, but they’ll now only be treated as recommendations.

May will deliver a speech this morning in response to the post-18 education review, in which she is expected to say that the country must “significantly increase support for further education”.

A Number 10 spokesperson said despite the government “boosting education or training places for every 16 to 19-year old, rolling out T-levels, and creating high-quality apprenticeships”, the outgoing Prime Minister will say “more must be done for the 50 per cent of young people who do not go to university”.

Augar said the report’s proposals seek to “rebuild further education, for too long the Cinderella sector, and see technical and vocational education as a means of addressing the country’s skills gap”.

“We are firmly of the view that post-18 education should be a lifelong experience available to all, irrespective of age, situation or income,” he added. “Our proposals are intended to create such a system.”

Education secretary Damian Hinds said the report “acknowledges fully the key truth that our further education colleges also play a vital role in performing these functions” and “too often we have had in our country a bias towards higher education”.

Hughes said the “narrative” of the Augar review was just as “significant” as the recommendations.

“What it is saying is for too long the system have been focused on people going to do master degrees and neglected the interested and needs of more than half of the population,” he told FE Week.

But shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said: “The report alone does nothing to address the burning injustices facing our education system.

“With no formal government response, no extra funding and no guarantee that the recommendations will be implemented by her successor the Augar review epitomises May’s legacy as Prime Minister and this shambolic Tory government; all talk, empty promises and very little action.”

AELP chief executive Mark Dawe said the “bias towards the ‘public sector’ college infrastructure” was to be expected in the Augar report, but “there needs to be careful consideration as to where the real returns come from at all levels – classroom and workshop based learning  or work based education and training, where the report recognises independent training providers have real strength”.

You can read the full report here.

The colleges and training providers chosen to recruit new FE teachers and improve links with industry for the second round of the £5 million Taking Teaching Further programme have been announced.

Forty five providers are being tasked with recruiting 160 experienced industry professionals to work as post-16 teachers in four key sectors: childcare and education, digital, engineering and construction – areas that will be covered by T-levels from September 2020.

Additionally, the government is splitting £900,000 between 22 projects, including nine by providers not included in the recruitment drive, which will be looking at ways to improve links between FE providers and industry.

Skills minister Anne Milton said she was “thrilled” to announce the winners from the second round, following “fantastic stories of success” from the first round.

Following the programme’s unveiling last June, the first wave of winners was announced the following October and led to 47 new teachers being recruited, including five at East Kent College.

The college’s head of teaching academy Simon Bigrigg said the programme had provided EKC Group, to which East Kent College belongs, with a range of opportunities to develop its recruitment and training of teachers in “hard to fill” areas.

Robin Smith, curriculum manager at another winning provider from the first round, Calderdale College, said the TTF programme had enabled them to deliver “cutting-edge” digital skills to current and future students, and provide a “talent pipeline” for employers in the Leeds City Region.

The second round of the TTF programme was launched in December 2018, with nearly £20,000 up for grabs for each provider to train up to five “experienced industry professionals” in a level 5 diploma in education and training.

Several providers have been successful in both rounds of the programme, including Bridgwater and Taunton College, Calderdale College, Lakes College, Oldham College and St Helens Chamber.

TTF was designed in partnership with the Association of Colleges and the Education and Training Foundation.

The foundation’s chief executive David Russell said there was a “vital need” to bring industry talent into the sector to pass expertise and experience on to learners, teachers and trainers.

In his review of post-18 education, Dr Philip Augar wrote the most important barrier to improving the college workforce is “simply a lack of money”, as FE is directly competing with schools, universities and businesses which can offer more “attractive” rates of pay to experienced industry professionals.

According to the Augar Review, full-time FE teaching professionals in the UK earn, on average, around £2,500 less than secondary school teachers, and approximately £13,000 less than higher education lecturers.

The report, which was launched by Prime Minister Theresa May and Education Secretary Damian Hinds yesterday, recommended prioritising investment in the FE workforce so it can draw in more expertise from industry.

The recommendation came after the government scrapped FE teacher bursaries for subject knowledge enhancement funding and initial teacher education in February of this year, as it moved over to investing in programmes such as TTF.

A DfE spokesperson said they are evaluating the programme before any third round.

FE providers to host TTF teachers:

Activate Learning

Ada, the National College for Digital Skills

Boston College

Bridgwater & Taunton College

Bromley College of Further and Higher Education (trading name London South East Colleges)

Bury College

Calderdale College of Further Education

Cambridge Regional College

Chelmsford College

Chichester College Group

City of Wolverhampton College

Derby College

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College

East Sussex College

Furness College

Grantham College

Harlow College

Havant and South Downs College

Huddersfield Textile Training Ltd

Lakes College

Leeds City College

Lincoln College

Myerscough College

New City College

Newham College London

North Hertfordshire College

Oldham College

PTP Training Ltd (Performance Through People)

RNN Group

South Devon College

South Essex College

Sparsholt College Hampshire

St Helens Chamber

Stockton Riverside College Group

Sunderland College

The College of West Anglia

The Cornwall College Group

The Isle of Wight College

The National College for High Speed Rail

The Trafford College Group

Wakefield College

Waltham Forest College

Weston College of Further and Higher Education

Wigan and Leigh College

Windsor Forest Colleges Group

 

FE providers to run innovative projects:

Activate Learning

Chesterfield College

Chichester College

City College Norwich

Derby College

East Kent College

Evolve your Future

Farnborough College

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network

Havant and South Downs College

Lakes College

Leeds City College

Lincoln College

Myerscough College

North Hertfordshire College

South Devon College

The Cornwall College Group

The Isle of Wight College

The Lancashire College Group

The Sussex Council of Training Providers

Windsor Forest Colleges Group

The long-awaited review into post-18 education and funding has been released today, with the publication of a 216-page report.

The review, conducted by Philip Augar, says there is a “powerful” case for change in the FE sector that is subject to “inflexible” and administratively costly rules, and which in recent years has had its ability to innovate and plan for the long term “severely restricted” by the funding regime.

To improve the quality, capability, and capacity of the FE college network, Augar’s panel has made a number of recommendations for the government and stakeholders.

FE Week has pulled out the main proposals for FE.

 

1. The FE college ‘network’ should be ‘rationalised’ and given a dedicated capital investment

The review wants all learners to be within reach of high-quality provision, but says it has found examples of over-capacity in some areas and a lack of access to good-quality specialised provision in others.

The panel has recommended government promote, through the capital budget, partnerships, group structures, and specialisation to deliver a “national network of colleges”.

Small, local, colleges which are “vulnerable to shifts in demand” and are too small to employ adequate high-quality staff full-time in specialised areas, should be “integrated into groups”.

The report also recommends the government should provide FE colleges with a dedicated capital investment of £1 billion over the next spending review period, in addition to funding for T-levels, allocated in line with Industrial Strategy priorities.

 

2. All adults should be entitled to their first level 2 and 3 qualifications for free

Participation in study for both levels 2 and 3 has fallen in recent years, the report said, despite the “financial benefits they can provide for post-18 students”.

The panel believes the drop is due to the changes to funding in 2012-13 and 2013-14, which meant adults could no longer claim full funding for courses at either level. Currently, only those aged 19 to 23 have their first full level 2 and 3 qualification fully funded.

So, the Augar panel wants to bring back full funding, at all ages, for both levels 2 and 3 to remove barriers in social mobility and productivity and to allow people to meet changes in economic demand.

 

3. The reduction in the core funding rate for 18-year-olds should be reversed

Augar could find “no evidence” to justify the lower base rate set for 18-year-olds in colleges, compared to that for 16-17-year-olds, saying many of them had difficulties in their earlier education, and may need more teaching hours, rather than less.

The number of adults who do not progress past the levels they achieved by the age of 18 is “one of the most disturbing aspects of England’s current 18+ provision,” the report says.

“Addressing this is a matter of some importance to the individuals concerned, to social progression and to the needs of the economy,” it continues.

Currently, 18 year olds have an unweighted base rate of £3,300 compared to £4,000 for 16 and 17 year olds.

 

4. ESFA funding rules should be simplified and government should commit to providing an indicative adult education budget

The review panel said colleges need greater flexibility in terms of spending.

It suggests going about this by having the ESFA reduce the extent to which it focuses on the ringfencing of funds for policy priorities like universally free provision of basic skills, and allowing colleges to transfer their budgets between years.

This is intended to tackle situations where colleges are underspending their budgets, as they can only allocate funds to tackle areas of local demand if it fits with funding rules.

The government should instead commit to providing an indicative AEB which lets colleges plan and budget over a three-year period, the report said.

 

5. Funding for level 6 apprenticeships and above should be available only for those who have not previously undertaken a publicly-supported degree

This recommendation follows warnings from the Institute for Apprenticeships and National Audit Office that the apprenticeship budget is at risk of being overspent in 2018-19, and calls by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers to stop levy funding for all level six and seven apprenticeships.

The review reiterates concerns from organisations such as Ofsted that employers are rebadging graduate schemes as higher-level apprenticeships to claim funds.

 

6. Investment in the FE workforce should be a ‘priority’

The panel’s vision for FE includes a greatly enlarged and professionalised FE workforce with clear progression routes and development opportunities, and encourages employee groups and the Association of Colleges to work with the government to achieve this.

However, the report adds the most “important barrier to workforce improvement is simply a lack of money”, as colleges currently cannot afford to match salaries in schools or HEIs.

“Our recommendations would, if accepted, improve colleges’ financial position and, therefore, their ability to attract and retain good staff,” the report said.

 

7. Government should improve data collection, collation, analysis and publication across FE

“We have been struck,” the report reads, “by the paucity of data available to the college sector compared to both higher education and schools”.

The review recommends better information is a basic precondition for improving college leadership and workforce management.

 

8. FE colleges should have a protected title like universities

The report says that although colleges are “established and well-known institutions in their towns and cities”, both the public at large and prospective learners have been left “confused by a succession of sometimes contradictory reforms and initiatives over recent decades”.

“They have resulted in institutions with an extremely broad focus, with no single defining purpose and with no consistent identity nationally, and we seek a means of restoring that,” it added.

Conferring a protected title on colleges, as universities are entitled to, would “instil confidence in potential learners that their chosen college and the courses it offers are part of a respected national adult education network”.

 

9. Ofsted should become the lead responsible body for inspecting apprenticeships at all levels

Augar’s report said the “complex environment” of apprenticeship regulation creates duplication, stretches the regulators involved, leaves gaps and risks poorer quality provision.

It wants all responsibility to be handed to Ofsted, meaning the Office for Students would no longer be the sole regulator for level 6 and 7 apprenticeships.

Apprenticeship starts for the period August 2018 to March 2019 are up 9 per cent on the previous year, new government data shows.

However, they’re 21 per cent down for the same period in 2016/17 – the year before the levy reforms were introduced.

Provisional figures for March show 25,600 starts, up 7 per cent on the 23,900 provisional starts published at this time last year but still well down on the final figures for the same month in 2017.

March 2017 is a better comparator than March 2018 given that there was a huge drop in starts following the introduction of the levy in May 2017.

There have been 285,000 apprenticeship starts reported to date between August 2018 and March 2019 for the 2018/19 academic year. This compares to 261,200 reported in the equivalent period in 2017/18, and 362,400 in 2016/17.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton said: “I’m very pleased that the number of people starting apprenticeships has increased by 9.1 per cent compared to this time last year. It is also good news that more people are starting their apprenticeship journey on our new high-quality apprenticeship standards – an increase of 65.6 per cent so far this year compared to the same period last year.

“We have reformed apprenticeships so they are now longer, higher quality, with more off-the-job training and with proper assessment at the end. New and exciting apprenticeship opportunities are becoming available all the time from baker, carpenter, aerospace engineer or architect.”