Sir Gerry Berragan, Chief executive, Institute for Apprenticeships

The new boss of the Institute for Apprenticeships is not giving anything away. After 37 years in the military, Sir Gerry Berragan seems more comfortable dealing in facts than stories about his life.

But this might be just the kind of discipline the organisation needs, after a year under a caretaker chief executive and a list of gripes from employers and providers as long as the Bayeux Tapestry.

To this end, the institute’s first official publication, issued shortly after Sir Gerry’s appointment in November, was a stroke of genius. The simple two-pager, ‘Faster and Better’ was all substance and no style, and promised to rationalise processes and accelerate decisions.

In short, if the IfA is aiming to project a much-needed new front of efficiency, it’s working. All that’s left now is to deliver.

I want to take on responsibility. I want to lead people

It has promised a fuller explanation of the new process in early February, designed, Sir Gerry avers, to “reduce the time and the pain that trailblazers go through in developing these things. Because I understand that they’re all busy people and they’ve got day jobs too.”

The new boss’s understanding reaches beyond empathising with employers, deep into the world of training and apprenticeships. Less than a decade ago he was in charge of training for the entire army, which is “probably one of the biggest providers of apprenticeships in the country”.

During his three years as the army’s director of recruiting and training, he oversaw the plan to map all its internal training, onto what he calls “civilian standards” such as NVQs or BTECs. As framework apprenticeships came in, they took a similar approach, so by “maybe seven years ago, about 85 per cent of people who joined the army as soldiers were on apprenticeships.”

These are the kind of facts the former adjutant-general is willing to share. But asking Sir Gerry about his own life feels a bit like trying to solve one of those puzzles on the Crystal Maze. There’s a list of details, both personal and professional, that he has decided he’s willing to divulge, but you don’t know what they are, or in which part of his 60-year life history they lie.

A service child himself – he’s a fourth-generation serviceman – he grew up all over the world, in so many places he claims he can’t remember exactly where and when. “I enjoyed my time in Malaya but I was probably between six and nine, I think,” he says, while Germany and Hong Kong were also in the mix.

So were there any places that left a particularly strong impression on him when traveling the world as a military kid? “Not really, no.”

He’s similarly quiet about what inspired him to join up, but admits that his itinerant childhood no doubt influenced his personality: “I do think that life gave you a degree of resilience, because you were moving, you were making new friends, you were sort of self-reliant from quite a young age.”

He applied to Sandhurst at 19, shortly after completing his A-levels. And while he denies that was a childhood ambition, he did know university wasn’t for him – he was too keen to “get out there and do something and have some adventures”. So after trying his hand at “all sorts of odd jobs,” he decided civilian life was too boring and joined up in 1979.

The difference between a non-graduate who decides to apply to the officer track, as he did, and one who joins the ranks is “a lot to do with willingness and preparedness to take responsibility. So if you go in as an officer you’re basically saying, ‘I want to take on responsibility. I want to lead people’.”

This statement of purpose seems an apt description of a man who has held command appointments in the army at pretty much every level all the way up to adjutant-general – which is only one rung from the top.

Having chosen a leadership path, that was indeed what he got: by 22 he was already training troops of 30 recruits, tasked with turning them from “civilians into soldiers” over about three months.

“That was tremendous fun, really seeing the transformation in those guys,” he recalls. “When they came through the door they wouldn’t look you in the eye, they’d shuffle their feet, they had their hands in pockets, and by the end they talked to anyone, they were confident – they just had an aura about them.”

Some of the recruits had no qualifications from school, and he found it satisfying to watch them grow in confidence as they passed their army exams. The experience obviously marked him, and remains part of why he has a passion for his current role.

Sometimes youngsters don’t see the point of some of the education they get at school

“I think sometimes youngsters don’t see the point of some of the education they get at school, whereas with vocational it’s got a reason and it leads to something tangible. And I think that’s why that’s always stuck with me,” he says.

Ten years later he passed the competitive staff college exams and was put onto an army fast-track, leading initially to a posting in the first Gulf War as a brigade chief of staff.

Over the next couple of decades, he moved up the ranks in postings across the UK and worldwide, including in Germany, Canada and Kenya, until, on returning from Baghdad at the end of 2007, he was handed what he describes as “a huge job” as director of recruiting and training. He attempts to provide an idea of the scale of the task. There were about 25,000 people working for him, and that was just the staff, on something like 30 sites, spread around the country.

While Sir Gerry’s personal area of expertise was gunnery, army training isn’t just about preparing troops for combat. Construction engineers, for example, receive basic training and combat engineer training before going on to become bricklayers, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, or even air-conditioning engineers.

The army is often required to build camps that are effectively entire towns, he explains, pointing to the famous Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

“Back in 2005 it didn’t exist – it was a blank piece of desert, 20 miles from the nearest town. And within three years it was a town the size of Basingstoke with two hospitals, an international airport that was almost as busy as somewhere like Gatwick,” he recalls. “It had catering facilities, it had accommodation, it had drainage, it had water supplies, it had electricity supplies, you name it.”

After three years Sir Gerry became director of personnel, before rising 18 months later to the rank of adjutant-general, responsible for everything from recruiting and training to personnel, career management, the Sandhurst officer academy, and even schools for service children.

“In effect I had my own local education authority spread around Brunei, Germany and the Falklands,” he quips.

And then at the end of 2015, after 37 years’ service, he decided it was time to retire from the military, but insists he “never stopped enjoying it”.

I’m prioritising where I speak and who I go and see on the basis that I really need to be around here quite a lot of the time

After such a storied career, some might decide it was time to tend the allotment, but Sir Gerry soon began looking around “to see what things I could usefully do with my background and what could I contribute”. That’s when he saw the advert for the board at the Institute for Apprenticeships.

His experience made him a natural fit, but he was the only person from a public sector background on the board – most are employers, with a couple from FE and one from an independent training provider.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, he has high praise for the IfA’s governance body: “I think it is fantastically diverse and really cohesive board. I was amazed at how they were all very accomplished in their own fields, and I think they’ve been a good sort of governance mechanism for the Institute as it has developed.”

After six months on the board, his decision to move from governor to chief executive wasn’t a given; in fact, he insists he wasn’t looking for a full-time job, and it wasn’t until the board’s recruitment committee had been through two unsuccessful rounds that he decided to put himself forward.

So what flicked the switch?

He describes a working dinner with the chair, the former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins, and fellow board member Dame Fiona Kendrick, who chairs Nestle UK, during which it began to dawn on Sir Gerry that he might be the person for this role.

The three were meeting in their capacity as the board’s strategy group, and Mr Jenkins was relating their trouble finding a suitable candidate. “That was a frustration,” explains Sir Gerry, “because we knew Peter [Lauener] was going to retire at the end of the year, there was a bit of an imperative to get someone in place.”

The group’s conversation turned to other matters, but an idea had begun to form in Sir Gerry’s head. Over the course of the two-hour meal, he mulled it over quietly, and then “at the end I said ‘look, you know, if it helps then I’ll throw my hat in the ring’. And that’s why I am where I am,” he concludes, matter-of-factly.

A “mini recruitment phase” followed, “to make sure everyone was happy”, including interviews with the chair and one of the other panel members, and also with skills minister Anne Milton, after which he was offered the job.

The somewhat unconventional way in which he was selected – without competing directly against other candidates – meant that he has been appointed only for a two-year period.

But in contrast to the IfA’s previous chief executive, Sir Gerry doesn’t see himself as a caretaker boss.

“I think two years is quite a long time,” he declares. “I think you can do quite a lot in two years.”

Mr Lauener, he points out, was appointed additionally to his role at the head of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and “he was basically trying to do both jobs for most of that year”.

His successor, however, has “no other distractions”. “I’m on this full time,” he insists, though he’s equivocal on what happens after two years, when he would have to reapply: “Let’s see when that comes.”

You can do quite a lot in two years

Mr Lauener’s deputy, Michael Keoghan, who was in charge of much of the day-to-day running of the institute, has since left to pursue his “dream job” as chief economic advisor for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. But the handover has been positive: “Luckily, we’ve had the best part of two months together and he’s been giving me a lot of really helpful, constructive advice.”

They won’t be hiring another deputy, in favour of a chief operating officer, whose appointment should leave the new boss more time in the field.

“At the moment I’m prioritising where I speak and who I go and see on the basis that I really need to be around here quite a lot of the time,” he explains. “Once I’ve got a chief operating officer in place I can get out more.”

Tomorrow is Sir Gerry’s 60th birthday, and it seems an appropriate moment to wish him all the best for the next phase of his professional life. By all appearances, at least, the IfA appears to be in steady hands.

What does Ofsted consider a good college curriculum?

Amanda Spielman cited Harlow College as having particularly good curriculum design at the AoC conference in the autumn – but what has it done that so impressed Ofsted? Its principal Karen Spencer explains

During 2017, Harlow College took part in an Ofsted survey visit, looking at the design of level two study programmes. The visit felt very different from an inspection: it was more of a professional conversation asking us to identify good practice, giving greater time, without judgements, for discussion.

We told Ofsted how we’d redesigned our level two engineering curriculum in consultation with local employers, and how we were using the same process for our new centre planned at Stansted Airport. They seemed impressed with our approach, which could be replicated by any college, whatever their local employer landscape, so we are happy to share it here.

Engage effectively with employers

We were aware that our students were arriving with some gaps, so we invited 30 local employers to join a forum to learn what they needed from them. We heard all of their complaints – it was useful therapy for them, and while it was hard for us to hear, the first part of any process is acknowledging the issue.

Employers were very keen to be involved and commit to placements, professional input and guaranteed job interviews

The employers made several requests, including more training in hand skills and five-days-a-week provision, which unsurprisingly caused sharp intakes of breath. Nevertheless, we set about identifying practical solutions; it was a genuine two-way process, as employers supported us.

Tailor provision to employer need

We compacted our engineering study programme so students attended five days each week until Christmas. Then they begin two blocks of six-week work placements.

The final part of the course is taken up with completing portfolios, employability skills training, interview techniques, and how to search for vacancies. Employers sponsor the programme, providing professional input to curriculum design, offering extended work placements and guaranteeing interviews for jobs (not a guaranteed job). We cobrand and badge the programmes as “pre-apprenticeships”.

Last year 94 per cent of young people from our programme progressed directly into an apprenticeship with a local employer. Our engineering apprenticeships have increased by 13 per cent and the numbers wanting to join the study programme this year have increased by 56 per cent.

Develop and maintain relationships

The consultation created goodwill. We found employers were very keen to be involved and commit to placements, professional input and guaranteed job interviews. In fact, since we redesigned our curriculum, we’ve even had employers fighting over our students to employ them as apprentices.

Ongoing relationship management is critical. We therefore decided to invest in business development expertise, someone who understands the curriculum and is an engineer by trade.

Invest in facilities tailored to your area

We wanted to make our students more work-ready, not only their hand skills but also by familiarising them with the kind of advanced machinery they would use in the workplace.

That’s why we built the Harlow Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Centre with co-investment from the College, SELEP and Essex county council. Our state-of-the-art facilities allow students to design, rapidly prototype, manufacture and test with the latest CNC technology. We complement this with a small-scale R&D and production facility for employers, where they can batch-manufacture components.

This is provided at a competitive price on the understanding that students are involved in the process. For example, we worked with a lawnmower company to produce components that they would otherwise send to China for production. Our students have gained a real insight into the design and production process, and assisted in the development of a real product.

We think we were used as an example of good practice for two main reasons: our proactive work with employers and our use of the flexibilities of the study programme. We have dared to think differently and innovate – something that’s a challenge when there’s so much change already in the sector.

Karen Spencer is principal of Harlow College

Aspiring caterers undertake work experience with First Dates star Fred Sirieix

Two aspiring chefs have been completing work experience under the watchful eye of Fred Sirieix, star of the Channel 4 show First Dates.

Gabriel Innaccone and Joe Cheeseman (pictured), both 16, are first-year learners at London South East College’s hospitality, food and enterprise career college, and were sent on work placement at Galvin at Windows, the swanky Park Lane restaurant where Mr Sirieix (pictured centre) is general manager.

The Michelin-starred restaurant is situated on the 28th floor of the Hilton Hotel, and the learners have already been thrown in at the deep end, preparing meals in the kitchen with guidance from the restaurant’s chefs.

“As a product of a vocational education and training myself, I know just how an opportunity like this can be the basis of a very lucrative and rewarding career,” said Ben Hobson, the sous chef at the restaurant who supervised the pair.

“This line of work relies so much on your attitude, as well as having an eye for quality and detail. It means working very hard and be willing to listen, observe and learn. It also requires lots of determination.”

Annual conference for women leaders in FE will focus on unlocking talent

To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Women’s Leadership Network is hosting an annual conference on how employers and employees can identify their talents and achieve their full professional potential.

Four workshops will take place on themes including flexible working and board membership, and there will be a session led by Jackie Grubb, the principal of City of Westminster College, on mindfulness and wellbeing.

The venue

There will also be an interactive workshop on using social media to raise your professional profile, delivered by FE Week.

Taking place on March 8 at Morley College in London, the event is open to leaders and aspiring leaders from across the FE sector.

“It will be a chance to think creatively and strategically about how we can transform organisations so that they recruit and retain talent when they need it and how they need it,” explained Kathryn James, a member of the WLN. “Time will also be given to reflect on what we can do personally to be the best we can for ourselves and others, so that we all can use our innate talents for work and for wellbeing.”

Tickets can be bought from the ETF’s website, and 20 free places are on offer to women who work or study in the post-16 FE and training sector, and who are aspiring leaders. To find out more, click here.

FE Week are pleased to be supporting this event as the official media partner.

Do new college principals really need sector experience?

Dr Sue Pember, director of policy and external relations at Holex, answers your questions on college governance, backed by her experience as principal of Canterbury College and in senior civil service posts in education and skills

Question One: Do new principals need sector experience?

We are just starting work to replace our retiring principal, and are considering essential candidate criteria. We can’t agree on whether it is essential for candidates to have FE experience or not. What is your view?

Answer: This is an interesting question and one for debate.

In schools it is more clear-cut: an applicant headteacher is expected to undertake the national professional qualification for headship, and although it is possible to get on this course without teaching experience it is very unlikely.

In principle it should be possible to move from a senior business role to become chief executive of a college

Although in principle it should be possible to move from a senior business role to become chief executive of a college, and while several exceptional people have done exactly that, in practice it is much harder to be successful. Some like to see the role as being mainly financial, but the reality is it is all about the students and the staff.

If an external candidate doesn’t know how to ensure a successful student experience and doesn’t understand the basics about class/group size and how it affects the bottom line, they are unlikely to lead the college to success. Personally, I believe you need a few years of experience in the classroom to truly understand students and learning; it builds resilience and allows you to understand the impact of the government’s constant changes first-hand, which in turn influences your responses and style of leadership when you become principal.

Question Two: Career advice to students

How can we maximise our opportunities with the recent change in the law requiring schools to allow colleges access to their pupils?

Answer: As with many others, I was pleased when in January 2016, the then-education secretary Nicky Morgan announced that the government would legislate to require schools to give emphasis to academic and vocational routes alike, and would collaborate with colleges, university technical colleges and other training providers to ensure this was done.

You should work with schools to gain access and create a really engaging experience

I was very excited about Lord Baker’s amendment, which came into force on January 2, requiring schools to allow providers of technical education and apprenticeships to contact pupils and promote their courses. But then I thought ‘isn’t it a sad world where we need legislation just to offer our young people fair and balanced advice?’ I am sure all of us, whether in a school or college, would say we want what is best for our pupils.

However, we do need to embrace these new rights and, as you say, it is now over to providers to maximise this opportunity.

To this end, you should work with schools to gain access and create a really engaging experience, using your best and most inspiring staff who can point out the differences between going to college or apprenticeships in positive way.

A college course or apprenticeship comes alive and is more appealing when pupils can come to see your premises. Access to pupils in the school is fine but there are other very effective practices: for example, offering specialist workshops in your premises to year 8s (12-year-olds) is one way to influence them.

Youngsters seem to know where they want to go before they pick their GCSEs so this new law is helpful but it is not going to fully solve the issue of ensuring fair information. It will still be up to you to make your offer known.

 

Question Three: Data protection reform

How does the new data protection law affect our work as governors?

Answer: Governors and the senior executive should be preparing for the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now and, as governors, you need to be aware of the changes and approve the corresponding college policy, which needs to be in place by May 25.

These new regulations strengthen individual rights

There is plenty of help and support out there and your first port of call is the Information Commissioner’s Office, which has a set of tools and information for educational organisations.

These new regulations strengthen individual rights, and are supported by rules related to direct marketing which cover the promotion of aims and ideals as well as the sale of products and services.

In many cases, organisations will need consent to send people marketing information, or to pass on their details.

Organisations will need to be able to demonstrate that consent was knowingly and freely given, and should keep clear records.The rules on calls, texts and emails are stricter than those on mail marketing, and consent must be more specific. Organisations should not take a one-size-fits-all approach and therefore college processes and permissions will undoubtedly need to be revised.

 

Scheme giving vulnerable shoppers a safe environment to shop comes to Bath

Bath College is helping to pilot an initiative at a local supermarket that gives people with dementia and additional needs the space, support and time to complete their weekly shop in comfort, reports Samantha King.

Seven of the college’s health and social care students will help run the ‘Slow Shopping’ project at their local branch of Waitrose, where each Tuesday between 10 and 12 in the morning, lights will be dimmed, tannoys switched off, background noise limited and extra seating made available for shoppers who may become overwhelmed in an everyday supermarket environment.

Helping to make Slow Shopping happen

The project was started by Katherine Vero, after experiencing her own mother’s struggles with dementia while shopping, and projects are already established in branches of ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s in Newcastle and Essex.

“I heard Katherine on Radio 4, and afterwards I contacted her and said I’d really like to work with her, and that the students could learn a lot from this,” said Sally Wilson, the care academy coordinator at Bath College. “She loved the idea of an intergenerational project where young people are supporting those who are often elderly, but not always. The joy of slow shopping is that it’s for any shopper with additional needs.”

It is the first time a slow shopping project has involved students, and Ms Vero has visited learners and Waitrose staff together to train them in how to run the project, which involved a tour of the shop floor to identify any potential barriers for shoppers.

The joy of slow shopping is that it’s for any shopper with additional needs

“They walked around the store and imagined it through the eyes of someone they may have worked with or cared for,” Ms Wilson said. “If you have Alzheimer’s for instance, it’s difficult to know when you come out of the toilets where the store entrance is, and people can become quite disorientated. It’s about learning what simple things can be done to help.”

The project, which has received funding from the St John’s Foundation, a charity that works with Bath’s elderly population, ran for the first time earlier last week, and has already received glowing feedback from the local community.

“We would love for other colleges to pick up and run with this,” Ms Wilson added. “Often with health and social care you’re working in settings geared up towards supporting people, but this is day-to-day life in a real world environment.”

Crash courses in cooking for aspiring HE students

In an effort to encourage more students to move on to higher education, Walsall College has been running ‘Cooking on a budget’ workshops to prepare them for university life.

Learners have been taught how to become self-sufficient in the kitchen by making easy meals such as pasta dishes and Chilli Con Carne, and attendees were presented with a cookbook of affordable recipes at the end of the session.

Chris Sammons

Led by the college’s hospitality and catering lecturer Chris Sammons, the workshops also covered how to shop on a budget, hygiene in the kitchen, and the correct way to store and freeze food.

The workshops were part of the college’s ‘Aspire to HE’ programme, which aims to support the government’s goals to increase the number of young people pursuing higher education routes by 2020.

“Living independently and budgeting for food is a large part of university life,” said Vivien Russell, the college’s progress coach for Aspire to HE. “The workshop was chance to prepare students for some of the challenges and opportunities of living on a smaller budget, whilst being able to prepare healthy and tasty meals.”

College overseas ambassadors promote FE sector in China

Overseas ambassadors from three colleges have been selected to represent the UK education sector on a recent trip to China.

Nottingham College’s head of international projects Shaf Hussain, Central Bedfordshire College’s international manager Richard Harrison, and Cardiff and Vale College’s international development manager Ian Thomas were all selected as guest speakers at the British Council Agent Training Workshops, which aimed to promote the UK FE sector to Chinese students and their parents.

Run by the British Council, the workshops took place in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, and were attended by education consultants, who are responsible for representing and helping families with their educational planning.

“A strong message went out to agents highlighting that FE is the best place to prepare international students for UK university study,” said Mr Hussain. “The purpose of me attending was to try to positively impact on the international student market and I’m happy to say that I feel that I was able to achieve this.”

The representatives hope their respective colleges will see an increased intake of international students by September 2018 as a result of the trip.

The 3m apprenticeship manifesto target slips further way – and now the AoC boss wants it scrapped

The government’s ambition to reach three million apprenticeship starts by 2020 is slipping further out of its grasp as we hit the halfway point, according to exclusive FE Week analysis of the latest statistics.

The number of starts in the 30 months since May 2015 has just hit 1,234,000, the latest monthly starts data shows, leaving us 266,000 (18 per cent) under one-and-a-half million, which is half of the eventual three-million target.

And a leading sector figure has now told the government to scrap the target entirely.

The head of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes, wrote on Twitter that it was the “wrong target” and claimed that a “brave government would abandon it now and replace with a target about job outcomes”.

In another tweet, he suggested that such disappointing results were a “great chance to abandon starts target and focus on access, quality, outcomes and building capacity and capability to deliver that”.

The Department for Education won’t be drawn on whether it is considering either abandoning or changing the target.

A brave government would abandon it

The Learning and Work Institute’s chief executive, Stephen Evans, also believes that the Department for Education is “measuring the wrong thing”, and warned that it risks “both missing the target and missing the point”.

“It’s based on starts not completions, and doesn’t look at quality or access. We need to look more broadly at the learning and skills system for young people as a whole,” he said.

“Our research shows a rise in the proportion of young people spending at least six months not in education, employment or training and an increasing disconnect with the official claimant count.”

The government first introduced its flagship target in 2015, and repeated it in last year’s election manifesto.

In order to hit the target, the country would have had to add an average of at least 50,000 apprenticeship starts per month, a threshold only beaten in three of the last 30 months.

Today’s provisional figures revealed a 26-per-cent drop in apprenticeship starts in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same time period last year.

Today’s figures are a warning for the government, as it becomes increasingly unlikely that it will meet its three million new starters target

As reported by FE Week, total apprenticeship starts fell 41 per cent in the six months since May – when the levy was introduced – in comparison with the same period the previous year.

“Today’s drop in apprenticeship starts remains alarming and proves again that the apprenticeship levy isn’t yet working for businesses, apprentices and the economy,” said Neil Carberry, the CBI’s managing director of people policy.

“A fresh approach is needed to make skills reforms work. The CBI will continue in its calls to government to evolve the apprenticeship levy into a flexible skills levy, so firms can fund training for their people whatever the form of high-quality course they do. And policymakers must collaborate more closely with businesses and learning providers to design a stable national framework for skills.”

Seamus Nevin, the head of policy at the Institute of Directors echoed these concerns.

“Today’s figures are a warning for the government, as it becomes increasingly unlikely that it will meet its three million new starters target,” he said. “The levy is the right idea, but the system is ripe for reform.”

The apprenticeships minister Anne Milton admitted that last year had been “a period of significant change” and that “it will take time for employers to adjust”.

“But we must not lose sight of why we introduced our reforms in the first place – to put quality at the heart of this programme, and putting control in the hands of employers,” she said.

“It is right that they are taking their time to plan ahead, with two years to spend their levy funds, and maximise the opportunities an apprenticeship can bring for both the learner and employer. Feedback we’ve had shows employers are doing exactly that.”