The adult education budget has been significantly cut over the last decade, to the annual £1.5 billion it is today.
And, we are told, as a result there are colleges in financial turmoil, training providers losing out in ESFA tenders, and ESOL courses with waiting lists in the thousands.
Many are colleges and the AoC was quick to blame “restrictive” funding rules and low rates.
As a former college curriculum planner myself, I’d argue that pointing the finger at the funding system is too simplistic.
In truth, it is often poor planning, over-optimistic targets and a preference to under-deliver rather than go unpaid for the costs of over delivery that’s to blame.
In response the ESFA appears to be taking two sensible steps.
Firstly, encouraging colleges to reduce unrealistic allocations, presumably with a view to reallocating the funding in-year to those able to use it.
And secondly, introducing a policy that commits to fund three percent of any AEB over-delivery in 2018/2019. It’s a complex issue – but surely the absurdity of leaving scarce FE funding unspent can’t be allowed to continue?
A college group has been criticised for its poor oversight of subcontractors, in the latest of a new wave of special Ofsted monitoring reports.
The RNN Group’s senior leaders’ “management of all subcontractors and subsidiary companies was not good enough” during a period when they oversaw two college mergers.
They failed to “evaluate accurately” the weaknesses in teaching and learning that led to “too few learners and apprentices” at the group’s 14 subcontractors achieving their qualifications.
Inspectors noted that governors had taken “positive steps” to increase their oversight of subcontractors since last summer.
But managers were found to be “over-optimistic” in their evaluation of the improvements they’re making.
In 2016/17, RNN Group had 2,569 apprentices and 14,860 learners. The group subcontracted 22 per cent of its apprenticeship provision and four per cent of its classroom-based learning.
This report on them is part of a new wave of monitoring visits that Ofsted recently announced would be carried out with a sample of providers, as part of efforts to keep a closer eye on subcontracted provision.
Elsewhere, it was a turn up for the books this week for colleges, with both full inspections resulting in ‘good’ grades.
But independent learning providers fared less well, as all but one full inspection this week received a grade three.
Lincoln College saw its rating go up from three to two in a report published April 13 and based on an inspection in mid-March.
“Substantial improvements” had taken place at the college since its last inspection, with the result that “the majority of learners make good progress and many more now achieve their qualifications”.
Governors and leaders were praised for creating a culture that “focuses on the needs of learners and employers”.
Governors and leaders were praised for creating a culture that “focuses on the needs of learners and employers”.
“They offer provision that meets the needs of the local community well, and most learners progress to positive destinations,” the report said.
Inspectors also noted that while attendance had “improved in the last year”, it was still “too low”.
Hugh Baird College held onto its grade two rating, in a report published April 9 and based on an inspection in late February.
Achievement rates had “risen over the last three years”, and were now “high” for 16- to 18-year-olds, learners with high needs and adults.
Learners enjoyed “an extensive range of enrichment activities and meaningful work experience” as well as “highly effective pastoral support and guidance” – with the latter meaning they were able to “remain on their course”.
But leaders’ efforts to improve the quality of apprenticeship provision – which received a ‘requires improvement’ rating – were “not successful”, the report said.
Independent learning provider Serco Limited was rated ‘requires improvement’ across the board, down from its previous ‘good’ rating, in a report published April 13 and based on an inspection in early March.
“Too many” apprentices were failing to complete their courses on time, and senior leaders did not “ensure that apprentices who fall behind catch up”, the report said.
Leaders were also criticised for being “too slow” to put in place plans to ensure that “all apprentices receive a high standard of teaching and learning and complete their qualification”.
Chamber Training (Humber) Limited also slipped one grade from two to three, in a report published April 12 and based on a late-February inspection.
The proportion of apprentices finishing their courses on time had “declined” and was now “too low”, the report said.
The proportion of apprentices finishing their courses on time had “declined” and was now “too low”
Inspectors found “too many instances” of tutors and assessors accrediting adult learners for existing skills and knowledge, rather than supporting them to “develop new vocational skills and knowledge”.
British Printing Industries Federation Ltd held onto its ‘requires improvement’ grade following an early March inspection, in a report published on April 10.
“Too many” apprentices “leave early without completing their programme”, the report said, while apprentices were not developing their English and maths skills “considering their starting points”.
Apprentices were also not receiving “appropriate” careers advice to ensure they “are well informed about their next steps”.
Skillnet Limited was the only independent provider to see its grade go up this week, from three to two, in a report published April 9 and based on an inspection in mid-February.
Apprentices were found to “develop an extensive range of workplace skills” and to receive “very good support from teachers, skills coaches and their employers”.
They also “gain a range of qualifications” in addition to their apprenticeships, which “enhances their employability”.
Newcastle upon Tyne city council slipped one grade from two to three, in the only full inspection report of an adult and community learning provider published this week.
The proportion of adult learners achieving their qualifications had “declined”, and was now “too low”, inspectors noted in a report published April 12 and based on an inspection in mid-March.
A lack of “accurate information about the progress and achievement of learners” was deemed to be hampering leaders’ ability to address “several areas of improvement”.
Meanwhile, employer provider Compass Group UK and Ireland was found to be making reasonable progress in five areas and significant progress in one, in its second monitoring visit report, published April 11, after it was rated ‘inadequate’ last summer.
Four providers held onto their grade two ratings this week following short inspections: independent learning providers Oracle Training Consultants Limited, and Training Futures (UK) Limited, and adult and community learning providers Nottingham City Council and Azure Charitable Enterprises.
Elite sports is one of the hardest industries to break into, yet there are no plans for any technical routes, laments Jo Maher
The independent panel on technical education’s report in 2016 identified “15 clear routes to skilled employment” where there is a “substantial requirement for technical knowledge and practical skills”.
Sport was not one of them.
Sport is one of the most competitive industries there is, with worldwide audiences, major international events and billions of pounds in revenue generated annually. Sport is an industry so technical that at elite performance level you have to complete up to three years of training after completing a master’s program to become accredited or chartered. Sport covers professional and technical jobs across biomechanics, physiology, psychology, performance analysis, coaching, and strength and conditioning.
Physical activity, exercise and leisure are industries in their own right but with a clear synergy to sport, requiring transferable knowledge and similar competencies. I fully endorse AoC Sport’s stance that a ‘Sport and physical activity’ career pathway should be acknowledged within the occupational maps and the route amended to ‘Health, science, sport and physical activity’.
Sport has not engaged as much as other sectors in the apprenticeship reforms
The Institute for Apprenticeship states that the “maps are not an exhaustive overview of the labour market and will be regularly reviewed and updated”. To be successful, it will be necessary to prove that sport is a skilled occupation, with a substantial requirement for technical education and training that cannot be learnt exclusively on the job. Is this the case?
To become a chartered professional is a mark of professional competency in a particular field of work. The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) runs an accreditation scheme, which leads to chartered scientist status and the scheme is widely recognised in elite sport as a standard for employment. Furthermore, the role of sport and exercise psychologist is now a protected title. There is no doubt that high levels of technical education and training are required to operate in elite sport.
So why is the T-level sport missing?
I have been told that sport must be academic as opposed to technical because students go to university. The logic is that A-levels instead of technical qualifications would place sport on the academic side of qualification reform. However, employers still require technical training, leaving master’s graduates spending up to three years on technical training, at their own expense in many cases, in order to get a job.
The attraction of working in elite sport is meanwhile so high that professional clubs can ask for higher-level qualifications than roles may require, for low salaries, and still be spoilt for choice. I have seen professional football clubs in England offering £12,000 salaries and requiring a minimum of a BSc and to be accredited, while many teams offer internships and voluntary roles.
This is where the problem lies. There has been an overreliance on motivated postgraduates continuing to develop their technical skills, as opposed to improving the system in order to map the technical training as part of their studies. Not because technical training is not needed or is needed only at postgraduate level. The result is that sport has not engaged as much as other sectors in the apprenticeship reforms.
The uptake of vocational qualifications at level three across the sector has been strong for a number of years. However, apprenticeships in sport are not widely available, resulting in low enrolment numbers when compared to other sectors. The advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence is the exception, and it has long supported young athletes with the training required to succeed in elite sport, specific to the performance side.
I cannot think of another industry that demands up to nine years of training, at a minimum cost of £36,000, to employ a person on an average salary of £18,000.
We must do better.
Co-ordinating the technical training requirements across the sector and including sport in the occupational maps may trigger the shift needed. Developing T-levels, level three apprenticeships and higher apprenticeships for elite sport job roles, supported by key stakeholders such as BASES, would benefit students, employers and the taxpayer.
The quality of FE teacher training has continued at an extremely high standard, but falling numbers joining the profession is proving a significant “challenge”, new research has found.
The Education and Training Foundation has today published its fourth annual report examining the provision and take-up of initial teacher education in the FE sector.
It found that all 34 of England’s ITE providers that have had their education and teaching programmes inspected by Ofsted have achieved at least a grade two, and over one in 10 were rated grade one.
Not a single provider was rated ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.
The report, undertaken by ICF Consulting Services, stated that these figures have remained “relatively consistent” over the last four years.
However, falling numbers of people training to join the FE profession has continued to be a major cause for concern.
The number of learners who completed a diploma or postgraduate certificate in education has fallen from 7,990 in 2011/12 to just 5,240 in 2015/16 – a 34-per-cent drop.
Falling numbers joining the profession continues to be a challenge
The latest figure represents a 12-per-cent decline on 2014/15, when 5,980 completed their training.
ETF’s report stated that the decline in completions was largely due to a decrease in learners studying in colleges.
“There was a 25-per-cent decrease in the number of learners completing diplomas and an 18-per-cent decrease in learners completing PGCE in an FE college in 2015/16,” it said.
“In contrast, the number of learners undertaking a PGCE in a HEI dropped only slightly in 2015/16, and has remained relatively stable since 2011/12.”
The report also found that only around 60 per cent of ITE learners progressed to a teaching role in FE, of which 73 per cent gained employment in FE colleges.
It noted that an increasingly high proportion gained employment at independent training providers.
In terms of salaries, ITE learners entering a full-time teaching role in 2015/16 started with a wage of £25,220. This has remained “relatively static” since 2012/13.
Charlynne Pullen, head of data and evaluation at the ETF, said the report showed there are both “positives” and “challenges” in ITE for FE.
“Given the need to continue on the journey of driving up teaching and training standards in the sector, the fact that the quality of the organisations bringing future generations into the profession is high is a clear positive for the sector,” she said.
“The coming introduction of T-levels means we need a high-quality workforce to make sure they are a success. The gradually falling numbers joining the profession continues to be a challenge, but providing this data allows the whole sector to clearly identify and address both current and future trends and changes.”
Ms Pullen added that this ITE report is a “key part” of the ETF’s spring series of “impartial and independent research”, ensuring that “practitioners, providers and policy makers have access to high-quality and reliable data to support their decision-making”.
The college that topped the funding tables during the adult education budget procurement has been awarded an extra £1.6 million for growth – even though it plans to subcontract it all with hefty top-slices.
Independent providers, forced for the first time to tender for all their AEB funding, were aghast in November after FE Week revealed that a sizeable £5.2 million portion of the total £110 million was shared among 19 colleges.
It was awarded £1.18 million in November, on top of the £8.34 million it gets in non-procured AEB funding.
FE Week can now reveal that it has gained an extra £1.6 million from the AEB tender this month.
To add insult to injury, it has only applied for the funds to subcontract out the provision, using what is likely to be its standard 22.5-per-cent top-slice.
The chair of the education select committee, Robert Halfon, hit out at the situation.
“Providers who subcontract training and take a hefty cut of public funds deliver little of value and the money could be better spent on teaching people vital workplace skills to benefit themselves and the economy,” he said.
Board minutes from November show that Eastleigh’s principal, Dr Jan Edrich (pictured above), was “pleased to inform governors that a growth bid of £1.6 million had been made to the AEB, which the college will subcontract”.
A spokesperson confirmed this week the bid was “successful”. She added that the cash has been used to “fund and deliver both local and national skills priorities which is in direct response to employer and learner demand”.
Eastleigh, rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, received over £21 million from the government for apprenticeships and adult funding last year, but directly delivered just shy of £4 million (18 per cent).
The remaining £17 million was subcontracted out, with a 22.5-per-cent management fee.
In total, this fee was close to £4 million – the same as its entire directly funded provision.
Minutes from a May 2016 board meeting make clear that management fees from subcontracting increase the college’s surplus.
The college subcontracted its AEB provision to 15 different providers last year.
FE Week analysis of national achievement rate data for 2016/17 shows that 62 per cent of Eastleigh’s AEB enrolments were delivered outside their local enterprise partnership in Hampshire.
The ESFA has however been telling providers that they should be moving away from national subcontracting as AEB moves towards devolution.
“I would expect to see less subcontracting as funding is put in the hands of users or allocated more locally,” former skills minister Nick Boles told the ESFA in a letter in December 2015.
Eastleigh said it is “well aware” of the devolution agenda, and that it has a “strategy in place to manage the policy change”.
Simon Ashworth, the chief policy officer at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the scale of Eastleigh’s delivered provision is “significantly weighted” on subcontracting.
“Certainly the recent reforms and new rules were supposed to be moving the sector away from managing agency-type models, and the ESFA should be giving the taxpayer better value for money by contracting much more with those providers who can deliver for themselves,” he told FE Week.
Five aspiring engineers from UTC Swindon took a top prize in the Royal Navy engineering challenge finals, a national STEM competition.
The team of year 10 students won the 14-to-16 age category, in which they had to design an unmanned, remotely operated system that would clear objects from the seabed. The students had just one day to build, refine and test their invention, alongside preparing a presentation about their design and approach.
Their invention impressed judges the most out of the 75 teams competing at the finals in Portsmouth, as well as clearing the most objects from a replica sea bed set up in a 3 x 3.4m test tank.
“They showed immense technical skill, determination and ingenuity to win the challenge against tough competition. These are exactly the kind of qualities that we need in the engineers of the future and as a school we are hugely proud of them,” said Jon Oliver, principal of the UTC.
Hundreds of colleges and training providers have between them failed to deliver £73 million of allocated funding, exclusive FE Week analysis has revealed.
Education and Skills Funding Agency figures show that 441 providers delivered less provision over 2016/17 than the money they were allocated from the adult education budget would have allowed.
This will be a source of major frustration for huge swathes of the sector, especially considering the heavy criticism directed recently at the government for wider underfunding of FE.
Julian Gravatt, the deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, claimed the fault lies with “restrictive” rules and low funding rates, rather than providers.
And an email sent last month by the ESFA to one provider that underspent, seen by FE Week, states that officials are reviewing college budget forecasts and comparing them with delivery projections.
It goes on to offer “voluntary” ways to lessen the impact of funding claw-backs for under-delivery, such as reducing their current allocations either mid-year or in 2018/19.
This was on top of the £5,059,522 that was paid to 86 colleges and local authority providers for courses that didn’t take place, thanks to a three-per-cent tolerance rule on grant-funded AEB under-delivery.
With the exception of independent training providers, FE institutions receive their AEB funding through a grant, which means they have to repay any cash they’ve been overpaid.
The ESFA no longer automatically reduces AEB allocations year-on-year where providers have under-delivered, which can mean some get allocations that are larger than the level of provision they expect to deliver.
To compound matters, the introduction of FE loans for learners aged 19 to 23 in 2016/17 meant that courses that used to be funded through the AEB were no longer included.
“The government should introduce more flexibility into the rules, because there are millions of adults who could benefit from adult education and retraining”.
Mr Gravatt insisted restrictions are too tight on what can and can’t be funded through the AEB, and urged the government to “introduce more flexibility into the rules, because there are millions of adults who could benefit from adult education and retraining”.
A spokesperson for the University of the Arts, London said that “like many providers” it was affected “by changes in government funding arrangements, from funded adult learning to FE loans for 19+ students”.
UAL was one of the worst culprits, delivering just £83,605-worth of adult education, from an allocation of £1.5 million. Despite this shortfall, its allocation is unchanged for 2017/18.
Capita had the largest shortfall of any provider, with actual delivery almost £2.5 million lower than its £4 million allocation.
A spokesperson said this was due to “a change in customer demand” over the year.
Lambeth College under-delivered by £1.5 million on its £11 million allocation, which Monica Box, the college’s principal, claimed was because it had moved out of one of its campuses at the beginning of that year.
It had been unable to find space for the courses that had been delivered on the closed campus and “this situation had a significant impact on our ability to meet our AEB funding target for 16/17”.
Both Lewisham Southwark College and Telford College had shortfalls of more than £1.5 million, but were unavailable for comment.
Earlier this year Anne Milton admitted that the “mainstream participation element” of the AEB had been underspent by £63 million over the year.
The revelation prompted Mark Dawe, the boss of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, to demand that any unspent cash be reallocated to other providers.
A change in procurement rules meant that private providers were forced to tender for a slice of just £110 million in AEB funding in 2017/18, while their competitors – most notably colleges and local authorities – did not.
Mr Dawe now wants the government to oblige every provider to have to bid for its share of adult education funding.
The 86 colleges and local authorities allowed to keep £5m
Eighty-six colleges and local authorities were allowed to keep more than £5 million in adult education budget funding for courses that didn’t take place in 2016/17.
The £5,059,522 windfall was the result of a funding rule in which a three-per-cent tolerance is applied to grant-funded AEB under-delivery.
Twelve colleges and one LA provider each received more than £100,000 for provision they didn’t deliver over the year as a result of this rule, according to the ESFA’s 2016/17 final funding year values, published on Wednesday.
The largest payment went to Birmingham Metropolitan College, which delivered adult education worth £13,798,372 against an allocation of £14,189,878 – meaning it was overpaid by £391,506.
The rule states that “where your delivery of the overall AEB is at least 97 per cent of your funding allocation, we will not make a year-end adjustment to your funding allocation and you will not have to pay back any unspent funds”, according to the ESFA’s 2016/17 AEB funding and performance management rules.
However, it doesn’t apply to independent training providers, which will be subject to a “year-end adjustment” to their funding allocations for any under-delivery and “must pay back any unspent funds”.
The AoC’s Julian Gravatt said the existence of the tolerance “recognises the fact that the system itself is quite complicated because every learning aim taken by a student is separately priced”.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, 74 providers over-delivered provision that was not paid for, worth a combined total of £2.6 million.
However, this is set to change: the ESFA recently announced it was “committing to fund three-per-cent over-delivery at the end of the 2018 to 2019 funding year for all providers” to “ensure providers can deliver adult education budget provision with confidence”.
The funding and performance management rules for 2018/19 have yet to be published, so it’s not yet known if the three-per-cent tolerance for under-delivery will remain after 2017/18.
Business students have taken control of the social media accounts of a championship basketball club in a unique work experience placement.
The 15 level three students from Gateshead College teamed up with the Newcastle Eagles to develop their employability skills, taking responsibility for ticket sales, managing social media posts and increasing the number of club sign-ups ahead of a match.
Students were also in charge of organising photo opportunities with the club’s mascot, Swoop, on the day of the game, as well as selling merchandise. “It has been great to welcome students from Gateshead College to work with us. The students came along with innovative, unique ideas and a genuine enthusiasm to achieve the goals I set them,” said Paul Blake, the team’s managing director.
“Our students have taken so much away from this project. They’ve been able to get hands-on event and project management experience in a fast-paced environment with challenging targets and have really made the most of the opportunity,” added Chris Toon, deputy principal at the college.
The winners of a competition to breathe new life into Suffolk charity shops have been revealed.
Aliona Cervinskaja and Joe Seaman (pictured) won the week-long challenge, which saw teams of level three business and retail students from West Suffolk College take over six local charity shops, using their business, visual merchandising and social media skills to encourage more people to visit.
The pair took over the St Nicholas Hospice Care Shop on St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds, raising the most money in the store compared to their peers, who took over branches of EACH, Suffolk Age UK, Barnardo’s, Cancer Research UK and the Salvation Army.
“We gave them the tools and the space to express their retail ideas and creativity, and they developed an attractive and eye catching Easter shop window display,” said Bill Hill, shop manager at the St Nicholas Hospice Care Shop.
“Both were engaged with the day-to-day structure of life in a boutique charity shop, and were keen to acquire knowledge of the essential art of visual merchandising.” “Feedback from charity staff has been extremely positive, so we hope to build on links with these great charities in future projects,” added Nina Hart, business and retail course director.
