Tory conference 2018: what was said about FE and skills?

Brexit is grabbing the headlines. But many debates at the Conservative Party conference concluded that lifelong learning and apprenticeships are central to life beyond March next year, says Stephen Evans

There are some great debates at party conferences if you know where to find them. They’re usually away from the main conference halls, though Damian Hinds’s announcement of new capital funding for T-levels was welcome.

At this year’s Conservative Party conference, there were two main themes at these debates. The first was about next steps on the apprenticeship levy. The chancellor announced that employers would be able to transfer 25 per cent of their levy funds to their supply chain, up from 10 per cent, and that its operation would be reviewed. Speaking to a number of employers and employers’ groups, the key message I picked up was that it needs to be simpler and more flexible, but please don’t rip it up and start again!

The latter point is really important. The levy is a good idea. It needs change, but to start from scratch now would be to repeat past mistakes. Further education is perhaps the most over-reformed sector, to within an inch of its life. What we need now are stability and evolution.

There were some good ideas for this evolution. These include making the standards process quicker and simpler (time for an “even faster and better” initiative from the Institute for Apprenticeships, perhaps?).

We also should benchmark standards against the best in the world, and we definitely need more action on access to apprenticeships. Learning and Work Institute research has shown systematic inequalities, including underrepresentation of people from BAME backgrounds and gender segregation. That’s why we’ve argued for an apprentice premium, targeting extra resources at under-represented groups like the pupil premium does in schools. But whatever the method, we need to turbocharge our efforts on fair access to apprenticeships.

To start from scratch now would be to repeat past mistakes

The second theme was a broader one about getting beyond Brexit and back to the prime minister’s commitment, on taking office, to tackle burning injustices. Living standards have flatlined and it’s clear some people and places feel left behind. The combination of an aging population and a new technological revolution risks worsening these inequalities, unless we act.

Most of the debates I attended argued that more lifelong learning should be part of the answer, but things got a bit vague when it came to how to do this. Apprenticeships, T-levels and the national retraining scheme were all mentioned. But I think we also need an overarching vision, a strategy for how these building blocks fit together.

The good news is that, between us, we’ve got lots of answers. It was great to see so many people from FE taking part in these debates, raising the sector’s profile and providing solutions.

Will all this result in greater investment in FE and lifelong learning? It’s too soon to tell – we’re higher up the political agenda, but it’s a long way to next year’s spending review.

The skills minister Anne Milton told our Festival of Learning reception earlier this year that it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. To be as squeaky as possible I think we need to:

  • Continue raising our profile. Things like Colleges Week can help show the difference FE makes. But we also need to convince the treasury we’re a good investment.
  • Build a coalition of support. We need employers and leaders from other sectors to say how vital further education is. Sharing personal stories of the impact of learning, as we do through our Festival of Learning, can help.
  • Inspire employers and individuals to learn. This is not just about government. In our survey, the biggest reason individuals give for not learning, is not seeing the relevance. We also need to raise employer investment and engagement. There are lots of great examples of this – how do we scale them up?

Memories of conference debates soon fade; we need to keep the pressure on to win hearts and minds.

How will reducing low-skill foreign workers impact FE?

The UK has long relied on EU workers. Now employers must improve the training of homegrown staff, says Tom Richmond

“What we want to see is people here in the UK being trained to take on the jobs which are available” said the prime minister to Radio 4 listeners during the Conservative Party conference. With almost 1.3 million EU citizens currently employed in low-skill (e.g. cleaning) or lower-middle-skill roles (e.g. drivers), a new set of rules for who can enter the UK might force a major shift in employers’ thinking.

Achieving such a dramatic shift in employers’ attitudes will not happen overnight

Mrs May’s proposed approach is a sensible one. In our report Immigration After Brexit published earlier this year, Policy Exchange called for our immigration system to clamp down on low-skilled EU immigration (with some exceptions such as reintroducing the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme) but adopt a lighter-touch approach for students and professionals who wish to study and work in the UK. This was because we believe that the government must do more to encourage businesses to invest in their staff, particularly lower-skill roles, instead of simply allowing them to import workers from other countries. Since the mid-2000s businesses have too often cut their training budgets after gaining access to huge pools of migrant workers from Eastern Europe. This will no longer be tenable once the prime minister has implemented her new vision.

Several strands of government policy in recent years have attempted to encourage employers to engage with education and training in a more substantive way. For example, employers were asked to design new “apprenticeship standards” for their industry sectors. The new “T-levels” for 16 to 19-year-olds that the government wishes to introduce from 2020 are being overseen by panels of employers in each sector as well.

The apprenticeship levy for large employers that commenced in April 2017 was another clear signal from ministers that they wanted employers to invest more in their staff as part of the drive towards the target for three million apprenticeship starts between 2015 and 2020. Although the target has been frequently criticised (by me and many others) and the design and implementation of the levy have been far from perfect, the underlying goal of making employers pay closer attention to their recruitment and training strategies has only become more important following this country’s vote to leave the EU.

Mrs May’s proposed approach is a sensible one

Achieving such a dramatic shift in some employers’ attitudes will not happen overnight. The levy may have generated hundreds of millions to be spent on training but many low-skill roles that require minimal instruction are being routed through the government’s apprenticeship reforms. When standing at a hotel reception desk or serving customers in a coffee shop are labelled “apprenticeships” by employers, it seems that some businesses are still not taking their responsibilities seriously.

The fact that many employers are choosing to spend their levy money on providing management-training courses (including MBAs) for experienced members of staff will also do little to improve the prospects of current and future employees at the other end of the labour market. What’s more, it remains unclear whether the levy has increased the amount of training provided by each employer or merely encouraged them to rebadge their existing training schemes as “apprenticeships”.

Needless to say, any employer that has continued to recruit UK workers as well as develop and train their employees has no reason to be concerned about a new immigration system. If we are serious about providing better job opportunities, improving our economic productivity and helping people of all ages to progress in their chosen career, an over-reliance on low-skill EU workers is unlikely to help.

Many organisations, both large and small, view investing in their staff as the right decision for their business, and they deserve praise for doing so. Any employer that has not yet shown this same commitment to training and professional development should heed the prime minister’s words sooner rather than later.

Does the IfA really believe in degree apprenticeship?

The IfA’s review of the DTSP will be a key test of whether it really listens to employers (and apprentices), says Mandy Crawford-Lee

The Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) has started a review of existing standards on the digital route, which includes the flagship Digital Technology Solutions Professional (DTSP) degree apprenticeship.

To date the DTSP has been the most successful degree apprenticeship. It is used by employers that include Accenture, Capgemini, IBM, Lloyds Bank, Fujitsu and Quicksilva and it’s being offered by a growing number of leading institutions, including Aston University, BPP, the Open University, Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Portsmouth and the University of Salford.

We’ve also seen some really new and innovative delivery partnerships that also involve colleges and independent training providers. Employers love it, as do individuals, and early evidence from the Department for Education’s Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund projects suggest it’s having a positive impact on attracting women into tech roles.

There’s one major negative: the twice-run Education and Skills Funding Agency procurement for non-levy-paying employers means a postcode lottery in the availability of DTSP provision for SMEs. But overall we’ve got the rare example of an English approach to vocational learning that’s applauded and, more importantly, is working for employers and fulfilling the objectives of the apprenticeship programme.

So in terms of the IfA review, if it’s meeting a major skills need, is supported by employers and is starting to make an impact on widening participation and access, then given a bit of updating this should be a formality, shouldn’t it?

Unfortunately, no. The problem is the IfA’s so-called “faster and better” approach to approving apprenticeship standards and assessment plans introduced earlier this year, with negligible consultation. And, more specifically, its mandatory qualification rule.

A trailblazer can only specify a mandatory qualification in an apprenticeship standard, including a degree, if it’s a requirement of a professional body, regulator or used in hard-sifting for job interviews.

This will be a key test of whether it believes in degree apprenticeships

The DTSP meets none of these requirements. If the IfA applies its mandatory qualifications rule to the DTSP, the degree will be removed and the IfA will scuttle its own flagship apprenticeship standard.

This would be a tragedy. The trailblazer, large employers and SMEs have all emphasised the importance of the degree in the apprenticeship and its role in opening up a new talent pipeline to senior level digital occupations. Every DTSP degree apprentice I’ve met says the degree is essential to the credibility and standing of the apprenticeship and is a, if not the, key reason why they chose the apprenticeship route.

To resolve this “problem” UVAC has proposed to the Office for Students (OfS, the higher education regulator), the DfE and the IfA that for the institute’s mandatory qualification, the following criterion be introduced:

“Employers through the trailblazer process can also specify a mandatory degree in an apprenticeship where they can demonstrate its inclusion will support social mobility and is in the interests of employers in the sector (eg, the degree ‘professionalises’ an occupation, helps attract new talent, raises performance standards for the occupation).”

Given the OfS’s role in protecting the student interest, and the importance to a student of a degree in terms of national and international recognition, transferability and the breadth of skills developed, OfS supports our proposal. Not to put too fine a point on it, the IfA’s mandatory qualification rule when applied in higher education runs counter to the student interest – it is OfS’s role to protect this “interest”. I also suspect the DfE will want to ensure the future success of the DTSP. But the decision will rest with the IfA.

The IfA’s approach to the review of the DTSP will be a key test of whether it believes in degree apprenticeships, whether it really listens to employers, if it wants to transform apprenticeship in England into an aspirational choice and if it’s committed to ensuring we have an employer-led apprenticeship programme that delivers the skills needed by the UK economy. We would support leaving this one to carry on as it is without tinkering and, instead, concentrate review resources on standards that are less successful at delivering core objectives.

Dame Asha WILL stay on the IfA board despite West Notts resignation

Dame Asha Khemka remains a “valued” Institute for Apprenticeships board member and will not be leaving the role, despite her resignation from West Nottinghamshire College earlier this week.

FE Week reported yesterday that the institute had refused to say if it still backed Dame Asha, more than 48 hours after news broke of her departure from WNC.

This morning a spokesperson finally confirmed that “Dame Asha Khemka remains a valued member of the IfA board”, even though she is no longer a serving principal.

Dame Asha, who led WNC from 2006, stepped down from the top job on Monday following a “special meeting of the board of governors” held “in light of the current challenges faced by the college”.

It was forced to go to the Education and Skills Funding Agency in July for a £2.1 million bailout, just 48 hours before it would have run out of cash.

Dame Asha was one of two college principals appointed to the IfA’s board in January 2017.

She is also a member of the Cabinet Office’s education honours committee, which is responsible for reviewing honours nominations for people involved in education.

This is a fixed-term position, and the Cabinet Office confirmed on Tuesday that she will remain in post until her contract expires.

Dame Asha was one of the most highly-paid principals in the FE sector, with a remuneration package worth £262,000 in 2016/17.

She receives £15,000 a year for her role on the IfA board. Following her appointment last year, a spokesperson for WNC refused to say whether Dame Asha would keep the money herself or give it to the college.

 

IfA silent on support for board member Dame Asha following resignation

The Institute for Apprenticeships has refused to say if it is backing its board member Dame Asha Khemka, after she resigned from West Nottinghamshire College on Monday.  

The former principal was one of just two FE college leaders appointed to the IfA’s board in January last year.

FE Week reported on Monday that she had stepped down from the top job at WNC following a “special meeting of the board of governors” held “in light of the current challenges faced by the college”.

It was forced to go to the Education and Skills Funding Agency in July for a £2.1 million bailout, just 48 hours before it would have run out of cash.

Despite this, the IfA has so far remained silent about Dame Asha’s position on its board – despite numerous enquiries.

However, its website still lists her as one of 10 board members.

According to the job advert for the role, advertised by the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in June 2016, applicants should be “senior figures with expertise in business, employer representatives, academics, and other senior representatives with expertise in particular aspects of apprenticeships and skills”.

Dame Asha is also a member of the Cabinet Office’s education honours committee, which is responsible for reviewing honours nominations for people involved in education.

This is a fixed-term position, and the Cabinet Office has confirmed she will remain in post until her contract expires.

Dame Asha was one of the most highly-paid principals in the FE sector, with a remuneration package worth £262,000 in 2016/17.

In addition she received £15,000 a year for her role on the IfA board. Following her appointment last year, a spokesperson for WNC refused to say whether Dame Asha would keep the money herself or give it to the college.

The college has hit financial troubles in the past year.

Earlier this year WNC blamed changes in apprenticeship subcontracting rules, which reduced their income from management fees, for having to cut more than 100 jobs in an effort to make £2.7 million in savings.

Board minutes from April say the college was running low on reserves which were below the £9 million set in its banking covenants. 

The minutes also reveal the college’s worryingly low cash days – the number of days an organisation can continue to pay its operating expenses given the amount of cash available.

For colleges these are benchmarked by the FE Commissioner at 25 but they sat at just 11 for WNC, according to the minutes.

The college’s accounts for 2016/17 have yet to be published.

Crisis-hit 3aaa up for quick sale – with government support

Beleaguered apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance has put itself up for sale with the government’s backing.

The decision has been made following a suspension on its recruitment while an Education and Skills Funding Agency investigation is carried out into the company’s achievement rates.

It is the second government investigation into the provider in the last two years.

The company, commonly known as 3aaa, has hired accountancy firm BDO to seek potential bidders.


READ MORE: DfE’s damning ‘Project Vanilla’ investigation into 3aaa

An “investment opportunity” document, code named ‘Project Alphabet’, has been obtained by FE Week and notes the deadline for indicative offers is tomorrow at 5pm.

3aaa finalised a significant cash loan of around £5 million in April from Beechbrook Capital.

FE Week understands that one reason for the sale is because the terms of that loan have been broken and the lender wants to claim their money.

It is also understood that the ESFA is supportive of the sale on the basis that its co-founders, Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson (pictured), will not benefit from it financially.

FE Week approached Beechbrook and a spokesperson said the firm is not prepared to comment other than to say: “As a lender, we remain fully supportive of 3aaa and we wish to see the business continuing to deliver the excellent services it has done in the past.”

BDO’s investment opportunity document states: “Reason For Sale: The ESFA has placed a temporary block on new learners whilst an investigation is undertaken in to achievement rates, prompting the shareholders to seek an exit.

“The investigation relates to a period under the stewardship of the previous management team, which has now been removed from the business.

“A new management team is in-situ and the business is well positioned to deliver an improvement in business performance.

“Alphabet is in pro-active dialogue with the ESFA with a view to lifting the learner block in the shortest period possible.

“The ESFA’s priority is continuity of learning for learners.”

Alphabet is in pro-active dialogue with the ESFA with a view to lifting the learner block in the shortest period possible

The document says 3aaa is a “highly accredited and underlying robust business with new management in place focussed on driving material forecast growth driven by established, high margin, level 3 and 4 course delivery”.

It has an “experienced management team” and circa 500 “highly skilled employees” operating from its national network of training academies.

The document added: “Learners on programme are split across circa 1,700 active customers with circa 1,500 non levy clients and circa 165 levy customers.”

For the year ending 2019 its turnover is £26.6 million.

The ESFA’s current investigation into 3aaa was sparked earlier this year when a whistleblower approached the agency with new claims about its business.

Owing to this, Ofsted declared its latest inspection of the provider, which was expected to result in another ‘outstanding’ rating, as incomplete in June.

Mr Marples and Ms McEvoy-Robinson, who set up 3aaa in 2008, resigned from their roles as the company’s chief executive and main director respectively in September.

The provider was then suspended from recruiting apprentices, but FE Week later revealed that senior employees had been “instructed” to tell its staff to not date any paperwork for “planned enrolments”.

Last week FE Week revealed that 3aaa was subject to a separate government investigation in 2016 which found dozens of funding and success rate “overclaims”. Despite this, it was given a £7 million apprenticeships contract increase in that year.

3aaa had the largest allocation for non-levy apprenticeships last year at nearly £22 million. Its overall ESFA allocations totalled more than £31 million.

 

Decision on management apprenticeship funding bands delayed following employers’ appeal

Three controversial management standards are not among those to have their final funding bands confirmed by the Institute for Apprenticeships today, after the employer group behind them lodged an appeal.

Details of the funding bands for 12 of the 31 standards involved in the IfA’s review, which began in May, were published today following sign-off by the education secretary Damian Hinds.

These did not include the level six chartered manager degree apprenticeship, the level five operations departmental manager nor the level three team leader/ supervisor standard.

All three, which between them accounted for almost 20,000 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18, were set to have their funding rates slashed by between £500 and £5,000 following the review, as reported by FE Week in August.

However, the employer group behind them launched an appeal against the recommendations.

More than 150 employers, including retail giant Tesco, joined forces in late August to protest against the “extensive and highly-damaging cuts”.

The all signed an online appeal, led by the Chartered Management Institute, urging the IfA and the Department for Education to “undertake a full and transparent economic and social impact assessment” before making any final decision.

It’s unclear whether the appeal has been successful.

A spokesperson for the CMI told FE Week in late September that the employer group had formally appealed to the IfA against its recommendations, but was unable to say when a decision was expected.

FE Week has approached the CMI for an update.

According to documents seen by FE Week in August, the IfA’s recommendation for the chartered manager standard was to cut its funding from £27,000 to £22,000.

The level five operational/departmental manager standard is facing a cut from £9,000 to £7,000, while the level three team leader/ supervisor standard is set to be capped at £4,500 – down from £5,000.

The team leader/ supervisor standard is the most popular to date, with 12,080 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18, while the operational/ departmental manager is the fourth most popular with 5,530 starts over the same time period.

And there have been 1,750 starts on the level six standard, making it the most popular degree apprenticeship.

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 are subject to possible appeal by the employer group followed by final sign-off by Mr Hinds.

Once confirmed any increases will take effect from October 6, while any decreases will come into effect from January 1.

IfA funding band review: 12 of 31 standards signed off by education secretary

Final funding bands for 12 of the standards that were part of the Institute for Apprenticeships’ review have been published, following sign off by the education secretary Damian Hinds.

Of the 12, seven have had their funding cut and three have remained the same, while a further two have had their funding rate increased.

Funding band reductions will take effect on January 1, while increases take effect from October 6, the IfA said today.

Reviewed funding bands for the remaining 19 standards have not yet been sent to Mr Hinds, including the controversial management apprenticeship standards.

The IfA has said it expects the process will be finalised in late 2018. 

Explaining the review, the IfA today said: “We used our new funding process, adapted to reflect that these standards are already being delivered. Throughout the process, we worked collaboratively with trailblazers to ensure the review was carried out in an open way.

“As part of this process we considered a range of factors, including the costs submitted by providers, advice from trailblazers, data we hold, consistency across similar apprenticeship standards and the expertise of our route panels and a provider panel.”

The institute claims to have only recommended changes to current funding bands where “there is evidence that justifies a change”.

It added: “The Institute is working closely with DfE to monitor the impact of these funding band changes over the coming months. We will continue our work to bring more standards into the new 30-band structure.”

This is the first time the IfA has publicly revealed the funding band changes, having previously refused to share them while they were still at the recommendation stage.

However, a number of employer groups shared the outcomes with FE Week, including those behind the healthcare, customer service and aviation ground specialist standards, which have all had their final rates confirmed today.

In addition to the three management standards, the retailer standard is also missing from today’s list.

FE Week reported in August that it was set to have its funding cap reduced from £5,000 to £4,000.

The IfA’s funding band review, launched in May, was intended to “help make sure that employers can access high quality apprenticeships and that funding bands represent good value for money for employers and government”.

It covers 31 standards – including some of the most popular.

Analysis at the time the review was launched found that the 31 represented 64 per cent of all starts on standards for the first half of 2017/18 (45,900 out of 71,720).

Why getting QTLS is on teachers’ to-do lists

When it comes to developing their careers, more teachers and trainers in further education are opting to gain QTLS status. Here three of them explain how it’s enhanced their practice, as well as their prospects.

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status is the badge of professionalism for practitioners in the Further Education and Training sector, conferred by the Society for Education and Training. It offers participants an opportunity to develop their teaching practice, gain recognition for their skills, and widen their career prospects, and its parity with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) also allows those who achieve it the flexibility to teach in schools. But what do teachers who’ve gained the status believe it’s done for them personally?

Opening up career progression

Tom Hardy completed his PGCE in 2017. When he took a new role in a Pupil Referral Unit at  Grimsby’s Phoenix Park Academy, both he and the school had one eye on his professional development.

“Senior management said they saw additional opportunities for me, and that getting another qualification would help me progress,” he says. “Some roles require you to have QTS or QTLS, so it was a necessity.”

He chose to undertake QTLS – a six-month ‘professional formation’ that required him to build an online portfolio to benchmark his practice, create a professional development plan, record his CPD, and reflect critically on the development of his teaching.

It was QTLS’ practical focus that appealed to Hardy: “I could have taken the QTS route, but QTLS suited me better. In my environment, I knew it would be beneficial to build a profile of the students, reflect on my own practice and think about how I could improve.

“And now I’ve achieved it, the school is exploring additional opportunities and responsibilities for me.”

Gaining professional recognition

For Jeminiyi Ogunkoya, Qualifications and Development lead for disability and mental health organisation Certitude, QTLS offered a way to gain recognition of her professional status and commitment to developing her own and others’ practice.

“I need to set an example in terms of how I measure the practice of the teachers, trainers, and assessors I work with,” she explains. “My organisation needs someone who knows how to carry out teaching and learning training, and develop the staff.

“Through QTLS I was able to reflect on and align my own practices with the needs of my learners. Now I know that whatever I am doing is in line with the [professional] standards.

“I recently had an inspection rated Outstanding. When my tutors and trainers come and shadow me, they can pick up on good practice. Through standardisation, I can tell them, ‘this is how we’re going to share it.’

Building confidence, benefiting learners

Liam James, Sports Lecturer and Course Co-ordinator at Weston College in Weston Super Mare, says that QTLS not only boosted his confidence and skills, but also had a positive impact on his learners.

“It made me reflect on how I teach,” he says. “There were things I was doing just because I’d learned them in teacher training, but having that chance to step back and think helped me to adapt each session, because not everyone learns in the same way.”

“Now I’m always discussing ideas, trying to be a bit more innovative and make things better suited to the learner.”

James has also applied that approach to the coordination of the course as a whole. “I’ve raised my standards and the culture to a more professional level,” he says. “Now more employers want to work with us, and the feedback we receive when our learners go into the industry is that they are ready for work.”

All three professionals say that getting QTLS has improved their practice, benefitted their learners and had a positive impact on wider organisational culture.

“I’m giving a better service to the students now,” says Hardy. “They’re more comfortable in the learning environment, and making more progression.”

Ogunkoya encourages anyone considering QTLS to take the plunge. “You’ll develop your knowledge, and help the people you work with to develop theirs. You will not regret it.”

 

For more information about undertaking QTLS, visit set.et-foundation.co.uk/qtls. Registration is open now.