Skills for Care quits official quality assurance role for apprenticeships

Skills for Care is to scrap their adult care external quality assurance service (ACEQUAS) to apprenticeship end-point assessment organisations, FE Week understands.

This morning Skills for Care emailed all their partners to say they will cease to deliver their £40 per apprentice EQA service in early September.

The email in full:

“The Skills for Care board and leadership team have been considering the future of Skills for Care’s involvement in delivering the ACEQUAS function on behalf of the Care Apprenticeship Board and Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE).

“The number of apprentices progressing to the end point assessment has not been happening in the volumes predicted by the Care Apprenticeship Board when we began this process, and Skills for Care has invested a significant sum from its reserves to establish and run the ACEQUAS system on the understanding that it would be on a full cost recovery basis. 

“Despite everyone’s best efforts it has not been possible to work within the financial parameters we need to see for this service and so the Skills for Care board and leadership team have served three months’ notice to the trailblazer group and IfATE to cease delivering this service.

“We will of course work with both the Care Apprenticeship Board and the Institute over the notice period to ensure a smooth transition to a new organisation carrying out this function for the end point assessment organisations.

As a result of this, we are cancelling the EPAO forum on 3 September. I am sorry to have to pass on this news as it has been a pleasure working with you. We will update you on the next steps after discussions with IfATE.”

Skills for Care is not the only former Sector Skills Council that has failed to make a business success of the apprenticeship external quality assurance service.

As reported by FE Week, in early 2018 the Tech Partnership, also a former government funded Sector Skills Council, announced it was to be wound-up. Subsequently, the National Skills Academy for Rail took over their role quality assuring the work of level three and four digital apprenticeship end-point assessment organisations.

This latest development is likely to add further pressure on the DfE to hand all EQA responsibilities to Ofqual.

As reported by FE Week in June 2019, the IfATE and Ofqual have been exchanging letters in an effort to ‘optimise’ their role.

An IfATE spokesperson: “We are grateful for the valuable work Skills for Care has done and look forward to continuing to work with them to develop high-quality apprenticeships.

“Our focus now is to work with employers to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure a smooth transition of services by the end of the notice period.”

Deputy FE commissioner appointed as DfE struggle to find advisers

The Department for Education’s latest recruitment drive for the office of the FE Commissioner has led to the appointment of a new deputy and two advisers but several posts remain unfilled.

Martin Sim joins five other £700 per day deputy education commissioners. Sims was formerly Salford City College principal between 2010 and 2015. Since then he has served as interim principal at West Nottinghamshire College, Barnfield College and Gateway College.

Laraine Smith and Nigel Duncan and join nine other £600 per day FE advisers, typically reviewing the finances of colleges in intervention.

A further two adviser posts remain unfilled and the DfE told FE Week they “intend to re-advertise two further FE adviser posts in due course”.

Laraine was formerly principal of Uxbridge College and CEO of HCUC and was awarded an OBE in 2010. Nigel was previously principal Fareham College and was awarded an OBE in 2019

When asked why it was proving difficult to find suitable FE adviser applicants the DfE spokesperson said: “We are looking for the very best applicants, with a specific set of skills relating to college finances, taken from a relatively small pool of people.” There are no plans to increase the £600 per day salary.

The DfE advertised for the positions last May and at the time described the Deputy FE commissioners as undertaking “assessments of under-performing colleges, advising ministers and the chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency on any relevant course of action.

“Deputy FE commissioners work with colleges and the ESFA to ensure the end to end process of assessment is managed effectively and that any necessary changes are delivered swiftly and communicated to those affected.”

FE Advisers report to the deputies and work on college diagnostic assessments, intervention assessments, FE commissioner local provision reviews and Structure and Prospects Appraisals, which is “a structured way of assessing options to change a college’s structure and/or provision in a clear, objective and evidence based way.”

Picture caption L-R: Martin Sim, Laraine Smith and Nigel Duncan

WorldSkills 2019 day 4: Team UK rallies together as they cross the finishing line

Team UK is finishing WorldSkills 2019 with thunderous applause and deafening cheers from a caravan of supporters.

A crowd of fellow competitors, team leaders, family members, friends and WorldSkills leaders cheered and clapped as each of the 35 competitors finished today.

Floristry competitor Elizabeth Newcombe, who finished shortly after 3PM, said she was “overwhelmed” by the support, while Rebecca West thanked her supporters in an emotional interview straight after she had finished her beauty therapy competition.

WorldSkills first felt the force of Team UK’s cheers yesterday evening, when plumbing and heating competitor Thomas Thomas and CNC Turning hopeful Jack McCarthy finished their tests.

Thomas, in an interview with FE Week, said he wanted to “thank everyone that has helped me – the college, training manager and WorldSkillsUK.”

The remainder of Team UK will finish today by 7PM.

Competitors’ work will be scored, then medals will be awarded at the closing ceremony from 7PM on Tuesday evening, when WorldSkills Kazan 2019 will officially finish, and where it is believed Russian president Vladimir Putin will address the crowds.

WorldSkills UK will be broadcasting the ceremony on Showcase (Sky 192 and Freesat 161) from 5PM in the UK, and FE Week will also be bringing you live coverage on Twitter and on our website: feweek.co.uk 

FE Week is proud to be the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK.

FE Week will bring you all the latest developments in the lead up to WorldSkills 2019 and is onsite in Kazan to bring rolling coverage of Team UK’s progress.To find out more about the what, when and why of WorldSkills, read our handy guide.

WorldSkills 2019 day 3: Thomas flush with success as he steams past the finish line

Team UK’s plumbing and heating competitor Thomas Thomas has this afternoon finished his tests.

The Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor learner had to finish constructing a toilet room and a speed test.

He said: “The first two days could have gone better. I was second-guessing myself and did not feel as confident as I should have been. 

“But the last day, I really pulled it together.”

Thomas was keen to “thank everyone that has helped me – the college, training manager and WorldSkillsUK.

Most competitors finish tomorrow, when their work will be scored and medals will be awarded at the closing ceremony on Tuesday evening.

But now Thomas has finished, he and the other plumbing and heating competitors will be building three toilet rooms for the Derbyshkinskiy Orphanage, 35km from Kazan, as a team.

Thomas told FE Week he was “Happy to be included. It seems like a really good thing they are doing.”

FE Week is proud to be the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK.

FE Week will bring you all the latest developments in the lead up to WorldSkills 2019 and will be onsite in Kazan to bring rolling coverage of Team UK’s progress.To find out more about the what, when and why of WorldSkills, read our handy guide.

WorldSkills 2019 day two: Dining out on world-class Skills

FE Week reporter Fraser Whieldon samples the high life by taking part in the restaurant service competition at WorldSkills 2019 in Kazan.

For someone whose idea of fine dining is eating pasta at the kitchen table, rather than in bed in front of the telly, I was a little sceptical of it and wondered whether I would enjoy all the pomp and ceremony.

Nevertheless, I kept my reservation at the restaurant service competition area for 11am, from when I would be served a four-course meal.

My apprehension was not lessened when, on approach, I saw the competitors crafting elaborate shapes out of napkins – which would be unravelled as soon as we sat down.

Fine dining is one of the areas of the restaurant service competition, which also includes coffee and bar service; Team UK is being represented in the competition by Collette Gorvette of Gell College. 

Having arrived at the fine dining area, myself and the other three diners on my table were escorted to it by our server, French competitor Louis Cozette.

He first brought us bread and served some water, and then the Gewürztraminer wine for our salmon and caviar apperitif.

The apperitif was served on a teaspoon, and was followed by a shrimp cocktail for first course, a Russian okroshka soup for second course, a beef stroganoff with a cabernet sauvignon for third, and a cheese board teamed with port for the fourth and final course.

Shrimp cocktail

All of the meals, meanwhile, were prepared by Louis next to the table and were to die for.

While I do not think I’m going to be giving up my own approach to fine dining, I am much closer to becoming a convert to Louis’ way than I was before.

Beef stroganoff

And it is my immense disappointment as a Team UK supporter to report… that Louis was very good. 

Attentive, helpful and informative, he kept everyone’s glass topped up, he answered my question about why he twice distilled the cabernet sauvignon (it’s basically to artificially age the wine), and did not wait until my mouth was full of food to ask if I was enjoying my meal.

However, it’s not me he needs to impress, it’s the experts, who were checking every detail. 

They even tested the temperature of the plates Louis was serving us food on, and corrected him when he tried to serve us a selection of cheeses rather than the full board.

As good as Louis was though, we’ll still be backing Collette all the way.

That’s because FE Week is proud to be the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK.

FE Week will bring you all the latest developments in the lead up to WorldSkills 2019 and will be onsite in Kazan to bring rolling coverage of Team UK’s progress.To find out more about the what, when and why of WorldSkills, read our handy guide.

Pictured: Fraser Whieldon on the right.

WorldSkills 2019: UK’s young people feel colleges are worst in the world at preparing them for adult working life, says new report

Young people in the UK feel their school or college are the worst in the world at preparing them for adult working life, a new report has revealed.

A new report by the OECD called ‘Youth Voice for the Future of Work’, released to coincide with WorldSkills 2019 competition in Kazan, surveyed 842 18-24 year-olds in the United Kingdom, which has sent 37 such people to compete at the tournament.

Asked how well their school or college prepares them for adult working life, more respondents answered ‘not very well’ or ‘not at all’ than answered ‘very well or ‘quite well’.

The OECD deducted the negative responses from the positive responses, which meant the UK scored -20 per cent on that question of the report, putting them stone dead last out of 19 countries.

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann called the findings “uncomfortable reading” for the UK and should serve as a “wake-up call” for the government and anyone involved in careers advice to think ‘is this working?’

These findings will heap extra pressure on the government to do more to enforce the Baker Clause.

The legislation, so-named for Lord Kenneth Baker who conceived of it, requires schools to publish a policy statement online to show how they ensure providers can access pupils to talk about technical education and apprenticeships, and details of their career programmes.

Yet it was revealed earlier this year that two-thirds of schools were flouting the legislation, and the DfE admitted  “no action was taken against schools in England that failed to comply with the Baker clause” between January 2 2018 and January 2 2019″.

And while former skills minister Anne Milton announced in January she would write to ten academy chains which were flouting that law to remind them of their duty, only five letters were sent.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Mark Dawe said: “These appalling findings underline why the Baker Clause is worthless unless the government and Ofsted inspectors work together to enforce it.”

He said it “was about time” for a wholesale review of the careers guidance in England, concerning its value for money.

Germany, which came second-to-last on -19 per cent and , was the only other nation to score in the negative figures.

It gets worse when the sample is reduced to the 756 of UK respondents who did not go to a fee-paying secondary school, where the UK scored -24 per cent.

WorldSkills 2019 day 1: Team UK make the first cut as they get in their groove

Team UK has made a good start on the road to medal success, after completing the first day of the four-day WorldSkills 2019 competition in Kazan.

Speaking to FE Week, hairdresser Phoebe McLavy said the day went “really, really well”.

“I am really pleased with the tests I have done, so I am feeling very confident, very excited and ready for tomorrow”.

FE Week first interviewed Phoebe at her training salon, Reds Hair Company in Gloucestershire, amidst an 85-day preparation course for the tournament, where she is competing against over 30 others.

The course also involved taking part in competitions in Thailand and Canada, and practising various cuts, including a wet shave and bridal hair.

Today, she had to do a men’s cut and dye the hair on a mannequin, as well as cut and colour female hair in a ‘fashionable style’.

Phoebe McLavy

“I had not practised the styles much, but a little bit of each style, so I just incorporated them into the plan,” Phoebe said.

Watching Phoebe today was her tutor from Coleg Sir Gar, Adrienne Chick, who had spoken to Phoebe the night before and described her as being in “good spirits”. 

“She has worked hard for this and I think Phoebe is someone who takes things in her stride, one day at a time.”

Adrienne added that: “As long as she enjoys it and does her best, that’s all that matters.”

Team UK’s cabinet maker Owen Aldous has been competing against around 30 others under the watchful eyes of his bosses George Callow and Luke Griffiths, former WorldSkills competitors.

Ex-cabinet making hopefuls Luke, who competed at WorldSkills 2009 in Calgary, and George, who won gold at WorldSkills 2013 in Leipzig, said their employee had “matured very quickly” after joining WorldSkills UK, and it was a “great experience for him”.

Owen, who like the two is from Chichester College, said: “It was really nice for them to be here, as we had a good chat about techniques.”

Besides that, Owen believes the day went “quite well,” and was only let down by a couple of mistakes.

He has been tasked with making a side table with two drawers, and today he cut a groove in the wrong place so it will be showing; and he cut something too short, so he will have to make it longer.

But, he said he was still confident going into the second day: “It should be OK by the end and it’s too late to get annoyed by it.”

FE Week is proud to be the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK. FE Week will bring you all the latest developments in the lead up to WorldSkills 2019 and will be onsite in Kazan to bring rolling coverage of Team UK’s progress.

To find out more about the what, when and why of WorldSkills, read our handy guide.

Pictured: Owen Aldous

WorldSkills 2019: Team UK flies the flag at dazzling opening ceremony

Team UK has been flying the flag at the dazzling opening ceremony for WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

Team UK joined a parade of national teams at the opening of tonight’s ceremony, and were cheered on by family, friends and team experts.

More than 50,000 people attended the ceremony, which was held at the Kazan Arena the day before the tournament, which runs from Friday until Monday.

The audience were treated to live musical and dance performances, as well as an appearance by Saudi Arabia’s Robot Sophia, the world’s only android with citizenship and a passport. 

Through a specially made app, the attendees could witness the spectacle with augmented reality.

This, at one point, included a giant whale swimming towards the audience.

Throughout the show, bakers on a portable kitchen travelled around the arena, baking a traditional Russian loaf which was completed before the end of the show.

The ceremony was officially opened by Russian prime minister Dimitri Medvedev.

WorldSkills president Simon Bartley also addressed the audience and said: “What our competitors show is that skills change lives”. 

Russian prime minister Dimitri Medvedev

FE Week is proud to be the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK. FE Week will bring you all the latest developments in the lead up to WorldSkills 2019 and will be onsite in Kazan to bring rolling coverage of Team UK’s progress.

To find out more about the what, when and why of WorldSkills, read our handy guide.

Pass rate falls for GCSE English and maths resits

Figures published this morning for those aged 17 and over in England that sat GCSE English show the pass rate fell 2.7 percentage points to 30.3 and for GCSE mathematics the pass rate fell 1.4 percentage points to 21.2 (see table above).

Click here to download all JCQ provisional GCSE results.

More to follow…