Earlier this month the Institute for Apprenticeships bragged about approving standards at a faster rate than ever before after they signed off their 300th. But since then FE Week has found that over a dozen are being completely ignored by employers. When asked why this was the case, the IfA was tight-lipped and the Department for Education admitted to having no idea – so senior reporter Billy Camden spoke to the trailblazers groups that developed them to find out

 

Too expensive, complex, and lack of demand were some of the most striking reasons why 13 apprenticeship standards have been available for delivery for over a year but had zero starts.

Among them was the dental laboratory assistant apprenticeship, which has gone a whopping five and half years (see table below) of being snubbed by the employers who developed it.

FE Week’s analysis will surprise many seeing as the DfE changed its rules in recent years to require actual commitment from businesses on trailblazer groups that they will use the standard once approved.

It’s all the more shocking given that at least 10 employers have to be involved in development – so even if a few had second thoughts about the standard, the others would be expected to use it.

The EPA is more expensive to deliver than allowed for in the current funding band

When quizzed about why they had ignored the dental assistant standard for so long, private healthcare giant Bupa said it was because other apprenticeships, such as the lab technician, are “more appropriate for our business”.

Integrated Dental Holdings and Oasis Dental Care previously told FE Week they were creating their own dental training schemes, instead of using the already available apprenticeship.

Standards in the aviation industry appear to be proving most unpopular – with three different programmes on the list of 13 with no starts.

“The end-point assessment is more expensive to deliver than allowed for in the current funding band, however, there is also a demand issue,” said Annette Allmark, director of strategic policy at People 1st – the lead trailblazer for the level two airside operator standard with a funding band of £3,000.

“Some of this is due to the type of training and assessment required by the sector due to security and access to aviation airside.”

Meanwhile, the level four aviation operations manager is “very complex”, according to a spokesperson for Heathrow Airport, who said it could only be taught by industry experts with knowledge of specific airport procedures.

“It is therefore imperative that we don’t implement plans, until we have undertaken the training of our own team to ensure trained tutors can deliver the relevant industry expertise,” she added.

The aviation maintenance mechanic and survival equipment fitter standards were both designed specifically for the military.

“The reasoning why these have had no starts to date is both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are currently undertaking a strategic, staged approach to, implementing and delivering standards,” explained Alan Moss, head of apprenticeships for the Ministry of Defence.

“We are planning to utilise the survival equipment fitter later this year with the aviation maintenance mechanic following next year.”

Ros Burnley, the director of forestry consultancy firm Adrow Ltd, said it was “no surprise” that take-up of the forest operative standard has been slow because the industry has a low workforce and training costs are “increased” as jobs are all rural.

However, the sector has been “on the front foot in actively promoting it and in this we are seeing some early signs of success,” he claimed.

The old framework for the industry has also not yet been switched off, and the “standard is still ‘new’ which creates some nervousness”, Mr Burnley added.

For the power engineer (degree) apprenticeship, a spokesperson for the National Grid said the electric and gas firm does not have an “immediate business requirement to utilise this standard”.

FE Week understands that some employers in that industry are put off the degree programme because the apprentices will not be fully productive while they’re learning the trade which takes five years.

With regards to the road transport engineering manager apprenticeship, Mark Thornley, head of talent at Arriva UK Bus and Train, said his organisation has so far focused on “embedding” level three standards but will soon move on to “utilising” the level four.

And Mark Gardiner from the Medical Research Centre Harwell said the animal technologist standard has come up against some “obvious hurdles” including employers’ ability to “fund new apprenticeship posts or allocating 20 per cent of the time for current staff to join the scheme”.

It is not a surprise that uptake has been slow

The only review of standards that the IfA has conducted to date is based on funding bands and was launched for 31 apprenticeships in May – which included are some of the most popular.

However, the bespoke tailor and cutter level five apprenticeship is also involved.

While the review is taking place, the trailblazers said they could not discuss why there have been no starts on it yet.

However, FE Week understands that employers have found it too complex, to the point where no one wants to engage with it.

After being shown our analysis, Dr Susan Pember, a former top skills civil servant and director at community learning services membership body Holex, called on the IfA to “remove barriers, and do a stock take of why take up [on the 13 standards] is low”.

“They need to listen to employers, providers and apprentices and make the standards fit for delivery,” she added.

Skills minister Anne Milton said: “We are monitoring the new standards and are working to understand the reasons behind the small number where no starts have yet been recorded.”

The DfE added that it will take action on the unpopular standards where appropriate.

A specialist land-based college branded “unsafe” in a shocking grade four report in April has made swift improvements to ensure the safety and welfare of students.

Moulton College, based in Northamptonshire, was hit with an ‘inadequate’ rating after Ofsted found learners were in danger when studying in areas such as construction and equine studies.

It had its first monitoring visit report published on July 26, in which inspectors found senior managers had responded “swiftly to tackle the weaknesses identified during the previous inspection relating to the safety and welfare of students and apprentices”.

They commissioned an “external specialist to carry out a thorough review” and implemented a “range of measures that included extensive staff training in health and safety and in managing students’ behaviour in classrooms and in workshops”.

In one animal care lesson during the full inspection, Ofsted said a “poorly conceived” internet research task placed a high needs student “at risk of looking at inappropriate content”.

Upon their return, inspectors found managers have “reviewed and strengthened” safeguarding arrangements.

“Staff understand how to use the electronic software, introduced in October 2017, to enable them to report safeguarding or welfare concerns to the team of designated safeguarding leads,” they said.

Since their introduction, the safeguarding leads have logged and dealt with over 350 reported incidents.

But safeguarding wasn’t the only ‘inadequate’ element of the college that Ofsted previously found.

Many of the “weaknesses” in teaching, learning and assessment identified during the inspection “remain”.

Managers have also “not successfully” tackled weaknesses related to students’ personal development and behaviour. Attendance and punctuality in lessons is still “poor”.

However, a newly appointed quality team has begun to “overhaul the observation of teaching and learning scheme, which previously focused on compliance with expectations rather than on the quality of learning”.

Early indications are that the revised arrangements are having a “positive impact”.

Senior leadership was highly criticised in Ofsted’s grade four report of Moulton College, so much so that its principal, Stephen Davies, resigned after seven years in the job.

Ann Turner, who has nearly two decades of experience at a land-based college, took the reins in an interim capacity.

At the time of Ofsted’s monitoring visit, she had only been in post for four weeks, which was “too recent to have had an impact”.

The only full inspection report to be published for FE this week was for GSS Solutions Limited, a private provider in Warwickshire.

It was given a disappointing ‘requires improvement’ rating in its first ever visit from Ofsted.

“Senior leaders and managers have not secured sufficient oversight to provide sector-related benchmarking, advice and challenge,” inspectors said.

“Assessors do not effectively plan and provide teaching, learning and assessment that take learners’ starting points into account. The most able learners do not make the progress of which they are capable.”

They added that leaders have “insufficient focus” on improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.

There was one monitoring visit of a new apprenticeship provider, in which Deere Apprenticeships Ltd was given ‘reasonable progress’ verdicts in all three fields judged.

Senior leaders and managers at the Nottinghamshire-based provider are “very committed to providing a high standard of training for all apprentices,” inspectors said.

Lastly, adult and community provider The Mary Ward Centre (AE Centre), in London, maintained its ‘good’ rating following a short inspection.

 

GFE Colleges	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Moulton College	06/06/2018	26/07/2018	M	M

 

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
GSS Solution Limited	19/06/2018	23/07/2018	3	N/A
Deere Apprenticeships Ltd	11/07/2017	27/07/2018	M	M

 

Short inspections (remains grade 2)	Inspected	Published
The Mary Ward Centre (AE Centre)	27/06/2018	27/07/2018

 

The government appears to have broken its own rules in its Institutes of Technology competition, by putting NCG through to the final bidding round despite the group’s grade three Ofsted rating.

An update about the IoTs process was published yesterday which stated the Department for Education has now sent “interim guidance” about the next stage to the 16 providers successful in the previous round.

Surprisingly, however, the largest college group in the country was still included in the list of finalists even though it was downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ by the education watchdog last month.

DfE guidance for opening an IoT states that a provider’s Ofsted grade must be at least ‘good’.

A spokesperson for the department explained that NCG will need to improve its Ofsted rating by November to have a chance of getting approved.

“Applicants to the Institutes of Technology competition required at least a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted when stage one opened in December 2017,” she said.

”The deadline for stage two applications is in November 2018, and we require applicants to have at least a ‘good’ rating at that time or they will not progress further in the process.”

It was understood from DfE insiders that NCG would be thrown out of the IoT process following its grade three.

The apparent special treatment is likely to infuriate a number of other grade three providers who didn’t get the chance to apply in the first IoT round.

It will also raise questions about whether the decision to allow NCG to continue in the process is because the college group is now chaired by the former chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency which appears to be giving the go ahead to the rule break.

Two teams of inspectors were deployed to NCG in May, in a visit prompted by achievement rate concerns.

Ofsted then took little over a month to publish its report, giving it a damaging ‘requires improvement’ rating in all but two of the headline fields judges.

Yesterday’s IoT update said the DfE expects to publish the official guidance for the final stage in September, with the outcome then revealed in March 2019.

Each of the 16 providers are bidding for a share of a £170 million pot to open an institute.

IoTs, which were first mooted back in 2015, are intended to bring FE and HE providers together with employers to deliver technical skills training, with a particular focus on levels four and five.

According to application guidance from the DfE, they will offer “higher-level technical skills on a par with more academic routes” and will “achieve the same level of prestige as universities”.

Ofqual will soon begin auditing apprenticeship end-point assessment organisations to find out how they are mitigating risks around the capacity and capability of assessors.

The exams regulator today confirmed its approach to its external quality assurance of EPAs, by publishing a final set of rules.

The conditions and guidance, which come into force tomorrow, will lead to Ofqual carrying out audits of end-point assessment organisations to fish out any issues with examiners.

It comes after chief regulator Sally Collier (pictured) said she was concerned about assessor capacity and capability at the AELP conference last month.

She made a plea for delegates to help keep tabs on EPAs by joining an expert panel that looks into their technical problems.

“With these rules in place, we are now beginning a programme of work on the delivery of EPAs,” Ofqual said today.

“This will include a programme of audits to help understand how the EPAOs we regulate are mitigating risks around the capacity and capability of EPA assessors.

“Where an apprenticeship trailblazer group has selected Ofqual as the external quality assurer for its apprenticeship standard, all EPAOs offering EPAs for that standard must be (or become) Ofqual-regulated and all EPAs must meet these new conditions and our general conditions of recognition.”

The regulator reiterated, as Ms Collier did at the AELP conference, that it was not “lowering the recognition bar”.

It has instead “streamlined our recognition process for organisations seeking to offer EPAs, and we will be publishing further information in the coming weeks so that all organisations are able to decide at an early stage whether Ofqual regulation is for them”.

Today’s published set of rules include a number of amendments to original proposals following a two-month consultation earlier this year.

Included is a change which allows some parts of the EPA to take place at the training centre where the apprentice studied, as well as clarity around what end-point assessment organisations must contain and how specifications must be published.

Ofqual has so far been asked to provide external quality assurance for 55 apprenticeship standards – with another 37 in the pipeline.

As an EQA, the exams regulator also includes a technical evaluation of a proposed EPAs, to ensure that EPAOs have “interpreted assessment plans correctly and consistently so that employers get what they want and expect from the assessments”.

Ofqual has looked at 19 EPAs so far and asked EPAOs to make changes where required.

EQA providers oversee EPA assessment procedures and employer groups who develop new apprenticeships can choose the body that regulates their standards.

They can opt for one of four different EQA options: Ofqual, the Institute for Apprenticeships, a professional body, or an employer designed option.

Over three quarters of a million pounds will be invested in colleges over the next two years to engage inactive students in sport and physical activity.

AoC Sport announced today that Sport England will devote the sizeable chunk of its National Lottery funding to colleges from September 1, 2018 until August 31, 2020.

It will be used to run a series of “targeted interventions” aimed at increasing the levels of physical activity within “lower socio-economic groups, women and girls, inactive students and volunteers”.

According to Sport England, nearly one in five students at FE colleges in England are currently not active enough – which means 138,000 students are doing less than the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity each week.

“We are delighted that Sport England are continuing to invest in the college sector,” said AoC Sport managing director, Marcus Kingwell.

“Our vision is every student active and this funding will help us target the most inactive young people in colleges, which in turn will benefit their education, employability and health.”

The interventions planned over the next two years include a “This Girl Can Ambassador” programme, where ambassadors in at least 60 colleges will be trained to promote and deliver physical activity and sport to female college students.

They’ll encourage “non-traditional activities”, such as Raveminton Open in a new window which involves playing badminton under ultra-violet lights with fluorescent lines, neon nets and shuttlecocks sprayed with UV paint, as well as tag American football, and bubble football – where five-a-side football players go up against each while wearing an inflatable orb.

The funding will also be used to increase the diversity of student volunteers to “better reflect society,” an AoC Sport spokesperson said.

To achieve this, the association will work with departments in colleges other than sport with a diverse population to “ensure opportunities are available to all students”.

A marketing campaign which will include guidelines on regularity and intensity will also be launched to “start the conversation” on what being inactive actually means.

The £760,000 is in addition to the £5 million Sport England has already invested into 49 colleges, as part of the Tackling Inactivity in Colleges programme.

Cassell Bailey, head of children and young people (education) at Sport England, said: “College is a time when students often stop participating in sport and physical activity so this investment is a great opportunity to embed this into their lifestyles so they can continue to be active for years to come.

“Not only will it help improve their physical and mental health, it can also help them prepare for the challenge of university or the workplace.”

Sport England invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport.

A subsidiary company of the Association of Colleges, AoC Sport is a membership organisation which campaigns for every college student to participate regularly in physical activity.

FE Week has previously been media partner for the AoC Sport National Championships.

Training providers will have their European Social Fund cash protected until the end of 2020, even if a “no-deal” Brexit is reached.

Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured) made the promise today that any funding that organisations secure through EU programmes will be “guaranteed” by the UK government until that date.

It was always the case that the current ESF funding round, worth about €3 billion (£2.3billion) across England, would run over the period from 2014 to 2020.

But questions were raised if this would still happen in the event of the government and the EU ending Brexit negotiations without agreeing departure terms in 2019.

“The Treasury will guarantee funding for UK organisations which successfully bid directly to the European Commission until the end of this EU budget period if no deal is agreed,” the Treasury said today.

This will give potential applicants “continued confidence to bid for funding whatever the outcome of the negotiations, and ensure that UK organisations continue to benefit from funding post-Exit”.

The ESF was cash that the UK received, as a member state of the EU, to increase job opportunities and help people to improve their skill levels, particularly those who find it difficult to get work.

Although providers will be pleased that this current funding round of ESF is guaranteed to run until 2020, many are still concerned what happens after that deadline.

In April, the work and pensions committee said the government must “urgently” design a successor programme to the ESF to avoid a “disastrous” post-Brexit funding gap.

Leaving the EU gave the UK a “historic opportunity” to “design a truly world-class successor” programme that was “entirely in its national interests: plugging skills gaps, boosting productivity and lifting up disadvantaged communities,” the report said.

But it warned the government “must act now to guarantee certainty for providers and communities and avoid a potentially disastrous interruption in funding”.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Mr Hammond said: “We continue to make positive steps towards getting the best possible deal with the EU – one that works for the whole of the UK.

“The guarantee we are making today however means that, even in the unlikely event of a no-deal, our businesses, universities and local authorities can be confident that they will continue to receive the funding they successfully bid for from any EU programme.”

The Department for Education has this morning published its annual report, revealing payoffs, various bonuses and millions in unrecoverable debt.

The accounts sets out the expenditure and performance of the department over the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

FE Week has the main findings:

 

1. Hinds’ ministerial direction ‘demonstrated strong commitment’ to T-levels

The accounts take note of the education secretary’s rare ministerial direction on the implementation of the new technical qualifications.

On May 17 Jonathan Slater drew attention to the ambitious timetable and the challenge in ensuring that the first three T-levels would be ready to be taught from 2020 and beyond to a consistently high standard.

But education secretary Damian Hinds, having “considered the advice in detail”, was “convinced of the case to press ahead”. The direction “demonstrated the government’s strong commitment to the future success of the T-level programme,” according to the accounts.

 

2. Justine Greening was handed a £16k payoff

The former education secretary was given a £16,876 severance payment when she left the department in January.

Damian Hinds replaced her and he was paid £15,425 salary until the end of the year.

Former skills minister Robert Halfon received no pay-off when he was sacked in June. But he did pick up £7,000 including pension on top of his MPs salary for his time as a skills minister that year.

Anne Milton joined on June 12 and received £25,432 until the end of the year. The overall salary for a skills minister has not changed, and sits at £31,680 for a full year.

 

3. Bonuses for senior staff

Three DfE directors received bonuses in 2017-18. Peter Lauener, the former chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency received between £20,000 and £25,000 despite numerous torubles before he left, including two procurement fiascos and the Learndirect scandal.

Andrew McCully, the director general for infrastructure and funding, got between £10,000 and £15,000, and Paul Kett, director general for education standards, received between £5,000 and £10,000.

 

4. Presidents Club organiser Meller was paid £27k

Apprenticeships ambassador and businessman David Meller resigned as a non-executive board member at the DfE in January following revelations about the controversial Presidents Club charity dinner.

He set up the Meller Educational Trust, which runs four schools and a university technical college, and served as chair of the National Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and the Apprenticeship Delivery Board.

But he was also the co-chair of the charity set up to run the dinner, which was rocked by allegations of sexual harassment by guests following a Financial Times investigation.

Most non-executive board members are unpaid. However, DfE accounts show Meller was one of three to receive remuneration, paid £15,000 in 2016-17 and £12,500 in 2017-18.

The same payments were also made to board member Marion Plant, while Baroness McGregor Smith received £17,500 in 2016-17 and £15,000 in 2017-18.

 

5. Over £60m lost because of poor colleges and failed UTCs

As revealed in the ESFA’s annual accounts last week, the DfE waived huge amounts owing to its exceptional financial support for colleges.

The college with the biggest amount waived was Hull, where the ESFA abandoned £21,267,000. The second was Central Sussex College with £12,098,000, followed by Bournville College, which had £10.5 million waived.

Three failed University Technical Colleges – Daventry, Greater Manchester, and Lancashire – had a combined total of £3,137,000 written off as a result of closure.

 

6. Staff costs increased and spending on consultants and temporary staff on the rise

In 2017-18 the DfE spent £535 million on paying wages, up from £473 million the previous year.

The DfE meanwhile spent £9 million on consultancy in 2017-18, up from £6 million last year and £3.5 million in 2015-16.

Spending on temporary staff also rose to £27.2 million, up from £22.5 million last year.

 

7. The DfE employs 127 people ‘off-payroll’

The department and its various agencies is paying 127 staff off-payroll – something the Treasury isn’t too keen on because it means staff could use it as a tax dodge to pay a lower rate of tax.

These employees are paid more than £245 a day.

This includes 32 at the department itself, 54 at the ESFA and 21 at the Standards and Testing Agency.

Of the 127 arrangements, 27 have been in place for less than a year, 46 have been in place for between one and two years, 20 for between two and three years, nine between three and four years and 25 for more than four years.

 

8. 35 colleges in formal intervention

As at August 31, 2017, there were 35 colleges in intervention due to poor financial health. This was a decrease from the 40 at the same point in 2016.

Colleges that are in inadequate financial health can be referred to the FE Commissioner, who will conduct an intervention assessment.

 

9. Research spending has doubled in two years

In 2017-18, the DfE spent £22.6 million on research, compared to £16.7 million in 2016-17 and £11.1 million in 2015-16.

However, during that time, the DfE has grown in size, having taken on responsibility for adult skills and higher education in 2016.

None of its “key research strands” were for FE.