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.

Controversial management fees in subcontracting are set to be capped for the first time, FE Week can reveal.

The Greater London Authority has set out plans to introduce a 20 per cent limit on top slices for adult skills provision when devolution kicks in next year.

It follows sector-wide concerns that in many cases cash meant for learning has been diverted as prime providers levy what are widely seen as excessive management fees to cover administrative costs.

The Department for Education’s decision about introducing a cap was kicked into the long grass in August – delaying any verdict until at least the end of 2018 despite calls for a quick outcome.

We are not convinced that establishing a ‘norm’ on subcontractor fees would be helpful

But while ministers continue to mull over their decision, London mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured) has made up his mind and is currently changing the GLA’s funding rules.

A briefing document published ahead of a GLA meeting about the adult education budget this month states two “key proposed changes in our approach, compared with that of ESFA” regarding “conditions of funding”.

The main change includes a “requirement for providers to seek approval for any in-year changes to subcontracting and a proposed cap of 20 per cent on subcontracting fees”.

The briefing document also provides an interim analysis report of the consultation responses gathered through the GLA’s ‘Skills for Londoners Framework’.

“There was majority support for a 20 per cent cap on subcontractor management fees, providing higher or varied fees could be negotiated where required,” it said.

A GLA spokesperson told FE Week the cap will apply to all funding, both procured contracts and grant awards.

The news of the limit is likely to send alarm bells ringing at London providers that charge higher than 20 per cent top-slices as it will make a heavy dent in their income.

Using ESFA subcontracting data for 2016/17, FE Week identified eight colleges that entered arrangements where they charged more than 20 per cent fees.

At Capital City College, for example, it had subcontracting deals totalling £1,159,424 last year and top-sliced £486,280, or 42 per cent.

If the GLA’s 20 per cent cap had been introduced last year the college would have lost £254,391.

The college group said its member, the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, would be most affected by the limit.

“The college negotiates its management fees with sub-contractors based on the extent of services it provides,” said CONEL’s interim principal Kurt Hintz.

“Any caps, although well intended, will interfere with this process and make sub-contracting less flexible and potentially disadvantage or exclude especially unique or small providers from accessing the support they need from a large ‘prime’ contractor.”

New City College, which had top-slices of up to 34 per cent in 2016/17 for AEB deals, told FE Week it did not support the proposed cap as it believes it is “motivated by the wrong reasons”.

“Some smaller providers need substantial support to build their capacity and this justifies a higher subcontracting fee,” a spokesperson said.

Richmond upon Thames College had management fees reaching 31 per cent last year.

Its principal, Robin Ghurbhurun, said that while a 20 per cent cap is “not unreasonable” and it poses no problem for the college “as we have planned to move” to the amount, there should be the “flexibility to locally negotiate a higher per cent rate if additional services are provided”.

Given the college responses, it came as no surprise that the Association of Colleges wasn’t supportive of the plan.

“We are not convinced that establishing a ‘norm’ on subcontractor fees would be helpful,” said Mary Vine-Morris, the AoC’s area director for London.

“Subcontracting receives misleading attention. It can be an enabling mechanism that allows smaller organisations and niche providers to contribute to the delivery of a comprehensive package of learner support.”

Several FE sector representative groups, with the notable exception of the AoC, published best practice guidance in March stating that management fees in subcontracting should not be more than 20 per cent.

Mark Dawe, boss of the AELP – which led on the guidance – welcomed the GLA’s cap.

“This means more taxpayers’ money reaches frontline delivery for the benefit of London’s businesses and adult learners,” he told FE Week.

“There is no reason why the 20 per cent cap shouldn’t be adopted as a maximum nationally and in many cases it should be substantially less.

“We very much welcome the lead that the GLA has taken on this.”

The Association of Colleges has this morning published its proposed new senior staff pay code for colleges.

FE Week revealed last night that refreshed remuneration guidance was being developed as top level pay across the education sector continues to be heavily scrutinised.

A consultation for the new code, which encompasses “three core principles: fairness, independence and transparency”, has now been launched.

FE Week has pulled out the main proposals.

 

1. Seniors mustn’t get a pay rise unless all staff do

Tension within some colleges between lecturers and their bosses have intensified over recent years as leaders enjoy bumper wage increases while pay for lower-level staff has reportedly failed to keep up with inflation.

The AoC wants to put a stop to this.

“Senior post holder remuneration should be determined in the context of each college’s approach to rewarding all its staff, and in particular, consideration should be given annually to the rate of increase of the average remuneration of all other staff,” it recommends.

 

2. The top boss cannot be involved in deciding pay

No individual should be involved in determining their own remuneration, according to the AoC.

Principals are often members of their pay committees to act as an observer without voting rights.

But the association’s new code says the chief executive/principal must “not be a member of the remuneration committee” in any circumstance.

“Remuneration committees must be independent, competent and should not be chaired by the chair of the governing body,” it adds.

 

3. Colleges should publish principal salaries publicly and separately to all senior staff

Although the AoC says each college should provide justification for senior post holders remuneration to its governing body, it wants the remuneration of the chief executive/principal to be “separately justified, published and related to the remuneration of all staff within the organisation”.

Colleges should publish a “readily accessible annual statement, based on an annual report to its governing body” for senior pay.

This should include: a list of senior post holders within the remit of remuneration committee; its policy on the remuneration for post holders within the remit of Remuneration Committee; its choice of comparator college(s)/organisation(s); its policy on income derived from external activities; the pay multiple of the principal and the median earnings of the institution’s whole workforce, illustrating how that multiple has changed over time and, if it is significantly above average, an explanation of why; and an explanation of any significant changes.

 

4. Keep bonus and severance payments ‘fair and reasonable’

“Awards made in respect of annual bonus arrangements linked to the achievement of specific annual objectives should not be consolidated,” the AoC recommends.

“Any severance payments must be reasonable and justifiable.”

 

5. Seniors must justify income they receive from outside organisations

The AoC recommends that there should be a “clear and justifiable rationale for the retention of any income generated by an individual from external bodies in a personal capacity”.

This would apply to any college seniors who are members of the Institute for Apprenticeships board, for example, who are paid £15,000 a year.