Arts college awarded third ‘outstanding’

An art and design college that helps a high proportion of students progress to prestigious London stage schools has been awarded its third consecutive ‘outstanding’ grade from Ofsted.

Following its top results in 2022 and 2009, Middlesborough-based The Northern School of Art was bestowed with grade one marks almost across the board, according to its latest inspection report, published today.

Inspectors found during their January 14 to 17 visit that the college’s 600-odd learners work “extremely hard” and demonstrate high levels of maturity when working together.

The watchdog highlighted the college’s “strong” contribution to skills needs. Stakeholders told inspectors they “welcomed” the college adapting new courses to “maintain currency with developments in the creative industries sector”.

Inspectors found the college highlights the diverse job opportunities available in the creative sector. As a result, “a high proportion of learners progress to prestigious stage schools in London”, the report said.

The college, which has two campuses in Middlesborough and Hartlepool, offers vocational qualifications, A-levels and access to higher education courses in art and design. At the time of inspection, there were 639 learners, the majority of which are on level 3 programmes, and an additional small cohort of adult and high needs learners.

The college was awarded grade one in all areas except its high needs provision, which was rated ‘good’.

Martin Raby, principal of The Northern School of Art, told FE Week: “The whole school community is delighted that we have become part of a very small and select group of further education colleges which have achieved three successive Ofsted outstanding ratings, going back to our 2009 inspection.

“I could not have wished for a better report. I am lucky to lead a friendly, dedicated and professional team, and to be able to rely on academic colleagues described by Ofsted as highly experienced lecturers who have subject expertise and industry experience.”

Inspectors made glowing remarks about students’ “exceptional” attitude to learning.

“Learners work extremely hard and participate fully in lessons, developing their artistic and creative talents,” Ofsted’s report said.

When working with each other, inspectors beamed at learners’ “sincere willingness” to learn and maturity when communicating with their peers.

On the level 3 diploma in acting for stage and screen course, students learn how to critique each other’s work constructively, objectively and supportively.

Meanwhile, teachers were found to be “highly experienced” with subject expertise and industry experience.

Lecturers have “a range of very successful teaching strategies” to help learners obtain the basic skills to build onto to more complex topics further on in their course.

The report said: “In the first year of the level 3 acting for stage and screen course, lecturers demonstrate principles of acting, and learners cover voice, physicality and characterisation. In the second year, learners move on to studying classical theatre and also focus on audition preparation and digital portfolios.”

In the college’s most popular course, the level 3 diploma in illustration and animation, the watchdog praised teachers for giving learners feedback that “guides them well” to future work.

Learners are “well prepared” for their next steps. Learners retaking GCSE maths also achieve well.

The college was found to have improved achievement rates since their last inspection in 2022.

Meanwhile, governors were praised for holding leaders to account effectively. Governors receive “comprehensive” board papers and also hear first-hand from staff and learners about challenges facing the school.

Raby said: “The inspection recognised that the school ensures that its curriculum aligns closely with the region’s specific arts and creative industries priorities, and that we provide an exceptionally current and relevant curriculum enabling learners to develop specialist knowledge and skills in creative arts, together with access to highly specialised equipment and resources that enhance their studies.

“Perhaps most gratifying was Ofsted’s recognition of the ethos of the school, noting that learners regard the school as a big family where they collaborate well with staff and peers, and that staff create a highly effective, calm, purposeful and welcoming learning environment where learners feel part of a supportive and creative community, also being valued, respected and comfortable expressing themselves.”

How to write for FE Week

Getting published in FE Week is your chance to share insights, spark debate and influence thinking in the further education and skills sector.

If you have strong opinions on policy, a new idea to share or a fresh perspective on the big issues in education, training or apprenticeships, we want to hear what you have to say.

You don’t have to be a CEO or senior leader to write for FE Week. In fact, our Staffroom column is reserved exclusively for teaching and non-teaching professionals on the front line. We’d love to hear from students and apprentices too. 

This guide will walk you through the essentials to getting your voice heard across the sector.

Find your crowd, make your pitch

Our readers span all the different types of provision, providers and occupations across further (and some higher) education, so if you think your idea may be too niche, it probably isn’t.

We welcome pitches on funding, curriculum, teaching and learning, assessment, student support and everything in between. All we ask is that what you want to write is about, or concerns, learners, staff, leaders and/or providers in the sector. 

When you pitch your idea, search our website to see what’s already been written on that theme to make sure your angle brings something new to the table. That will also give you a feel for how to write your piece.

Your pitch can be a brief outline or a first draft. 

We love reaction pieces too, so approach us with your insight and expertise as soon as you can following significant news affecting the sector. 

Contact details for our commissioning editor are at the end of this guide.

Promoting diverse voices

FE Week is committed to being a platform for everyone in the sector. Staff and students come from all backgrounds, and we want to showcase that diversity on our pages.

If you’re a group or organisation, when deciding who should write a piece, please consider authors from underrepresented groups. 

Writing essentials

We know our sector is littered with jargon, but do your best to avoid.

Your article should read as though you’re having a lively and insightful discussion with friends over dinner. We’re not an academic journal. This ensures a good read and that your points and arguments are accessible.  

Your word count will be 600-650 words. If you do go slightly over, we will edit it down and run the new version by you before publishing. Give your piece a re-read just before you send it to us to make sure you’re not using your precious wordcount repeating, restating or reiterating.

To make our Friday editions, your deadline is Monday. That will give us plenty of time to work together on edits. Don’t be alarmed or offended if we send you a list of edits to consider.

Try starting your article with a line that grabs the reader’s attention and sets the scene for the rest of the piece.

If you’re writing about a topic we’ve covered, you can include a link to a news story or another opinion piece. You can also add a couple of external links if you, for example, reference some research. 

You’ll also need to send us a recent and unfiltered headshot, along with your name, job title, organisation and any social media handles we can use to promote your piece once it’s published.

By all means, use an AI chatbot to rephrase a sentence or two if you’re stuck. Don’t use it for whole chunks of copy though. The essence of a good op-ed lies in its authenticity. We will send it back for rewrites if it lacks that.

Style guide

For consistency, we lower case most things. Use lowercase letters for curriculum subjects (eg level 3 engineering diploma), the names of policy reforms (eg apprenticeship levy) and job titles. 

Organisations, acronyms and certain qualifications (eg Ofsted, BTEC, T Level) can be upper case.

You have to pay for adverts

Opinion is free; overt product sales pitches from suppliers are not (click here for our competitive advertising packages).

Finally, we won’t accept a piece that has been published elsewhere. If you or your organisation wish to republish your FE Week piece somewhere else, please check with us first. 

Let’s get started

Please send your pitch to FE Week’s commissioning editor, Jessica Hill.

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Hairdressing apprenticeships face extinction under Labour tax rises, says report

Incoming tax rises on hairdressing salons could eliminate popular apprenticeship places in the industry within two years, a new report has suggested. 

Forecasts by CBI Economics, on behalf of the British Hair Consortium (BHC), show apprentice numbers in hairdressing and beauty dropped from 16,000 to 6,000 between 2016 and 2023, and could be 0 in 2027.

The report, published this week, said tax rises from the government’s autumn budget will accelerate the decline in apprenticeships.

It says: “In simple terms, it has been unaffordable to take on and train apprentices for many years now and the decline shows this trend that can only be reversed by a fundamental change for employing businesses who train the next generation.”

‘Unlevel playing field’

CBI Economics research suggests that apprentice numbers have been driven down by a growing trend of employers cutting their tax burden by hiring self-employed staff.

This is creating an “unlevel playing field” between salons that mainly hire self-employed workers and traditional employer salons that tend to invest in apprentices.

Toby Dicker, co-founder of the Salon Employers Association, said: “The recent budget has accelerated the move to self-employment.

“I don’t blame anyone but it’s happening and has been happening for a long time, that’s going to reduce the tax going to the Treasury and is going to basically eradicate apprenticeships.”

Surveys of more than 2,000 salon owners also suggest that the Labour government’s recent budget decision to increase national insurance rates and national minimum wage increases will accelerate the rate of decline of hairdressing apprentices.

But apprenticeships are preferred

Apprenticeships are understood to be the preferred training route for the hairdressing and salon sector.

This was one of the key reasons hair and beauty T Levels were dropped last year, despite extensive marketing and millions of pounds spent on new college facilities and staff training.

Hairdressing professional remains one of the top five most popular apprenticeship standards for under 19s, with 3,800 to 4,500 starts each year between 2020-21 and 2023-24.

Of the 2,130 starts in quarter one of this academic year (August to October), 91 per cent were under 19 and 96 per cent were female.

Dicker said: “[Apprenticeships] are favoured by 95 per cent of employers in the industry.

“The only true way in is through apprenticeships because we need those hands-on skills. You need that work experience of life of talking to people”

The BHC argues that salons have a disproportionately high tax burden compared to other high street businesses because they have more employees and sell fewer goods, resulting in lower VAT refunds.

They estimate that a salon with a turnover of £1.2 million pays three times more tax than other retail businesses with the same turnover.

The Treasury should take a “necessary correction” by cutting VAT rates on salon labour-based services to 10 per cent, the report argues.

Apprenticeship model under threat

Laura Geary, director at Headmasters, which has more than 50 salons and two apprenticeship training academies, said: “The changes from the last budget have made it very hard for salons to continue to offer the benefits of employment and we will certainly not be able to take on as many apprentices going forward. 

“This will kill the future of our industry.”

Using DfE estimates of the benefits of apprenticeships, CBI Economics estimate that the fall in apprenticeships since 2016 means society has “foregone” about £3.2 billion in lifetime productivity benefits.

The analysis argues that this could “jeopardise the sector’s labour supply for years to come”.

Charlie Collinge, director at Collinge & Co, a group of training salons across the north west, said: “Last year we had over 300 applications but were only able to find employment for 60 apprentices because fewer salons can afford to take them on. 

“Apprenticeships are the main route for sustainable careers in hairdressing, but the model is under threat if there aren’t enough salons able to directly employ hairdressers.”

The DfE has been approached for comment.

A HM Treasury spokesperson said: “We delivered a once-in-a-Parliament budget to wipe the slate clean, now we are focused on going further and faster to kickstart economic growth so working people have more money in their pockets.

“We’re also levelling the playing field for high street businesses, including hairdressers, by permanently cutting business rates and removing the £110,000 cap for over 280,000 retail, hospitality and leisure business properties, while also capping corporation tax for the duration of parliament.”

Do we really need functional skills anyway?

Being able to read fluently is a wonderful, life-enhancing skill. No academic skill is more important. Numeracy is pretty useful, too. 

And yet for all that, I am delighted that education secretary Bridget Phillipson has scrapped the requirement for adult apprentices to take functional skills in literacy and numeracy. Delighted.

Only apprentices who began their apprenticeship training when aged 16 to 18 will continue to be subject to the mandatory requirement to study towards and achieve English and maths. 

We require children to attend school, whether they like it or not. Almost all children do so, almost all of the time. So in school we can make them listen to teachers – whose aim is to teach them to read and write, to add up and take away – whether they like it or not. Most people manage to learn these skills, and most are pleased that they have done so. 

But not all children manage. And bluntly, if after more than 12 years in education someone cannot pass functional skills in literacy and numeracy, we have to face up to two realities. First, the system has failed that person. After more than 10,000 hours of tuition, we, the sector, have failed to teach them the most basic academic skills. My god, my god, why have we forsaken them? We all need to examine our consciences, and – perhaps more usefully – our professional practices. 

We also need to accept that if someone has spent 10,000 hours in school, and still can’t pass literacy and numeracy at functional skills level, they are likely to believe that they just can’t do it. I was rubbish at music at school, and have absolutely no confidence that I could ever learn to hold a tune. You don’t learn much if you think you can’t learn much. Now most people are wrong to believe that they cannot learn to read, but so what? What matters is what they think. 

If people think that they cannot master these skills, they probably won’t master them. Which means they will either fail their apprenticeship, or more likely won’t start it at all. Having that requirement means that we, the literate, are denying others the right to gain other, also valuable, skills that can transform their lives, and those of their families. That denial compounds our failure to teach them basic skills the first time. Doing so is simply unacceptable.

We should also accept that it is getting easier to learn vocational skills – and to survive in life more generally – without literacy and numeracy. It hurts me to write those words, but I think they are true. Back in the day, Treloar’s plumbing was the standard text for plumbers. And it is certainly useful to be able to read a plumbing book as a trainee plumber. But in truth many people learn practical skills from videos these days. I have repaired my microwave, my car and my dishwasher thanks to online videos. Similarly, knowing your times tables is still useful, but the value of numeracy has fallen now that we all carry mobiles, and they all have calculators on them. 

The right to be literate and numerate is real. Everyone should have the right to acquire these skills – as and when they want to. The lifelong learning entitlement to these skills should be real, generous and everlasting. But that does not mean forcing people who do not believe that these skills are both useful and within their grasp to study them as part of an adult apprenticeship. 

Employers and students have both welcomed the government’s decision. It is a good decision. But let’s leave the champagne on ice for a bit longer – until every child leaves our schools literate and numerate and this discussion is unnecessary.

With the right opportunities we can become AI makers, not takers 

Last week, I was fortunate enough to join a study visit to Seattle—home to Microsoft and Amazon, among others. The visit was organised by ColegauCymru/Colleges Wales, and we were joined by other senior leaders from colleges in Wales, as well from Qualifications Wales.  

It was a great chance to reflect on the opportunities the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan offers to colleges. The plan’s headline goal is for the UK to “become an AI maker, not taker,” noting that “we should be the best state partner to those building frontier AI” – what better place to consider this than the home of so many leading AI companies? 

The AI Opportunities Action Plan includes 50 recommendations across three main areas – laying the foundations, changing lives by embracing AI, and securing our future through homegrown AI. It’s the foundation area I want to focus on, and specifically the skills side, which sits alongside sustainable infrastructure, data, and safe AI as core areas. 

It’s no surprise that access to skilled staff is highlighted as a key challenge, but it’s particularly encouraging that the action plan recognises further education and apprenticeships as essential to widening access to careers in AI. It also acknowledges that lifelong learning will be crucial for the UK. 

During our visit, we met the Technology Alliance, which facilitates collaboration between industry and education. There we heard from F5, a global IT services company supporting major organisations. They shared insights into the AI skills they prioritise. 

Yes, they need some staff with highly specialised AI skills, but they need many more with data engineering and integration expertise. As I hopefully argued successfully at Jisc’s Data Matters conference in January, data is the lifeblood of AI, and across industry the need for people with practical data skills is as urgent as highly specialised AI experts. 

Beyond that—and reinforcing what we hear time and time again—they told us they need employees with critical thinking, creativity, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to use AI ethically and responsibly. 

In the short term, AI literacy and the ability to use AI tools effectively are becoming essential. Critical thinking and creativity are key to using these tools wisely, while a strong ethical understanding ensures responsible AI use. 

But we’re moving to an era of AI automation, rather than just AI tools. Increasingly we won’t interact with AI tools directly. You may have heard the term Agentic AI, where AI-driven systems operate autonomously. This might sound scary and dystopian, but I’m hopeful that, with the right investment in ethical, responsible AI, this will create more space for human activity.  

We’ll need to look at adjusting curriculum to maximise opportunities for learners to develop these skills. It’s perhaps easy to think that this won’t affect many areas, but we need to learn from the sudden leap we saw with ChatGPT – we are likely to see a similar leap in robotics, which will broaden the impact across many of our skills areas. 

To bring us back to the challenges of today, the AI Opportunities Action Plan stresses the importance of lifelong learning, and another of our visits highlighted a potential idea for the UK. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a skills centre in Seattle offering free basic training to anyone in the community interested in learning more about AI or cloud services. 

As well as providing free taster classroom-based training, they offer engaging interactive experiences. Visitors can learn about reinforcement machine learning by driving a virtual car around a track. They can explore vast global datasets by seeing them projected onto a giant globe — whether that’s analysing animal migration patterns or exploring the surface of Mars. Our study group was entranced by this! 

These kinds of activities make AI less intimidating, more engaging, and more accessible. Hopefully, they can inspire people from all walks of life to consider AI as a viable career path. It would be fantastic if we could establish a network of similar facilities in colleges across the UK. 

The energy and enthusiasm around AI in colleges is fantastic, and I think now is the time for a focus both on the immediate needs around AI literacy, but also with a clear eye on the future, as the balance moves to AI automation and the even stronger demand for uniquely human skills. 

Half of councils face insolvency over £5bn SEND deficit ticking timebomb

More than half of councils have warned they will become insolvent when a measure keeping spiralling SEND deficits off their balance sheets expires next year.

Ministers are facing growing calls to write off high needs budget deficits, which the Department for Education believes will total £4.9 billion by 2026.

Local authorities have been allowed to keep the deficits off their main balance sheets since 2020, under a measure called a “statutory override”. This prevents them from effectively declaring bankruptcy.

The government has still not said what it will do when the override expires next year.

The Local Government Association surveyed its members with responsibility for SEND, receiving 105 responses.

Fifty-three per cent of responding councils said that if the override ended as planned with no alternative to address deficits, they would not be able to set a balanced budget in 2026-27.

This would rise to 63 per cent in 2027-28 and 65 per cent in 2028-29.

‘Write off high needs deficits’

The LGA said it was “calling on the government to urgently address the issue in the spending review, as part of a wider programme of reform of the SEND system”.

Government should write off high needs deficits, they said, which have followed a huge surge in demand for support since reforms to the system were made in 2014.

The number of children and young people with an education, health and care plan, which is supposed to guarantee funded support, rose to 575,963 last year, up 11.4 per cent on the previous year.

The chancellor Rachel Reeves allocated a £1 billion increase in high needs funding at her autumn budget. But the LGA said this was “likely to be consumed by partially plugging existing deficits”.

The high cost pressures of safety valve deals

Arooj Shah, who chairs the association’s children and young people board, said: “The ending of the statutory override threatens councils’ financial viability.

“Only by taking bold and brave action in the spending review and writing off councils’ high needs deficits can councils have the financial stability they need to ensure children with SEND get the support they need.”

A system in crisis

However, she warned funding was “only one of the challenges facing the SEND system”.

Last year, a report by the National Audit Office found the system was “financially unsustainable”, with current intervention programmes inadequate to resolve the issues and urgent reform required.

Despite costs rising, by 58 per cent in a decade, it has “not led to better outcomes for children with SEN”, the NAO found.

The previous government tried to support councils with bailouts in exchange for cost savings under so-called “safety valve” agreements.

But Schools Week revealed last year that more than a third of councils such deals faced bankruptcy, despite being set to receive more than £1 billion in government bailouts before the end of the decade.

FE Week also investigated cash-strapped councils under safety valve deals were offering possibly unsuitable placements to high-needs young people.

‘Sobering’

“Putting councils on a stable financial footing has to be part of a comprehensive reform plan, which focusses on boosting inclusion in mainstream schools, early years settings and colleges, ensuring they have the capacity and expertise to meet the needs of children with SEND,” added Shah.

Natspec chief executive Clare Howard said: “Natspec supports the LGAs’ call for high needs deficits to be written off as this will provide a stable financial basis on which to move forward.

“The ‘statutory override’ or ‘safety valve’ was always going to be a short-term solution. From our perspective, it was also a highly unsatisfactory one, as FE Week has previously reported, in that it encouraged LA decision making which was led by financial considerations rather than by meeting needs of CYP or respecting their legal right to support.

“However, we will find ourselves back in the same position in a few years’ time unless DfE comes up with a fully costed plan and a commitment to invest the money needed to ensure children and young people have the high quality SEND provision they need and deserve. In arriving at its costings, DfE should be considering where there is wastage in the current system.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “The system we’ve inherited has been failing children with SEND and their families for far too long – this is unacceptable and is why we set out our Plan for Change to ensure no child is left behind.

“We recognise the strain that SEND provision is putting on local government’s finances, and we are working with the sector on how to improve outcomes for children with SEND whilst ensuring the system is financially sustainable. 

“We are already making progress by investing £1 billion into SEND and £740 million for councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools, paving the way for significant, long-term reform.”

The Role of Further Education Colleges in Bridging the UK’s Digital Skills Gap 

The Digital Skills Shortfall 

The UK’s economy is undergoing a profound transformation as demand for advanced digital skills surges across industries. In fact, a 2024 report by the Learning and Work Institute highlights that 49% of employers struggle to hire staff with the digital and tech skills they need, a shortage that is reportedly costing the UK economy £63 billion per year. 

The need for a digitally skilled workforce is not just a national priority; it is also regionally specific. According to Skills England’s first assessment of the nation’s skills needs (Skills England: Driving growth and widening opportunities 2024), over a third of UK vacancies in 2022 were attributed to skills shortages – a sharp increase compared to the period from 2013 to 2017. 

The report also underscores regional variations in labour market needs, with Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) identifying sector-specific skills gaps and highlights the importance of skills for economic growth, with around one third of average annual UK productivity growth attributable to an expansion of skills available in the workforce between 2001 and 2019. These findings underscore the urgent need for a more targeted, regionally informed approach to addressing the digital skills gap. 

Why FE Colleges Are Uniquely Positioned to Address the Digital Skills Gap 

Further Education colleges have long been pillars of community-focused education, making them uniquely positioned to tackle the UK’s digital skills gap. As institutions embedded within their local economies, FE colleges have an unmatched ability to align their curriculum with the needs of regional employers, creating job-ready learners equipped for real-world challenges. 

Strong employer partnerships are central to their success. By collaborating with advisory councils and businesses in key sectors, FE colleges gain invaluable insights into the skills that employers demand most – whether it’s coding, IT support, or software development. These collaborations allow colleges to offer industry-informed courses that stay ahead of evolving market trends, ensuring graduates are work-ready from day one. 

In addition to their industry alignment, FE colleges provide inclusive learning opportunities for students who may face barriers to traditional university routes. Flexible qualifications, such as Code Institute’s Introduction to Software Development RQF Level 3, offer accessible entry points to education and, in many cases, funding options that remove financial barriers. For learners ready to advance, the Diploma in Web Applications Development RQF Level 5 builds on these foundations, equipping students with advanced skills for graduate-level roles in IT and software development. 

This pathway is more than just a sequence of courses, it’s a holistic approach to education. FE colleges often combine technical qualifications with career support, such as CV-building workshops, interview preparation, and job placement assistance. By addressing both the academic and practical needs of students, colleges ensure learners are prepared not only to secure employment but to thrive. 

Crucially, FE colleges are also tailored to meet the unique needs of their regions ensuring that they are not only addressing the digital skills gap but also driving local economic growth by connecting learners to industries that need them most. 

Discover More in Our Webinar 

We invite you to join Paul Saunders, Commercial Director at Gateway Qualifications, and John Waite, Group Curriculum Director at New City College Group, and watch our webinar: “Partnering for Success: How FE Colleges are paving the way to graduate-level jobs in tech” to explore this theme in greater detail. 

In this session, you will gain insights into: 

● Why FE colleges are uniquely positioned to address the UK’s digital skills gap 

● The importance of equipping learners with skills that meet local workforce needs 

● Effective curriculum planning for producing job-ready learners 

● How regulated qualifications can create a pathway to graduate-level IT jobs 

● Success stories and employment outcomes 

WATCH THE WEBINAR NOW

English and maths apprenticeship reforms: 24-25 rules updated

Reforms to English and maths functional skills requirements for adult apprentices have been reflected in a new version of the government’s 2024-25 funding rules published today.

Here’s what the updates say:

Applies to those aged 19+ on day of start

Only apprentices who began their apprenticeship training when aged 16 to 18 will continue to be subject to the mandatory requirement to study towards and achieve English and maths. 

Apprentices who began their training when aged 19 or older, and their employer, can still choose to study towards English and maths qualifications if they wish, but the choice is optional.

DfE will continue to fund adult apprentices who take up this option at the current rate.

The change is effective as of February 11, 2025 and applies to new starts as well as existing learners on-programme.

Where an apprentice restarts, DfE said it will use the “age they originally started their apprenticeship training to determine whether it is a mandatory requirement of the programme”.

Initial assessment and training plans

Where an apprentice, and their employer, wish English and / or maths to be included this must be agreed as part of the initial assessment for new starts.

DfE said it must also be clear in the training plan whether English and / or maths has been included in the planned delivery.

Evidence requirements now state that providers must document the discussion between the employer and apprentice and record the outcome regarding English and maths for adult apprentices. 

Existing apprentices must continue their English and maths training “until agreed otherwise”.

By April 1, 2025, the provider “must discuss the options to continue with English and maths training or to remove it from the training plan, with the employer and the apprentice”.

Where it is agreed that an apprentice will not continue their English and maths training, the provider must “withdraw them back to the last day of English and maths learning and no further funding will be paid”.

Where English and / or maths is removed from the training plan the employer must also re-sign the training plan.

And where an apprentice aged 19+ at the start of their apprenticeship training, studies toward English and maths, providers must “provide evidence of apprentice undertaking assessment”.

What about level 2 apprentices?

Under previous rules, all apprentices had to achieve level 1 English and maths functional skills qualifications if they were on a level 2 apprenticeship and did not pass the subjects at GCSE. Similarly, if a learner was on a level 3 or higher apprenticeship, they must achieve functional skills at level 2 to complete their training.

The DfE does not specifically mention, in its published rules and press release, whether level 2 adult apprentices will still be required to achieve level 1 functional skills.

However, the department’s press office told FE Week that this requirement has now become optional in line with the changes described above.

Read the updated rules in full here.

NEU ends sixth form college pay dispute

The National Education Union has officially ended its sixth form college teacher pay dispute against the government.

Over three in four union members voted to accept a revised pay deal for non-academised sixth form colleges of 4.3 per cent.

Teachers in non-academised sixth form colleges were excluded from the 5.5 per cent pay award offered to teachers in schools and academised sixth forms last year. 

Since then, the union has been embroiled in a bitter row with the government and the Sixth Form Colleges Association, which has seen eight days of strikes in 32 sixth form colleges. 

A further two days of strikes were called off while the union consulted on a revised pay award after the government provided £50 million towards teacher pay. 

Additional funding meant the Sixth Form Colleges Association could increase the pay award for standalone sixth form colleges to 4.3 per cent. 

In a ballot of NEU members, 78.6 per cent approved the deal on a turnout of 64.6 per cent. 

No more ‘two tier’ pay deals

Central to the NEU’s concession was a “firm, written assurance” that future pay awards would be equal across 16-19 providers – ending the practice of non-academised sixth form college teachers receiving a different pay award to their counterparts in academised sixth form colleges and schools.

Ministers have said publicly they “aim [to ensure] that all 16 to 19 providers are funded on an equitable basis from 2025 to 2026.”

Labour snubs colleges in public sector pay awards

Teachers of 16-19 year old students in non-academised sixth form colleges, further education colleges and independent training providers are not in scope of the School Teachers’ Review Body’s annual recommended pay awards. 

However, teachers in school sixth forms and academised sixth form colleges are in scope and received a share of £1.2 billion made available for a 5.5 per cent pay rise for academic year 2024-25.

Despite the “aim”, it remains to be seen whether efforts by post-16 unions and college representatives will result in all teachers being included in future pay awards given constraints on public finances.

The additional £50 million was part of a £300 million package announced at the budget. The remaining funding will be made available in 16 to 19 funding rates for academic year 2025 to 2026, with the “aim of ensuring that all 16 to 19 providers are funded on an equitable basis from 2025 to 2026”.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which negotiates pay awards with unions, said the end of the dispute was good news for students and teachers.

Bill Watkin, SFCA chief executive, said: “We are delighted that National Education Union members who teach in non-academised sixth form colleges have voted overwhelmingly to end their dispute. 

“This is good news for students who have experienced eight days of disruption to their education, and good news for staff who will now receive an above inflation pay award of 4.3%”.

College rows

Further education college teacher union UCU has so far not balloted for national strike action on teacher pay. 

Members of the NASUWT union in 23 sixth form colleges recently voted to strike unless a 5.5 per cent pay award backdated to September 2024 is implemented. 

Mysteriously, the union did not release the names of the 23 colleges and included its members in academised sixth form colleges, that received the pay deal, in its ballot.

With the NEU dispute now at an end, Watkin “hopes that the NASUWT will not proceed with its planned industrial action in 23 sixth form colleges”. 

Concrete guarantees

Kebede

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said his union’s industrial action to date has “boosted funding to the sector for an above-inflation pay award, guaranteed the integrity of their collective bargaining and safeguarded the future of the sixth form college sector into the long term”.

“There was no need for the government to have let this dispute run on when a fair solution was readily at hand. While the concrete guarantees we have secured will ensure that two-tier pay offers do not reoccur in future, we need to see far more investment in sixth form colleges and FE overall. 

“By standing their ground against a clear pay injustice, our sixth form college teachers have spoken for the post-16 sector as a whole”.