Despite the extra bureaucracy, ESFA right to require more data on every apprentice

This week the ESFA announced that, from August, apprenticeship providers would need to report the planned off-the-job hours for all new starts.

With bureaucracy a constant bugbear in FE, it is rare that a new field is added to the Individualised Learner Record (particularly a late change) but this is an attempt to address stinging criticism from the National Audit Office.

In their second report into the apprenticeship reforms, the NAO said in March: “The ESFA does not yet have an effective way of identifying where apprentices are routinely receiving less training than they should” and that “this is an important gap in oversight.”

The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier, similarly put the boot in, claiming that “it is concerning that the Education and Skills Funding Agency can’t be sure that apprentices are spending enough time on off-the-job training”.

In reality, collecting data on planned hours should not be controversial nor require a significant nudge from the NAO, given that providers should already timetable these hours.

Plus, it has been a requirement for ESFA-funded 16-19 study programmes since 2013. In fact, one wonders why the requirement to collect and return this data was not introduced in May 2017, along with the off-the-job rule.

But, a single figure for total planned hours for a whole apprenticeship tells you little about actually delivery.

Compliance with the rule will continue to need auditors to check providers’ own paperwork and systems – although FE Week’s April Fool story in 2017 about an electronic off-the-job card and counter being given to every apprentice does not now seem so fanciful.

However, this mandatory field for off-the-job planned hours in the ILR is a move in the right direction and will serve two
important purposes.

Firstly, as a field in the ILR scrutinised by funding auditors, it will allow knowledgeable data and funding managers to take greater ownership and responsibility for ensuring the apprenticeship delivery plan is compliant with the off-the-job minimum-hour rule.

Secondly, it will help the ESFA and IfA compare planned hours with funding levels and help establish whether the price has been adjusted for prior learning.

If a provider has all their apprentices funded at the maximum, but with a wide variation in planned hours, this is likely to be challenged.

So it’s an overdue but positive step from the ESFA to collect this information, which should improve compliance with both the off-the-job and prior attainment rules.

Ofsted watch: Two providers straight in with ‘good’ in uneventful week for FE

One specialist college and a private provider received a grade two rating in their first ever Ofsted inspections, in what was otherwise an average week in the FE sector.

The only critical report came in for an NHS trust, after inspectors found it was making ‘insufficient progress’ in an early monitoring visit of its apprenticeship provision.

Starting with the good news, Qts-Global Limited, a North Yorkshire-based independent learning provider with 253 apprentices, was rated grade two across the board in its first ever inspection.

The education watchdog found leaders and managers plan programmes “very effectively” to meet the needs of employers and learners and “monitor all aspects of programmes closely and intervene swiftly if they have any concerns”.

Ofsted also found they provide “high-quality” resources for learning and recruit staff who have high levels of knowledge, expertise and credibility in their subjects.

“Learners produce work of a high standard that, in many cases, exceeds qualification requirements,” the report said. They also develop their confidence and their personal and employability skills effectively to prepare them for their next steps.

Wilson Stuart University College Birmingham Partnership Trust, a specialist college that provides education and training for young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities, also received a grade two thanks to its “very clear strategy and purpose”.

Ofsted found the college’s trustees ensure that managers provide challenging opportunities for students, who in turn “rise to the challenge”.

Senior leaders were recognised for creating a “welcoming and inclusive culture”, while students develop “excellent vocational skills”, make good progress from work placements to employment, and develop good practical, personal, English and mathematical skills.

On a more negative note, Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in two of its three provisions during its first monitoring visit since it started delivering apprenticeships in 2017.

Ofsted accused the provider of having “insufficient understanding of how to deliver successful apprenticeships” and its management of being “disjointed and ineffective”.

Of the 23 apprentices enrolled at the provider, more than half have withdrawn prematurely or have paused their programme after receiving insufficient accurate information and guidance before the start of their programme.

Still, apprentices “appreciate” the support and guidance they receive from assessors and feel they acquire useful new skills.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, another employer provider, was found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ across the board in its first Ofsted visit. The provider currently has 180 apprentices, who are provided with an apprenticeship curriculum that helps leaders and managers meet the need for skilled healthcare assistants and administrative staff across the trust.

Elsewhere, specialist college Birtenshaw was found making ‘reasonable progress’ in a monitoring visit following a grade three rating given by the inspectorate in March last year.

Ofsted said the provider’s leaders, managers and teachers have revised their approach to how they identify learners’ starting points substantially and have improved their approach to target-setting and monitoring since the previous visit.

The Electronics Group Limited and Back 2 Work Complete Training Limited were also found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ in their first monitoring visit since they started delivering apprenticeships.

Ofsted said the Electronics Group “use their experience as a subcontractor of Semta well to deliver directly funded frameworks that meet the principles and requirements of apprenticeship provision”.

Back 2 Work was commended for having made a “carefully considered and rational decision” to discontinue to offer business administration apprenticeships and to specialise in digital marketing apprenticeships to satisfy employers’ requirements.

Contracting Services (Education and Skills) Limited received mixed feedback from inspectors, with one ‘reasonable progress’ rating, one ‘significant’ and one ‘insufficient’.

Directors were found to have established a clear mission to provide apprenticeships to a small number of regional levy-paying employers, but have also failed to put in place an appropriately qualified safeguarding lead.

Finally, Catalyst Learning and Development Limited received a follow-up visit after being rated ‘insufficient’ in three areas in February.

In this most recent visit, Ofsted said the provider has made ‘reasonable’ progress and “worked hard” to develop a positive safeguarding culture.

Independent Specialist College Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Birtenshaw 20/03/2019 09/05/2019 M 3
Wilson Stuart University College Birmingham Partnership Trust 27/03/2019 07/05/2019 2 N/A

 

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Qts-Global Ltd 26/03/2019 09/05/2019 2 N/A
Back 2 Work Complete Training Limited 24/03/2019 10/05/2019 M N/A
Catalyst Learning and Development Limited 16/04/2019 08/05/2019 M M
Contracting Services (Education and Skills) Limited 28/03/2019 09/05/2019 M N/A
The Electronics Group Limited 10/04/2019 10/05/2019 M N/A

 

Employer providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Northumbria Healthcare Nhs Foundation Trust 27/03/2019 07/05/2019 M N/A
King’s College Hospital Nhs Foundation Trust 27/03/2019 07/05/2019 M N/A

 

Scania hits out at planned cut to heavy vehicle apprenticeship funding band

A leading manufacturer of heavy trucks and buses has warned that cutting the funding band by £3,000 for an apprenticeship that it helped to develop threatens its industry’s longterm skills strategy.

Scania (Great Britain) Limited, which has nearly 50,000 employees globally and produces heavy commercial vehicles, has addressed an open letter to Damian Hinds, as well as skills minister Anne Milton and education select committee chair Robert Halfon.

In the letter, sent to FE Week, the employer claims that reducing the £18,000 funding band for the level 3 heavy vehicle service and maintenance technician standard to £15,000 threatens the healthy flow of apprentices which “our industry’s long-term skills strategy relies upon”.

The funding band for the standard, which has had 1,171 starts since it was approved in 2016 to March 2019, has been under review by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education since December.

Although new funding bands were announced this week for ten of the 30 standards that have been under review since December, the funding for the heavy vehicle service and maintenance technician standard is one of 20 that has yet to be confirmed.

Scania, which has employed around 450 apprentices in the UK over the past three years, says they have been told by the IfA that there is an intention to cut the funding band by £3,000.

This, it says, “will have serious consequences for UK industry, society and the economy, as it will most certainly lead to fewer apprentices being taken on, thereby adding to the burden of the nation’s already considerable skills shortage”.

The letter also warns that any cut in funding is likely to cause, in many instances, a “reduction in the quality of training that apprentices receive. We therefore request your support by ensuring the funding decision is reconsidered, so that there is no reduction in funding.”

A DfE spokesperson said the reviews “identify the most appropriate funding band to support high quality delivery, and provide value for money for employers and government”.

A spokesperson for the IfA added: “The heavy vehicle service and maintenance technician standard funding band is included in the review, and a final decision has not yet been
reached.

“The employers on the trailblazer group have been consulted and are being kept fully informed on the progress.”

Anne Milton originally asked the institute to review the funding bands for 31 standards in May last year, while a further 30 were put under review in December.

The first review led to a number of popular standards, including the controversial level 6 chartered manager apprenticeship, having their funding cut by thousands of pounds.

The cuts have proven deeply unpopular with trailblazer groups of employers, which developed the standards.

This manifested itself in a surge in the number of appeals against the reviews: there were eight appeals from trailblazer groups in 2017; but in January 2018, there were more than
five times that many, at 42.

The funding band cuts, specifically the £4,000 reduction to £3,000 change for the level 2 retailer standard, have also been blamed for major retailer and employer provider Halfords scrapping its entire level 2 provision last month.

Halfords’ decision, and Scania’s letter, shines an uncomfortable spotlight on the government’s policy of putting employers in the driving seat of the apprenticeships system.

A research paper published in March by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and the Further Education Trust for Leadership urged the government to move away from this “unhelpful” mantra after finding it was “more rhetoric than reality”.

The National Audit Office said in its apprenticeships review in the same month that lowering funding bands was one measure to control the apprenticeship budget, which the IfA
warned in December was in danger of being overspent.

However, the NAO warned such measures were “likely to be unpopular and could damage confidence in the programme”. 

Final Team UK line-up for WorldSkills 2019 revealed

With the last seven competitors selected, Team UK is now complete and ready to compete in this year’s WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia, later this summer.

The first 32 members were announced in March. However, the autotech, cloud computing, cyber ,security, chemical lab technician, floristry, plumbing and heating competitors had to wait to find out if they made the cut.

Unfortunately, the UK’s patisserie competitor, Connor Stow, has had to withdraw for health reasons and will not be replaced.

There are a total of 38 UK competitors this year, which makes it the biggest team since the Sao Paulo competition in 2015.

The competition lets us benchmark UK skills against other nations

They will battle it out with their counterparts from more than 60 countries, going for gold, silver and bronze in 56 different skills categories ranging from 3D digital game art and mechanical engineering, through to hairdressing and landscape gardening.

All competitors will undergo a rigorous regime of Olympic-style training in preparation for the most intense week of skills competition imaginable.

“I still can’t believe I am going to Russia to represent the UK in plumbing. It’s been a mixture of emotions,” said Thomas Thomas, who will be competing in the plumbing and heating category.

“The training is hard work but I’m learning new skills that I can use in my job with Aer Cymru. I’m totally focused on the competition and can’t wait to join my team mates there and do my family, everyone at Coleg MeirionDwyfor and Aer Cymru proud.”

Kyle Woodward, who will compete with Adrian Cybulski in the team cloud-computing competition, said he was “quite shocked” to make it to the finals. “I was quite a low-level learner at high school but when I started at the college, my tutor, Peter Franklin, really pushed me and now I’m going to the WorldSkills finals – that just blows it out of the park for me.”

Elizabeth Newcombe, competing in floristry, said the competition was a “real eye-opener for me” which has given her a boost in her confidence and skills.

“The training I am receiving from WorldSkills UK is helping me so much, not only in preparation for the competition but with my job at Rhubarb & Bramley, and I am determined to do everyone proud.

At the last WorldSkills, which took place two years ago in Abu Dhabi, Team UK retained its top 10 position, bagging one gold, three silvers, three bronzes and 13 medallions of excellence.

Elizabeth Newcombe

A top 10 position is what the team will be vying for this time round in Russia.

Ben Blackledge, director of education and skills competitions at WorldSkills UK, said: “Our participation in the international WorldSkills competition provides the opportunity to benchmark UK skills against countries from around the world, demonstrating why business should continue to invest in the UK.

“It is essential that these competitions stay relevant to education and industry, and to that end, we have been working with WorldSkills International and its members to ensure technological changes are being embedded in current competitions and are also a key driver for introducing new competitions.”

The 45th WorldSkills event will take place in Kazan from August 22 to 27. FE Week is proud to be the official media partner for WorldSkills UK and Team UK.

 

Open University extends free functional skills offer to level 2

A scheme by The Open University to provide free online functional skills courses has been extended to level 2.

Pilots offering the English and maths programmes up to level 1 got under way in February and have been accessed by 12,000 people already, according to the university.

Funded by the Department for Education’s flexible learning fund, the scheme currently offers the qualification at three local college partners: Bedford College Group, Middlesbrough College and West Herts College.

It is now being rolled out at level 2.

“Functional skills are part of the core skills needed in everyday life and work,” said Andrew Law, director of open media and informal learning at The Open University.

“For many, they are also an essential stepping-stone for getting into work or progressing at work and particularly via apprenticeships.

“The functional skills courses on OpenLearn [the OU’s public learning platform] use The Open University’s digital learning expertise to offer a free, flexible way for people to really improve these basic skills and their prospects.

“It’s great to be extending our offering with local colleges to level 2 functional skills – it’s a key way to begin to address the skills gap in the UK, developing people’s abilities and confidence.”

The government announced in March 2018 that 32 projects would share £11.7 million from its flexible learning fund to help more adults back into the classroom.

Under The Open University scheme, learners can access course materials for free online, and can learn at home or receive support and careers guidance from their local college.

When the scheme was launched Law said he was hoping to reach up to 30,000 learners a year via the university’s OpenLearn platform, which he explained is specifically designed to cater for people with “low confidence, or barriers preventing them from getting into education”.

There is an open license on the materials so that others can copy and reuse the content for their own teaching and learning. The courses take between 40 and 50 hours of study to complete.

Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive of Middlesbrough College, said her college has “already seen the positive impact The Open University maths and English courses have had across the community”.

“As an inclusive college that is passionate about taking people higher, we’re pleased this fantastic opportunity is being extended to even more people,” she explained.

“The courses on offer are ideal for those who are looking for promotion at work, those wanting to support children with homework or to upskill.”

As well as the three colleges, the scheme involves collaborations with organisations and community groups including Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Workers’ Education Association, Unison and Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Paul Thompson, employer and skills manager at South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership said: “Basic levels of numeracy and literacy are essential, not just for jobs in the labour market, but in personal life as well, especially with developing a financial capability.

“The extension of the functional skills provision by The Open University is beneficial both to local capacity and in providing flexible, easy access for individuals and businesses.”

The pilots will run until July 2019, at which point they will be reviewed before being made accessible “for the foreseeable future”

Awarding bodies may call for new independent funding approval process citing ‘lack of transparency’

Awarding organisations are considering calling on the government to create an independent process for qualification funding approvals in a bid to stop decisions being driven by short-term political goals.

Their representative association, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, has floated the idea of setting up an “Independent Commission for Qualification and Apprenticeship Funding Approvals”.

The federation believes the existing process by which ministers decide how and which qualifications are funded, such as the current review of qualifications at level 3 and below, currently “lacks transparency”.

It fears that this review, which is likely to result in the loss of thousands of applied general qualifications, including BTECs, is a way of pushing out these long-standing qualifications to ensure that parents and young people opt for new T-levels in order to make them a success.

“There is widespread concern that decisions lack integrity and are not based on the real long-term needs of the economy and wider society,”

FAB’s chief executive Tom Bewick said, adding that the decisions are driven by “short-term political considerations”.

He told FE Week the Independent Commission would have a role similar to that of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (which advises ministers on which medical treatments should be funded on the NHS) and the Migration Advisory Committee (which gives opinion to the government about non-EU immigration policy).

In its upcoming consultation to members about the proposal, FAB argues there is a conflict of interest of the Education and Skills Funding Agency being the same agency responsible for T-Level implementation, as well as for advising the education secretary on which level 3 and below qualifications should be funded in future.

The independent commission would be appointed by the education secretary and would have representation from experts in qualifications and from labour market economists, while ensuring the views of the provider, the learner and the employer would be represented.

The education secretary would still make the final decisions about funding rules, but these decisions would be made in response to the published recommendations of the independent commission. It would advise on the funding of all publicly regulated and funded qualifications from levels 1 to 5 and all 30 apprenticeship funding bands.

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “In principle, it’s right that there should be an independent evidence-based assessment of which courses deserve public funding and at what level. DfE has loaded obligations on colleges but hasn’t changed funding rates for seven years.”

However, he added that the AoC is “not so sure that a new statutory agency is the answer unless it is part of a wider reform because colleges already receive public money via six different funding lines and account for themselves to five different regulators”.

Mark Dawe, chief executive at Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “For AELP, the key priority is IfATE being more transparent about its decision-making and more responsive to the employers on the trailblazers in what is meant to be an employer-driven system. If it gets better at these, then we don’t need another body.

“What needs to happen is to get everyone around the table at thestart – providers, assessment bodies, employers and officials – and then determine what is wanted and the rough cost, rather than the current process, which seems random, divisive and opaque.”

College board criticised for boosting senior staff pay and conditions during ‘merger explorations’

A college has come under heavy criticism for significantly enhancing the employment conditions of its senior staff ahead of entering a merger consultation.

After a whistleblower approached FE Week with concerns, the chair of Stephenson College confirmed that the board approved pay rises and notice period extensions to 12 months in 2015 for all executives, including the long-serving principal and Association of Colleges board member Nigel Leigh.

The college denied that this had anything to do with the plans to merge with a larger college which were being explored “at the time”.

It could be argued the improved employment terms was an appropriate way to maintain stability

A spokesperson for the UCU described the enhancements as “a tone-deaf move which flies in the face of widespread calls for senior pay restraint in colleges and shows that, when it comes to pay and conditions, it’s one rule for those at the top and another for the rest of the staff”.

She added that there had been a “concerning” lack of transparency around the pay rise.

According to the college’s accounts, Leigh’s pay has risen 15 per cent in the past three years, from £125,653 to £145,000, during which time the post-16 area review recommended that Stephenson College be taken over by North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College.

The plans for merger were progressed to an advanced stage, but it is understood that by March 2018 discussions had ended and according to NWSLC’s audit committee minutes the college had agreed to collaborate with Stephenson, but Stephenson had not accepted the offer that had been made.

The chair of governors for Stephenson College, Chris Brown, became chair in December 2018 and was on the college remuneration committee at the time the enhancements were approved for senior staff.

He defended the decision, telling FE Week: “In 2015, the board at Stephenson College took the decision to secure the retention of a high-performing senior management team, to safeguard student outcomes through increasingly turbulent times for the sector.

“This had nothing to do with merger explorations happening at the time. 

“The number one priority was, and is always, ensuring a thriving further education offer for our local community.

“Since the board took that decision, the college has maintained a ‘good’ Ofsted grade and is in outstanding financial health.”

FE Week spoke to a consultant with experience of mergers, who didn’t want to be named but said extending the notice period could be seen as “a cynical move from the college to look after their own”.

They also said they had not come across this situation before, and theorised the board may have concluded that asking the senior team to implement a merger in which they may be made redundant was “like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas”. 

“So, it could be argued the improved employment terms was an appropriate way to maintain stability,” the consultant said.

Stephenson began exploring a merger with Loughborough last year, and a £100,000 transition grant that had been made available was used by Loughborough to carry out due diligence.

A spokesperson for Loughborough College said the merger is currently paused while the two colleges explore unrelated matters.

“There has never, at any time, been a discussion between Loughborough College and Stephenson College regarding the executive contracts of either organisation,” the spokesperson continued.

Chris Brown

“Further, as all HR matters are part of the due diligence process, they are, and will remain, subject to a non-disclosure agreement.”

It is understood that Stephenson College has since begun merger talks with Brooksby Melton College, which did not provide a comment for this story.

NWSLC also did not provide a comment.

The criticism of the senior pay decision at Stephenson College comes shortly after the Association of Colleges said it wanted to make the process of deciding senior pay at colleges fairer and more transparent.

Last September it published a senior pay code, which “draws on the good practice in colleges and from other sectors and will help colleges show that they are acting responsibly, fairly and openly”.

The guidance states that senior staff shouldn’t get a pay rise unless all staff do, principals cannot be involved in deciding their own pay, and colleges should publish principal salaries publicly and separately.

Although the move appears to be rare, FE Week reported in April 2017 (following contact from a whistle blower) that the principal of City of Liverpool College, Elaine Bowker, had her employment notice period extended to 12 months at the same time as FE Commissioner intervention.

Chelsea’s goal – and why it may inspire you to enter the 16th National Apprenticeship Awards

Lives being changed for the better – these are the personal tales Anne Milton hears a great deal in her everyday working life.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much energy and enthusiasm there is for apprenticeships – from employers, training providers and, most importantly, from the apprentices themselves.

In fact, the most frequent thing I hear from apprentices is that they wished they’d started their apprenticeship sooner!I thought it would be useful to reflect on one of the many inspiring apprenticeship stories I’ve heard. Training providers do an amazing job.

When it comes to delivering high-quality training, the stories I hear serve as a real reminder of the important work they do.

During National Apprenticeship Week in March, I visited an enterprise software company, Invotra, who are one of the UK’s “Top 100 Apprentices Employer”.

The positive impact apprenticeships have had on the company was clear to see, with over a third of the workforce made up of former or current apprentices.

Crucially, all the apprentices I met with spoke passionately about their work and the company culture.

Chelsea Cadd was one of the apprentices I met during my visit. As well as studying hard to complete her apprenticeship, she has already achieved so much in her short career.

Chelsea is one of just a small number of female cyber security apprentices in the UK (a huge achievement in itself) and, at last year’s Cyber Security Awards, was awarded Newcomer of the Year nationally.

Chelsea told me how she always had a flare for IT and was initially set on studying towards a degree in computing at university. She explained that this was because her school had encouraged everyone to move on to university and, although she wasn’t sure if it was for her, it seemed to be the only option.

Fortunately, Chelsea decided to research other avenues instead, and this led her to Invotra and their apprenticeship programme. Taking up this opportunity quickly became – as she put it – a “no brainer”.

After deferring university for a year, Chelsea started her apprenticeship journey with a course in networking and IT systems and hasn’t looked back since. In less than a year, she was promoted to test manager, building the team up from scratch to include many other apprentices.

Chelsea is now part-way through a level 4 apprenticeship in cyber security – after Invotra’s CEO identified her talent – and is going from strength to strength.

I hear stories like this one all the time. Stories about apprentices who are passionate, inspirational and whose lives have changed for the better because of the opportunities they have gained through their apprenticeship.

I’ve also met with just as many pioneering employers like Invotra, and importantly, the superb apprenticeship training providers that are making sure apprentices get the high-quality training they need.

All of them deserve to be recognised for their brilliant work and achievements.

We’ve recently announced the opening of this year’s National Apprenticeship Awards.

The awards challenge top apprenticeship employers, apprentices and those who champion apprenticeships across England to come forward and show how apprenticeships have made a real difference to their organisation and careers.

This year is the 16th year of the awards, and the national finale takes place in November, following regional ceremonies to find the best apprentices and employers from across the regions.

Nominations are open until 24 May.

More information can be found by visiting appawards.co.uk

You’re hired! Apprentice for Cabinet minister given permanent position

Health secretary and former skills minister Matt Hancock has awarded a permanent role in his office to his apprentice.

Chloe Osborne-Wilson, aged 21, has been the “eyes and ears” for Hancock as a caseworker within his constituency of West Suffolk while making “tremendous progress” completing a level 3 business administrator apprenticeship over the past 18 months.

Hancock, who was the skills minister from 2013 to 2014 and became health secretary in July last year, has now hired Chloe on a full-time basis.

While the number of MPs hiring apprentices has been growing in recent years, with former skills minister and current education select committee chair Robert Halfon thought to have been the first in 2010, Hancock is likely to be one of only a few or even the first to then hire the apprentice permanently.

“I’m so proud of Chloe,” Hancock said. “It’s a massive tribute to her hard work and also an excellent example of the success of apprenticeships in this country.

“I am so pleased and proud to offer her a full-time position in my West Suffolk constituency office as my caseworker. Chloe made tremendous progress in her apprenticeship, and her success is thoroughly deserved.”

During Chloe’s apprenticeship she arranged and attended Hancock’s surgeries, answered calls from venerable members of the constituency, attended meetings with, or on behalf of the MP, and handled post.

“The apprenticeship has helped me to understand how a real working environment works, whilst still learning and developing my skills,” Chloe said.

“The support from my tutor Rebecca has been amazing, I could not have completed my apprenticeship without her and the support of the college.”

Rebecca Mann, programme tutor in business administration and customer service at West Suffolk College, said: “Chloe has undergone a significant learning journey as one of the first apprentices to go through the new end-point assessment process. She has shown huge resilience and optimism throughout her course having to adapt to a very challenging yet unique role. We are very proud of her.”

Chloe said she has high ambitions for the future and is hoping to progress to a senior caseworker or office manager.

Photo: Left to right – Laraine Moody, West Suffolk College vice principal employer engagement, Matt Hancock, Chloe Osborne-Wilson and Nikos Savvas, principal at West Suffolk College