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Suicide risk over SEND confusion, coroner warns

A coroner has warned that schools and colleges are delaying applications for education, health and care needs assessments because they have misunderstood the rules – increasing the risk of suicides.

The warning followed an inquest into the death of Jennifer Chalkley, who was 17 when she took her own life in 2021.

The inquest found her death was contributed to by an inadequate education health and care plan, failings in children’s mental health services and systemic multi-agency failures.

It also heard that Howard of Effingham School, in Surrey, where Jennifer was enrolled until 2020, delayed making an application for an EHC needs assessment after misunderstanding the rules.

The school’s SENCo told the inquest: “We are required to prove that we have put up to £6,000 of support in place before applying. This is guidance that we are given by Surrey.”

Senior coroner Richard Travers said evidence “suggested that this belief was widespread amongst schools, colleges and others, both in and beyond Surrey”.

But he said the SEND code of practice actually states youngsters with special needs “must be identified as soon as possible so that their needs can be assessed and met as soon as possible”.

Travers made clear that the school’s errors regarding the financial rules were a “genuine misunderstanding” and that the school had tried to support Jennifer within the system as they understood it.

At the inquest hearing the evidence showed that in September 2021, shortly before her death, Jennifer started a course at a new college but staff there did not receive her safeguarding file from her previous educational establishment. As a result the college’s “ability to recognise and manage Jennifer’s needs and risks, including her risk of suicide, was undermined”.

In a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report, published Monday, Travers warned: “I am concerned that the misunderstanding by schools and colleges is delaying or preventing applications for statutory assessments being made in some cases and thereby acting as a barrier to ensuring all children and young people with additional needs are receiving effective support as soon as possible.

“I am concerned that this creates or increases the risk of avoidable suicidality developing.”

Surrey County Council has updated its guidance to make clear schools do not have to spend £6,000 before applying for an EHC needs assessment.

But the PFD report said evidence received from a college in the county showed the misunderstanding still persists.

Travers wrote that the error likely stems from England’s school and early years finance regulations, which set the high-needs-costs threshold at £6,000.

He said: “I am concerned the misconception persists nationally and that, for the reasons set out above, action is needed to ensure all schools and colleges understand, clearly, that spending an additional £6,000 on a child is not a pre-requisite to applying for a statutory assessment.”

Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, expressed concern about the “notional” SEN budget and believed it “could be a source of confusion”.

She said some councils “may ask for proof of spending” over a certain threshold but this is not a legal requirement.

“There desperately needs to be more investment in the SEND system to ensure decisions are being based on the needs of children rather than available funding,” she added.

The Howard Partnership Trust, which runs Howard of Effingham School, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Department for Education and Surrey County Council are required to respond to the PFD report by December 9. Both were approached for comment.

Samaritans are available 365 days a year. You can reach them on free-call number 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

‘Uncertainty’ frustrated £2.6bn skills fund delivery, report finds

Tight timelines and “uncertainty” in spending rules have frustrated delivery of a £2.6 billion skills and business support scheme, a government report has confirmed.

With just under six months left before the three-year UK Shared Prosperity Fund reaches a budget ‘cliff edge’, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has released an ‘early update report’ on how money has been spent so far.

It confirms concerns voiced by several English regional mayors, that the scheme’s has been beset by complexity, cash delivery delays and rule changes.

Between February and March this year, evaluators from Frontier Economics and BMG Research interviewed ten teams from local authorities and organisations commissioned to deliver projects in ‘people and skills’, ‘business support’ and ‘communities and place’.

Projects that are participating in the evaluation include Liverpool City Region’s £7.5 million ‘ways to work’ scheme, County Durham’s £4.9 million employment support and the Greater London Authority’s £2.9 million ‘E-business support’ with digital skills.

Unclear requirements

During the planning and delivery stages department “could have been clearer or more timely” about what its requirements would be, researchers reported.

Project teams struggled with “uncertainty” around final funding allocations, with some forced to “scale down their delivery plans” after receiving less than expected.

Most project teams said the three-year period – which stacked most of the funding’s release to the final year – was “a challenge” due to the need to plan projects.

‘Still early stages’

As a result, delivery was “typically still in early stages” when researchers carried out their interviews.

Some complained that MHCLG made changes to data monitoring requirements “even once some projects were being delivered”.

Despite interviewing project teams reaching the end of the second year of the scheme, researchers said it was “too early to tell” how beneficial projects will be “given the early stage of delivery”.

But design and planning of the UKSPF’s interventions “generally worked well” with consensus that they would not have happened without the funding, and the scheme was less “bureaucratic” than its predecessor, the European Social Fund.

Extend ‘vital’ fund

Naomi Clayton, director for policy and research at Learning and Work Institute said the report highlights the “vital” role the fund plays in flexible employment and skills provision, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

She added: “It also echoes our concerns about the short delivery window, impacted by late changes in the start date for skills investment.

“As it stands, UKSPF ends in less than six months’ time, which means projects may already be scaling down and losing staff.

“Short-termism and instability have an impact on the ability of programmes to reach their potential – and will ultimately mean that the government’s long-term ambition for an 80 per cent employment rate will be harder to achieve.

“The government needs to avoid the impending cliff edge in provision and to establish a long-term plan.”

Last week, the Local Government Association called for the scheme to be extended for 12 months to provide “stability and certainty” to councils and local businesses.

A full evaluation of what impact interventions had in 26 specific projects will cover the period up to March 2025, and will attempt to follow how many people were supported “on their journey from economic activity into employment”.

Is Skills England looking through the policy lens backwards?

With Skills England, we may have a great opportunity to finally make the skills system in England work. But even if we do, will that be enough?

The overarching, indispensable assumption present in every previous attempt at reform has been that we can and must simplify the skills system.

And sure, a single source of data and a clear definition of our skills needs is fundamental. But the skills system isn’t simple, and never will be. This fact has consistently undermined the successful implementation of a comprehensive skills strategy and its delivery.

For a start, skills are not some homogenous category: they range from entry to degree level and across industrial sectors and even sub-sectors. The skills landscape is necessarily complex.

Some industries are growing, some contracting. Some face the opportunities of technology, others face annihilation by it.

Then, what a job-seeking 16-year-old needs is very different to an unemployed adult or to someone in work who needs upskilling or reskilling. While the skills framework is applied to all, the nature of delivery, the skills taught and even the nature of the assessment will differ.

A coherent stable framework of skills when workforce skills needs can change (sometimes dramatically) every few months is a significant challenge.

Providing the certainty of a structured set of learning outcomes and qualifications which enables flexibility in delivery and assessment without the constraint of time-sapping regulation and control represents a mountain to climb.

What is the right balance of knowledge, skills and behaviours, the right balance between the practical and the theoretical? This question needs answering for every sector: critical ones like social care and early years that are experiencing workforce shortages, as well as the sexier technology and engineering sectors.

And are we happy to allow a range of teaching and assessment approaches, or do we continue to allow regulators to restrict innovation by constantly re-defining inputs rather than outcomes?

We all understand the benefits of units, and the benefits of focused skills development. Unitised delivery doesn’t need to mean losing the end goal of a full qualification that gives individuals mobility.

The skills landscape is necessarily complex

For others in work, a short, sharp programme focused on a particular skill or knowledge may be all that is needed.

And while qualifications are important, what about ‘soft’ skills like teamwork, leadership, resilience and communication? These are relevant for everyone on skills programmes and often determine success in work.

Next, how do we balance regional demands versus national priorities without Skills England feeling too remote and detached from reality on the ground?

Individuals are mobile. Are we saying we should only be training people in the skills for the region they live in? Qualifications generally give a wider set of skills and allow employee mobility.

On the flip side, larger employers will benefit from consistency across regions, but their needs are not necessarily aligned with regional agendas and priorities. Indeed, they are sometimes conflicting. How do we satisfy them all and avoid erosion of confidence in the system?

Given all of the above, perhaps the simplification the skills sector is crying out for is not, in fact, in skills provision itself. It seems to me the simplification we need is actually in the regulation, rules, data gathering, evidence requirements and the funding system.

If we weren’t looking at skills through the lens of government-funded programmes and processes, maybe we would be in a much better starting place.

So, is Skills England just for government-funded programmes or for all skills development in England? And what should employers be paying for themselves without subsidies or incentives?

Employers believe the apprenticeship levy is theirs to spend. But it never was. Only 2 per cent of them even pay it. Government should surely be correcting market failure and incentivising the market rather than funding everything.

What about those not working for a levied employer? What about a government’s future priorities where there are currently limited jobs? And is Skills England determining the cost of delivery or allowing someone else to do that?

Skills England faces an enormous challenge given its remit. And it might even meet that challenge, but if there is no clarity about who funds what along with effective regulation, processes and procurement, it’ll be irrelevant in the end.

Just like all previous attempts to simplify the skills sector.

Deadline for results checking service extended after tech issue

The deadline for schools and colleges to check their GCSE and post-16 results has been extended after technical issues in its first year back being run in-house by government.

The Department for Education said it was aware of issues affecting logging in and downloading of data files for those trying to complete the key stage 4 and 16 to 18 autumn checking exercises.

This allows schools and colleges to check that DfE holds the correct exam results information, which is then used to calculate performance data.

It is the first year the management and production of performance data has been moved in-house and delivered directly by the department under a new portal. It was previously run by technology and assessment firm RM.

In an update, the DfE said they are “working hard to resolve” the issue.

“We will be extending the deadlines for both the KS4 and 16 to 18 Autumn checking exercises to ensure schools and colleges have a 2-week window to check their data.

“We will confirm the revised closing dates and will provide further updates here in due course.”

DfE confirmed schools and colleges would not be penalised due to the problems. The data was due to be published next Thursday. FE Week sister publication Schools Week has asked DfE if this will be pushed back.

‘Disappointing’

The Confederation of School Trusts said in an update to members that some schools break up for half term at the end of this week and “many colleagues were not able to access the site at the start of the week”.

The Association of School and College Leaders had also been aware of issues from members.

Tiffnie Harris, data specialist at ASCL, said: “This is the first year that the DfE has taken the checking exercises in-house, having previously been with an external provider.

“It’s disappointing that this change has coincided firstly with a delay to the start of the checking exercise, and then with technical issues.

“While we are pleased that the DfE has agreed to extend the deadlines, we sincerely hope these problems will be ironed out ahead of next year.”

DfE’s guidance says the new ‘check your performances measures data’ services was used for the 2024 key stage 4 June checking exercise. This asks schools and colleges to check the correct pupils are listed.

The new portal “has a similar look and feel to other online services that the department uses to interact with schools and colleges.

“The portal has been designed to improve accessibility and provide clear navigation. This allows schools and colleges to view and if necessary, amend your school or college performance data by a more streamlined process than in previous years.”

EPI outlines ‘clear picture’ that college finances are worse than unis

The government has been urged to not “forget” FE when making higher education spending decisions after researchers found more colleges are in deficit, have larger deficits and are less able to meet debt obligations than universities.

Analysis was published by the Education Policy Institute today as Labour’s first budget draws near.

The think tank pointed out that rising inflation, frozen tuition fees and falls in international students have put universities in a “financial precipice”, highlighting forecasts from the Office for Students that 40 per cent of higher education institutions are expected to run at a loss in 2023/24.

Concern over university finances has led to rumours that Labour could increase tuition fees as it considers the HE funding model in the long term.

This follows a push by university representatives to be allowed to increase undergraduate tuition fees by inflation and receive extra funding for up-front teaching costs of priority subjects.

EPI said FE has been “largely ignored” in this debate despite Labour’s manifesto promise of a “comprehensive strategy” that would “better integrate” further and higher education.

The think tank looked at the 2022/23 Education and Skills Funding Agency’s annual college accounts database and data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to assess the state of the two sectors’ finances over the last six years.

Here’s what researchers found.

Half of colleges are in a deficit

Since 2017/18, a steadily growing proportion of HE providers have been in an operating deficit, with this figure reaching a record high of 36 per cent in 2022/23.

At the same time however, a consistently greater proportion of colleges have been running deficits, hitting a high of 75 per cent in 2021/22 before falling to 49 per cent in 2022/23.

EPI said the fall in the proportion of colleges reporting deficits in the latest year of available data, 2022/23, is in “large part” a result of additional 16 to 18 spending included as a part of the 2021 spending review.

Researchers said the £615 million cash boost for the sector has “not been as impactful as expected” given the scale of inflation in the past year and without maintaining or increasing this level of funding in the 2024 spending review, this trend is “unlikely to continue”.

Proportion of providers in operating deficit, 2017/18 – 2022/23

Sources: HESA income and expenditure data, 2017/18 – 2022/23. ESFA financial management: college accounts, 2017/18 – 2022/23. Expenditure figures are adjusted to remove the impact of changes to pension costs.

College deficits are also larger than unis

EPI also found that since 2017/18, the mean income-weighted operating deficit as a percentage of total income has remained positive for HE providers, reflecting the first chart that indicated a consistent minority of providers in deficit.

In 2022/23, this figure fell to 3 per cent, its lowest since 2019/20, the year before providers began to see some cost savings as a result of shifts to online teaching and lowered use of campus facilities in the wake of the pandemic.

Colleges experienced the opposite throughout this period. Despite a brief sector surplus of 1 per cent in 2019/20, the sector deficit plunged in the following years, hitting -5 per cent in 2021/22.

The sector did however return to a surplus n 2022/23, boosted by the additional funding from the 2021 spending review, but remains below the higher education average.

Operating surplus/deficit as a percentage of total income (income weighted), 2017/18 – 2022/23

Colleges less likely to meet their debts

EPI explained that the ratio of a provider’s short-term assets (such as cash, inventory, and receivables) to its short-term liabilities (such as payroll, taxes, and money owed to suppliers) is known as the “current ratio”. This is an indicator of the provider’s liquidity, or its ability to pay short-term debts.

Researchers found the average current ratio for both sectors has increased steadily since 2017/18 and has always remained above the 1.2 threshold. This is a “positive indicator” for both, suggesting on average they are “increasingly able to meet their short-term obligations”.

In higher education, the average ratio is considerably higher at 2.9 in 2022/23, with 19 per cent of providers falling below the 1.2 threshold. In further education however, the average ratio sits at 1.8, while 25 per cent of providers have a current ratio below 1.2.

Mean current ratio, 2017/18 – 2022/23

Sources: HESA key financial indicators, 2017/18 – 2022/23. ESFA financial management: college accounts, 2017/18 – 2022/23.

Proportion of providers with current ratio below 1.2, 2017/18 – 2022/23

Sources: HESA key financial indicators, 2017/18 – 2022/23. ESFA financial management: college accounts, 2017/18 – 2022/23.

Place FE funding decisions alongside HE

EPI said these financial metrics show a “clear picture: when compared to their higher education counterparts, more further education providers are in deficit, their deficits are larger, and they are less able to meet those debt obligations”.

Given this, the Treasury “must place further education alongside higher education in terms of funding priorities in the upcoming budget”, the think tank said.

EPI added: “Ultimately, further education must be seen as part of a holistic system of post-18 education of the kind Labour pledged to develop in its 2024 manifesto. This can’t happen unless both sectors are financially sustainable.”

FE Commissioner’s verdict on 2 struggling colleges and a council

Delayed FE Commissioner intervention reports for two colleges and one council have been published by the government today.

Here’s FE Week’s summary of the findings.

NewVIc’s ‘air of conflict’

“Resentment, distrust, and an air of conflict” has engulfed Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) for the past four years, according to the FE Commissioner.

The London institution was put into intervention after becoming the only sixth form college to be judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in April.

It is currently planning to merge with neighbour Newham College on November 1.

Today’s FE Commissioner report, dated June 2024, said previous NewVIc leaders failed to “effectively plan, oversee, and invest” in the college’s provision, leading to a “significant decline” in performance and recruitment.

Student “experience and success” have been “adversely impacted by industrial disputes, poor management, stretched administration, and a breakdown in systems and process”.

Leaders were accused of presiding over an “extended period characterised by mutual distrust between staff, managers, and governors” and “deteriorating” staff morale.

Governors were slammed for failing to hold senior leaders to account for the poor performance and for relying “too heavily” on the “ineffective” responses senior leaders provided.

Criticism was specifically aimed at governance for being “remote and disconnected from the life of the college”. For example, attendance at governance meetings “drifted to rely too heavily on hybrid modes of attendance, challenging the effectiveness of the meetings and reducing the benefits experienced by meeting in person”.

For years, the college’s financial strategy was to generate large cash reserves to fund the college’s estates strategy, which included major refurbishments and a new build.

As a result, the planned earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and staff-to-income ratios were “significantly better than sector benchmarks and the college’s financial health has been outstanding”.

However, this has led to a lack of investment in essential estates maintenance, student resources, such as IT and equipment, and staff training and development.

The FE Commissioner said it is also understood that the estates strategy was not underpinned by the curriculum strategy and, therefore, there was “no clear rationale for the planned refurbishments and new buildings”.

There were also recent “errors” in examination administration that resulted in an unnamed major awarding organisation “suspending any further registrations on their awards”.

This “significant issue” needs “immediate resolution if it is not to adversely affect next year’s cohort”, according to the report.

Principal Mandeep Gill and chair Martin Rosner stepped down from the college earlier this year.

The FE Commissioner said a high level of management turnover has left the leadership structure “too dependent on temporary interim posts and it is therefore inherently vulnerable”.

The report said an “immediate review of the management structure to secure key skills in the run-up to merger and beyond will be critical to maintaining operational stability”.

Newham College deputy chief executive Jamie Purser was appointed acting principal of NewVIc in June after the FE Commissioner’s visit. Purser will eventually be the chief executive of the merged college.

Purser said: “Over the past six months we have been working closely with the Department of Education and the FE Commissioner’s team to address the recommendations and good progress has been made as we move towards merging with Newham College on November 1, 2024.”

Cumbrian college almost ran out of money in June

FE Week previously reported that a small Cumbrian college was being propped up by a £1.5 million emergency government loan to alleviate short-term cashflow pressures this year.

The FE Commissioner’s report, also dated June 2024 but only published today, revealed that Lakes College leaders had reported in February that it would run out of cash in June.

The college, which has three years to pay the Department for Education loan back, will have its “future financial sustainability” tested through a structure and prospect appraisal that will consider continuing as a standalone institution or whether a merger with another college would be best.

Today’s FE Commissioner report said the college has been financially “strong” historically, with no borrowing and healthy cash.

But within the last two financial years, the college has implemented a strategy to grow both the number of students aged 16- to 18 and its apprenticeship provision.

Whilst the growth in student numbers is “positive”, the college’s costs have exceeded its income.

The FE Commissioner said the college’s planning and forecasting procedures “did not adequately identify the increased resources required and the effect of these on working capital”.

A new chair took up post on August 1, 2024. The report said this “provides an opportunity to review and refresh governance systems and processes”.

Lakes College, a founding member of the National College of Nuclear, was judged as ‘good’ overall by Ofsted in March this year. At the time of inspection, there were 900 learners on vocational programmes, 300 adults, 1,000 apprentices and 64 students with high needs.

The FE Commissioner said the college has smaller cohorts than most larger colleges of both students aged 16- to 18 and adults. But it has a “disproportionally large” apprenticeship provision for a college of its size. The reliance on apprenticeship income brings with it “higher levels of both financial and quality risks when compared, for example, to 16- to 18 provision”, the report said.

The college’s focus on increasing apprenticeships has included several specialist engineering apprenticeship standards.

For multiple standards, the preferred operating model is that the apprentices are on campus almost full-time in their first year. This has led to “pressure on staffing costs, which was underpinned by a growth in headcount combined with the cost of specialist staff and the demands of the delivery model”.

Income was “further reduced by post-Covid drop out from certain apprenticeship standards of around £250,000”.

Staff costs to income ratio increased to over 73 per cent for 2022/23 and 2023/24 compared to 69 per cent in 2020/21.

And while the college has “steadily grown” T Levels, it has fallen short of hitting recruitment targets for this provision.

Adult part-time recruitment also declined between 2021/22 and 2022/23.

The FE Commissioner said the college has recently identified and implemented savings of £1 million across pay (£753,000) and non-pay (£319,000). The savings included a restructuring of middle management to “simplify areas of responsibility and encourage ownership, accountability and transparency”.

Lakes College principal Chris Nattress said: “We welcome the work we are undertaking with the FE Commissioner’s team, referred to in the letter published today.

“We’re very pleased to see the beneficial impact this collaborative work is already having on our activities and the learner experience here at Lakes, and look forward to further positive developments as we implement the recommendations in full.”

DfE cut ties with ‘inadequate’ local authority

A Yorkshire local authority’s adult education service was booted off the apprenticeships register and had its national DfE adult education contract terminated following its ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection.

Redcar and Cleveland Council’s adult learning service now only delivers provision funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority after the DfE cut ties in July, FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave’s assessment report reveals.

The assessment of the service took place in April, four months after the ‘inadequate’ inspection, and its summary findings were only published today.

Ofsted’s ‘inadequate’ judgement “came as a surprise to all parties” involved in the adult learning service, Legrave’s report said.

Nonetheless, leaders “acted quickly” and, at the time of the visit six months ago, “student outcomes show signs of significant improvement”.

Ofsted criticised tutors’ lack of personalised planning for students and said leaders didn’t have ways of monitoring or being held to account for student outcomes.

Legrave was critical of the service’s approach to self-assessment, slamming its 2023/24 self-assessment report (SAR) as “overly detailed and repetitive” without focusing on improving quality, the skills of tutors or using SMART targets.

Within a month of the April visit, the commissioner instructed service managers to provide “appropriate” training for its tutors and, by June, implement an evidence-based teaching, learning and assessment framework to better manage teaching quality.

The council is the only local authority adult education provider currently graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.

However, the commissioner stated students on accredited adult education courses have seen improved progression outcomes in English and maths.

Service leaders have been told by the skills minister Jacqui Smith to improve the governance oversight of adult learning provision by creating a dedicated advisory group by the end of the year and improve its management information systems to better understand learner performance and destinations.

Lynn Pallister, cabinet member for growth and enterprise at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “As a council, we are reassured that the FE Commissioner recognises the efforts we are making to improving our services so that all learners have a good experience and go on to achieve positive outcomes.

“Because the action has been swift, student outcomes have shown a significant improvement already, and we were pleased to hear that the students feel well supported by their tutors and are enjoying their learning experience.

“There is still work to do, and we are absolutely committed to following the guidance set out by the FE Commissioner so that all learners go on to achieve high-quality education long into the future.”

The FE Commissioner’s team is due to conduct a follow-up stock-take on the service this month.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: Apprenticeship assessor

As debates about levies, funding rules and quangos rage on, assessors working for England’s 280 end-point assessment organisations quietly keep the apprenticeship system ticking over.

They are the gatekeepers who ensure apprentices are ready for the workforce. Yet their work observing, questioning and making decisions that shape careers can go largely unnoticed.

Freelance assessor Janine Robb, herself a former apprentice, reveals her life is a balancing act: she’s a cheerleader for her apprentices while holding them to account, and once back home is there for her family while juggling that day’s admin.

Robb, who lives in Wakefield, West Yorks, with husband Matt and 15-year-old daughter Lila, tells Jessica Hill what a busy working day looks like as an assessor in retail, sales and building supplies.

End point assessor Janine Robb (second from left), her husband Matt and two daughters

5am

People rarely see what I do so nobody understands my job – even my husband Matt doesn’t. So I compare it to being a driving test examiner, but for apprentices.

Normally my assessments don’t start until 9am, but builders’ merchants open early and today I’ve got an assessment booked at 7am for a level-two trade supplier apprentice.

Sometimes I’ve stayed up late working until the early hours doing admin. I built my work up from nothing and had some really good years, but then worked really hard to replicate that success. I’m getting to a point now where I know what work I should refuse, but early on I said yes to as much as I could. You’re trying to please everybody, and you just can’t.

It’s a blessing and a curse, being self-employed. In this game, because it’s my name on the assessment, I can’t subcontract to anyone. We’re paid fairly but you can almost get greedy because you see what you can potentially earn.

I feed my two cats and grab a protein coffee before driving to the builders’ merchant, which could be two hours away.

When an assessment is on the other side of the country I’ll stay over the night before, so I’m not racing to get there on time. I know I’ll be outdoors so I put on my woolly hat, sneakers, protective trousers and PPE.

7am

I like to arrive 45 minutes before my appointment time. Meeting the apprentice is the highlight of my working day, building a rapport and finding out about who they are.

I do a warm-up for half an hour to remind them what the criteria will be.

First, I do a three-hour observation – watching the apprentice operating heavy lifting machinery, driving a forklift, dealing with customers and selling products. The biggest mistake the apprentice makes is not putting themselves in front of customers enough, so if they’re behind a counter, they tend to stay there, even though I can see there’s a customer in the yard. Thankfully, they don’t often make mistakes on health and safety.

It can be very busy for half an hour, then it will go dead, so you’re chatting to them in the meantime about their families and what they did before this. There’s often quite a lot of banter in a builders’ merchant and you’re laughing along.

10am

Now there’s a one-hour knowledge test and an hour-long professional discussion.

I have a retail client who has been putting through lots of women. The industry is saturated by men so it’s lovely to see that.

Normally the apprentices are school leavers, but bigger companies using the apprenticeship levy might pop on current members of staff to upskill them.

Since Covid we see a lot more reasonable adjustments and special considerations for social anxiety – the young people get overwhelmed. That generation has not had the same exposure from sitting exams and learning life skills, so you do have to coax them and be kind.

I always tell them, “I’d feel the same way as you if I was in an exam. Everybody gets anxious.” I make them realise I’m human and I’m not there to trip them up.

But I cannot lead them. It’s a difficult line. I do feel external pressure to pass them. There are devils and angels on your shoulder with this job.

When I meet them I instinctively want them to pass, regardless of whether they get upset or are very strong. But if they don’t meet the criteria, they don’t meet the criteria. I’ve come from a teaching background where I want to pull people up to give them praise. You can’t do that, but you can still smile.

I have an affinity with apprentices because I started out as a beauty apprentice myself at 16. I fell pregnant during my apprenticeship but I still finished the programme. It was the best thing I ever did. When my eldest daughter decided she wanted to go to university, I was like, ‘Oh – don’t you want to do an apprenticeship?’

Midday

Janine Robb on the electric bike she rode regularly until a recent accident compelled her to sell it

I don’t eat much for lunch, maybe just cheese with crackers, a protein shake or a peach. Two years ago I had a gastric sleeve fitted in Turkey and since then I’ve lost six stone. Because I’m in a sedentary job I found I just couldn’t lose the weight and my lack of body confidence impacted everything.

Now, people say I look like a different person. I don’t regret it, although it’s hard. We often used to go out with friends for dinner, and that’s changed because I can’t really enjoy a full meal now. Some foods repeat on you, so during the week I probably don’t eat enough because I’m careful, just to make sure I’m there for my apprentices.

2pm

I get home and my mum and dad nip over for a coffee. I can spare about 10 minutes to chat, but the organisation of my diaries is nearing obsession now. I can’t do my job any other way – I have to be on the ball.

I don’t use AI yet butpeople outside the industry have said to me it could be helpful in writing reports and organising my day. I’m very set in my ways. We also have to be very careful that if an apprentice has written a report using AI, it has demonstrated their own knowledge, not the AI’s knowledge.

My husband Matt, who is a tiler, is home by 4pm, and then his working day is over, which is a different world to mine. His knees and wrists are hurting so he can’t do tiling forever. I see my job as an opportunity to earn as much money as possible, so if he’s got a dead week it doesn’t matter too much to us.

4pm

I’ve got an online level-four sales executive assessment, so I make sure I look presentable, grab my laptop and go to my office which is in a little alcove in my bedroom. I make sure family members know not to come in, then I’ll start the Teams call.

These apprentices are usually very confident young guys – very different to my morning clientele.

The assessments for office-based jobs are now done remotely, but it’s crazy to think that before Covid they were all done face to face and I was always on the road.

Although I don’t miss driving, I do miss those visits. With the remote assessments you don’t meet the apprentice’s colleagues and manager, who would usually spend half an hour telling you how great that apprentice was. You’d get a real flavour for what they did.

I did team leader assessments for Fox’s Biscuits, in Batley. They’d take me on a tour of the factory every time and I absolutely loved it. When it’s remote, you don’t see where they work.

The sales executive presents a sales pitch presentation to you and then you ask questions, and they give anecdotal examples. It’s very different to the trade supplier assessment I did in the morning because you’re not watching them doing their job.

It’s interesting and I learn lots about how different companies operate – sometimes companies I’m a customer of. I used to do lots of assessments for retail leadership, manager and team leader programmes and loved visiting the big supermarkets because they’re all competing. One’s always trying to get ahead of the others on technology or promotions.

When she gets time off, Janine Robb likes to go skiing in Austria and visit Lanzarote

6pm

I might take my daughter to cheerleading or football sessions, or go to a personal training session with some friends. I feel guilty if I’m doing anything for myself but I know it’s important to do that. None of the companies I work for push me into anything, it’s ultimately my choice to work as much as I do.

Then I make dinner for my family. I get Hello Fresh deliveries which makes life easier, not having to think about food shopping. Cooking is not Matt’s strong point.

I’m usually on the laptop after that, but only doing simple prep tasks I can do while half watching a TV programme with my family. But there are certain programmes that I don’t have my laptop out for because I like to give them my full attention, like House of the Dragon and Yellowstone.

8pm

I’ve now got reports to write, which is the part of my job I dread. Writing up what’s happened during the assessment can be monotonous. And sometimes I might be writing up yesterday’s assessments and it’s hard to recall everything. I write a lot of notes during assessments and listen back to my recordings which is time-consuming.

If there’s one thing I’d change about my job it would be the bureaucracy of report writing. People can listen to recordings of assessments so they know what’s happened. Writing about why we think an apprentice has met the criteria is almost like doubling the work. They’re meant to be justifications [for the grade], but it’s very difficult to not fall into just saying, ‘the apprentice did this’.

One end-point assessment organisation I work for has a much more succinct way of doing it – criteria is assessed with a tick box. If there’s more to say you write it down, but they don’t expect you to write up what you could hear on a recording.

I then pull myself away from my laptop to get a proper break. Nowadays when I quality assure new assessors, when I see them taking on loads of work and their reports being uploaded at 4am, I’ll just give them a little call and remind them to take care of their wellbeing. There’s a fine line between being overworked and just working hard.

I’ve learned the hard way where that lies.

If you or someone in your organisation would like to tell us what a typical day involves in your job, please get in touch at jessica.hill@feweek.co.uk

DfE scores with Sky Sports-style ads for FE

Adverts to drive up interest in FE teaching jobs have proved a modest success, figures suggest.

The ‘Share your Skills’ campaign – which included Sky Sports News-style ads with presenter Mike Wedderburn talking to brickies who became FE lecturers – seeks to draw talent into further education by promoting its “unique benefits”.

Run internally by the Department for Education’s workforce and communications teams since 2022, an FE Week freedom of information request shows the campaign cost £2 million in its first year, £4.1 million in 2022-23, and increased again to £5.1 million for both 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Annual “attitudinal research” of the campaign’s target audience – adults between 35 and 65 years old with two years’ experience in priority sectors such as engineering, manufacturing or construction – suggests the proportion of people considering a job in FE rose slightly from 21 percent in 2021-22 to 25 per cent in 2023-24.

However, the target audience’s understanding of FE teaching only rose by 1 percentage point to 24 per cent over that period.

The DfE said the campaign aimed to “increase awareness, understanding, positive perceptions and consideration” of FE.

It does this by promoting the “high value and transferability of industry expertise within FE teaching and inspires the next generation of workers in key sectors” through a series of paid TV, radio and social media adverts.

The campaign drives traffic to a bespoke campaign website where potential applicants are signposted to vacancies, college website sand the Teach in FE support service.

The FOI request data shows website visitor “sessions” more than tripled from 134,000 in 2021-22 to 457,000 in 2023-24.

In the first two years unique page views hovered around 500,000 annually, while visits to the website’s dedicated jobs board shot up from 32,000 in 2021-22 to 190,000 in 2022-23 before dropping to 124,000 in 2023-24.

The DfE did not respond directly when asked whether it held internal reports on the campaign’s performance but provided these figures as a “summary evaluation” of its impact.

It also said there was no “available data” to show how many staff were recruited as part of the campaign.

Concern about FE teacher pay is considered the key reason colleges and training organisations struggle to recruit staff, particularly in high-demand subject areas such as construction and engineering.

Speaking at the Labour conference last month, skills minister Jacqui Smith said she had “strongly” made the case for FE teacher pay and status to the Treasury following the government’s recent decision to snub colleges from public sector pay awards.

The DfE was approached for comment.

AoC makes ‘disappointing’ 2.5% pay recommendation

College staff should be awarded a 2.5 per cent pay rise this year, the Association of Colleges has recommended.

The pay recommendation is lower than the 5.5 per cent pay rise for school teachers agreed earlier this summer, after the Labour government refused to apply the £1.2 billion public sector pay award to colleges.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) said it was “forced” to make a recommendation “far below what we believe is needed” as colleges cannot afford to give a pay rise higher than 2.5 per cent.

The AoC makes a pay recommendation each year which colleges use as a benchmark in their negotiations with unions that represent their staff. The membership body has delayed making a pay recommendation for 2024/25 since May.

Following negotiations with five trade unions representing FE workers, its formal recommendation will advise college leaders to award staff with a 2.5 per cent pay rise or £750, whichever is greater, for the 2024/25 academic year.

The college membership body explained its recommendation was above the current rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation of 2.2 per cent and above the 1.9 per cent increased 16-18-year-old funding rate for this year.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of College said: “We are clear that after 14 years of punishing funding cuts, college pay is far below where we believe it should be and needs to be.”

He added: “Once again, we are forced to make a pay recommendation far below what we believe is needed, simply because colleges cannot afford more.”

The body has urged the Chancellor for £250 million to match the 5.5 per cent school teacher pay uplift to prevent the “unjustifiable” £10,000 pay gap between college staff and school teachers from widening.

He said: “In the spending review we will be calling for a funded plan to close the pay gap with schools and with industry over the coming years. We need to see a step change in college pay both because it is fair and right to do so, but also because colleges are central to delivering the government’s missions and ambitions, and without better pay, colleges will struggle to step up.”

Meanwhile, college unions said the recommendation was “hugely disappointing” and would neither remedy the £10,000 pay gap nor the years of below-inflation awards.

UCU members have demanded a 10 per cent pay rise or £3,000, a minimum starting salary of £30,000, national agreements on workload, national bargaining and parity with schoolteacher pay.

University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said: “Most further education teachers work on average over 48 hours a week, and around half of qualified teachers leave the sector within 3 years. This will only get worse unless we see greater investment and the closing of the pay gap.

“Labour cannot ignore the crisis in further education any longer. Their ambitious plans to develop a more skilled workforce and the creation of Skills England are in danger of failing unless they ensure better pay, a workforce strategy and a new national bargaining framework for further education.”

The AoC made a recommendation of a 6.5 per cent uplift last year, which only came after the previous Conservative government found £200 million extra funding for the sector. The government told colleges to use their cut of the 16 to 19 funding boost to boost staff pay and “address staff recruitment and retention challenges”.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has asked the School Teacher Review Body to “evidence” the impact of its pay recommendation for school teachers on the further education workforce. It is hoped this evidence could give the Department for Education a stronger case for additional funding from the Treasury to close the pay gap between teachers in schools and colleges.