DfE launches Skills England CEO job advert

The first chief executive of Skills England “should” come from government or business and will report to the Department for Education’s director general for skills, a job advert for the role has revealed.

The hunt for the boss of Labour’s much-hyped skills quango was officially launched today with a closing date of October 31 for applications.

A salary of £130,000 is advertised for the “senior leadership” role where the post-holder is expected to serve for at least three years.

Legislation introduced to the House of Lords this week revealed that Skills England will be established as an executive agency within the DfE rather than an independent or cross-government organisation.

In another move that appears to water down the quango’s power and independence, the status of the CEO of the new body will be at director-level rather than director general, reporting to the DfE’s director general for skills Julia Kinniburgh.

Today’s advert claimed that the CEO’s “influence will extend not only across the breadth of the DfE, but across government and skills bodies across the country”.

But a source close to the DfE who previously told FE Week this move was on the cards warned that influential permanent secretaries from other departments will not see post-holders below director general level as they view this as being “too junior”. The source believes a clipping of their wings in this way may be a deliberate ploy by officials to “contain” the new body.

From IfATE to Skills England via DfE: What you need to know

The CEO job advert said this “high-profile and high-impact” role requires an “inspirational and impactful senior leader, with a successful track record of leading, developing and motivating multidisciplinary teams in a high profile and politically sensitive environment”.

It explicitly states that the government wants candidates to be “senior leaders from government or from business”, who can “demonstrate the ability to lead an organisation, to work successfully in a government context, and to work closely and effectively with business leaders”.

Applicants must “have experience of using a range of powers, levers and interventions to achieve measurable impact, and of understanding and balancing the conflicting demands of a range of stakeholders”.

Skills England is expected to drive the government’s efforts to meeting skills needs over the next decade by “bringing together central and regional government, businesses, training providers and unions to a) develop a single picture of national skills needs, b) identify priority training programmes to receive funding and c) ensure that national and regional skills systems are meeting skills need”.

The body currently operates in shadow form with Richard Pennycook, a Department for Education non-executive director and former boss of the Co-operative Group, in post as interim chair.

Adverts for a permanent chair and board went live in August. Interviews for the roles are due to take place in early November.

The body sitting within the DfE is being established in phases over the next six to nine months. Predictions are that it will be fully operational by April.

The CEO job advert said the post-holder will “lead the establishment of this new body – the precise form of which is subject to parliamentary authorisation – developing a commitment to a shared vision for the agency and lead and inspire a culture of collaborative leadership and teamwork to deliver the agency’s mission and plans with creativity, pace, impact and rigour and with a clear sense of purpose and employee engagement”.

Formal interviews for candidates will be held the first week in December.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 474

Julie Peaks Principal

Wyke Sixth Form College

Start date: September 2024

Previous Job: Deputy Principal, Wyke Sixth Form College

Interesting fact: Julie has become the first female principal of Wyke after joining the sixth form college 20 years ago

Fabienne Bailey

Chief Executive Officer, Gateway Qualifications

Start date: October 2024

Previous Job: Director of Business Transformation and Growth, AIM Qualifications and Assessment Group

Interesting fact: Fabienne has been lucky enough to travel for both work and leisure, visiting 39 different countries including living in Germany and Barbados in her younger years. Whilst sunnier climes are high on the list, her favourite place to be is at home by the sea in Whitby with her large family and 2 rescue dogs

Colleges to manage student parents’ childcare claims

Young parents will claim childcare bursary payments direct from their college from next year after the government scrapped a burdensome external support service.

Revised Education and Skills Funding Agency rules state colleges will be responsible for managing Care to Learn payments for the 2025/26 academic year.

Since 2013/14 the bursary scheme has funded payments to childcare providers to help parents aged under 20 attend school or college.

Young parents, childcare providers and education providers had to use the student bursary support service (SBSS), an external portal used to submit applications, claim funding and make payments.

Instead of filing claims through the SBSS, young parents will now complete applications for financial help with childcare with their education provider, which will then determine eligibility, submit claims and make payments to childcare providers.

Lisa Humphries, chair of the National Association for Managers of Students Services, said SBSS’ removal was a “positive move forward” as bursary teams were burdened with “additional steps” of completing updates on the portal.

Under the old system, young parents would submit applications to the SBSS and give their education provider a copy of the child’s birth certificate and a letter confirming receipt of child benefits.

The SBSS would then contact the institution to confirm the students’ course details and the childcare provider for confirmation services were being provided.

The National Union of Students welcomed the change after previously calling for a simplification of the system. 

Qasim Hussain, NUS vice president for further education, said childcare was a “huge barrier to education” for student parents. 

He added: “We hope this announcement will make it much easier for those who need it to access childcare funding, and that colleges have the adequate resources to carry this out.” 

Demand falls 85% 

Official data up to 2022/23 shows take-up of the bursary has fallen consistently during the last decade, with demand down 85 per cent from 2013/14 levels when £24.5 million was claimed. 

Just 841 payments were made in 2022/23, a total payout of nearly £3.8 million. 

The government has chalked the decline down to a fall in demand caused by drops in teenage pregnancy rates and demographic changes. Latest data from the Office for National Statistics reports teen pregnancy in England and Wales has more than halved since 2011. 

But the NUS also blamed the trend on complexities around claiming the cash. 

Last year the ESFA increased the maximum amount available for parents from £160 per child per week to £180, or an increase from £175 per week to £195 per week in London.

The ESFA acknowledged the upcoming process change would add extra admin to college student support services so will pay 5 per cent on top of each amount claimed per student.

Humphries said the move gives “parity” with all other bursary schemes that colleges already handle, such as the 16 to 19 bursary fund for vulnerable groups.

She said: “Care to learn is the only part of bursary schemes that is not administered locally by colleges and it is a small number of students who apply from each college. It makes sense to move it to being supported by bursary teams in each college.”

DfE considers more GCSE resit training for college staff

Extra teacher training to boost GCSE maths and English resit pass rates is being considered by ministers. 

An engagement notice was published by the Department for Education to gather market interest and capacity to deliver fresh CPD (continuing professional development) to the resit workforce. 

Officials want “innovative provision to achieve the best outcomes for learners” that could be rolled out nationally but with a particular focus on regions with higher resit levels. 

Students must resit GCSE English and maths in post-16 education as a condition of their places being funded if they fail to achieve a grade 4 pass at school. 

However, FE Week understands the future of the forced GCSE resits policy is being considered by the government’s independent curriculum and assessment review, led by Becky Francis. 

Results out in August revealed 17.4 per cent of the 185,727 post-16 learners taking GCSE maths in 2024 achieved a grade 4 or above – a 1 percentage point rise on last year but almost 4 percentage points lower than the pre-pandemic level of 21.2 per cent. 

In English, 148,569 students re-sat the GCSE in post-16 education this year with 20.9 per cent gaining at least a grade 4 pass. This was 5 percentage points lower than 2023 and almost 10 percentage points down on 2019. 

The DfE has funded multiple resit CPD programmes in the past, including through the Education and Training Foundation, White Rose Education, Lexonik and Mathematics Education Innovation.

Milton Keynes College Group won a government contract in 2022 to run a professional development programme for post-16 English and maths teachers that it called the Greater Than Network. Funding was meant to run until March next year but the DfE ditched the contract early and the network ended in February. 

Revealing its intention to revive resit CPD training, the DfE’s latest market engagement notice said: “The DfE is seeking feedback from the market so it can understand market interest and capacity to deliver CPD to the 16-to-19 level 2 English and maths workforce in further education settings, on a national or regional basis, before defining its next steps for any competitive procurement process. 

“The quality of the English and maths workforce across the FE sector is paramount and the department continues to work with the sector to ensure that providers can recruit, retain, and develop the teaching and governance staff they need to deliver the best possible education to students.”

A 90-minute early supplier engagement webinar will take place on October 15. 

If the DfE goes ahead with a tender it expects to launch the competition in mid-December. The amount of funding on offer is not known. 

The ‘opportunity mission’ is alive in Hull – and should be nationally

Opportunities that (for reasons I can’t explain) are normally available only to those who have already left school, are at the forefront of our 14+ College offer at Hull College.

As I write this, a group of fourteen-year-olds is in a classroom above my office exploring early childhood development.

Across the corridor, a team of fifteen-year-old creative media students is building a scale model of the college campus as a set for an animation that will be entered in a national sustainability competition.

In an industry-standard salon on the fifth floor of our building, school-age learners are being taught how to style hair by a team of industry experts.

Local and national media frequently discuss secondary education through the lens of crisis; whether it’s the elective home education crisis, the post-Covid attendance crisis, or the staffing crisis.

What is often missed amid these crises is the opportunity we have to craft a purposeful, skills-based education for young people.

At Hull College, we’ve had a 14+ provision since 2013, serving generations of Year 10 and 11 students with a curriculum that blends GCSE delivery with career-focused vocational qualifications.

The young people we serve are significantly more likely to have experienced personal or educational trauma, to have been bullied or to have been homeschooled. Many have suffered the collapse of self-belief that comes with these experiences. Yet, at 14+ College, they are shown a future more hopeful than the one they left behind.

The curriculum model has been a huge success. Learners graduate from 14+ College and many choose to move directly onto their next vocational level, transitioning smoothly from one college department to another. Others may instead pursue academic qualifications that prepare them for university. 14+ College and those who built it have been proud to guide all of them.

We were able to offer one place for every six applicants this year

With this model, however, comes a responsibility. Hull is one of the most educationally deprived areas in Britain. Too few young people in Hull and the East Riding leave school with the skills they need to thrive, and not enough are actively participating in the economy.

Alongside this dilemma of human potential, the economy of Hull and the Humber is undergoing a renaissance. New and developing industries in the region are driving the need for a workforce skilled in STEM and sustainability principles.

Young people leaving education confident in their ability to adapt, solve problems and communicate will find the employment landscape very welcoming. Schools, with their rigid curriculum models and scale, are not ideally positioned to adapt. FE, however, has been doing this for years.

Hull College has long served the needs of the region. In recent years, we have adapted our curriculum design to better meet the needs of local employers and to more purposefully develop the core and character skills our young people need to thrive.

Our 14+ College provision, and 14-16 provisions more generally, offer an obvious opportunity for students to get a head start in discovering where they fit into a changing world of work.

And the students in our region know it. We were able to offer one place for every six applicants in Year 10 this academic year. Amid all the talk of crises in education, it’s worth pointing out that one corner of secondary education is thriving beyond its current capacity, such is the desire among young people to start their careers.

The evidence is clear: this is what our economy needs, and this is exactly what many young people want to do. As a result, at Hull College we have a moral obligation to provide it.

So, in future years, when you get a lovely new haircut or your nails fabulously painted; when your child comes home from nursery with a giant smile or you enjoy a brand-new blockbuster movie at the cinema, our dream is that the person providing this service came from 14+ College and is doing something they never thought they could.

Vocational reforms must differentiate between education and training

The future of the UK’s economy hinges not just on the skills we teach but on how we define and keep them updated. As we grapple with rapid technological change and shifting industry demands, it’s clear that our current approach needs a fundamental rethink. Redefining the relationship between vocational education and vocational training is key.

At Pearson, we have made this case in our evidence submission to the Lords’ industry and regulatory select committee’s inquiry on future skills needs. For too long, these two terms have been used interchangeably, muddling policy decisions and diluting the effectiveness of our skills system.  

Vocational education is about laying a foundational understanding of an industry – imparting the core concepts and skills that are at its very heart and change slowly over time.   This is particularly important for younger learners just beginning their careers.

Vocational training, on the other hand, is dynamic and responsive, focusing on current industry practices, tools and techniques. It’s what people of all ages already in the workforce need to stay relevant in rapidly evolving sectors. (Me included, as I work with my team to embed the rapid developments of Gen AI into our daily work).

By conflating vocational education with vocational training, we risk failing our young learners and our existing workforce. This distinction is not just semantic; it has profound implications for how we design our education system and prepare for the future.

Our recent Skills Map of England showed that by 2027, automation and augmentation do not necessarily mean fewer jobs – but different jobs. While 390,000 new jobs will be created in England in total, around 2 million people will need to reskill or upskill.

These aren’t just numbers. They represent workers across the country who must adapt to new roles and industries. The jobs of tomorrow are not the jobs of today, and our skills system must reflect that reality.

So, how do we bridge this gap? It starts with policy that recognises and supports the unique roles of education and training at different stages in people’s lives.

This distinction has profound implications

We need to revisit the development of occupational standards to allow for a stable national core, flexible regional adaptations and evolving skills needs over time. This means utilising data to create a common skills taxonomy, enabling qualifications to be tailored to diverse needs while maintaining national coherence.

Moreover, government intervention should shift from managing qualification design to setting overarching strategies and empowering local institutions to do what they do best: using their expertise to identify and deliver the provision that best meets the needs of young learners, those in work, and those seeking work for the first time or returning to it.

The system as a whole should be simpler by integrating funding streams like the Adult Skills Budget, Lifelong Learning Entitlement and the proposed Growth and Skills Levy. Unified funding mechanisms would effectively serve learners, providers and employers. Greater transparency will ensure that everyone involved understands the system and can navigate it effectively.

Apprenticeships are one example of a programme that, with an appropriate level of support and flexibility, can provide individuals with a broad, foundational education to kickstart a career.

The government’s ask of employers to invest more in younger workers is welcome, as is the introduction of foundation apprenticeships which could also help reverse the decline in 16-19 apprentices.

Employers play a crucial role in this system. By incentivising them to invest in young apprentices and adjusting rigid requirements like 20-per cent off-the-job training, we can make apprenticeships more accessible and effective for those starting their careers.

Experienced, mid-career, individuals who require more immediate and specific upskilling can then reap the benefits of shorter, more focused apprenticeships and more flexible training models.

The challenge before us is preparing people for a transformed world of work. This requires an adaptable workforce capable of lifelong learning and reinvention to ensure individuals are not left behind by technological change but are empowered to drive it.

By clearly distinguishing between vocational education and vocational training – and designing policies that respect and support both – we can build a skills system that’s responsive, inclusive and fit for the future. 

BGT’s Alesha’s singing the praises of ‘game changing’ T Levels

Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon is fronting a campaign to boost take-up of T Levels.

A charity funded by T Levels ‘architect’ David Sainsbury recruited Dixon and Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Sara Davies to promote the qualifications which have failed to achieve enrolment targets.

T Levels – billed as the technical equivalent to A Levels – were launched by the Tory government four years ago on the advice of a review led by supermarket heir and philanthropist Sainsbury in 2016.

Yet the low numbers of young people starting the courses and high drop-out rates have prompted a government review of their content.

In a bid to boost parental confidence in the qualification, Sainsbury’s Gatsby Charitable Foundation launched the celebrity-fronted ‘T-Team’ campaign, featuring videos and a ‘T Levels info for parents’ website.

‘Game changing’

Media, broadcast and production T Level ‘champion’ Dixon, who was a member of girl-group Mis-Teeq in the early noughties, called the qualifications “game changing” and praised their 45-day work experience requirement for helping young people into “tough to crack” industries.

In a video published last week she visits a class of T Level students to witness their learning first-hand.

Meanwhile, businesswoman Davies backs the craft and design T Level and hails the new qualification for giving students “in-depth industry knowledge and practical skills”.

Other celebrities who have been members of the ‘T-Team’ include The Apprentice winner Tim Campbell, Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse and TV presenter Dr Zoe Williams.

None wished to comment when FE Week asked when or how their enthusiasm for T Levels began.

Parents are key influencers

A spokesperson for Gatsby told FE Week it had focused its £2.3 million three-year campaign on parents because they are a “key influencer of career and decision-making for young people”.

“At the time of their launch, parental awareness and understanding of T Levels was low,” they said.

“We identified that this would have an impact on parents’ abilities to support their own child’s consideration of T Levels and so Gatsby has undertaken a range of advertising and PR activities to support the first few waves of T Levels.”

While refusing to reveal how much Dixon and Davies would be paid, the spokesperson said the T-Team were compensated “fairly” for their time, adding some had delivered additional work for free.

They added: “We only work with individuals who truly align with what T Levels have to offer, can speak with authority about the subject matter and are enthusiastic in their backing of the qualification.”

Billionaire heir

Lord Sainsbury has publicly lobbied for Labour to continue the former Tory government’s controversial vocational education reforms that involve culling T Level alternatives such as BTECs.

His lobbying included a high-profile intervention supported by former prime minister Gordon Brown shortly after the general election.

According to Gatsby’s website, Sainsbury founded the charity in 1967 and has since donated “more than £1.7 billion” to charitable causes.

During his career the billionaire heir chaired supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, served as minister of science and innovation, and has written books about opportunity and progressive capitalism.

Gatsby funds a range of work in education, the arts and public policy through grants from its endowment fund, which was worth £535 million as of April last year.

One of the charity’s stated aims is “to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and training” in the UK, by informing national policy and developing innovative programmes.

According to its annual accounts for 2023-24 the charity is “supporting several projects” to help colleges source high-quality placements required by T Levels.

In total the charity spent £2.2 million through a subsidiary company Gatsby Technical Education Projects and £3.3 million on “raising awareness of the reformed technical education system”.

It has also funded research into the further education workforce, curriculum materials and studies of reasons for low apprenticeship completion rates.

The Department of Education said: “The Gatsby Foundation is an independent organisation that has not received government funding to support T Levels.

“We collaborate closely with the foundation, as well as other stakeholders, to draw from their expertise on delivering high-quality technical education.”

Network Rail puts halted HS2 college site back on track

A failed railway college built to train HS2 workers will be resurrected as a Network Rail education centre after standing empty for a year.

The hangar-sized building in Doncaster’s Lakeside area was one of two branches of the National College for High Speed Rail which opened in 2017.

It was plagued by low student numbers and stopped training apprentices and higher education students in July 2023 despite multi-million-pound government bailouts, a rebrand as the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure (NCATI) and a takeover by Birmingham University in 2021.

The Doncaster site, reportedly built for £26 million with central and local government funding, has been empty since NCATI formally wound down late last year.

A second branch of the college in Birmingham, also purpose-built, was given to a neighbouring school academy trust specialising in engineering last year.

Operational and leadership training

Network Rail told FE Week the Doncaster site, leased by freehold owner City of Doncaster Council, would be used as a training venue for operational and leadership training.

According to planning documents, the 7,200sqm building’s three storeys include a large workshop area, a 38m crane for hoisting trains and equipment, short railway lines, classrooms and staff offices.

Its design “reflected the philosophy and working practices of HS2” with a capacity of up to 1,000 students and 100 staff.

Doncaster Council’s elected mayor Ros Jones said the move was “great news” for the city and the UK’s rail industry, and added it was “fitting” Doncaster would continue to have a national rail hub given its historical importance to the industry.

Post-16 training rule

Ownership of the building reverted to Doncaster Council, the original owner of the land, when NCATI was dissolved.

However, the property’s freehold includes a Department for Education-stipulated covenant that requires a “significant majority” of the building to be used for post-16 education or the development of training and skills until 2043.

Doncaster Council said the covenant “significantly restricts” the building’s uses, with potential providers either unable to afford the rent or not in a position to take over the whole building.

Network Rail and Doncaster Council both declined to confirm the terms of their 25-year lease agreement, claiming the information was commercially confidential.

However, council papers reveal an income target of £150,000 was set for 2024-25, increasing to £300,000 in 2025-26.

Birmingham branch

Aston University Engineering Academy (AUEA), a specialist school for years 9 to 13, took over the Birmingham campus when NCATI closed in late 2023.

Slightly smaller than the Doncaster centre, the West Midlands branch also contained a specialist workshop with railway tracks and classrooms across three storeys.

The academy’s executive principal Daniel Locke-Wheaton said the building was also used as a “dedicated centre of national excellence” for T Level learners and featured a jewellery training centre.

Its upper floors will become a specialist sixth form, Aston University’s Mathematics School, which is due to open next September.

Unlike in Doncaster, freeholder Birmingham City Council has leased the site to AUEA at peppercorn rent, FE Week understands.

Council documents from 2016 show Birmingham Council suffered a “revenue loss” when it donated the site, which it ran as a science park.

Site preparation costs doubled to £3 million when the council discovered ground contaminated with lead, asbestos and hydrocarbons.

How much did the buildings cost?

The Doncaster site is understood to have been funded by the former Department for Business and Trade and several local authorities. According to a Doncaster Council cabinet report its construction cost £26 million.

FE Week has been unable to confirm the cost of the Birmingham branch, though the total budget for the two sites was understood to be around £40 million.

The Department for Education declined to confirm the final bill for the colleges.

Other costs to the public purse included a £2.8 million loan from HS2 Ltd which has been written off.

National colleges hit and miss

The high-speed rail college was one of five ‘national colleges’ set up in the 2010s with £80 million of government funding.

After issues with student enrolments, resulting in government bailouts of at least £12 million, only two still operate: the National College for Nuclear and Ada National College for Digital Skills.

The National College Creative Industries was dissolved in 2019 and reformed as a joint venture between Access Creative College and South Essex College.

The National College for Onshore Oil and Gas was announced in 2014, with a headquarters planned in Blackpool, but was dissolved seven years later partly due to a ban on fracking.

The HS2 project has been dogged by repeated spending cuts, including the scrapping of the line from Birmingham to Manchester by former prime minister Rishi Sunak last year.

The Staffroom: Make this month Black LGBTQ History Month

As the former chair of BMET’s award-winning BAME network, I was fortunate to be given opportunities to contribute to the incredible journey that college was on as a pioneer in anti-racism, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

That work has illuminated the sector. And as Black History Month begins, I’ve been reflecting on EDI’s importance, not just to FE as a sector but in conjuring up a true reflection of society, history and culture for our learners. There’s a long way to go on our journey to visibility and equality.

The key, as always, is to keep shedding light into hidden corners. And one realm of Black history that often goes unsung intersects and weaves in with another demographic of the EDI movement: the LGBTQIA+ community.

Being black and unapologetically LGBTQ in unison is an intricate and multifaceted identity. It gives one a unique perspective and lens through which to view society, culture and everyday life. And that perspective has fuelled individuals throughout history to face – and face down – gargantuan levels of persecution and adversity.

So who could you present to your learners an an example of Black LGBTQIA+ identity?

How about Marsha P. Johnson? Marsha “pay it no mind” Johnson was a self-identified drag queen and a prominent gay liberation activist. Born in  Elizabeth, New Jersey, she became infamous in New York City’s gay art scene from the 1960s to the 1990s.

She was a veteran of the Stonewall riots. In fact, many say she helped start the riot on June 28, 1969.

The Stonewall riots is a name given to LGBTQIA+ outcry in response to a violent police raid that took place in the early morning hours of that fateful day at the Stonewall Inn.

The inn was a safe haven for marginalised people more broadly, but particularly for LGBTQ individuals who were not easily able to conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity. These included effeminate gay men, unconventionally less feminine lesbians, transgender people and homeless youth who were shunned by middle America.

It is a multifaceted identity with a unique perspective

At the same time as the LBTQIA+ community faced this normalised persecution, the civil rights movements was very active in the US. That activity influenced the riot that followed the raid.

So it was Black Americans standing up to systemic racism that influenced the LGBTQ movement to take the direction it took, with individuals like Martha P Johnson at the forefront.

The riots took place over a week, but they were only the start of a new and more effective phase of the gay rights movement.

In their wake, activist groups were quickly formed who endeavoured to create safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people.

Johnson became an active member of many of these groups, such as the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) that fought for the protection and sexual liberation of all people.

Knowing the hardships of living on the streets, she also co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with GLF member, Sylvia Rivera. STAR provided homeless transgender individuals with shelter and community.

The first Pride march took place on June 28 1970 in New York. And today, Pride events are held annually around the world to commemorate the change that came about after the Stonewall riots – an event that triggered in large part by a Black trans woman deciding to take a stand against white middle class hetero normativity.

Martha P Johnson fought for the privileges that many LGBTQ people enjoy today, but are still too often denied to large numbers.

I acknowledge her bravery and celebrate her. I think your learners should too.

Black contributions to the LGBTQIA+ rights movement are powerfully evident, if you look. Perhaps it’s the dual identity itself that lends strength to people like Martha, leading to great leaps forward towards a greater good.

In my experience, being black and LGBTQIA+ provides one with a unique will to fight against oppression and injustice and for those whose voices are silences heteronormative ideas.

So this Black History Month, celebrate all those who fought for civil rights – and give a special mention to those who not only shaped their own corner of Black history, but fought for the rights of all LGBTQ people too.