The Construction Industry Training Board has struck a new deal to work with colleges after concerns were raised that its “reverse subcontracting” proposal would have broken funding rules.

The updated contract for non-levy apprenticeships could still see colleges paying the CITB around £1,600 per learner – but this is about half of what was originally proposed.

In August the construction board tried to get colleges to enter “reverse subcontracting” arrangements where it would charge top-slices of at least 28 per cent, even though it would be the college that was the prime.

We are pleased that we have now reached a positive agreement

This came after the CITB failed to win a non-levy apprenticeships contract and was scratching around for ways to continue making money through the programmes.

But the Association of Colleges stepped in and said the deal would actually break government rules because the “services” being offered, such as recruitment and functional skills checks on maths and English, “weren’t eligible for funding”.

The new deal is now compliant with the rules and “certainly is not a reverse subcontract”, according to Teresa Frith, senior skills policy manager at the AoC.

“Rather than doing the service on a percentage of a contract, they are going to identify what they feel that service will cost to deliver and suggest that as a basis,” she told FE Week.

On offer is a “split process”. Part one is a fee for sign-up services, where the CITB will source the college an “oven-ready learner and employer”, with paperwork filled out to the point where the college can take control.

FE Week understands the cost of this will be £700.

The second service on offer is a fee for site visits.

“This is where they [CITB] undertakes the liaison with the employer and follows the apprentice around from site to site, then feeds back to the college to let them know how the on-the-job training is matching the 20 per cent off the job, and so on,” Ms Frith said.

FE Week has been informed that for a two-year apprenticeship programme the CITB is stating a minimum of six visits – four site and two college – should be carried out at £150 each.

Over the two years, if six site visits are carried out the college would pay £900.

It is, however, down to each different college to negotiate how many site visits a learner will have during their programme.

CITB will support colleges to ensure that learners can achieve their skills objectives during their apprenticeship programme

Colleges that opt to use both services can expect to pay around £1,600 per learner.

“The AoC and CITB have been working together on arrangements for non-apprenticeship levy-paying employers,” said Gillian Cain, head of apprenticeships at CITB.

“We are pleased that we have now reached a positive agreement, which we believe represents good value for all parties and complies with funding rules.

“CITB will support colleges to ensure that learners can achieve their skills objectives during their apprenticeship programme. Colleges can choose to receive this support from CITB and would pay a fee for these services, but are under no obligation to do so.”

Before the levy, the CITB would use its apprenticeships contract as a prime and subcontract the training out to colleges. Following its failure in the government’s non-levy procurement, the CITB wanted colleges to agree to a “reversal of our contracts”.

In this scheme, colleges would have been the prime but would have paid a huge management fee, believed to range from 28 to 36 per cent, like a subcontractor, for which the CITB would have given access to construction employers and provided other services such as inductions and health and safety training.

It would have meant that for apprentices on the carpentry and joinery level-two standard, for example, the training provider would receive £12,000 government funding but have to give £3,360 or more of it to the CITB.

The government has agreed to pay the wages of around 40 staff from apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance until the end of the month, even though the company ceased trading last week.

Nearly 500 people lost their jobs on October 11 as the provider, better known as 3aaa, had its funding withdrawn by the Education and Skills Funding Agency following a second investigation, the findings of which have now been passed on to the police.

The company’s website says it has now “ceased trading”, but questions have been raised over whether or not the provider has actually gone into administration. FE Week has so far been unable to confirm if any administrators have, in fact, been called in.

Regardless of 3aaa’s status, the ESFA is now tasked with finding new training providers for around 4,500 affected apprentices – but it has drafted in some unexpected help for the mammoth task.

Special treatment is being offered to around 40 members of 3aaa’s staff who have been asked to stay on, with salaries paid for by the ESFA until the end of October to move the learners on.

A spokesperson for the agency confirmed this and said the decision was made to ensure the apprentices are transferred to the right providers with a smooth transition.

FE Week understands this is the first time the ESFA has made such an arrangement – to keep paying the now-out-of-work staff after withdrawing their provider’s skills contracts.

It is retaining at least one staff member in each of 3aaa’s “academies” spread across the country.

In addition, it is understood that one of 3aaa’s top senior leaders, Anthony Bromirski, the company’s director of operations since 2013, is also being paid until the end of October.

FE Week approached him for comment but he did not respond.

The decision to keep on 3aaa staff to help with the transfer of apprentices may well have been affected by the ESFA’s past experience of carrying out such a strenuous task.

Another of the largest apprenticeship providers in England, First4Skills, called in the administrators after the agency terminated its contract in March 2017.

The provider, which held an annual £15 million apprenticeship allocation, had around 6,500 apprentices, all of whom needed to be found new training companies.

When asked by FE Week if the ESFA was keeping on the 3aaa staff because it doesn’t have enough resources, a spokesperson denied this was the case.

3aaa received over £31 million in government funding last year and had the largest allocation for non-levy apprenticeships – standing at nearly £22 million.

The government launched a second investigation into the company earlier this year following claims by a whistle-blower that prompted Ofsted to declare its inspection of the formerly “outstanding” 3aaa in June “incomplete”.

The first ESFA investigation, carried out by auditing firm KPMG in 2016, found dozens of success rate “overclaims”.

Following a meeting with the ESFA on October 10 this month, the agency decided not to provide any more public money to the company and withdrew its contracts.

The findings of the new investigation, which have so far not been shared, have been passed on to the police through Action Fraud.

Derbyshire Constabulary is now leading on enquiries.

In an email to customers last week, 3aaa managing director Richard Irons said any “historic data issues or previous investigations into the business” are “categorically not part of our current dialogue with the ESFA and precede new management”.

3aaa’s co-founders, Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson, resigned last month and have been uncontactable ever since, despite this newspaper’s numerous attempts to elicit comment.

Mr Marples took down his LinkedIn and Facebook pages last week. He then resigned from his position as chair of the Spencer Academies Trust.

The principal of another struggling college has resigned with immediate effect.

Terry Jones (pictured) had been in charge of Peterborough Regional College since July 2015 but today stood down after agreeing with the board that a “different skill set is now required”.

He will however stay on as the college’s chief executive until the end of the year.

It comes over a year since the college was hit with a ‘requires improvement’ verdict from Ofsted, which heavily criticised leaders for allowing achievement rates to fall.

Peterborough Regional today released a statement thanking Mr Jones for his service, during which time the college has “grown its income sustainably, acquired a new subsidiary company (CTS Ltd), created the iMET Centre in collaboration with Cambridge Regional College and won significant funding for the University project”.

“Although our achievement rates have risen, the board and Terry are in full agreement that a different skill set is now required to accelerate and deepen those improvements,” it added.

“For that reason, it has been mutually agreed that Terry will leave PRC at the end of this year and that he will stand down as principal immediately to support transition to a successor at the earliest opportunity.”

Peter Walker, currently vice principal of the college, will become acting principal while the process to find a new leader is carried out.

Peterborough Regional’s apprenticeship achievement rates sat at 68.6 per cent in 2014/15 but fell to 59.8 per cent a year later, and fell again to 59.2 per cent in 2016/17.

For its national education and training achievement rates, the college achieved 76.9 per cent in 2014/15, but dropped to 69.1 per cent the following year. They did however increase to 75.2 per cent in 2016/17.

In Ofsted’s grade three report for Peterborough Regional, published in July 2017, inspectors said governors have been “slow to challenge leaders to reverse the sharp decline in achievement for learners and apprentices”.

They added that the principal and new management teams were “beginning to improve performance” but they “are not yet ensuring good standards in teaching, learning and assessment across all subjects”.

It had 7,500 learners at the time of inspection.

The college’s most recent accounts, for 2016/17, show it had generated a deficit of £1 million. It had also “accumulated reserves of £11.4 million and cash balances of £2.6 million”.

Grade three colleges are in scope for FE Commissioner intervention, but it is unclear at this stage if Richard Atkins’ team has visited the college since its ‘requires improvement’ report.

Ian Jackson, chair of Peterborough Regional’s board of governors, said: “We are very grateful to Terry for the energy and passion that he has brought to the college over the last three years and for the significant achievements made during his time as principal.”

Mr Walker has spent the last 11 years leading the college’s business support systems and been responsible for their finances.

“Peter’s main focus over the next few months will be on driving forward our curriculum and quality improvement plan,” Mr Jackson continued.

“Improving student success rates is central to our future success – much has already been achieved through our Ofsted improvement plan, but there is always more to do.”

Mr Jones’ resignation from a major college is the fifth in just four weeks.

John Connolly left the RNN Group on Monday after year in which the group planned for a loss of over £1 million. Andrew Cleaves, one of the highest paid principals in the country, stepped down from Birmingham Metropolitan College on September 25.

He was followed by Dame Asha Khemka, another highly paid principal, who resigned as principal of West Notts on October 1. And last week, Joe Docherty quit as principal of the NCG group with immediate effect.

The skills minister declared herself to be “pleased and excited” to be at the Federation of Awarding Bodies annual conference, as she made good on the government’s promise to reset its relationship with the federation following its aborted legal challenge this summer.

Speaking on the first day of the event, held in Leicester on October 18 and 19, Anne Milton made clear that she planned to work together with awarding organisations to implement the government’s reforms.

“For T-levels to be a success we need to get to a whole new level of teamwork. We need partnership across the entire system,” she said.

Partnership, Ms Milton explained, meant “you being with us every step of the way”.

“It means that we want to listen and learn from you. It means that we want to draw on the huge amount of experience that you have behind you.”

The skills minister also referred to the controversial tender process for the qualifications, that will see just one awarding body selected to deliver each one.

In July this year FAB threatened legal action against the government’s proposals for the new qualifications, on the grounds that the timescales were irrational, there was a lack of proper engagement on the single-provider model and they would have a disproportionate effect on the sector.

However, these plans were dropped in early August after the Department for Education watered down a number of its plans and offered to reset its relationship with awarding bodies.

The closing date for bids in the tender is October 26, and Ms Milton said she had “no doubt we’ll get some really strong bids because this is a chance to be at the forefront of some really groundbreaking and lasting changes”.

With 22 T-levels yet to launch, she said it “would be really great to see bids from all parts of the sector, including awarding bodies pooling their expertise in consortia”.

Ms Milton had opened her speech by saying she was “particularly pleased to be able to use one of the best acronyms in the business” and declared “you are fabulous”.

She closed her speech by expressing her gratitude for being invited to speak at the event.

“I look forward to continuing to work together, making sure we get all our changes right,” she said.

Ms Milton’s remarks about T-levels followed a plea from FAB chair Paul Eeles during his speech immediately before the skills minister took to the stage.

He said the federation supported the “principle of T-levels as part of a holistic approach to technical-education reform”.

But he said the organisation “would like to see a more proactive approach to encourage consortia bids from our members so that we avoid the single point of failure problem, of awarding just a single licence per T-Level pathway”.

Mr Eeles said he believed “we can positively reset our relationship with government, despite the recent challenges”, and that he was “looking forward” to working more closely with government “to make the technical education reforms a real success”.

The skills minister met with the Institute for Apprenticeships’ panel of apprentices for the first time yesterday, a year and a half after it was established.

Anne Milton met 13 members of the 21-strong panel during a special meeting at the Houses of Parliament where she consulted them on the “challenges” they have experienced with their training programmes.

She asked them to feed back to her and the IfA regularly in the coming months on their experiences with employers and training providers, and wider issues with the reform programme.

The minister came under fire earlier this year for failing to meet the apprentice panel more than a year after it was formed.

“With the IfA just having taken on a daunting set of new responsibilities for technical skills, isn’t it crucial that the minister does get face to face personal feedback rapidly, both from the apprentices panel and its board?”, said shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden in April.

After finally meeting with the panel yesterday, Ms Milton said: “It was great to see how the panel of apprentices operates. Their input into how we run the apprenticeship programme is invaluable.

“For me it was extremely valuable to meet a group of apprentices from a wide variety of sectors.”

Apprentices who attended were representative of many sectors including hospitality, business administration, mineral products technology, civil engineering, science and laboratory, and digital and technology solutions.

Rosie Smith, aged 19, a level three business administration apprentice with City & Guilds, said: “I have never been in that environment before, so it was a really exciting opportunity for me to meet and talk to such an important minister.”

Louis Curtis, 20, a level five apprentice in mineral product technology for Aggregate Industries, said: “The interest that she took in us and the importance that she placed on what we are doing as a panel was really encouraging.

“I think apprentices are a key stakeholder for the future of apprenticeships.

“We are the ones being trained and turned into better employees and better people – so it makes sense for her to take on board our views and experiences.”

IfA responsibilities include overseeing development and approval of new apprenticeship standards and assessment plans, advising employers on government funding for standards, and quality-assuring the delivery of apprenticeship end-point assessments.

It will also oversee T-levels, the government’s new technical qualifications, which will appear starting from 2020.

Ms Milton advised the apprentice panel to closely follow future parliamentary questions relating to apprenticeships, that she and other ministers are posed in the House of Commons, to help inform their future feedback.

Sir Gerry Berragan, chief executive of the IfA, also attended the meeting.

“It was fantastic to see our apprentices – who represent a great cross section of learners across the country – speak with the minister about important issues affecting apprentices,” he said.

“I rely on them for getting the apprentice view on how things are working and think they do a great job. I think we all learned a lot to take away.”

The government has today released figures for outcomes of FE learners, showing stark gender pay gaps, differences in earnings and future employment and learning across the sector.

The data covers the destinations of 1.1 million learners who completed an FE course between 2013-14 and 2015-16, and the earnings of those who studied between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

Here are five things that we learnt.

 

1. Level four apprenticeships were the biggest earners

Those who took a higher apprenticeship course earned on average £17,400 one year after study, but this grew by a whopping 53 per cent to hit £26,700 five years after study. In contrast, learners on an intermediate apprenticeship course were more likely to start off on £13,500, rising just 33 per cent to £17,900 in five years.

There was also a big difference in earnings depending on subject. Those who took an advanced apprenticeship in engineering were paid an average of £27,400 one year later, but those taking a direct learning support qualification had an average salary of £12,800.

On average, annual earnings rose by seven per cent every year for intermediate apprenticeships, six per cent every year for advanced apprenticeships and 11 per cent for level four apprenticeships.

2. Men earned a LOT more than women

When looking into the gender pay gap of the salary data, there is a clear divide between the earnings of men and women.

Five years after taking a higher apprenticeship, men were earning an average salary of £29,000 but women were paid £25,000. A similar pay difference is found in advanced apprenticeships, with men earning £21,000 after five years but women on £16,000.

The starkest difference can be found at level six skills courses. Women, on average, began their careers on £23,000 while men earned a starting salary of £38,400. Five years after study, this gap rises even further, with women on £24,600 and men on £42,700.

 

3. Most learners went on to be in sustained employment

Sustained employment, classed as being in paid employment or self-employment for five of the six months between October and March in the academic year 2016-17, was the most common destination for FE learners.

The figures show that 65 per cent of learners were in sustained employment, with five per cent of those self-employed and 13 per cent studying alongside their employment. Of the 221,400 learners who had been receiving out-of-work benefits when they began their course, 46 per cent ended up in sustained employment, a drop of two per cent of the year before.

4. Almost a quarter continued learning

The data shows that 23 per cent of learners were continuing their education a year later, of which 13 per cent were also in sustained employment. Almost half were on an apprenticeship (five per cent), a higher education course (four per cent) or studying for a qualification at level four (one per cent).

The figures also show success for access to higher education courses, with 61 per cent of learners who completed a course enrolled in higher education by the next academic year.

 

5. Traineeships are growing in popularity

The number of learners completing a traineeship has more than trebled since it was introduced, growing from 4,750 in 2013-14 to 17,230 in 2015-16.

Of those who took a traineeship in 2015-16, 51 per cent were in sustained employment a year later and 30 per cent were in sustained learning, of which 18 per cent progressed to an apprenticeship

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the new national standards for digital skills, including plans for new qualifications at two levels.

The consultation sets out the government’s plans to overhaul the current national standards, which set out core digital skills, as well as improving basic digital skills with qualifications at ‘beginner’ and ‘essential’ levels. 

All adults without basic digital skills will be able to enrol on the new qualifications free of charge from 2020, as previously reported by FE Week.

Free digital skills training for adults was first announced by the government in October 2016, and became law in April 2017 as part of the Digital Economy Act. Funding for the courses will come from the existing £1.5 billion annual adult education budget.

The consultation document said the publicly funded digital skills courses will be “offered up to and including the ‘essential’ level (level 1)”, but that extending the entitlement to courses at level 2 would be considered “in the longer term”.

It added that, in order to make sure that only those adults who do not have secure basic digital skills receive funding, providers will need to carry out stringent checks on learners.

This will include assessing their current skill level, ongoing assessment to support learning, and recording evidence of all assessment outcomes in a learner file.

However, the document also noted that the government had “found few initial assessments for basic digital skills that would meet the proposed AEB funding rules” and said it would “welcome” examples of best practice.

“In advance of introducing the entitlement in 2020, we will publish a list of qualifications eligible to be included in the digital entitlement offer, alongside those specified for English and maths,” it said.

“For a qualification to be approved as part of the entitlement offer, awarding organisations will need to submit qualifications developed on the new national standards for consideration against the qualification eligibility principles. Further details on this process will be confirmed in due course.”

Announcing the consultation launch, skills minister Anne Milton warned that one in five people living in the UK do not have “basic digital skills”, and said increasing understanding was a “big challenge to tackle”.

The ‘beginner’ qualification will be designed for adults with little or no prior experience of using digital devices or the internet, and will include basic skills like using a search engine, sending and receiving emails, completing online forms and protecting personal information, and  supporting them to use digital devices like tablets, smart phones and laptop. 

The ‘essential’ qualification, designed for those with “some experience” but who are “lacking secure digital skills” will include topics like evaluating online content, managing online identity and understanding and exercising rights for controlling the use of personal data.

Another consultation, run by qualification regulator Ofqual, is also due to launch imminently on aspects such as the structure and title of the qualifications and coverage of the standards.

The Department for Education’s consultation will run until January 10, 2019.