Latest news from FE Week

See the victories of Team UK’s medal winners in this series of spectacular photos from the WorldSkills 2019 medal ceremony.

It was truly a night to remember for Team UK, which scored two gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

The golds went to aircraft maintenance competitor Haydn Jakes and beauty therapy’s Rebecca West, while the silver went to Conor McKevitt in car painting and the bronze to Phoebe McLavy in hairdressing.

Haydn told FE Week after his win: “I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so for that to actually happen was a really pleasant surprise.”

While Rebecca said she was “really, really amazing and so proud”, and thanked her supporters.

“Amazing” was also how Phoebe said she felt; and Conor, who also won the UK’s best of nation for getting the highest score of any UK competitor, paid a “massive thank you” to everyone who had helped him achieve his two medals.

The UK came in 12^th place out of 49 countries; with the number one spot going to the host of the next WorldSkills in 2021, China, which will be holding the event in Shanghai.

In addition to the four medals, the UK also scored 15 medallions of excellence – which are awarded to competitors who are judged to have reached the international standard in their skill.

The event was addressed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, who said competitors “demonstrated outstanding techniques and skills, which you have refined and honed to virtuoso heights”.

See more amazing photos from the Kazan competition in FE Week’s forthcoming WorldSkills 2019 supplement, sponsored by Pearson.

Team UK has achieved a gold medal in beauty therapy for competitor Rebecca West.

The achievement means Britain retains its place as best in that category from EuroSkills in 2018, where Holly-Mae Cotterell was voted Europe’s best beauty therapist.

And it comes after Kaiya Swain came first in beauty therapy at WorldSkills 2017.

Rebecca, who is 22 and from East Sussex College, won silver at the Global Skills Challenge in Australia last April.

The Government today announced Dame Mary Ney will lead a review into the way the Department for Education monitors college finances and financial management.

In May the then Skills Minister, Anne Milton, told Association of College conference delegates that there would be an “external review to look at the systems within the DfE, so that problems with financial management are identified at the earliest possible stage.”

Milton said at the time that: “I want to be able to show Treasury that every penny put into further education is spent wisely.”

The announcement today comes less than a month after the National Audit Office said they were also preparing to launch a value for money review on the management of colleges’ financial sustainability, as reported by FE Week.

Dame Mary Ney, according to the Government, has “been appointed to conduct the review given her extensive experience in local government, serving as Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and a government appointed commissioner to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.”

Details of the appointment include a terms of reference for the review, which state: “In light of the financial difficulties at Hadlow and West Kent & Ashford Colleges, to review the way Government monitored and exercised its oversight of those colleges’ finances and financial management, and their effectiveness in practice, including the work of the ESFA and the FE Commissioner’s team; and to recommend changes that would reduce the risk of such problems recurring, taking account of colleges’ independence and the need to minimise regulatory burden.”

The findings from the review are expected to be published later this year and the DfE has been approached for comment.

The full biography for Dame Ney, published alongside the announcement today, reads: “Mary has had a distinguished 40-year career in local government, culminating in her serving as Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Greenwich for 14 years during a period of major regeneration and service transformation in the borough, which won Council of the Year in 2013. She joined the DCLG Board as a Non-Executive Director in October 2016 and continued in this role for the MHCLG Board from January 2018.

“Mary carried out the Review of the Governance and Transparency of LEPs (often known as the Ney Review), which was published in October 2017. The recommendations were accepted by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and are being implemented.

“In February 2015, Mary became one of five government commissioners at Rotherham metropolitan borough council, who assumed decision-making powers and were tasked with improving the council’s performance and helping rebuild the trust of local residents. Mary became Lead Commissioner in 2017 and oversaw the full restoration of powers back to the Council in 2018.

“Mary is a board trustee of two charities. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List, for services to local government.”

Team UK has taken home 15 medallions of excellence from WorldSkills 2019.

The medallions are earned by competitors who are judged to have reached the international standard in their skill.

And here they are: #TeamUK!!!!! pic.twitter.com/g42M1DCAeP

— FE Week (@FEWeek) August 27, 2019

Team UK’s medallions come after they won two gold, one silver and one bronze in the competition.

Medallions were awarded for the UK to Thomas Thomas in plumbing and heating, Elliott Dawson in CNC milling, Thomas Lewis in electrical installation, Thomas Andrews in electronics, Jack Dakin and Danny Slater in mechatronics, Elizabeth Newcombe in floristry, Callum Bonner in painting and decorating, Mark Scott in wall and floor tiling, Christopher Caine in joinery, Tonicha Robert’s in chemical laboratory technician, Lewis Greenwood in bricklaying, Samuel Taylor and Shea McFerran in landscape gardening, Sam Everton in cooking, Collette Gorvette in restaurant service, and Orlando Rawlings and refrigeration and air conditioning.

Its previous totals from WorldSkills 2017 and EuroSkills 2018 were 13 and seven respectively.

Team UK will be loading down its aircraft home with a haul of gold, silver and bronze medals.

The UK won a total of four medals at WorldSkills 2019 in Kazan, including two gold medals for Haydn Jakes in aircraft maintenance and Rebecca West in beauty therapy.

There is also a silver medal for Conor McKevitt in car painting and a bronze for Phoebe McLavy in hairdressing.

While the total of medals is below the seven the UK won in Abu Dhabi in 2017, it is one more gold medal than was achieved at that event.

And it is one more silver medal than it bagged at EuroSkills 2018, where it scored one gold and three silver medals.

WorldSkills UK’s chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann has called it a “fantastic result” for the team. 

He said Team UK’s members “championed the UK’s focus on skills development on the world stage”. 

“Governments, education and industry need to continue to work with us to make sure the UK stays at the cutting edge of global best practice in skills development,” he continued. 

Team UK has scored a gold medal in aircraft maintenance, thanks to the efforts of competitor Haydn Jakes.

The Nottingham University learner improved on the UK’s previous result at WorldSkills 2017, where it achieved a medallion of excellence after being just six points off a medal position.

It is the latest success for Haydn, who won a silver medals at WorldSkills UK Live in 2017 and the WorldSkills Russian National Finals.

Having completed an apprenticeship with Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, he is now studying for a degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Nottingham.

He said his training with WorldSkills has meant he is “much further ahead” than his peers at university, in terms of real-life skills and knowledge.

After WorldSkills 2019, he hopes to continue his degree and carry on working in the aeronatical industry.

Watch the WorldSkills 2019 medal ceremony live here from 5pm (UK time) today, and see Russian president Vladimir Putin address the crowds of supporters and competitors.

It will also be broadcast on SKY 192 and Freesat 161, but you can also catch the action via FE Week’s Twitter account and website.

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

FE Week will 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.

Here are all of the Team UK competitors in the running for a medal:

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.”

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