Apprenticeship heavyweight Aspire Achieve Advance has been blocked by the government from taking on any new apprentices, FE Week can reveal.

The dramatic decision has been taken at a time of crisis for the provider, more commonly known as 3aaa, which is dealing with the resignations of their co-founders during an ongoing Education and Skills Funding Agency investigation.

“3aaa has agreed with ESFA to temporarily suspend apprentice enrolments while the new management team take this opportunity to undertake a deep review of our operations alongside working with Ofsted to conclude its review of our services,” a spokesperson for the company told FE Week.

It is understood that the pause will not be lifted at least until Ofsted’s inspection of the provider has been completed.

A spokesperson for 3aaa said the ban is likely to be lifted in November.

Stopping starts will have a huge impact on the business, considering it is one of the biggest apprenticeship training providers in England.

It had the largest allocation for non-levy apprenticeships last year – standing at nearly £22 million.

3aaa is also the biggest provider of 16-18 apprenticeships. In 2016/17 it had 1,720 16-18s leave or finish their apprenticeships, and 810 19-23s, according to national achievement rate data.

Its total allocations last year totalled over £31 million. It operated out of “38 locations” with “3,000+ apprentices” and “20+ programmes”, according to 3aaa’s website.

The apprenticeship giant also currently holds nine contracts with large public sector levy paying employers, including a number of councils such as Leeds City and Liverpool City, which it won through competitive tenders.

The news of the pause in starts follows yesterday’s resignations of co-founders Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson, the training provider’s chief executive and director respectively.

It all comes in the midst of an ESFA investigation into the company.

In June FE Week revealed that 3aaa’s latest Ofsted inspection, which was expected to result in another ‘outstanding’ rating, had been declared “incomplete” following intervention from the Education and Skills Funding Agency after claims were made by a whistleblower.

A month later it was revealed that an independent auditor, Alyson Gerner, had been called in by the Department for Education to investigate its own funding agency over their contract management of 3aaa.

The investigation is ongoing and the ESFA has refused to comment on its findings.

In a new statement sent to FE Week, Ofsted said: “Ofsted inspected Aspire Achieve Advance Limited in May but then received new information about the provider.

“We are now considering whether or not we need to return to the provider to gather more evidence while we await new information from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. We will do this using the gathering additional evidence to secure an incomplete inspection protocol.”

Ofsted will be carrying out early monitoring visits to all new apprenticeship providers, after the Department for Education agreed to give it extra funding. 

The news was announced this morning by Sean Harford, the education watchdog’s national director for education, and comes almost four months after the plan was exclusively reported by FE Week.

“Great news that the Department for Education has agreed to fund us to carry out monitoring visits to ALL new apprenticeship levy providers,” he said.

The move was a “recognition that these visits are making a difference and good news for all apprentices,” he added.

Potentially as many as 1,200 providers could now be in scope for a monitoring visit, based on the number of ‘main’ and ’employer’ providers on the register of apprenticeship training providers that hadn’t received direct funding before May 2017. 

FE Week revealed in May that Ofsted was set to receive up to £7 million extra funding to carry out early monitoring visits to all new apprenticeship providers, and was also going to be given the final say over apprenticeship quality.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency subsequently confirmed last month that any new provider deemed to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in any of the themes under review would be stopped from taking on new apprentices.

It followed embarrassment for the government at a select committee hearing that month, when skills minister Anne Milton admitted that it wasn’t clear who was accountable for quality at these new providers after a provider deemed by Ofsted to be making ‘insufficient progress’ was allowed to take on new apprentices just two months later.

At the same hearing, Paul Joyce, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE and skills, revealed the watchdog was still waiting to hear if it would be given extra resources to tackle the massive increase in providers it will have to inspect.

It’s not clear exactly how much extra cash Ofsted has been given. If it is the full £7 million previously reported by FE Week, this represents a significant increase on its existing budget.

According to a report published by the National Audit Office in May, the watchdog spent £10 million on inspecting FE and skills providers in the 2017-18 financial year.

FE Week reported yesterday that six new apprenticeship providers had been barred from taking on new recruits, in the first evidence that the Education and Skills Funding Agency is putting its new policy into action.

The providers included Key6 Group, whose provision was found to be “not fit for purpose” in the first early monitoring visit report published in March.

Despite this, it had its suspension lifted just two months later by the DfE, after it provided a “robust improvement plan” – a situation that left the government red-faced after it was roundly criticised by MPs on the education select committee in May. 

 

 

A large employer provider in the security sector has stopped recruiting new apprentices after a damning Ofsted early monitoring visit found they were forcing workers onto apprenticeships.

Securitas UK had a heavily critical inspection report published this morning which said the company was making ‘insufficient progress’ in two of the three themes judged.

The provider has 650 apprentices but Ofsted worryingly found that not enough assessors were on the books to meet their needs, and a lack of resource led to some apprentices not having a progress review for five months.

Most concerning was that Securitas gave most apprentices no choice about enrolling onto the programmes.

Most apprentices do not have a choice about enrolling for the apprenticeship training programme

“As a result of this compulsory training, apprentices do not enjoy their learning or understand its nature,” inspectors said.

Under new rules from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, any provider with an ‘insufficient’ rating will be banned from taking on any new apprentices until the grade improves.

“We will not progress any new enrolments, in order to prioritise the actions required and focus on current employees undergoing the training,” a spokesperson for Securitas UK said.

The employer has around 11,500 staff and provides protective services across the UK. Apprentices enrol initially as security officers and on successful completion of the apprenticeship can progress to the role of protective services officer.

“Leaders and managers do not have sufficient resources in place to support the apprenticeships that they offer,” Ofsted said.

“Securitas has too few assessors to meet the needs of its apprentices. Those apprentices who should complete their programme in September are making slow progress and are unlikely to succeed.

“Too many apprentices are unaware of their entitlement and do not receive sufficient time allocated to off-the-job-training. As a result of this, the vast majority are behind schedule with their apprenticeship programme and lack motivation.”

Ofsted added that the majority of apprentices and Securitas site managers are “unsure about the range of activities that they should record” and most learners “do not have sufficient preparation for their end-point assessment”.

Inspectors slammed Securitas’ line managers for not taking enough “responsibility for progress reviews”.

Securitas UK is working closely with an independent consultant to address the Ofsted report findings

“Targets for apprentices are not specific enough to help them improve. As a result, most apprentices fall behind with their work and make slow progress towards completing their apprenticeship.”

Meanwhile, arrangements for recruitment “lack integrity”, according to Ofsted.

“Leaders, managers and staff do not give enough guidance to apprenticeship applicants.

“Too few apprentices have a good understanding of their planned completion date, and many are unaware of what they need to do to complete an apprenticeship.”

The planning and delivery of training to develop apprentices’ English and maths skills is also “poor”.

The only positive in the report was to do with safeguarding, which the provider is making ‘reasonable progress’ in.

“Leaders and senior managers ensure that safeguarding arrangements are effective, and apprentices stay safe.”

A spokesperson for Securitas said: “Securitas UK is working closely with an independent consultant to address the Ofsted report findings. Securitas UK is committed to ensuring employees receive the highest levels of training and support at all times.”

The future of apprenticeship provision at a new provider is in doubt after its Ofsted early monitoring visit warned they were making ‘insufficient progress’ and not allowing enough time for off-the-job training.

Mitre Group Limited has become the latest provider to be slammed by the inspectorate, coming under fire for the quality of its apprenticeship provision and the training it offers. Three other providers received ‘insufficient’ ratings just last week.

However, Jennie Bowmer, Mitre’s managing director, has said many of Ofsted’s comments are “inaccurate” and it has “formally raised a number of concerns”, including about how its off-the-job training evidence was reviewed. She said the provider will “await the outcome of [Ofsted’s] internal investigation”.

Under new rules from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, any provider with an ‘insufficient’ rating in at least one theme will be banned from taking on any new apprentices – either directly or through subcontracting agreements – until the grade improves.

The guidance can be overruled if there is an “exceptional extenuating circumstance”. The Department for Education will now be assessing the report and deciding what steps to take.

Mitre works with apprentices from professional sports clubs and a large textiles firm, as well as running a small number of programmes for unemployed adults through its links with professional football clubs. When it was visited by Ofsted in August, it had 89 apprentices and 51 adult learners.

Although Mitre was found to be making ‘reasonable progress’ in adult education and its safeguarding arrangements, it received an ‘insufficient’ rating in two other themes assessed by Ofsted.

The inspectorate found managers have “failed to recognise that the quality of current provision is not good enough” and “have not made adequate arrangements to secure apprentices’ full entitlement to off-the-job training”.

The report said most of the training completed by learners is in their own time, rather than during working hours, as “employers find it difficult to release apprentices from the workplace”, and warned that as a result apprentices are not completing enough off-the-job training.

Paul Joyce, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE and skills, told the AELP conference in June 2017 that the inspectorate would not be auditing providers’ compliance with the off-the-job rule during inspections.

But today’s report on Mitre suggests otherwise.

Ms Bowmer said: “We are disappointed with some comments within the Ofsted report regarding our apprenticeships, which we feel to be inaccurate.

“We have formally raised a number of concerns with Ofsted regarding our early monitoring visit, including how it reviewed our off the job training hours evidence, and we await the outcome of their internal investigation.”

Ofsted has been contacted for comment.

Inspectors also found that not all assessors have “suitable knowledge and skills” of maths and English to help train apprentices in the subjects, and said that “in a few cases the quality of assessors’ own written work indicates they lack the knowledge and skills to support their apprentices effectively”.

Since the start of August 2017, just over half of apprentices who have taken maths exams have passed them, and as have just over three quarters of those who have taken English. Ofsted said managers do not do enough to track the progress of apprentices in the subjects, are “not clear” on the progress of those who have not yet taken the exams, and do not help those who already have the relevant GCSEs to develop their skills further.

However, Ofsted praised assessors, who were said to “know their apprentices intimately” and build the “professionalism and confidence” of apprentices in the workplace. Progression of adult learners into employment is high, and staff were said to take safeguarding concerns “seriously”.

Mitre provides apprenticeships through subcontracting arrangements with Nottingham College and Babington Business College, and began providing apprenticeships in its own right in May 2017. At its last Ofsted inspection, in February 2007, the provider was deemed to be ‘good’.

The co-founders of apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance have resigned in the midst of a government investigation into the company.

Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson, the training provider’s chief executive and director respectively, are understood to have had their letters of resignation accepted by chair Derek Mapp over the weekend.

Staff are being told of their departure today.

Both individuals have run the provider, better known as 3aaa, ever since they co-founded it in 2008. It held the largest government apprenticeship allocation in England last year.

Their resignations follow the launch of an Education and Skills Funding Agency investigation into the company.

FE Week revealed in June that 3aaa’s latest Ofsted inspection, which was expected to result in another ‘outstanding’ rating, had been declared “incomplete” following intervention from the agency after claims were made by a whistleblower.

Neither the ESFA nor the training provider have provided any information so far as to what the claims are.

FE Week then revealed in July that an independent auditor, Alyson Gerner, had been called in by the Department for Education to investigate its own funding agency over their contract management of 3aaa.

In a joint statement, Mr Marples and Ms McEvoy-Robinson said: “We are tremendously proud of what we have built together with the support of both the management and all of the staff that are currently employed in the business. We are grateful to the staff who have worked with us over the last ten years.

“We feel it is now time for us to stand down together, ten years after jointly founding the business. Moving forward, we will now take the opportunity to focus on our health and families.”

Derek Mapp, 3aaa chairman, added: “I have rarely experienced the total dedication and exceptional effort that both Peter and Di have applied to this business. They will be missed, but it is to their great credit that they have successfully put in place strong management succession for the company going forward. The board wishes them every success.”

Richard Irons, the current chief operating officer at the company, will become 3aaa’s new managing director.

The training provider has seen significant growth under the leadership of Mr Marples and Ms McEvoy-Robinson.

Its allocation for apprenticeships stood at nearly £31 million by the end of 2017/18, up from £14.5 million at the start of the academic year.

Direct ESFA funding to 3aaa increased from just £390,000 in 2012/13 to £3.6 million the following year. It rose again to £12.5 million in 2014/15 and to £21.7 million a year later.

It offers apprenticeships in IT, software, digital marketing, accountancy, financial services, business administration, customer service and management.

Ofsted inspected the provider in May and a staff conference held shortly after is understood to have celebrated an expected grade one.

But the education watchdog released a statement to FE Week shortly before the report was due to be published, which said: “Given new information that has come to light, we have decided to declare our inspection of Aspire Achieve Advance Limited incomplete.

“In due course, pending further information from the EFSA, we will decide whether we need to return to the provider to gather further evidence.”

The ESFA investigation is still ongoing.

A cash-strapped college has received a financial health notice to improve from the government after requesting exceptional financial support to the tune of £2.1 million.

West Nottinghamshire College will now be referred to the FE Commissioner for an independent assessment to test the college’s “capability and capacity to make the required changes and improvements”.

A spokesperson for the college confirmed the amount it requested from the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

FE Week reported earlier this year that West Nottinghamshire College had blamed changes to subcontracting rules for the fact it was having to cut more than 100 jobs in an effort to make £2.7 million in savings.

The notice, sent to West Nottinghamshire College’s chair of governors Nevil Croston on July 24 and published today, said the college board “will be expected to engage positively and responsively in the intervention process including attendance at regular case conferences to report on progress to financial recovery”.

The college was told to provide the ESFA with a two year financial forecast and weekly cash flow by August 17, and consult with the agency before “any asset disposal or inter-company financial transfer”.

West Nottinghamshire College is still yet to publish its most recent accounts online, despite the January deadline for doing so. The notice said the college must now share its management accounts with the DfE and any other relevant financial and cash flow information. 

If the college “fails to take the necessary actions (in whole or part) within the timescales to be agreed, or if evidence of progress is not appropriate or not available”, the ESFA will “take further action”.

Dame Asha Khemka (pictured), principal and chief executive of West Nottinghamshire College, said the college had asked for “a short-term loan” from the ESFA, which was provided in July. 

She added that, although close to 100 members of staff were made redundant or accepted voluntary redundancy before the summer, the “full impact of savings” from this will not be realised until 2018/19.

“The college’s plan for financial recovery, which led to the restructure, was also based on us meeting student enrolment targets in 2018/19. Early indications are that we are well on track to do so,” she said. 

“Despite the challenges the college has faced, I am confident we will continue to serve our local communities as a vibrant institution that provides high-quality education and training to local people and employers.” 

West Notts was the largest college provider of apprenticeships in 2016/17, and had contracts to deliver apprenticeships and traineeships worth £19.8 million last year. However, the overwhelming majority of this was subcontracted.

New rules for contracting and subcontracting, which came into force in May 2017, mean lead contractors can no longer subcontract entire apprenticeship programmes but must “directly deliver” at least some of each programme.

West Nottinghamshire College subcontracted 82.4 per cent of its apprenticeship provision in 2015/16, which earned it £3.2 million in top-slicing fees from provision worth £15.5 million.

 

Further education has been the victim of the sharpest cuts in the education sector over the last 25 years, according to a new report.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies’ inaugural report on education spending in England said 16-18 education “has been the biggest loser” from changes to funding, with spending per student falling by eight per cent in real terms since 2010-11.

In 1990-91, spending per learner in FE was 50 per cent higher than spending per student in secondary schools, but it is now around eight per cent lower.

School sixth forms are also struggling against low funding, with funding per learner lower than at any point since at least 2002-03 after budget cuts of 21 per cent per learner since 2010-11.

Tim Gardam, chief executive of the Nuffield Foundation, which funded the report, described the fall in FE spending as “clear and worrying”.

The report said there had been a “dramatic shift” towards apprenticeships and a movement away from classroom-based learning within level two and level three qualifications, with apprenticeship spending for learners aged 19+ now representing 36 per cent of the total education funding, as opposed to 13 per cent in 2010. The overall number of 19+ learners has “fallen substantially”, from 4.7 million in 2004 to 2.2 million in 2016.

Although the government has committed extra funds for the introduction of T-levels – amounting to about £115 million in 2019-20 and growing to £445 million by 2021-22 – the report warned that “the new money for T-levels and the proposed cuts to the rest of the FE college budget offset each other almost exactly”, meaning that spend per learner is unlikely to increase.

The IFS also warned that the focus on developing “specific occupational skills” in both apprenticeships and T-levels could leave learners “more vulnerable to negative economic shocks” than if they had more general skills, and noted “significant concerns as to whether high quality T-levels will be ready from day one”.

The report also found that, although the number of adult learners in further education or apprenticeships has fallen by 29 per cent since 2010-11, funding for adult education has been cut by a far higher amount, with a drop of 45 per cent since 2009-10.

Sally Hunt, general secretary for the University and College Union, said the “severe cuts” to further education were “completely unsustainable”.

“If the government really wants to ensure that everyone can access the skills they need to get on in life, it must urgently invest in further education institutions and their staff.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said there is “no rhyme or reason for the extremely low level of funding for 16-18-year-olds”.

“It is a crucial phase of education in which young people take qualifications which are vital to their life chances and they deserve better from a government which constantly talks about social mobility.”

A spokesperson for the DfE said: “Whilst we accept that there are pressures across the system we have protected base rate funding for 16 to 19 year olds until 2020, and are putting more money into our schools than ever before.

“We understand the pressures in further education, which is our wide ranging review of post-18 education and funding is looking at how the system can work better for everyone, ensuring value for money for students and taxpayers.”

 

 

The education secretary is touring Germany and Holland this week to learn more about their famous vocational education systems to aid him in the development of T-levels and apprenticeships.

Damian Hinds’ “fact finding mission” begins today and will start by visiting small businesses to discover the secrets to their apprenticeships system, according to an opinion piece he wrote for The Times.

He’ll then travel over to neighbours the Netherlands to visit some of their “top-performing” technical colleges.

“I’m in Germany this week to learn more about how they educate their young people to have the practical skills they need to support a highly productive economy,” the education secretary tweeted this morning.

His tour comes at a critical time for vocational education in England, with the launch of the Department for Education’s new technical qualifications, T-levels, just around the corner and apprenticeship numbers struggling to grow following the introduction of the levy.

Mr Hinds is likely to learn about Germany’s well-known ‘dual-system’ model, which represents two learning locations — the school and the workplace.

Firms recruit the best-qualified candidates for apprenticeships at 16 or 17; the less well-qualified normally do a full-time preparatory course at a vocational college or wait to re-apply for an apprenticeship.

Around a fifth do a specific technical A-level type qualification then take an apprenticeship before continuing to a degree at a technical university.

All employers, whether apprentice employers or not, contribute to the cost of local chambers of commerce through a compulsory levy that pays for the provision. The upside is they benefit from other services through this levy.

Almost all large German firms offer apprenticeships.

“We know Germany’s highly skilled workforce is a primary driver for their economic growth,” Mr Hinds wrote today.

“Technical and vocational training in Germany is high calibre, combining classroom instruction and on-the-job training.

“Critically, it is not perceived as being less prestigious than university, with nearly half of young Germans taking this route, often through apprenticeships.”

In the Netherlands, Mr Hinds wrote today that they “link education and work at a young age, meaning 12-year-olds are considering possible career options when they choose their subjects; with vocational options proving the most popular”.

The country also has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the EU, behind only Germany and Austria.

FE Week will be speaking with the education secretary later this week to discuss what he’s learnt on his travels.