SPONSORED: NCFE Study Programmes help your 16-19 learners succeed

We know and understand that choosing the right qualifications to fit your 16-19 cohort and build your vocational curriculum can be challenging and technical education is an area of constant change.

NCFE Study Programmes are designed to provide 16 -19 year old learners with a structured and challenging learning experience to support their development and progression to further study or their future career.

The Study Programme is a bespoke programme of learning and is made up of a substantial qualification, with learning time allocated to English and Maths, if required, additional qualifications, and a work placement. NCFE offers a range of qualifications across a number of sectors to give learners the choice and flexibility to learn in a way that’s best for them, and all are supported by award-winning customer service and high-quality learning resources.

Professor Alison Wolf recommended that all young people should be able to gain real experience and knowledge of the workplace

NCFE Study Programmes meet the requirements of the Department for Education (DfE) and NCFE level 3 substantial technical qualifications attract UCAS points to support progression into higher education.

In her review of technical education in 2011, Professor Alison Wolf recommended that all young people should be able to gain real experience and knowledge of the workplace in order to enhance their employability skills. She suggested that Study Programmes be introduced to offer learners breadth and depth, without limiting their options for further study or work. In response, the DfE consulted on proposals for Study Programmes, published its responses and plans for implementation, and in September 2013, Study Programmes were officially introduced. The ongoing post-16 Skills Plan has since set out further reforms to technical education, and whilst these reforms will impact the qualifications available to 16-19 year olds, it is expected that they will build upon the existing core principles of the Study Programme.

NCFE Study Programmes explained

NCFE Study Programmes aim to maximise learner progression to the next stage of education, employment or an apprenticeship. There are various pathways that NCFE can offer from substantial qualifications at level 2 and level 3, to Functional Skills and additional qualifications at level 1, which all contribute to a well-rounded programme of study.

NCFE Applied Generals are level 3 qualifications aimed at post-16 learners who wish to continue their education through applied learning. These qualifications are included in the performance tables for technical and vocational qualifications and don’t require work placements/employer involvement in the delivery of the qualification. They are assessed through a mixture of internal and external assessment.

NCFE Tech Certs and Tech Levels are level 2 and 3 qualifications aimed at post-16 learners to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need for skilled employment or further technical study. Tech Certs and Tech Levels do have elements of work placement, which allow learners to apply knowledge in real work environments.

Substantial qualifications are level 2 and 3 qualifications aimed at post-16 learners to develop their knowledge and skills in their chosen vocational area. These qualifications are assessed through a portfolio of evidence with no external assessment and may be suitable for a variety of learners including those who do not perform at their best under exam conditions.

Maths and English are an important component of the study programme and learners are expected to hold at least a GCSE in Maths and English (grade 4 or grade C). Learners who have achieved a grade 2 or below, or grade E or below, are able to study an alternative qualification such as Functional Skills. Learners could increase their chances of success in achieving Maths or English by studying Functional Skills, as these focus on developing practical skills and applying them to real life situations.  

NCFE also offers a range of employability and smaller qualifications to help learners succeed in their chosen career. From CV writing and developing enterprise skills, to health and safety and substance misuse awareness, they develop learners’ transferrable skills, improve confidence and help to support progression and employment outcomes.

A package of resources to complement study programmes

NCFE Study Programme qualifications are supported by a full package of resources to support learners’ progression, including online interactive programmes, learning games, advice and guidance, PDF workbooks and videos. These resources and programmes have been developed in conjunction with employment specialists Reed to support employability within the curriculum.

BESTest (Baseline Employability Skills Test) is another fantastic resource from ForSkills that supports NCFE Study Programmes. BESTest is an online diagnostic, psychometric assessment that accurately measures a learner’s employability skills. It does this by measuring the starting points of a learner against 10 indicators that are vital for employment success – CV, Job Search, Interviews, Workplace Behaviours, Initiative, Resilience, Motivation, Organisation, Professionalism and Sociability – and generating an immediate report which provides a ‘spikey profile’ of their employability skills. Learners then complete 10 interactive modules that relate directly to the results of their BESTest score to upskill them where needed.

These resources combined with work experience, which is another key principle of the 16-19 study programme, aim to give young people the opportunity to develop their career choices and improve those critical employability skills needed for real working conditions.

NCFE believes in the importance of choice and flexibility when it comes to learning, especially at such a key stage in a learner’s life and that’s why we think it’s important for our customers to be able to build a tailored, bespoke programme of study to suit their learners’ needs.

To find out more about how NCFE can help you with your 16-19 curriculum planning, please visit the NCFE website.

For more information about BESTest or a free trial, please visit the ForSkills website.

ESFA seeks providers to pioneer T-levels

Providers can now bid to become one of the first to deliver T-levels, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has announced.

Guidance, published today, invites expressions of interest from providers who want to deliver the new qualifications in 2020/21, and sets out the criteria they will need to meet.

But while it says that the Department for Education is looking for a “small number” of providers it’s not clear how many it wants.

Providers – which can be colleges, independent training providers, university technical colleges or schools that currently deliver relevant ESFA-funded 16-to-19 education to at least 10 students – must be rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and must have at least ‘satisfactory’ financial health.

They must also “demonstrate excellent attainment in the relevant vocational qualifications for the T-level pathways they wish to deliver” – judged to be at least a ‘merit’ average.

The guidance doesn’t specify the number of providers the government is looking for – although it does say that if there is “significant interest” it will apply further criteria to reach a “manageable number” – including giving priority to grade one providers.

It also discusses the steps the DfE will take to ensure there are providers across the range of types, and from the DfE’s opportunity areas, as set out in the recently published social mobility action plan.

The guidance includes a list of commitments that the chosen providers will need to make, including working with the DfE ahead of 2020 “to help develop the best approach to implementation”, and working “collaboratively with employers to offer a substantial work placement with an employer, away from the students’ learning environment”.

The first three T-levels set to be delivered from 2020 will be in digital, childcare and education, the DfE announced in October.

Consultation on the new qualifications opened at the end of November – although ex-education secretary Justine Greening told FE Week that the government would not budge on plans to make them level three and to include a mandatory three-month work placement.

Learndirect boss reveals ‘surprise’ at £45m allocation following AEB tender withdrawal

Learndirect’s boss has admitted he was “surprised” his provider was handed such a large allocation in the adult education budget tender fiasco, after it tactically withdrew its bid.

Andy Palmer made his astonishment known about the £45 million contract at last night’s Public Accounts Committee hearing on the nation’s biggest FE provider.

Responding to a question from Heidi Allen MP about why Learndirect withdrew its bid in the AEB tender, Mr Palmer explained that it was a strategic decision made with his board’s blessing.

“Having looked at the [AEB tender] specification I was aware that if we had a grade four at that time we wouldn’t have received any funding,” he said.

“I was also aware that if we withdrew from the procurement round then there would be an amount of funding for providers who had withdrawn.”

Andy Palmer

He then unexpectedly admitted he was “surprised by the volume of funding” when asked by the committee how he reacted to Learndirect being given 75 per cent of its previous year allocation.

As revealed in last month’s National Audit Office report, Learndirect originally bid for £85 million in last year’s AEB tender. But in mid-July, after the provider’s grade four inspection became known, the ESFA asked Learndirect to generate some funding scenarios and their consequences.

The provider gave two survival scenarios: one in which the business could continue if awarded £48 million and another for £40 million, which would be insufficient and “the business would probably become insolvent”.

On July 25 Learndirect contacted the ESFA to withdraw its bid from the tender.

On September 6, the ESFA wrote to all providers which either did not participate in the procurement or were unsuccessful, to confirm a rule change that meant they would receive 75 per cent of the value of their previous contract to use in 2017/18 – which amounted to £45 million for Learndirect.

The FE sector was left outraged at this decision, specifically providers who had been successful in the AEB tender but only received a fraction of their previous allocations.

This included Somerset Skills & Learning, a large 10,000-learner community provider, which had its budget slashed by 97 per cent and launched a campaign with MPs to overturn the unfair decision.

They [providers] will be very angry to hear Learndirect’s chief executive was surprised at the £45 million awarded

This was until a later ESFA rule change, following threats of legal challenges, which brought all provider funding up to the value of 75 per cent of the amount they had last year, and therefore into line with providers which did not bid or failed in the tender process.

Responding to Mr Palmer’s “surprise” revelation, Mark Dawe, chief executive of the AELP of which Learndirect is a member, said: “It is frustrating that the ESFA was able to adjust the tender rules for those that chose not to apply.

“While clearly benefiting Learndirect, hundreds of small providers have lost out in the recent tender [non-levy] round where the rules were rigidly applied. They will be very angry to hear Learndirect’s chief executive was surprised at the £45 million awarded.

“This is not a private or public sector issue, or big or small, it is about a fairness of treatment process for all providers and this doesn’t feel to be the case in this situation.”

Ofsted can’t keep up with the growth in apprentices, MPs hear

Fears that Ofsted can’t keep up with the UK’s massive apprenticeships expansion have been raised before MPs, a day after the chief inspector spoke about her struggles to secure more funding.

The House of Commons education select committee held an oral evidence session this morning, part of its inquiry into the quality and monitoring of government-funded apprenticeships and skills training.

Giving evidence, Joe Dromey, a senior research fellow for the policy think-tank IPPR, warned apprenticeship numbers and Ofsted funding were “going in opposite directions”, a day after the chief inspector Amanda Spielman told the public accounts committee about the added pressures that reforms had placed on her overstretched organisation.

Amanda Spielman

“Ofsted needs to be resourced at least commensurate with the increase in apprenticeship numbers, and at the moment they seem to be going in opposite directions,” he said. “So there’s been a soar in apprenticeship numbers since 2010 and a significant reduction in capacity.”

He warned the situation was getting worse and “Ofsted themselves have expressed concern about their ability to regulate and inspect the growing number of apprenticeships, given that funding gap”.

Mr Dromey, who is a member of the Mayor of London’s skills for Londoners advisory group, was expanding on comments from Labour MP Lucy Powell, about “a very underfunded and, out of necessity, very finite inspection regime”.

The committee chair, former skills minister Robert Halfon, asked if there should be less focus on increasing apprenticeship numbers, and more on how well existing apprentices are progressing, for example from level two to three and four.

Mr Dromey agreed with this and said he understood why the Conservatives had set a target of three million apprenticeship starts by 2020, as “it sends good signals”.

Robert Halfon

But “I think it is bad policy, because focusing on numbers at the same time as reducing inspection capacity and stimulating employer investment through the levy means you risk getting quantity not quality”.

Ms Spielman spoke yesterday to PAC members, during a hearing on the Learndirect saga, about her efforts to secure extra funding to help Ofsted ensure that it effectively monitors growing number of new apprenticeship providers.

“Yes, it is the case [in FE] that providers come and go more regularly,” she admitted. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy, and other associated reforms, had “brought in a significant number of new providers”.

“This is something that I raised last year with Jonathan Slater, that if the levy policy was a success then a lot of these new providers are going to come on stream and start having learners and we expect to have more work and need more resource to do that,” she said.

Mr Slater, the permanent secretary for the Department for Education, also gave evidence, and sat by Ms Spielman as she discussed the issue.

“We had the acknowledgement that the more work we had the greater resource we would need,” she added.

“We haven’t got a specific resource increase because we don’t know how many of these [new providers] will come on stream with a volume of learners. But we have the acknowledgement in principle that this will be required.”

Main pic: Joe Dromey, senior research fellow, IPPR, and Dr Carole Easton, chief executive, Young Women’s Trust, giving evidence during today’s education select committee hearing

Struggling college ‘expects’ £25 million bailout as university merger hits buffers

Lambeth College, which was served with a notice of concern for financial control by the Education and Skills Funding Agency yesterday, is expecting to receive a massive cash injection from the government’s restructuring facility by the end of the month, according to its own accounts.

It is also in the market for a new merger partner following delays to a planned partnership with London South Bank University.

“Because of its weak financial position the college can only continue to trade with the assistance of exceptional financial support from the ESFA,” the accounts state.

“The total support requested will have reached £8 million at the date of the signing of these financial statements with an expectation that this will be replaced by a restructuring facility of around £25 million in early 2018.”

This would be enough to cover what the college owes to the ESFA, and around £18 million in bank loans it has taken out.

Ongoing delays to merger plans were blamed for having a “negative effect on the financial recovery strategy” – but if the merger was “not completed by January 2018 then the restructuring facility would provide resources until at least July 2019”.

The merger had been set to complete by July last year, the accounts said, but “following interventions from stakeholders” it was delayed “with submissions of further financial and strategic plans to the ESFA and the minister of state”.

“At the date of the signing of these financial statements these plans are to be tested against other proposals through an FE commissioner-led structure and prospects appraisal that will conclude by February 2018,” it continued.

FE Week understands the government deemed the financial support package demanded by the university as part of the merger deal to be too high, forcing it to seek an alternative partner.

Several colleges are interested, and once SPA has concluded – now expected to be in March – the government will compare the options to determine whether the university offer remains the best, despite the high demands.

Monica Box, Lambeth’s interim principal, insisted it was “taking action to address the notice of concern and is confident that the items identified for improvement are being thoroughly followed up”.

But she said there was “no progress to report” when asked about the college’s university merger plans.

The sum requested by Lambeth is even bigger than the £21 million dished out to Telford College of Arts and Technology as part of its recent merger deal with New College Telford.

A DfE spokesperson insisted at the time that the facility was “not being used to prop up failing colleges”.

“The restructuring facility is designed to help colleges make major changes following an area review recommendation that they cannot fund themselves and that will result in high-quality provision for the local community,” she said.

The previous FE commissioner, Sir David Collins, visited grade three-rated Lambeth in September 2016 following a “significant deterioration” in its finances.

His report concluded that the college’s finances “are no longer sustainable” and recommended that it should “urgently seek a merger partner with a view to enabling the work of the college to continue beyond August 2017”.

Lambeth emerged from the central London area review, which ended two months after Sir David’s visit, with a recommendation to pursue one of three options – a merger with LSBU or with Lewisham Southwark College, or to join the new grouping of City of Westminster College and the College of North West London.

The following month, the college announced that it would “join the LSBU family in principle”.

SPONSORED: How to prepare for the new data protection laws

Demand from our further education members for information and advice on the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been strong and seems to be increasing as the day draws nearer when it becomes law – 25 May, 2018. 

The GDPR is a huge subject with wide-ranging ramifications and colleges have much to get to grips with. You will need to review how your organisation collects, processes, stores and shares its personal data of staff and students.

If you’re unsure whether your college is well prepared, help is available from the education sector’s technology solutions not-for-profit, Jisc. We have a variety of free advice to offer, including blog posts, online guidance and regular training courses. And now available on our website are recordings of speakers at our GDPR conference, so if you missed it, you won’t miss out.

Among main points to consider are:

Accountability

There will be stricter rules requiring organisations to implement policies and document procedures which serve to ensure – and evidence – compliance with the GDPR.

Organisations should conduct an information lifecycle audit to identify and document how personal data is collected, accessed, shared, analysed, and retained. Full record-keeping will be important, too.

An audit will also better enable organisations to use that data in collaboration, and learning analytics projects (as examples), in the knowledge that the data is accurate, up to date, and can be fairly and lawfully used.

Privacy by default and design

Organisations will be obliged to implement data protection and security “by design and default” – to build in data protection from the outset. This includes assessing risk before processing begins, and identifying measures to address those risks.

Higher standard for valid consent

Where organisations rely on consent for processing, the GDPR will introduce a higher standard for this to be valid; it specifically prohibits silence, inaction or pre-ticked boxes as being means to obtain consent.  Individuals must be free to refuse consent without detriment.

Increased data subject rights

Data subjects will be able to request relevant information, which must be provided free of charge within one month, unless the request is complex, in which case, a further two months may be granted. 

Individuals will have the right to know what personal data is being collected, for what purpose, for how long and to whom and to where it is being transferred. They will also have the right to data portability and the highly-publicised right to be forgotten.

Reputational damage and fines

Security breaches inevitably attract publicity and criticism, so organisations should be aware of the risk of serious reputational damage caused by a data breach. The ICO had said that the fines regime will remain proportional to any poor data processing practices leading to a breach, although the fines’ limit has increased substantially and is now a maximum of €20 million, or 4% of annual turnover, whichever is greater.

Data protection officers (DPOs)

Organisations whose core activities involve large-scale monitoring or processing of sensitive data may need a DPO. In our experience, most universities and colleges have concluded that awarding degrees involves “large-scale monitoring” so are assigning DPO roles and responsibilities.  A DPO must operate independently and not take instructions from their organisation.

For further information, email us, or visit our website. 

Carillion, largest employer of construction apprentices, goes into liquidation

The UK’s largest employer of construction apprentices has gone into liquidation, leaving the future of hundreds of 16 to 18-year-old trainees uncertain.

The move for construction giant Carillion, whose training division held a £6.5 million Education and Skills Funding Agency contract for apprenticeship provision last year, came after talks between the firm, its lenders and the government failed to reach a deal to save the firm.

The company ran into trouble after losing money on big contracts and running up huge debts, according to a report by the BBC.

Its training department, Carillion Training Services, received a visit from Ofsted at the end of 2016 and was rated ‘requires improvement’.

At the time it was training around 2,000 learners, mostly 16 to 18-year-olds, with the help of three subcontractors: Mid-Kent College, Birmingham Metropolitan College and Hybrid Technical Services.

I am concerned at the large number of apprentices whose positions will now be of concern

The Ofsted report stated that CTS provides apprenticeships to learners on a range of vocational pathways including building maintenance, construction operations, trowel occupations, wood occupations, decorative finishing, and domestic plumbing and heating.

In May 2017 Carillion Training Limited was set up – presumably for levy-funded provision.

The firm’s website says: “Each year we recruit over 1,000 apprentices via training centres around the UK.

“This makes Carillion Training Services the UK’s largest employer of construction apprentices.”

Gordon Marsden, the shadow skills minister, has spoken of his concerns about the way government has handled Carillion’s deteriorating situation.

“The overall way in which government has ignored the warning signs over Carillion in the last 12 months and continued to give out contracts has alarming echoes of the way they have behaved over the Learndirect shambles in a very different area,” he told FE Week.

“I am concerned at the large number of apprentices whose positions will now be of concern.

“It is important that the skills minister and Department for Education really make their voice heard in any government plans to rescue something from this mess and specifically to try and guarantee that those apprentices are either continued in their jobs or found alternative employers/providers.”

According to the government’s most recent national apprenticeship achievement rates, Carillion had 610 leavers – 580 of which were aged 16 to 18 – on the level two in construction building framework.

Its achievement rate sat at 63 per cent – one percentage point higher than the government’s minimum threshold.

It is currently unclear what will happen to Carillion’s 43,000 staff, 20,000 of whom are based in the UK.

FE Week is attempting to contact Carillion to find out more information about the future of their training division.

Priority is to to ensure that Carillion apprentices can continue their training

The Construction Industry Training Board has moved quickly to say that it is taking steps to secure the future of the Carillion apprentices.

“The news of Carillion entering insolvency is clearly a significant blow to the UK construction sector,” said CITB’s chief executive Sarah Beale.

“While this will present the sector with a number of challenges, CITB’s priority is to do all it can to ensure that Carillion apprentices can continue their training so their skills are not lost.

“We have established a project team to work with the apprentices and will be offering in principle grant and apprenticeship transfer incentives to our employer base in order to retain these learners.”

Ms Beale added that the CITB will be working closely with the ESFA, the Official Receiver and its network of college providers so that “every possible support” is in place to help these apprentices continue their training.

“We will be liaising with the Official Receiver with a view to contacting the apprentices as soon as possible.”

A Department for Education spokesperson added: “We have taken steps to protect learners by transferring the training of Carillion apprentices to the CITB, and we are grateful to CITB for helping us ensure learners can continue to gain the skills they need.

“We will continue to work closely with the CITB to support apprentices to remain in existing placements or to find new employment with other local organisations so they can complete their training.”

 

Fears for nearly 3,000 learners as large provider folding

A Northamptonshire-based training provider with a near £2 million government skills contract is closing down, leaving nearly 3,000 learners facing an uncertain future, FE Week has learned.

TQ Workforce Development Ltd, which dropped from a ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted rating in July, started telling around 30 staff members they were losing their jobs last week.

The provider, which works with five subcontractors that share £700,000 in contracts, had around 3,000 learners studying intermediate and advanced apprenticeships or adult learning programmes at the time of its most recent inspection from the watchdog.

For the past two years the provider, whose ESFA allocation was just over £1.8 million for 2017/18, has been given a notice of serious breach by the government for not meeting the minimum standard regarding its apprenticeship delivery.

Its overall apprenticeship achievement rate sits at just 52 per cent – 10 percentage points lower than the ESFA’s minimum threshold – according to the latest government statistics.

The exact reasons for the sudden closure however remain unknown.

The provider has not been graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted – which triggers intervention from the ESFA and the cancelling of its contracts – and on December 14, TQ Workforce put a news story on its website which announced its “delight” at receiving over £500,000 in the recent non-levy tender.

FE Week has spoken to TQ Workforce’s managing director, Jane Quarmby, but she was unable to shed any clear light on the situation.

“We’re ceasing trading and right at the beginning of the process, but I haven’t got much else to say at the moment,” she said.

When asked if she could say why her business is having to close, Ms Quarmby said “not at the moment no” but confirmed the decision was not based on the outcome of the recent controversial non-levy tender.

She also couldn’t comment on what would happen to the learners at TQ Workforce, as it is “too early days”.

One former staff member of the provider has already changed his LinkedIN profile to say he is currently seeking employment and new opportunities due to “sudden redundancy”.

Its website is still active, but staff email addresses are now being shut down.

 

Super injunction meant Learndirect gagged Ofsted from speaking to ESFA

Learndirect was “bizarrely” granted a super injunction during its judicial review against Ofsted which suppressed the inspectorate from speaking with the government about the provider’s damning grade four inspection.

Chief inspector Amanda Spielman made the staggering revelation this evening during a Public Accounts Committee hearing on the Learndirect saga.

She said that this “unfortunate position” was granted as soon as the court case was launched following its March inspection and lasted until Ofsted won the battle in August, which “complicated” matters.

It was also arranged with only the court and Learndirect, without any “reference” to Ofsted or the ESFA.

Amanda Spielman

Ms Spielman explained that the 2017 snap election gave the inspectorate “no choice” but to delay publication of Learndirect’s report.

She then revealed: “An application was made for an injunction before the election period was up and the court somewhat bizarrely and without reference to us granted a super injunction which made it impossible for any discussion whatever to happen even between us and the ESFA.

“We could not discuss through that period so why a super injunction was granted is baffling but it was given on the sole basis of Learndirect’s application with no reference to Ofsted or anyone else.

“Our lawyers sought to find out more information about the application but we were given no opportunity to respond to it.”

The court somewhat bizarrely granted a super injunction which made it impossible for any discussion to happen even between us and the ESFA

Ms Spielman added: “From that application, which was made before the election, through until the judgement was handed down, no part of government could talk to the other part of government about the situation, nor would they have been able to discuss with third parties the handling, because it was not possible to discuss this pending judgement.”

The PAC’s chair, Meg Hillier, said this was a “staggering” revelation and thanked Ms Spielman for sharing the information with the committee.

Andy Palmer (pictured above), Learndirect’s chief executive, was then questioned on this but said he was unaware that such an injunction would stop Ofsted from speaking with the ESFA.

“What we asked for was that the report was not published I don’t recall asking for such an injunction so as such the departments couldn’t talk to each other about the case,” he claimed.

“The injunction we asked for was primarily focused on ensuring the report wasn’t published in advance and there was no discussion of the report or the judicial review taking place in the press in advance of the report being finalised and agreed having gone through the judicial review process.

“I think this was justified because any publication of the report would damage the company.”

Tonight’s hearing follows the findings of last month’s National Audit Office report, which examined the monitoring, inspection and funding of the nation’s biggest FE provider.

This is a large body that really was so big that it couldn’t fail and they held the whip-hand over government

Learndirect was given an ‘inadequate’ rating by Ofsted in a report published in August, but the government offered it special treatment by allowing it to retain its contracts for almost a year – much more than the usual three-month termination period.

Witnesses at tonight’s hearing included former ESFA chief Peter Lauener, the Department for Education’s permanent secretary, Jonathan Slater, Ms Spielman and Mr Palmer.

Speaking to FE Week immediately after the hearing, Ms Hillier said: “I think we got some shocking revelations today and the description of how the super injunction was used and the fact that the company thought it was acceptable to have an argument with Ofsted like that is shocking.

“I think there are wider issues here about how when you have private sector companies where profit really is the main driver that they will do all sorts of things that would not be acceptable in the public sector like take out super injunctions, like trying to delay inspections, in order to prop up their profits.

“These are companies delivering a public sector service with tax-payers’ money and it is really important that we make sure the value is there for the user and outcomes, not just the profits for private bodies.”

She added: “This is a large body that really was so big that it couldn’t fail and they held the whip-hand over government and tried to whip the inspectorate into what they wanted to do.”

The PAC also heard tonight that Learndirect has continued to be obstructive to Ofsted inspectors during their current monitoring visits, just as the provider was during its full inspection in March.

On this matter, Ms Hillier said: “It is either dirty corporate tactics or an organisation that just hasn’t got to grips with the fact it has got an independent public regulated inspector that is coming in and doing its job. If it is the former it is appalling and if it is the second they need to grow up.”