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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But her main priority for FE will be funding.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Chris Jones (@ChrisJones_CEO) January 7, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Both colleges have been approached for comment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

The prime minister’s inflation-busting apprentice minimum wage increase is “manageable” and will not impede businesses from taking on new apprentices, employer representative organisations have said.

From 1 April, the apprentice minimum wage will shoot up by 6.4 per cent from £3.90 to £4.15.

Boris Johnson revealed the increase two days ago alongside his announcement that the National Living Wage would be rising from £8.21 to £8.72.

He said this is the “biggest ever cash boost” to the minimum pay levels, and added that “hard work should always pay, but for too long, people haven’t seen the pay rises they deserve”.

The Federation of Small Businesses said the increase, which is four times the rate of inflation, should be welcomed with caution.

“The government must always consider the impact these changes could have on firms who are struggling to make ends meet,” the organisation’s national chair, Mike Cherry, said.

“We must ensure that apprenticeships work, both for the apprentice and the employer. Our own research has found that some employers who had previously employed apprentices on shorter programmes did not budget for increasing the wages for apprenticeships lasting longer than a year.

“It’s vital that everyone is paid fairly, and small firms, who are the backbone of the economy, are ably supported by government so these changes are manageable and don’t impede businesses from taking on new apprentices in the long term.”

Matthew Percival, the director of people and skills policy at the Confederation of British Industry, agreed that there is an “important balancing act” to setting the apprentice minimum wage as large increases can make it less affordable for some firms to continue their apprenticeship programmes.

However, he added that most apprentices are already paid “well above this rate” and the CBI’s most recent survey showed that 63 per cent of employers plan to increase the size of their apprenticeship programmes, so April’s increase is “unlikely to have a large impact on apprentice recruitment in 2020”.

The government said the new rates for minimum wages were recommended by the Low Pay Commission, after they consulted stakeholders such as unions, businesses and academics.