The controversial tender process for T-levels’ awarding organisations has been launched, and will begin with two “market engagement” events next month.

The government is ploughing ahead with its contentious plans to use just one AO per qualification, as per Lord Sainsbury’s recommendation in his review of technical education, despite high-profile concerns.

On Friday, the Department for Education launched the first part of the process to recruit the organisations by publishing an “open early engagement”.

It tells potential AOs that two market engagement events will be held on June 11 and 14.

The Sainsbury Report, which paved the way for the new T-levels, recommended that a single body or consortium should “deliver each qualification under an ‘exclusive licence’ that would be awarded for a fixed time-period following open competition”.

The purpose of the procurement will be to “select and appoint an awarding organisation to be responsible for developing and delivering each of the wave one T-levels, under an exclusive licensing approach”.

An AO will be responsible for designing the content of the qualification, upskilling providers, providing learning and teaching materials, updating content and assessing qualifications.

There will be three individual tenders launched in the autumn – one for each pathway expected to be delivered from 2020, which includes digital (production, design and development), childcare and education, and construction (design, surveying and planning).

On Sunday, the DfE said it recognised “concerns” that issuing a licence to only one awarding organisation could “reduce market competition, choice and innovation”.

A licence period of “about five years” is considered “appropriate in order to ensure consistency but prevent the risk of complacency”.

“However, there was concern about awarding organisations’ ability to retain capability in a sector in which it is not working for the length of the licence period,” it added in its response to the recent consultation on T-levels.

“We will make sure that there are effective exit arrangements at the end of each licence to enable licences to transfer smoothly from one AO to another.”

The DfE “understands” there are concerns about the “resources needed to bid” for T-level licences “without any guarantee of success”, so it will consider a “contribution to the development costs”.

The single-provider model is a controversial component of T-levels, and fears were first raised in July.

Research conducted by Frontier Economics on behalf of the DfE concluded that limiting access to a single AO may create a “risk of system failure” both in the short- and long-term.

It warned that if a single AO fails, it may be that no alternative AO can step in.

Then in February, Ofqual, the body that regulates qualifications in England, said it “advised on the risks related to the single provider model”.

The Institute for Apprenticeships has extended the deadline on its latest T-levels consultation by four working days, following outcry from the sector at such a quick turnaround.

It is seeking suggestions for the content of new pathways in digital (production, design and development), childcare and education, and construction (design, surveying and planning).

However, it infuriated the sector by allowing just one week for answers, until June 4, during half-term when many in FE will be on holiday.

It has now extended that deadline until June 10.

“The original deadline was in line with our current process and we will need the outcomes to inform the route panels,” a spokesperson said.

“We have actually extended the deadline until June 10 as we recognise this will be the first time stakeholders will be seeing the final outline content and want to give them more time.”

The sector reacted with anger and confusion when FE Week revealed the original consultation deadline would span just five working days.

“An absolute joke… policy making in technical, vocational, further and adult education one long narrative of disjointed incrementalism…” tweeted Bob Harrison.

Such an important piece of work for #FE to review with a deadline when most colleges area closed…?? Priceless…! Have a coffee & surly speak to one another to get the best result..! #communication #collaboration #CommonSense @NickLinford https://t.co/foSiaOH2bR

— Bob Rose (@SENDinFE) May 25, 2018

Bob Rose said: “Such an important piece of work for #FE to review with a deadline when most colleges area closed? Priceless! Have a coffee and surely speak to one another to get the best result! #communication #collaboration #CommonSense.”

And Suzanne Offer added: “Education sector has been waiting for substance re the T-Levels since Jan 2017 – it now has one week to respond to @IFAteched. Standard that @educationgovuk consultations are issued at 5pm pre bank holiday. Our children’s futures are not a career plaything @AnneMilton @DamianHinds.”

Education sector has been waiting for substance re the T’Levels since Jan 2017-it now has 1 week to respond to @IFAteched. Standard that @educationgovuk consultations are issued at 5pm pre bank holiday😱.
Our children’s futures are not a career plaything @AnneMilton @DamianHinds https://t.co/toKKvUdnCz

— Suzanne Offer (@Suze007) May 25, 2018

Mark Dawe, the chief execuitve of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, branded the deadline “staggering”.

“While we know that the T-level panels contain many experts, the experience of the apprenticeship trailblazers offers serious lessons on why proper consultation is needed before content is signed off,” he told FE Week.

“So it’s staggering that the institute is only giving the sector five working days to submit views on whether the content is right. Even worse it’s over a bank holiday and half-term, so you can’t help wondering how serious they are about getting feedback.”

Readers can view the draft content here.

T-levels have been designed to increase the prestige of technical qualifications.

They were originally intended to come in from 2019, but in July last year the skills minister Anne Milton announced they had been put back to 2020.

In October she revealed that pathways in just three subject areas would go live in the first year.

It was then announced on Sunday that the remaining subject routes will now be rolled out in 2023, another year later than planned.

There have been worrying signs of slippage in the timetable, and many leaders, including the IfA’s chief executive Sir Gerry Berragan (pictured above), have voiced concerns.

Last week it was revealed that the education secretary Damian Hinds had in an unprecedented step refused a written request from his permanent secretary to delay the initial roll-out another year until 2021.

The Association of Colleges has backed down in its argument with the FE unions on next year’s pay claim – even though disputes over this year’s deal are ongoing.

Earlier this month the AoC said it was “not minded to consider” a pay claim for 2018/19 while members of the University and College Union were still taking action “over the 2017/18 round at any AoC member college”.

This was deemed “unacceptable” by the union, which described the refusal as an “unnecessary provocation” that risked undermining the AoC’s “credibility and relevance to the sector”, according to a joint letter from the unions to AoC boss David Hughes.

But the association has now agreed to accept the 2018/19 pay claim, even though five colleges still have strikes planned in the coming weeks.

Sally Hunt, UCU’s general secretary, welcomed the AoC’s change of heart.

“We always think the best place to resolve any issue is at the negotiating table,” she said. “It is time for them to come to the table with a decent pay offer for staff who have seen their pay held down for too long.”

Mary Vine-Morris, the AoC’s London director, said the move was “in the best interest of the sector as a whole that national pay negotiations continue”.

“It is more beneficial for the sector that we focus on the bigger picture and jointly campaign to improve sector funding,” she said.

“The industrial action at a small number of colleges” was a “challenge for AoC” that “inevitably undermines productive working relationships”.

“We are glad that this is now down to a handful of disputes by local UCU branches, which we hope will soon be resolved,” she added.

London was a hotbed of industrial action last week, with staff at five colleges walking out in an ongoing dispute over a below-inflation pay offer of one per cent in 2017/18 made by the AoC in September.

Staff at Lambeth College, City and Islington College, Westminster Kingsway College, and the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London had walked out twice already this year over the offer, which the UCU described as “disappointing”.

And Lewisham Southwark staff joined them for the first time, in protest at being told by their paymasters at NCG in the north that they won’t be getting any pay rise at all this year.

UCU members at all five are set to walk out again in early June.

But elsewhere the union has claimed success.

A three-day strike at Sandwell College was called off at the last minute earlier this month, after college leaders agreed to a “sector-leading” pay rise worth six per cent over three years.

And a strike at Bradford College was halted last week after the college agreed to reopen its voluntary redundancy scheme at the eleventh hour, a move it said would “avoid the need for compulsory redundancies for lecturers”.

 

The full roll-out of T-levels has been delayed until September 2023 after concerns were raised about the planned pace of the scheme.

However, the T-level pilot, which will involve up to 52 colleges delivering courses in digital (digital production, design and development), childcare and education and construction (design, surveying and planning), will still begin from September 2020, after it was delayed by 12 months last year.

T-levels development will be overseen by the Institute of Apprenticeships (IfA), who describe them as the “Government’s new two-year, technical study programmes available across 11 industry routes…one of the three major options available to students aged 16 – 19, alongside apprenticeships and A levels.”

The 12 month extension to implementation schedule means the government is now expecting the phased introduction of the new qualifications to take four years, as opposed to the three years originally planned.

The delay was revealed in the Department for Education’s response to the T-level consultation, published today, which said that some respondents including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) had “raised concerns about the capacity of the system to respond to this pace of roll-out.

“We recognise these concerns. Our priority is to deliver high quality programmes and therefore we have decided to extend the full roll-out of T-levels beyond 2022.”

A spokesperson for the DfE confirmed it had been pushed back by 12 months. She said: “We are extending the further roll-out of T-levels to September 2023. This is in direct response to the feedback we received.”

Neil Carberry, the CBI’s managing director of people and infrastructure, told FE Week that T-levels “have the potential to be game-changing, but only if the quality is right.

“Extending the roll-out shows the DfE are focused on not making the type of design errors that have afflicted the apprenticeship levy,” he added.

Graham Razey, principal and chief executive at East Kent College, said T-levels were a “fantastic opportunity to bring parity of esteem to technical education” but warned that “we must not waste it”.

“If this delay allows for a more effective implementation and roll-out I am supportive, but we cannot have unnecessary delay in introducing this much needed reform.”

In March, Sir Gerry Berragan, chief executive of the IfA, warned the timeline for delivering the initial three pathways in 2020 was “worryingly tight”.

And in a widely criticised move, the IfA has begun to consult on the content for the first T-levels with just five working days to reply.

However, it was revealed last week that Damian Hinds, the education secretary, had refused a request from his permanent secretary to delay the pilot until 2021.

In a letter published on Thursday, Jonathan Slater asked Hinds to push the pilot back, warning that “it will clearly be very challenging to ensure that the first three T-levels are ready to be taught from 2020 and beyond to a consistently high standard”.

However, Hinds insisted he was “convinced of the case to press ahead” and told Slater: “I want us now to put all of our collective weight behind delivering these T-levels to begin in 2020.”

Ian Pryce, principal and chief executive of Bedford College, said he has previously been “critical of the way the DfE has rushed change” but Slater’s request for more time “suggests lessons have been learned”.

“I would support a more leisurely, measured rollout. Big initiatives usually stand or fall on their initial success or failure, so caution is a good thing.”

 

The Department for Education has today published its response to its consultation on T-levels.

It sought opinions on the planned implementation of the new post-16 technical qualifications, which the government claims will set a new “gold standard” in training, the first of which will emerge from 2020.

The consultation generated 430 responses, weighing in on numerous sticking points. FE Week has pulled out the nine main findings:

1. Colleges and employers will receive targeted support for work placements, and students will get initial financial help

The 45-day minimum work placement component are an “essential part of T-levels”, according to the government.
However, it is aware of concerns over the capacity of some employers and providers to offer industry placements, as well as the availability of placements in rural areas with poor public transport links, travel time and cost.
The DfE has committed to putting in place a “comprehensive programme of support”.
This includes “significant funding” through the Capacity and Delivery Fund, and offering an advice and support service for employers, including a “simple referral and matchmaking service” to providers through the National Apprenticeship Service.
The DfE will also provide “additional bursary funding” in the 2018/19 academic year to help students travel to industry placements, and produce a “clear and simple ‘how to’” guide for employers and providers.
 
2. English and maths will be funded in addition to a T-level

Over 80 per cent of respondents want the government to provide additional funded hours for maths and English on top of a student’s T-level hours, rather than providing the study from programme hours.
“We therefore intend to fund maths and English for students who have not yet achieved level two in addition to the hours required for the technical elements,” the DfE said in response.
“This means that students who already hold the minimum exit requirements will have fewer hours of study in total, but it will mean that we avoid disadvantaging students with lower prior attainment.”
 
3. An overall pass grade will be used, but certificates will include two component grades

“In response to the desire to keep things simple, and make sure the significance of completing the T-level programme overall is properly recognised, we will introduce an overall pass grade,” the DfE said.
This pass grade will only be awarded if a student successfully completes the industry placement, attains the technical qualification, and achieves the other specified elements of the T-level programme.
On the T-level certificate, the technical qualification will be given a grade from a six-point scale (A*-E), and occupational specialisms will get a three-point grading scale (distinction, merit, pass).
The DfE said it is exploring how higher overall grades could be awarded above an overall pass, such as merit and distinction.
 
4. Students are likely to be able to take an A-level alongside their T-level

“In principle, we believe that a student should be able to take an A-level alongside their T-level, particularly if it supports progression outcomes for their chosen T-level,” the government said.
Officials are “particularly supportive” of “high-attaining students” who want to take core maths or an A-level in maths alongside their T-level.
 
5. No legal requirement to pay learners, but employers can if they want

There is “no legal requirement or expectation that T-level students will be paid,” the DfE said.
But the department does “recognise that for some employers, any type of unpaid placement would discourage them from taking part in the programme”, so they are “able to pay students should they wish to”.
The DfE is working with the Department for Work and Pensions to make sure that students, including those and their family who already receive benefits, are not “negatively affected by undertaking an industry placement”.
 
6. Allocating UCAS tariff points to T-levels is being explored

When learners complete a T-level, they will be able to choose between moving into a skilled occupation, higher-level apprenticeships, or higher education.
Consultation respondents suggested that allocating UCAS tariff points to T-levels would support progression into HE, an option which the DfE is now “exploring”.
 
7. There is still not much detail on the transition year

What happens to students not ready to start a T-levels at 16 has been a key issue.
The DfE plans to offer a “transition” to help learners get to the standard required to start a T-level, but its consultation response did not explain how this will work.
“We will do further work throughout 2018 to gather evidence on existing good practice of similar transition programmes, how the offer might meet employer needs, and what the role of the Institute for Apprenticeships might be,” is all the department said.
 

8. DfE is committed to upskilling staff to be ready for T-levels

Respondents to the consultation said the main challenge for providers delivering T-levels will be making sure that staff have “sufficient expertise, as providers will need to upskill current teaching staff and recruit additional skilled staff, especially in STEM subjects”.
The DfE will be “working closely with the sector to design and develop a programme of support to help providers and teachers” to prepare for delivery, which includes an investment of “up to £20 million to help make sure teachers are ready to deliver new T-levels”.

9. Full roll-out of T-levels delayed until 2023

The government has confirmed the full roll-out of T-levels will not actually take place until 2023.
The initial roll-out will still be in 2020, but in the T-level action plan the DfE proposed introducing another 13 courses in 2021 and the remaining nine in 2022.
A spokesperson confirmed the full delivery would be delayed until 2023 in “direct response to the feedback we received.”
A number of respondents to the consultation, including the Confederation of British Industry, “raised concerns about the capacity of the system to respond to this pace of roll-out.”

The 16 providers in the final stage of the government’s competition to open Institutes of Technology have been revealed.

Their names have been published today alongside the Department for Education’s response to its T-level consultation.

Successful providers should have been notified in early May whether their bids for a share of £170 million had made it to stage two, but the DfE fell behind schedule.

Among the successful is a consortium led by Milton Keynes College, which had put in a bid for £18 million of funding to develop an IoT at Bletchley Park, the former home of a World War Two codebreaking centre, as reported by FE Week reported in March.

The proposal, which also included Microsoft, City & Guilds and Cranfield University among others, would see 1,000 learners a year taught fields such as network engineering, applications development, intelligent systems, games development and cybersecurity.

“The government is creating a network of prestigious Institutes of Technology across the country,” the DfE said.

“IoTs will offer top-quality training and apprenticeships in higher-level technical skills – A-level equivalent up to degree level and above – helping to bridge a vital skills gap in our economy in areas like advanced manufacturing, infrastructure and digital.”

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”.

Between 10 and 15 of the institutes are expected to be created. The successful proposals are expected to be announced by the end of the year, with the first one due to open in September 2019.

The 16 Institute of Technology proposals moving forward to the final stage:

University of Exeter

South Essex College of Further & Higher Education

Queen Mary University London

Weston College of Further and Higher Education

York College

Milton Keynes College

West Suffolk College

Newcastle College Group

University of Lincoln

Barking & Dagenham College

New College, Durham

Harrow & Uxbridge Colleges

North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College

Solihull College

Dudley College of Technology

Swindon College

The new president-elect of the Association of Colleges will campaign to get his fellow principals to involve learners far more in FE decision-making over the course of his tenure.

In an exclusive interview with FE Week, Steve Frampton, who is also the principal of Portsmouth College, revealed that he wants to focus his year in post on encouraging AoC members to listen more to the “student voice” – and act upon their recommendations.

“Learners are much more important than just our clients, they can offer great solutions to issues,” Mr Frampton said.

This would build on campaigning by the National Union of Students, through its president Shakira Martin’s #FEunplugged campaign, and the ‘Students shaping the post-16 skills plan’ document she wrote with Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable.

“I’m very keen to map out with Shakira how we make their voice heard,” Mr Frampton added.

He has over 39 years’ experience in FE, and will devote his full attention to the presidency after stepping down as boss at Portsmouth’s grade two sixth-form college in the summer.

The more we listen to learners the more we will get it right

As well as lobbying colleges on his travels as AoC president, he will try to convince Ofsted to make the learner voice a “central focus” in its new framework, which is due out next year.

“I don’t think Ofsted is adverse to the idea, but it is finding how we might do that, and the how really is the challenge,” he said.

Mr Frampton claims to have learnt “nearly everything” he knows from listening to young people.

“My college changed the timetable to a more compact day, to mirror top institutions all over the world after listening to learners,” he pointed out.

“We invested in digital technology by giving each student an apple iPad to use throughout their course which drove up the quality of teaching and learning, attendance, achievement, and progression”.

This cost around £280,000, but won the college an AoC Beacon award last year.

“The more we listen to learners the more we will get it right, and that is from my own personal experience,” he concluded.

After taking over from current president Dr Alison Birkinshaw on August 1, Mr Frampton also wants to focus on curriculum issues. This will include helping to shape prestigious new T-levels ahead of their expected launch in 2020.

“Specifically we need to get the transition year right for T-levels and the three-month work placements, which will be the most challenging aspect of the qualifications,” he said.

Uncertainty is never a good place to be

He is concerned about “what the future of applied general qualifications is going to be in the structure” with T-levels and the reformed A-levels, however.

“There are a million students in our sector on applied generals so we can’t afford to leave them out,” he said. “There is quite a lot of uncertainty around them at the moment and uncertainty is never a good place to be.”

He believes students are “over-assessed” and there “have to be smarter ways of finding out how talented our young people are than just putting them through pressurised exams”.

He doesn’t claim to have the solution, but he wants to use his presidency to come up with a more “sophisticated” answer.

He admitted to having “big shoes to fill” following on from the previous two presidents – Dr Birkinshaw, who focused on fair funding and maths and English GCSE resits, and Ian Ashman, who concentrated on mental health.

Aside from working in colleges since the 1980s, he has been the director of several local community charities, including Business South and PiTC – the community arm of Portsmouth Football Club.

His extensive career earned him an MBE for services to education in the New Year’s honours list in 2017.

David Hughes, the AoC’s chief executive, said Mr Frampton will be a “great advocate and help us to amplify the importance of colleges to the health and prosperity of our communities and the economy”.

The Institute for Apprenticeships is giving the FE sector just five working days to respond to its consultation on the draft content for the first three T-levels – during half term.

The body that will become responsible for the whole T-level programme later this year published the long-awaited draft content for pathways in digital, construction, and education and childcare today.

It is asking for views ahead of their planned roll-out in 2020, but it has sensationally set a consultation deadline for June 4.

To make matters even more difficult, the IfA has chosen to launch it during half-term week, during which time many in the sector will be off on holiday and unable to partake.

Mark Dawe, the chief execuitve of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, branded the deadline as “staggering”.

“While we know that the T -level Panels contain many experts, the experience of the apprenticeship trailblazers offers serious lessons on why proper consultation is needed before content is signed off,” he told FE Week.

“So it’s staggering that the institute is only giving the sector five working days to submit views on whether the content is right.

“Even worse it’s over a bank holiday and half-term, so you can’t help wondering how serious they are about getting feedback.”

Readers can view the draft content here.

Interestingly, the IfA is not going ahead with the building services engineering pathway in 2020, and has chosen to instead go with design, surveying and planning.

“A review of content has resulted in the design, surveying and planning pathway being selected for delivery of a T-level in 2020, ahead of building services Engineering, which will now follow for first delivery in 2021,” the IfA said.

“We are seeking your views to help ensure that the content captures the right knowledge, skills and performance outcomes that will ensure students are ready to enter employment within their chosen occupational specialism.”

T-levels have been designed to increase the prestige of technical qualifications, as match for A-levels.

They were originally intended to come in from 2019, but in July last year the skills minister Anne Milton announced they had been put back to 2020.

A subsequent announcement in October revealed that pathways in just three subject areas would go live in the first year, with the remaining subject routes launched by 2022.

But there have been worrying signs of slippage in this timetable.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the education secretary Damian Hinds had in an unprecedented step refused a written request from his permanent secretary, Jonathan Slater, to delay the initial roll-out another year until 2021.