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Facing up to the challenges of the reformed functional skills

The new qualifications will be ready for teaching from September 1. Some aspects have stayed the same, but you need to be aware of a few vital changes, says Ian Sugarman

Reformed functional skills qualifications in English and maths will be taught from September 1. The Department for Education and Ofqual have consulted on and confirmed their overall approach to regulating these new qualifications, although some aspects have remained the same.

There are, however, a number of challenges. The reformed qualifications continue to:

• have the three components of speaking, listening and communicating, reading and writing, which all need to be passed to achieve the overall award of English.
• have the three core sections that relate to number, measure and shape, and data handling, which all need to be passed to achieve the overall award of mathematics.
• enable level 1 and 2 to be available to support skill development, progression and attainment.
• enable each level to build on the skills of the previous levels and encompass the skills of the previous levels.
• have assessments that will be accessible, flexible and varied to meet learner needs.
• ensure that level 1 and level 2 assessments will be externally set and externally marked, apart from the speaking, listening and communicating component, which will still be internally assessed by the centre and externally moderated by the awarding organisation.

These skills will require providers to consider the increased challenges for learners

Speaking, listening and communicating
The new definition is: “Speaking, listening and communicating’ within functional skills English qualifications is non-written communication, normally conducted face-to-face and can also include ‘virtual’ communication methods such as telephone or spoken web-based technologies.”

This definition allows the greater use of remote “video-chat” technology such as video-phoning, video-conferencing, Skype, etc. This comes with a new challenge, as without a physical presence and a limited view of the learner, how is body language and non-verbal communication observed and assessed?

Reading
The new definition is: “The independent understanding of written language in specific contexts. This can be demonstrated through the use of texts on screen or on paper.”

Learners are now expected to not only provide their personal “take” on the content of the text, but also to justify these views. Many of their responses will be based upon personal experiences and the understanding of current issues which, because of their age, they may not have.

Writing
The new definition is: “Write texts of varying complexity, with accuracy, effectiveness and correct spelling, punctuation and grammar and understand the situations when, and audiences for which, planning, drafting and using formal language are important and when they are less important.”

Learners will now need to spell, punctuate and write grammatically without using dictionaries, and spelling or grammar checkers. They will also need to spend more time learning the skills to communicate in the appropriate language, tone and style to meet audience needs. Again, many of these skills come with the experience of written communication, which many learners may not have.

Mathematics
Some of the changes include:

• an indication that learners can demonstrate their ability through appropriate reasoning and decision-making to solve realistic problems of increasing complexity.
• exposing learners to concepts and problems which, while not of immediate concern, may be of value in later life.
• enabling them to develop an appreciation of the role played by mathematics in the world of work and in life.

Learners will need to perform calculations without a calculator, to know times-tables and to use mathematics as standalone skills, as well as part of problem-solving contexts.

These new requirements demand that learners not only need to be “mentally competent” in mathematics, but also provide commentary on the outcomes of problems and to provide a simple rationale on the application of their skills to solve mathematical-based problems.

These reformed skills will require providers to consider the increased challenges for learners. They will now have to demonstrate independent competence across the range of skills, a greater expectation to “perform” to the required level and to fully cover the qualification content to support successful end-assessment.

What to expect as the T-level Transition prepares for take-off

In terms of ensuring a pipeline for T-levels and enabling more young people to access level 3 study, the T-level Transition Programme is crucial, says Catherine Sezen

There has been a lot of focus on T-levels over the past 18 months: level 3, rigorous, substantial study programmes with industry placements of 45 days. However, there had not been as much emphasis on the Transition Programme for T-levels, which, for colleges with large level 2 cohorts, may have greater impact on delivery.

Behind the scenes, though, as noted in their December 2018 T-level Action Plan, the Department for Education transition team were out and about speaking to key stakeholders about transition programmes to level 3.

At the Association of Colleges we are delighted to be working with The Challenge alongside DfE and a number of the 2020 T-level providers to flesh out what a successful T-level Transition Programme could look like and support early delivery from September 2020.

So, who is the Transition Programme aimed at? The 2016 Sainsbury Review of Technical Education stated that every young person “should have the opportunity to benefit from technical education – including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)” while at the same time acknowledging that there will be some young people “who are not ready to access a technical education route at age 16”.

The T-level Action Plan confirmed that it will be targeted at young people “who are not ready to start a T-level at age 16, but who can realistically achieve a T-level by age 19”.

This is a significant group of young people – just over 20% of the college cohort according to AoC data. Meanwhile, 48% of current level 3 students start this level at age 17, suggesting that it is more than likely that they studied a level 2 programme in the previous year.

This is the beginning of an exciting journey

While the T-level Transition Programme may not be the answer for all of these young people, in terms of ensuring a pipeline for T-levels and enabling even more young people to access level 3 study the Transition Programme is crucial.

Level 2 students have so much potential, but they have not always had the opportunity to flourish in their previous learning environment. They often lack employability skills, including English and maths at grade 4 or above and they need encouragement to find their niche and to fly.

What will the offer be? Again, we need to go back to The Sainsbury review which said that a transition “year” (now “programme”, as it will be a study programme) “should be flexible and tailored to the student’s prior attainment and aspirations”.

The report recommended that “the key objective for the year remains to provide tailored provision that has a sharp focus on basic skills and on progression”.

The review also recommended that “the new transition year is available to students alongside first teaching of the technical education routes”. In the first instance this will, of course, focus on supporting students to progress to the first three T-levels in education; design; surveying and planning; digital production; design and development.

T-levels are innovative new technical study programmes. The T-level Transition Programme will need to focus on helping young people develop the skills, experience, knowledge and behaviours required to progress on to, and successfully complete, one of these new programmes, through the provision of a preparation period that both meets individual needs but also the specific requirements of the specific T-level.

Learning from this phase of the project will help inform and shape not only Transition Programmes for 2020 providers, but it will also establish good practice that can be adopted by 2021 providers and subsequent waves.

This is the beginning of an exciting journey and we look forward to being able to share more detail as the project continues.

Too many prisoners may still fall through the education net

The Coates review recommended wide-ranging changes to prison education. So how are things progressing? Not as quickly as they should, says Francesca Cooney

Three years ago, the ground-breaking Coates report Unlocking Potential set out a wide-ranging agenda for reforming and improving education in our prisons. This week the Prisoner Learning Alliance, a network of organisations and individuals working for improvements in prison education, is publishing a progress review on its recommendations.

So, how are we doing? Although the proportion of FE colleges judged by Ofsted to be good or outstanding is increasing, the opposite is true in prison education. Over the past year, no prison education provision was judged as outstanding and only four out of ten were good. Ofsted’s message is very clear: urgent action is needed to ensure prisons are helped to improve.

Coates recommended wide-reaching changes and a complete overhaul in funding and management. These changes are now in force. Prison governors have a much bigger input into how education is delivered in their prisons. Over the past two years they have decided what they want from their education provision, and from April this year took on the responsibility to monitor it too.

It is very early days as the contracts have been in place for only a month. But it is hoped that having governor involvement in education will make it a higher priority and better integrated into the prison timetable.

To take just one example. Coates highlighted the needs of prisoners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD) – highly significant because a third of people entering prison have LDD. New, mandatory contractual requirements mean sentenced prisoners are now screened when they enter prison.

Another positive development is that most prison education departments are now using the same management information system. Therefore, if a prisoner who has been screened for LDD is transferred, staff in the new prison will be able to see the assessment.

A third of people entering prison have LDD

So far, so good. However, the anticipated tool for screening has not yet been nationally approved and individual prisons are using a variety of tools to find out whether people entering their care have LDDs. It is positive that all prisons will be carrying out some sort of screening, but the process needs to be standardised. Without this there is a danger that prisoners will go through different screening assessments each time they move between prisons.

Another benefit is that if a released prisoner returns to prison, the previous assessment will be available. This is important because nearly half (48 per cent) of people leaving prison are reconvicted within a year. This will mean that needs are identified quickly when vulnerable people come back into prison.

The new requirements do not cover all prisoners, though. It is not clear what will happen to longer-term prisoners who may have unidentified needs. It is not yet mandatory that they receive screening. It is also not clear what will happen to those on remand. A prisoner on remand who is engaging with education will be assessed. But, legally, unconvicted people cannot be made to go to work or study – and many don’t. It is up to individual prisons to decide whether they screen all their remand population.
The Coates report recommended that every prison should adopt a whole-prison approach to identifying, supporting and working with prisoners with LDD. While there has been some progress, this is too slow.

The new requirements are a step forward, but substantial numbers of prisoners may still fall through the net. System-wide screening, with a standardised tool, available to all prisoners would be the first step towards achieving the vision Coates set out for prisoners with additional needs.

Scandal-hit Hadlow College first to go through insolvency regime

The ongoing financial scandal engulfing Hadlow College has led to it having the dubious honour of becoming the first to be taken through the new college insolvency regime.

FE Week can reveal that the Department for Education plans to end bailouts to the college, and on Tuesday the education secretary, Damian Hinds, applied to the High Court to place it in education administration.

A judge has yet to be appointed, and the application is due to be heard on May 22.

This is an exceptional case under new legislation which has never been used before

Hadlow College employs 454 staff and has just over 2,000 students studying qualifications across both its further and higher education provision, including apprenticeships.

Investigations into financial irregularities are ongoing, including the role of the principal, deputy principal and two college chairs, all of whom have now departed in disgrace.

In the meantime, the financial advisory firm BDO has been appointed to oversee the potential sale or transfer of assets within the Hadlow Group – which includes Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College – to neighbouring colleges.

It is understood that, for example, East Kent College is keen to take over the Ashford campus and has until June 3 to formally express initial interest.

A spokesperson for Hadlow College said: “Due to the immediate financial challenges it is facing, it was determined that it was necessary to place Hadlow College into education administration in order to protect the provision of learning for students.”

The college confirmed that company subsidiaries, the onsite secondary school and West Kent and Ashford College are not included in the insolvency application.

The spokesperson continued: “Hadlow College will continue to operate as normal and courses will continue as scheduled. Qualifications will not be affected by this process. College staff will continue to be employed as normal and we envisage no changes to staffing as a result of the appointment, in due course, of education administrators.”

The local MP for both colleges is Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative MP and chair of the foreign affairs select committee. Speaking to FE Week, Mr Tugendhat said he had met several times in recent weeks with both the skills minister Anne Milton and FE Commissioner Richard Atkins.

“I would be extremely disappointed to lose any education provision as a result of insolvency,” he added.

“Both Hadlow College and West Kent College are a really important part of their local community and I am keen to see the rights of students protected.”

In a letter to Milton dated May 10, Tugendhat also expressed concern over any potential sale of agricultural land which is “critical to the courses which students take at the college”, as well as the impact on the local businesses that supply goods and services to the college.

Upon hearing the news, shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said: “This is obviously going to be very concerning news for the staff, for the students and for the families affected by it. We did press the government long and hard about the adequacy of the provisions with the new insolvency law so it will be interesting and important to see how effectively they can be applied.”

In an email to member colleges about the insolvency application, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes, wrote of the “concerns about how the governance and leadership has allowed the college to get into trouble”.

“This is an exceptional case under new legislation which has never been used before,” he added.

“Because of that, everyone involved in this will be learning as they go, so it is more difficult than usual to forecast what might happen.

“This appalling situation must not overshadow the incredible work that thousands of college governors and senior leaders do.”

The application to appoint an education administrator will have followed advice from the DfE’s FE Commissioner, Richard Atkins, and the ESFA’s director of provider market oversight, Matthew Atkinson.

But a DfE spokesperson would not be drawn on matters surrounding the decision to end bailouts at Hadlow, simply saying: “We can confirm that following a request from Hadlow College, we have applied to the court to place the college in education administration. This is matter for the court and it would be inappropriate to comment further until a decision is made.”

Who is to blame?

The education administrator has to submit a report on the conduct of the leadership and all governors who were in office during the last three years of the college’s trading.

This could lead to governors facing consequences which range from being banned from serving as a company director, to seven years in jail.

Sanctions may be imposed for causing, or persuading, the college to commit a common law offence, such as conspiracy to defraud, or for causing a statutory offence.

It has been alleged the group’s former deputy chief executive, Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, forged emails from the ESFA to justify additional funding from the government.

When the ESFA checked those emails against their own server, they could find no record of them and the agency demanded the money back.

The college’s local MP, Tom Tugendhat, told FE Week: “I’ve been deeply concerned by the accounts I have been hearing of spending, and the way public money has been used, and I have asked the skills minister to keep a very careful record as the investigation goes on, should it be required for any further purposes.

“If there is any suggestion that there has been any misuse of public funds or fraud, then I would be extremely keen for that to be investigated and prosecuted.”

Government reveals flexibilities for T-level industry placement

Flexibilities will be added to the controversial 315-hour minimum industry placement in T-levels – including allowing multiple placements at different employers, the government has announced.

The move, which FE Week revealed was on the cards in March, is part of a “package of support” being offered to employers to provide what the education secretary Damian Hinds calls “the heart” of the new post-16 technical qualifications.

Senior leaders in FE have long expressed concern that young people, especially in rural areas, will be unable to pass the T-level owing to a lack of local and lengthy placement opportunities.

Special attention should be paid to small and medium-sized businesses

They’re sceptical about whether enough employers will be brought on board, especially without financial incentives, to cater for the thousands of placements expected to be run each year.

New “guidance to support employers and providers” has now been developed which states placement opportunities can be offered with up to two employers, as opposed to one long one as originally planned, which add up to the minimum duration of around 45 days to pass a T-level.

The guidance also aims to help employers “accommodate students with part time jobs or caring responsibilities”. The detail of these flexibilities will be released in a document being published by the Department for Education later today.

Hinds also announced today that ahead of the roll-out of the first three T-levels in September 2020 a pilot will be run to “explore ways to help cover the costs associated with hosting a young person in their workplace such as equipment and protective clothing”.

It will also help government to “understand whether financial support increases employer engagement to offer placements”, a spokesperson for the DfE said.

A total of £7 million has been set aside for the pilot, which will come from the existing T-levels budget and run during the 2019/20 academic year.

There will also be “bespoke ‘how to’ guides, workshops and practical hands-on support for employers – designed alongside industry bodies to make it as easy as possible for them to offer placements”.

The package of support follows consultation with employers and providers who’ve taken part in the T-levels industry pilots this academic year, in which around 1,500 students took part.

“The completion of a high-quality industry placement will be at the heart of every T-level and is part of what will set these new courses apart from every attempt to reform technical and vocational education in the past 70 years,” Hinds said.

“To make a success of T-levels, we need businesses working in partnership with us and colleges. Industry placements will help young people build the confidence and skills they need to get a head start in their careers and they’ll help business maximise their talent pipeline for the future.

“This new package of support is designed to help ensure we can deliver high-quality placements for every T-level student from 2020.”

Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director at the Confederation of British Industry, said the package of measures is “welcome”, adding that support will be most needed for small and medium-sized businesses, “so special attention should be paid to these firms”.

David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, added said the new flexibilities “directly address our concerns about students with caring responsibilities and part time work”.

“The new approach will allow more young people to study for a T-level and benefit from a placement,” he added.

The first three T-levels will be in digital, education and construction.

Ofsted watch: Two providers rated ‘inadequate’ for apprenticeships

A private provider has dropped two grades to ‘inadequate’ and a sixth form college was rated grade four for its apprenticeship provision, in what is otherwise a positive week for the FE sector.

There was especially good news for Trafford College Group, which was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in all areas since it took on the grade four Stockport College last year.

Michael John Academy, which has 88 apprentices, plummeted from grade two to four, after inspectors found trainers fail to consider an apprentice’s prior learning, which is a breach of ESFA funding rules, and apprentices which transfer to the independent provider are made to restart their programme.

The inspectorate also found ‘inadequate’ apprenticeship provision at Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College, which was given an overall grade three, despite scoring grade two in all but two areas.

Its leaders and senior managers have overseen a “significant decline” in the standard of training for its 130 apprentices, inspectors wrote.

But the principal, Jenny Singleton, said 93 per cent of the provision was rated ‘good’, and the apprenticeship grade had been affected by a former sub-contractor.

Ofsted praised the college developing “high levels of employment-related skills” for its students through a “broad and balanced curriculum which incorporates well-planned work experience and extra-curricular activities”.

There was better news for Trafford College Group, which merged with the ‘inadequate’ Stockport College with the help of a £30 million bailout from the DfE.

Since the merger, inspectors wrote, governors and senior leaders at the college have implemented organisational changes which have been “highly effective in bringing about rapid improvements in the quality of education and training” for students at the Stockport site.

Oaklands College has improved in most areas since its last, grade three, inspection. However it was still found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ in areas.

While managers had improved how they monitor the progress of learners, attendance remained too low.

Easton & Otley College was the focus of a monitoring visit following a grade four inspection.

Inspectors said leaders have a “good awareness of which courses underperformed in 2017/18, and they have carefully evaluated the causes for this”.

They have implemented “suitable improvement actions and these are beginning to have an impact”.

Elsewhere, the University of Sunderland dropped off its ‘outstanding’ perch, albeit to a grade two.

Until recently, assessors have not challenged apprentices to go beyond the minimum requirements of the programme; but governors have recognised the weaknesses in apprenticeship provision and have put together challenging development plans.

Two other universities had early monitoring reports published this week for their apprenticeship provision, Middlesex and Hull, and made ‘reasonable progress across the board.

For employer providers, Pizza Hut has been served a grade two for its provision to 40 apprentices, after Ofsted gave it a grade three in 2017.

Apprentices benefit from good off-the-job training, and the chief executive and senior leaders have a detailed knowledge of each apprentice’s progress.

Mosaic Spa and Health Clubs (Contract Management) Ltd made ‘reasonable progress’ across the board of its monitoring visit, with inspectors commending how managers tailor apprentice programmes to local requirements.

London Professional College Limited received a grade three in its first inspection since winning a direct funding contract.

Inspectors found lecturers did not use information about its 142 learners’ starting point to plan learning.

Fellow independent learning provider Banham Academy Limited fared better, as it was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in two out of three themes.

Their apprenticeship programme, which had 28 participants at the time, was well-structured and meets employers’ needs very well.

Two other providers – Trainspeople Limited and The Braunstone Foundation – made ‘reasonable progress’ in all areas of their monitoring visits.

Apprentices at Trainspeople Limited, which currently has 41 such learners, gain substantial new skills, and the first cohort of gas network team leader apprentices have either become, or are taking up, team leader roles.

Apprentices with The Braunstone Foundation, of which there are five, take part in a range of “high-quality off-the-job training, including work shadowing and classroom sessions.

GFE Colleges	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Easton & Otley College	27/03/2019	14/05/2019	M	4
The Trafford College Group	04/04/2019	16/05/2019	M	N/A
Oaklands College	03/04/2019	13/05/2019	M	3

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
London Professional College Limited	26/03/2019	14/05/2019	3	N/A
Michael John Academy	26/03/2019	15/05/2019	4	2
Trainspeople Limited	17/04/2019	16/05/2019	M	N/A
The Braunstone Foundation, trading as b-inspired	11/04/2019	16/05/2019	M	N/A
Banham Academy Limited	17/04/2019	17/05/2019	M	N/A

Sixth Form Colleges (inc 16-19 academies)	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College	26/03/2019	17/05/2019	3	2

Employer providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Pizza Hut	26/03/2019	14/05/2019	2	3
Mosaic Spa and Health Clubs (Contract Management) Ltd	02/05/2019	17/05/2019	M	N/A

Other (including UTCs)	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Middlesex University	26/04/2019	17/05/2019	M	N/A
University of Hull	04/05/2019	15/05/2019	M	N/A
University of Sunderland	22/03/2019	17/05/2019	2	1

Why #LoveourColleges should be redundant

The second celebratory seven-day #LoveourColleges, held this week, has been about showing the impact of further education and underlining the need for adequate funding for the future.

Yet you’ll no doubt understand if I say that I’d rather we didn’t need to stage another one next year. What I would rather see, is the government suddenly realising just how much the country needs a thriving FE sector and dig deep in its pockets to compensate the sector for years of funding cuts.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) recently reported the dramatic cuts to the sector’s funding in recent years.

The lecturers’ union, the UCU, says FE pay is down 25 per cent in the last decade and that 24,000 teaching posts have been lost in the same period. All told, the country is now seeing a worrying number of colleges openly admitting they are struggling financially.

Funding reared its head recently when I attended a really useful get-together hosted by the Department for Education for organisations that have successfully bid for funding to create an institute of technology (IoT). At Milton Keynes College, we are planning one with business partners for Bletchley Park, the home of the wartime Enigma code breakers, and excited at the prospect of an initiative to cut the UK skills gap. But the thought that kept surfacing for me during the meeting was that while we are making plans for producing a whole new generation of digitally skilled individuals at Level 4, where are the Level 2 and 3 students going to come from to create that pipeline of talent? After all, if we don’t have the funds to train them, who else will?

It’s worth remembering the demands in the #LoveourColleges manifesto, first published last year, which have yet to be met:

Increasing the 16-19 funding rate by five per cent a year for the next five years and extending the pupil premium to cover post-16 students
Fully funding a National Retraining Scheme to support level 3 to 5 skills
Introducing a lifetime learning entitlement to fund skills training for all adults who have not previously achieved a level 3 qualification
Providing immediate exceptional funding, ring-fenced for pay, to cover the costs of a fair pay deal for college staff from 2018/19 onwards.

Historically we in the sector have sometimes been our own worst enemies by failing to make enough noise about the achievements of our former students. Three of the sixteen finalists in this year’s BBC Masterchef, the Professionals, developed their skills at Milton Keynes College, for example. We could also talk about Georgia Mallory, who studied with our Performing Arts team and is now in the second year of her degree studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Equally, we could make a fuss about Ben Tomblin, who studied construction with us; Tomblin now runs his own business with eight employees and has apprentices attending our college.

What we have managed to do in the past twelve months though, is raise awareness sufficiently that MPs have debated our inadequate level of funding. In January, Robert Halfon, chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, spelled out FE’s Cinderella-status within education in a Westminster Hall debate and the need to “banish the ugly sisters of snobbery and underfunding”.

At the same event, Anne Milton, the Skills Minister, acknowledged the way higher education has crowded out FE in terms of funding and educational opportunities. “We must ensure,” she said “that everyone, whatever their age, background or prior educational attainment, can access the best opportunities that are available.”

These two politicians have got the message because both know what we do and how well we do it. What is proving more difficult is getting the ear of the treasury, but we won’t be giving up. We will keep shouting in the hope of being heard. Hopefully, where you are, #LoveourColleges week 2019 has been a fun and positive experience, which is just as well, since there is every sign that we will need another one next year. But I’m happy to be proved wrong.

Interview: Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee

Robert Halfon, the chair of the education select committee, isn’t always a fan of the great and good, admitting that he is more interested in people with frontline experience

When I ask Robert Halfon, the chair of the education committee, to name the witness who has affected him most, I’m expecting a big-hitter.

Andreas Schleicher, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s education director, perhaps – or Chen Liang-gee, the Taiwanese science and technology minister?

But instead he talks about Carlie Thomas, a senior caseworker from the St Giles Trust, who in March this year spoke bluntly about the challenges of supporting children at risk of exclusion.

Select committees can call whoever they want – and the nominees must attend. If they refuse, they are at risk of being in contempt of parliament.

My job is not to harangue the government

But apart from Richard Atkins, the FE commissioner – the only high-profile witness he mentions and praises as “brilliant” – Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow, seems more interested in people with frontline experience than the educational big cheeses. For the ongoing inquiry into special educational needs and disabilities, the committee invited children with SEND to share their experiences.

They were applauded at the end of their testimony, which didn’t go down well with all viewers of parliamentlive TV.

“Someone criticised me on Twitter, saying, ‘giving them a round of applause is everything that’s wrong’.

My response was, ‘you’re talking crap’,” he says.

“We’re giving them a round of applause, not because they are special needs, but because their evidence was better than most politicians who have been on the platform. They were incredible.

“Their evidence was moving, it was serious, it was factual, it was brilliant. And, of course, these people stuck in their boxes, they immediately want to stereotype – I was doing the opposite of stereotyping.”

Despite his own public-school background, Halfon is confident in his abilities to connect with people of all backgrounds. And unlike some of his fellow politicians, he insists that he writes his own newspaper columns, including The Sun , or for the website Conservative Home.

There have been some uncomfortable sessions, including one last May with the chief executive and the chair of the government-funded Careers and Enterprise Company.

The committee members seemed united in their fury against Claudia Harris and Christine Hodgson. They grilled them on why they hadn’t yet had any impact – somewhat unfairly, I suggest, given that the company was formed in 2015.

Why was Halfon so hostile to an organisation set up by his own government?

“They are untouched by austerity and have got buckets of money to play around with. There’s no checks and balances; they’re not inspected by anyone properly,” he says without a pause.

“Other organisations are crying out for money, and they seem to be handed money like there’s no tomorrow. I mean, when I come back to Earth, I’m going to come back as the Careers and Enterprise Company. They’re loaded.”

He’s angry that the government-funded organisation spent almost £50,000 on a conference at the children’s activity centre KidZania, pointing out that they could have funded it with private sponsorship.

“Now you might think, ‘oh, it’s only £50,000 out of a multi-million-pound budget, it doesn’t matter.’ But it just shows the kind of attitude – that money is a free-for-all. I suspect when you go in that building, the money comes out of the taps.”

Harris became increasingly flustered during the hearing, stumbling over her facts and figures and famously refusing to say whether 100 per cent of the disadvantage fund had been spent on disadvantaged students.

But what about the more convincing witnesses? Has anyone managed to change his mind on something?

Halfon has become well known for his jazzy selection of ties. Here’s a selection of our favourites

“What’s opened my mind is that special educational needs is a horror story. It is irrefutable that it is a disaster,” he says, with the kind of emotive language that will sit well in the column he’s heading off to write for The Sun about fuel duty.

“The [Children and Families Act 2014] was very well intentioned, most people agree with that. But the resources that have been spent badly, the lack of accountability, the constant treacle of bureaucracy that parents have to wade through – it’s a horror story.

“Not everywhere. There were fantastic examples of good practice, amazing practitioners – there’s good work going on in schools – but so much of it is going wrong.”

As he cites the session that featured Pepper the robot as one of his favourites, I cringe. When the pre-programmed humanoid was called as a “witness” in October, the committee made headlines, including on the BBC and the pages of the Daily Mail. Was that not a bit gimmicky?

“Some Oxford academic said it was the most disgraceful display of AI in history, or something. And I just thought ‘get out of your ivory tower’. We’re trying to bring this committee to millions of people, who would never watch anything about parliament, and to explain to them – because it was all over the news – what the future can be and will be. There are 10 to 15 million jobs that could be lost to automation and artificial intelligence.”

Halfon understands the power of branding and the media. The committee’s social media team is preparing a video on all the recommendations that have been adopted by government, he tells me proudly.

“The best moments of the committee are when government adopts things, or when you know you’re shifting opinion. So, for example, on alternative provision, we’ve set the debate in the country on this and I think it’s one of the biggest social injustices.

“There are many Pavlov’s dogs’ reactions to it by arch traditionalists who just want a Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ for our school system. And even if they’re angry with me, I’m happy, because it’s setting a debate.”

He has also made some progress with apprenticeship bus fares. “I haven’t succeeded, but I keep haranguing the government about it. Having said that, they’ve now introduced some travel discounts, but it’s not enough – we’ve got a manifesto commitment.”

Lifelong learning is a disaster area – there’s not enough money

Halfon was a backbencher for five years before he became a minister for two: first in the Cabinet Office, then as skills minister.

After the snap election in May 2017 he was replaced by Anne Milton and immediately started campaigning in the corridors of Westminster – an uncouth approach, say some MPs – for the education committee chair. He beat five rivals, including Nick Boles, his predecessor as skills minister.

So which does he prefer? Haranguing the government or making policy?

“I want to make it very clear,” he says, in a serious tone. “My job is not to harangue the government.

“As a minister, you make policy – although you have to have it checked by a thousand people before anything gets cleared. But nevertheless, you’re making policy; it’s a huge privilege. I loved being apprenticeships and skills minister because I felt I could make a difference.”

Halfon managed to bring the Further and Technical Education Bill through parliament just before the 2017 election.

“But you are in a straitjacket, you have to be careful of everything you say. I do love the freedom. I can’t make policy happen, but the committee can influence it and can set a debate.”

So, assuming that the government doesn’t fall before the autumn (highly questionable), which topics are on the horizon for the committee?

It’s not up to him, he insists. The committee decides by vote or, as has happened to date, by consensus.

Back in July 2017 when the education committee was formed, they decided to adopt Halfon’s trademark “ladder of opportunity” – something he used as a branding tool when skills minister – as their guiding principle. In the committee’s version of the ladder, job security and prosperity are at the top, and the poles on each side represent social injustice, and skills. Addressing these two issues, his theory goes, will allow people to climb up wards.

If it were up to him, he’d keep the heat on exclusions – as with the recent one-off session on knife crime. Then he’d love to do something on how cared-for children fare in schools. And finally, life-long learning and adult education, “because that’s also a disaster area. Apart from the apprenticeships, which is wonderful, there’s not enough money.”

When I rib him that he doesn’t sound like a Tory, he corrects me: “These aren’t left-right issues. That whole split is nonsense. This is about people’s lives – it’s about social justice.”

Hadlow College scandal and government response is an FE watershed moment

FE Week’s story of Hadlow College being the first to be taken through a new education insolvency regime is a massive watershed moment.

It is the culmination of two years of policy and legislative work that civil servants are keen to put to the test.

The Treasury had become fed-up with the Department for Education quietly bailing out colleges with multi-million pound hands-outs known as exceptional financial support.

So where take-overs or mergers couldn’t solve the problem, it was felt new legislation was needed to protect learners whilst allowing the institution to go into administration.

But letting a college go bust means potentially leaving lenders like Barclays Bank out of pocket, so the Treasury set-aside £700 million fund to help colleges pay off their DfE and bank debts early.

Just over half of the restructuring fund, as it was named, was used before it stopped taking applications last September.

And in January the new college insolvency regime became law, leaving Hadlow College to face being the first test case.

The DfE appears to have not entirely ended hand-outs, with £40 million already committed “where it was essential that funding was provided”.

But with financial irregularities and investigations into the scandal swirling around Hadlow Group, there was perhaps an inevitability that insolvency would follow.

So the government is unlikely to take the blame and the Association of Colleges has been quick to blame previous management and governance, rather than funding constraints.

And in terms of personal gain, it is worth reflecting on the fact that by the time the financial irregularities had been exposed the salaries of both the deputy principal and the principal had more than doubled to over £200,000 each.

It seems Hadlow College has been picked for putting through the insolvency regime, as opposed to West Kent and Ashford, because it is in the most financial trouble and being a specialist agricultural college with so many subsidiaries it is presumably the most difficult part of the group to find new owners.

As the local MP and senior Conservative, Tom Tugendhat, is right to say it would be a huge loss to the local community were the college to be lost, but sadly this could well be the result.

The wider question is whether this test case will lead to college insolvencies becoming anything more frequent than what the skills minister predicted would be “rare”.

If there is a positive to be taken from this tragedy it is that it will be a massive wake-up call to governors concerning their responsibility in stewarding such high value assets.