Gordon Ramsay wades into row over learner with dwarfism claiming college rejection

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has waded into a row over a learner with dwarfism who claims to have been rejected from a college cookery course because of his height.

The star restaurateur took to Twitter in support of 18-year-old Louis Makepeace (pictured above), who said he was told he couldn’t start a hospitality and catering course at Heart of Worcestershire College as he would pose a “health and safety risk”.

“Disgusting attitude, I’d offer him an apprenticeship any day,” Mr Ramsay tweeted.

Louis, who has achondroplasia, hit the headlines over the weekend after he said he was turned down from the course because of his diminutive stature – he’s just 3ft 10 inches tall.

His story has been reported by the BBC, the Daily Mail, and The Sun, among other outlets.

In a video posted to his YouTube channel today, Louis expressed his disbelief that his story had gone viral in the way it had.

“Gordon Ramsay has even got involved, which I’m grateful for. I really admire Gordon Ramsay – he’s inspirational to me”, Louis said.

The Sun reported on Monday that Louis had been told he “would be a health and safety risk and disruption to the other students and get in their way, which was really humiliating”.

Furthermore, his mum, Pauline Makepeace, said she was told by the course leader there was no point him doing the course as he would never be allowed to work in a restaurant kitchen.

However, the college has denied that Louis had ever been told he couldn’t attend his course.

 

It said it was carrying out a review to ensure that “all the appropriate adjustments to the kitchens that Louis needs to allow him to safely and successfully commence his course” were in place before he could be accepted onto the course.

That review is still ongoing, the college said, and “after further discussions have taken place both at the college and with Louis himself, we hope to have a final outcome by the end of this week”.

No more Mr Nice Guy: AoC boss ‘angry’ and will switch from ‘polite’ calls for more funding to ‘action’

After 10 years of “politely” highlighting the impact of funding cuts, the Association of Colleges will now make “a lot more noise”, after a plea to ministers for cash to fund a lecturer pay rise was rejected.

It will kick off its new louder strategy by holding a “week of action” in October, where students, staff, parents, employers, and stakeholders will be asked to “advocate for colleges”.

The action follows the Department for Education’s decision to fund a 3.5 per cent pay rise for school teachers while ignoring college lecturers – an announcement which left David Hughes (pictured), the boss of the AoC, “angry” and “frustrated”.

He wrote to education secretary Damian Hinds setting out the case for a similar pay increase in colleges in a letter, seen by FE Week, sent on July 19.

It explained the “unfair” discrepancy between average college and school teacher pay – £30,000 compared with £37,000 respectively – and how continuous government cuts have left it impossible for colleges to offer decent staff pay increases.

“Colleges have managed their budgets to cope with real-term funding cuts by making efficiency gains where they can but the scope for them to continue to do this has all-but run out,” the letter said.

“With nowhere else to turn, colleges have offered below-inflation pay rises for several years with the result that staff pay has been held back.

“We would like to ask DfE to provide funds to allow colleges to at least match the school teacher pay awards for 2018-19 and 2019-20.”

After sending the letter Mr Hughes said he had many discussions with DfE, the tone of which were “initially quite positive, based I think on the expectation that the Treasury would fully or partially fund the teachers’ pay award, giving them some potential to use savings for college pay”.

But when the announcement was made that DfE had to find savings in its own budget for school teacher salary rises, the tone became “less positive”.

He then received a letter from skills minister Anne Milton on August 21 which essentially said no to the request.

“Schools and colleges have different workforces and requirements, and the way pay is determined in those sectors is quite separate,” she said.

“We want to make sure that there is an effective funding system for FE which can support sustainable, high quality education. We are considering this as part of the upcoming spending review, scheduled to take place in 2019.”

Mr Hughes was “deeply disappointed” by the minister’s response.

He told FE Week that during the last 10 years of funding cuts to colleges his association has been “politely setting out how difficult that is and the impact on students and staff”.

But now “we need to try something different”.

“There is no more mileage in simply making the case, proving that funding is inadequate, trying to persuade DfE – we have achieved all of that, which is progress of sorts,” he said in a letter to the AoC’s members on Friday.

“What we need now is to make our voices heard on the political level, to fight for college and students’ needs in what looks set to be a tough set of spending decisions this autumn in the budget and more importantly in the Spending Review in early 2019.”

He told FE Week that his association was planning a “week of action” to start October 15.

“The issue is we are in a very tight funding financial constraint position with government so we have to make a lot more noise and get a lot more students, staff, parents, employers, stakeholders, partners to advocate for colleges,” he said.

“The week of action is going to ramp up the noise about how important colleges are.

“We’ll be doing that positively and politely, but we want to make as much noise as possible to say colleges are vital in every community and they really matter, and investment in colleges is not throwing money away.”

Mr Hughes said his association will decide exactly what action will be taken during that week in the coming weeks, and more information will be released next month.

The week of action will be held the same week that a national UCU ballot for industrial action over staff pay closes.

College denies learner with dwarfism was refused place, following national media reports

A college has denied that a learner with dwarfism was refused a place on a cookery course, following national media reports over the weekend that he had been branded a “health and safety risk”.

According to stories in the national press, including The Sun and the Mail Online, 18-year-old Louis Makepeace, who has achondroplasia and is just 3ft 10inches tall, was turned down by Heart of Worcestershire college due to his height.

But the college has today insisted that this isn’t true.

“We would like to state that at no point has Louis been told he could not attend his course but both Louis and Mrs Makepeace have been informed that the adjustments Louis requires will need to be agreed before an unconditional offer can be given,” a spokesperson said.

According to a story published by the Sun on Monday, Louis said he had been told he “would be a health and safety risk and disruption to the other students and get in their way, which was really humiliating”.

Furthermore, his mum, Pauline Makepeace, said she was told by the course leader there was no point him doing the course as he would never be allowed to work in a restaurant kitchen.

Louis, who completed the first year of a performing arts course at the college in 2016/17, had recently applied for a place on the college’s hospitality and catering course, which starts in September, the college said.

It is carrying out a review to “ensure all the appropriate adjustments to the kitchens that Louis needs to allow him to safely and successfully commence his course” are in place before he can be accepted onto the course.

That review is still ongoing, the college said, and “after further discussions have taken place both at the college and with Louis himself, we hope to have a final outcome by the end of this week”.

“The college has previously seen students with conditions similar to Louis succeed both academically and in industry and we have no doubt that Louis will too succeed in his chosen field,” the spokesperson said.

FE Week has attempted to contact Louis, but has not yet spoken to him. 

 

Ofsted slaps provider with grade 4 after evidence of copy and paste assessments

A Newcastle-based training provider with contracts worth £3.5 million last year is facing having them pulled after receiving the lowest possible grade overall from Ofsted this week.

But Northern Construction Training and Regeneration was rated ‘good’ for its apprenticeships provision, meaning it’s likely to keep its place on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s apprenticeships register.

Leaders at the provider, which offers loans-funded courses for adult learners as well as apprenticeships, were criticised for failing to “maintain sufficient oversight of the adult learning provision”, in a report published August 22 and based on an inspection in July.

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment for adult learners was deemed ‘inadequate’, as was safeguarding.

Assessment practices for retail qualifications were found to be “not consistently appropriate”.

Six out of 19 sample portfolios contained “identical word-processed text in assessed work, which had been subject to internal quality assurance checks and had been formally accredited”.

“Consequently, assessed and formally accredited work cannot be reliably attributed to individual learners, some of whom have received qualification certificates,” the report said.

However, the provider’s construction apprenticeship programme was found to be “managed well” and apprentices “make good progress”.

Employers “value the role that managers and staff play in developing apprenticeship programmes to meet their needs” and “speak highly of the contribution that apprentices make to their companies”.

At the time of inspection the provider had 423 adult learners on programme, and 75 apprentices.

NCTR, which hadn’t previously been inspected, had non-levy apprenticeship contracts worth £1,007,046 in 2017/18, the vast majority of which was for 16- to 18-year-old apprentices.

In addition, it had an advanced learner loan facility worth £2.5 million.

According to ESFA funding rules, a provider that receives an Ofsted rating of ‘inadequate’ overall will have its contracts pulled.

But the agency’s guidance for removing providers from the register of apprenticeship training providers is different.

It is based on a provider’s grade for their apprenticeship provision, which must be at last a grade three.

Because NCTR received a grade two for this provision, it will keep its place on the register – meaning that it will be able to continue offering apprenticeships to levy-paying employers.

However, neither the provider nor ESFA has yet confirmed that this will happen.

Ofsted watch: A ‘good’ two weeks for employer providers

It’s been a good two weeks for employer providers, as two have received ‘good’ ratings following their first ever inspections. 

The picture for independent learning providers is less positive, with both full inspection reports published in the last two weeks resulting in ‘inadequate’ verdicts. 

Senior leaders and managers at Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Limited have a “very good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses” of its provision, according to a report published August 13 and based on an inspection in late June.

Its offers apprenticeship training to its own staff, which inspectors rated ‘outstanding’.

Apprentices “successfully develop the high-level skills they need to work for a global vehicle manufacturer”, and “almost all” finish their training on time and “gain sustainable employment and advancement in their careers with Nissan”.

However, Nissan’s adult learning provision – which it offers to local residents – was found to be requiring improvement.

“Too many” adult learners failed to gain their qualifications, and they also “do not improve their English and mathematical skills well enough”.

Meanwhile, leaders and managers at United Utilities Water Limited’s “unwavering” commitment to offering high-quality apprenticeship provision was praised in a report published August 23 and based on an inspection at the beginning of the month.

Their “significant investment” in the training facilities meant apprentices had “exceptional facilities and resources that prepare them for a career in the water- and wastewater-treatment industry”.

Most apprentices at the company “make good progress” and “develop substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours”, while “almost all” finish their courses on time.

However, the “most able apprentices” were not “challenged to produce work of a very high standard and achieve the grades of which they are capable”, the report said.

“Significant difficulties” with management turnover at West Anglia Training Association, had led to a “high turnover among trainers and assessors”, according to a report published August 18 and based on an inspection in late June.

The slow recruitment of “appropriate staff” had led to “reputational damage” for the provider, leaving the remaining staff without “sufficient time at their disposal to enable apprentices to make good progress”.

Apprentices had a “poor learning experience”, inspectors noted, and “over time, too many apprentices have not achieved their qualifications and too few have achieved within the time allocated to them”.

Trustees at WATA, a group training association previously rated ‘requirements improvement’ were criticised for their narrow focus on “the financial sustainability of the organisation” and for failing to “hold leaders and managers to account for low outcomes over time”.

Northern Construction Training and Regeneration was rated ‘inadequate’ overall but ‘good’ for its apprenticeships provision following its first inspection, carried out mid-July, in a report published August 22.

Leaders at the provider, which offers loans-funded courses for adult learners and apprenticeships, were criticised for failing to “maintain sufficient oversight of the adult learning provision”.

However, the provider’s construction apprenticeship programme was found to be “managed well” and apprentices “make good progress”.

In addition to these four full inspection reports, a massive 12 monitoring visit reports have been published in the past two weeks.

These are reports into visits carried out to new apprenticeship providers, to monitor their progress.

One of these, the National Logistics Academy Ltd, was found to be making ‘significant progress’ in all three themes under review.

Senior leaders at the provider have a “clear and purposeful strategic ambition to be the leading provider of high-quality training for the logistics industry,” according to the report, published August 15 and based on a visit in July.

A further three providers made significant progress in at least one theme – NA College Trust, Halifax Opportunities Trust and Corndel Limited.

However, at the other end of the spectrum, two providers were found to be making inadequate progress in at least one area – the Education and Skills Partnership Limited, and N-Gaged Training and Recruitment Ltd.

The remaining six all made reasonable progress in all three areas: University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Utilities Academy Limited; Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; plus employer providers Nuffield Health, Rentokil Initial (1986) Ltd, and Moy Park Limited.

Two providers held onto their grade two following short inspections this fortnight: Eden Training Solutions Ltd and Health Education England.

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
West Anglia Training Association Ltd 26/06/2018 18/08/2018 4 3
Northern Construction Training and Regeneration 10/07/2018 22/08/2018 4 –
NA College Trust 12/07/2018 16/08/2018 M M
The Education and Skills Partnership Limited 17/07/2018 16/08/2018 M M
The National Logistics Academy Ltd 10/07/2018 15/08/2018 M M
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 18/07/2018 15/08/2018 M M
Halifax Opportunities Trust 19/07/2018 14/08/2018 M M
Corndel Limited 11/07/2018 18/08/2018 M M
N-Gaged Training and Recruitment Limited 01/08/2018 22/08/2018 M M
Utilities Academy Limited 17/07/2018 22/08/2018 M M
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 01/08/2018 24/08/2018 M M

 

Employer providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Limited 19/06/2018 13/08/2018 2 –
United Utilities Water Limited 01/08/2018 23/08/2018 2 –
Nuffield Health 25/07/2018 16/08/2018 M M
Rentokil Initial (1896) Ltd 17/07/2018 13/08/2018 M M
Moy Park Limited 01/08/2018 21/08/2018 M M

 

Short inspections (remains grade 2) Inspected Published
Eden Training Solutions Ltd 25/07/2018 15/08/2018
Health Education England 04/07/2018 13/08/2018

DfE in firing line with former skills minister for ‘misrepresentation’ and ‘discourtesy’

Chair of the education select committee Robert Halfon has accused the Department for Education of misrepresentation and discourtesy.

Yesterday afternoon the DfE published a blog, aimed at journalists, that claimed the former skills minister gave inaccurate apprenticeship figures in an interview with the BBC Today programme that morning.

Mr Halfon says this clearly misrepresented what he said, and the DfE didn’t “have the decency to check with me first”.

The DfE spent most of today deciding whether to respond, finally concluding they had “nothing to add” so would be declining to comment or amend the blog.

The dispute centres around Mr Halfon saying in the BBC interview: “the number of starts are declining, particularly in the 19-24 age bracket,” without specifying over what period.

The DfE jumped to the conclusion that this warranted a rebuttal in their media blog, because in the past year the starts for those aged 25 had fallen even further than those aged 19-24.

Mr Halfon later explained to FE Week that his remarks referred to a statement in the July 2018 House of Commons briefing paper on apprenticeship statistics, which said that “starts for those aged between 19 and 24 fell to its lowest level since 2009/10”.

“The DfE has clearly misrepresented what I said by jumping to the conclusion I was referring to changes in the previous year,” he told FE Week.

“I would hope next time the DfE would have the decency to check with me first, before they put out this kind of nonsense.”

He added: “And I hope that the permanent secretary will ensure this rebuttal blog is amended accordingly.”

FE Week has checked the official figures and the DfE is correct concerning the past year, but Mr Halfon is also correct.

His remarks relate to final figures for 2016/17, which showed that starts for 19 to 24-year-olds had fallen to their lowest level since 2009/10.

“As a former skills minister and now chair of the education select committee I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I’m supportive of the levy reforms, but have always tried to be constructive in offering suggestions for improvement,” Mr Halfon told FE Week.

The DfE’s response to his remarks was “not a very constructive way of proceeding”, he said.

The spat comes just days after the government refused to back its own manifesto commitment to 3m apprenticeship starts by mid-2020.

A spokesperson for the prime minister is reported to have dodged the question three times during a Downing Street lobby briefing on Monday morning, and the DfE subsequently declined to comment on the matter.

The target is slipping further out of reach, with FE Week analysis of the latest start figures showing them to be 414,300 or 23 per cent down on where they need to be to hit the target.

UCU launches national ballot for fresh college strike action over pay claim

The University and College Union has begun balloting its members for strike action, after colleges failed to meet their demands over this year’s pay claim.

College staff were left bitterly disappointed in July when the AoC said it was unable to recommend a salary increase of five per cent, and was instead only able to propose a “substantial pay package” over two years dependent on government funding.

The UCU described the proposal as “bizarre” and warned that an immediate solution was needed if colleges wanted to avoid strikes in the autumn.

No such action has been forthcoming and the government has outright refused to provide the funds needed to increase staff pay – even though it was able to increase school teacher pay by 3.5 per cent.

“Our pay ballot opens this week because staff are fed up with excuses from colleges and government to hold down their pay,” said a UCU spokesperson today.

“Colleges would have been foolish to rely solely on a plea to government to meet staff pay expectations and must now find the money from elsewhere.”

He added that it is “disappointing” that the government is refusing to back FE and its staff by providing extra funds for a “deserved” pay increase.

“We will continue to work with the sector to lobby for fairer funding,” the spokesperson said.

“However, this does not let colleges off the hook when it comes to staff pay.”

The ballot closes on October 19 and industrial action, if voted for, is likely to take place later that month.

Responding to the ballots, AoC boss David Hughes said: “This confirms the risk which I have made very clear to DfE of possible actions in this academic year, with the impact that has on students, morale and confidence.”

There is a huge discrepancy between average college and school teacher pay – £30,000 compared with £37,000 respectively.

Mr Hughes told FE Week he has “every sympathy” with college staff who are not being paid as much as they think they should be paid.

“I can understand if they are angry that makes people despondent and they have the right to take strike action,” he said.

“I’d rather they didn’t have to, we need to think about the impact on students.”

But he added that in a “political world” strike action is “the only step workers believe they can take and sometimes it works”.

“I don’t think this is the last step staff can do now,” he said.

“Quite often strike action will impact directly on the students staff are committed to supporting. It can damage the student experience.”

UCU wrote to skills minister Anne Milton in July setting out the case for extra funding, claiming FE has reached “a crisis point on pay”.

Trade unions also wrote to the AoC in May to spell out exactly why they resubmitted a claim for a raise of five per cent for 2018/19.

The unions want a guaranteed minimum increase of £1,500 for the lowest-paid staff where a five-per-cent rise is lower than £1,500.

Last year’s 1 per cent pay offer sparked a wave of industrial action among disgruntled college staff.

Manchester College learner “excited about the future” after passing GCSEs on fifth attempt

A 19-year-old learner at The Manchester College is full of excitement for the future, having finally passed his English and maths GCSEs after five attempts.

Jaycy Okpeahior [pictured above] spoke to FE Week of his determination to make the grade in these core subjects – without which he would not be able to progress to university.  

“It feels so good to finally pass! It’s such a satisfying feeling and it means I never have to take a maths exam ever again,” he said.

“I was determined to get my pass and to get them out of the way. The University of Salford, and in fact every university course I looked at, insisted that I have those passes to be accepted onto the course, so my career was dependant on these results.”

Jaycy, who moved to Manchester from Spain at the age of 15, sat the exams for the first time at secondary school but failed both.

He then went on to resit both four times while studying a level three diploma in business venture with entrepreneurship and marketing at The Manchester College – missing out by a single point on one attempt.

Jaycy finally achieved his goal this morning, with a grade four in maths and a grade five in English.

“I’m so excited about the future now,” he said.

Another learner at The Manchester College is also celebrating success in her maths GCSE resit today, having achieved a grade four.

Siena Gooderham, 17, was caught up in the tragic attack at the Manchester Arena in May last year, which happened the night before she sat her maths exam for the first time.

She ended up getting a grade three, missing out on the all-important grade four by just a few points.

“I’d suffered from anxiety before, but after the arena attack it got much worse,” she said.

She attributed her success second time around to the support she received from her college maths tutor Jaqueline Chrystie-Lowe.

“She has given everyone time to understand the topic, and also practised a lot of revision techniques with us. All of this meant that I wasn’t panicking at all when it came to the actual exam,” Siena said.

She will now move onto the second year of her level three extended diploma in creative media production (film and broadcast).

“With every time you have to resit an exam, it chips away at a student’s confidence,” said Ms Chrystie-Lowe.

“But my advice to them is to get the pass and then it is done.”

Jaycy and Siena were among more than 36,000 people aged 17 or above in England to have passed GCSE maths today, many of whom would also have been resitting the exam.

According to figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications, 160,519 older learners in England sat GCSE maths this year, of whom 22.6 per cent achieved at least a grade four.

Meanwhile, 33 per cent of the 148,894 learners in England aged 17 or above who sat GCSE English scored at least a four. 

The condition of funding rule, introduced in 2013, means that all students without at least a grade 4 – or a C, under the old alphabetical grading system – in English or maths must continue to study these subjects as part of their study programme.

Those with a grade 3, or D in the old system, must resit the GCSE exam rather than an alternative.

The policy has proved contentious – with many calling for it to be scrapped.

These include Association of Employment and Learning Providers boss Mark Dawe, who reiterated the demand following today’s results.

“We shouldn’t be subjecting tens of thousands of vulnerable young people to multiple failure and demotivating them for another couple of years, so it’s time for the Secretary of State to draw a line through this failed policy,” he said.

And his counterpart at the Association of Colleges, David Hughes said: “After five years of putting students through GCSE resits, colleges can confirm that the policy does not work and is an obstacle to the ambition that we all share for students.”

IfA refuses to reveal funding band review recommendations

The Institute for Apprenticeships will not publicly reveal the recommendations from its funding band review – despite sharing them with the employer groups involved.

A number of those employer groups have come forward with the outcomes, and FE Week has reported on six of them.

But despite repeated requests for the full list, the IfA has refused, insisting that it would be “premature” to share it.

The information “is not final” and could be subject to change, an IfA spokesperson told FE Week.

“What we’re not choosing to do at this moment in time is to share those recommendations, should there be a change as a result of the Department for Education, or as a result of any appeal that goes through,” she said.

“We’re in a period where we have to wait for the final decision, which will be made by the DfE. At that stage we’ll be happy to publish that on our website.”

The institute’s “priority” at the moment is to communicate with the employer groups behind the standards, rather than with the “wider public”.

“At this stage, who we need to be communicating with is the Trailblazers. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re giving them time to review our recommendations and come back to us,” she said.

“It’s not that we’re trying to hide anything – it’s the complete opposite,” she insisted.

“We’ve told everybody what’s happening, but it’s now time for us to give the Trailblazers those 10 days in which they can appeal the process if they want to.” 

The funding band review was launched in May by the IfA at the request of the DfE.

Its aim is to “help make sure that employers can access high quality apprenticeships and that funding bands represent good value for money for employers and government”.

Any recommendations from the review, which covers 31 standards, including some of the most popular, are subject to possible appear by the employer group followed by final sign-off by the education secretary, Damian Hinds.

FE Week has so far reported on the outcomes of six of the reviews, all of which have resulted in a recommendation to lower the funding band.

The level six chartered manager degree apprenticeship is facing the largest cut, from £27,000 to £22,000.

The level two hair professional standard is facing a 22 per cent reduction, from £9,000 to £7,000, as is the level five operations/ departmental manager.

The level two retailer standard is set to be reduced by £1,000, or 20 per cent, from £5,000 to £4,000.

Meanwhile the level three team leader/ supervisor and level two customer service practitioner standards are both facing £500 cuts – from £5,000 to £4,500 for the former, and from £4,000 to £3,500 for the latter.

Writing exclusively for FE Week, Sir Gerry Berragan, the IfA’s chief executive, said that some of the reviews had resulted in a recommendation that the band “stay the same, some increase, and some decrease”, he said.

FE Week has asked for a breakdown of the number of reviews that have so far resulted in a recommendation for the funding band to stay the same, increase or to decrease, but has not yet received an answer.