Sixth form students studying narrower range of A-level subjects, report finds

Post-16 students are studying a narrower range of A-level subjects than 20 years ago, a report has found, sparking calls for ministers to address this through the government’s curriculum review.

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reports on a fall in the take-up across the main subject groups since 2015-16 when AS a A-levels were “decoupled”.

But take-up for humanities and arts courses plunged compared to STEM and social sciences over the past two decades, the study warns on the eve of level 3 results day.

NFER found a “sharp reduction” in the range of subjects chosen by students and are instead choosing their A-levels from a single subject group.

Subject choices available to students have also diminished over this period, with modern languages badly hit.

The government has committed to a curriculum and assessment review, led by Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation.

Dr Molly Morgan Jones, director of policy at the British Academy, which commissioned the report, said: “Breadth and balance should be at the heart of any future post-16 curriculum and should not be negatively impacted by any future reforms.”

Here are six key findings from the report…

1. More students taking AS/A-levels from single subject group

There has been a fall in take-up across all major subject groups at AS and A-level since 2015-16, “probably” due to them being separated that year, the report states.

The 2015 change meant AS results no longer counted towards A-level qualifications. As a result, students now take fewer qualifications than before, NFER noted.

The analysis found rising proportions of students are choosing to only study subjects from within the same subject group, such as by just taking STEM courses.

Between 2003-4 and 2021-22, the proportion taking AS/A-levels from a single subject group nearly doubled from 18 per cent to 35 per cent, most of this rise was post-2015.

2. Drop in three subject group combinations

There has also been a sharp decline in the proportion of AS and A-level students taking a “three-way combination of subject groups”, NFER found.

Just five per cent of students in the 2021-22 cohort were mixing subjects from a STEM, social science and humanities subject, for instance.

This was down by nearly two-thirds from 2015-16, when 14 per cent of each cohort combined a subject from each of these three groups, it added.

3. Diminished subject choice

At subject level, “choices for students have diminished” since 2007-08 with providers “generally reducing the range of subjects being offered”, the report states.

NFER found almost all arts AS/A-level subjects have seen a “dramatic decline” in availability across providers, while art and design studies seen a “moderate” dip. 

Most humanities subjects also saw a slump in availability from 2007-08 to 2021-22.

French, German and religious studies were offered by “significantly fewer” providers than in 2007-08. The proportion offering French AS or A-level has fallen most years since 2009-10, down from 78 per cent of providers to 53 per cent in 2021-22.

A young person’s background, environment and gender also plays a key role in influencing their subject choices, the report found.

4. Humanities hit hard

Humanities and arts subjects have been particularly affected.

Falls in the proportions of students taking English, history, religious studies and modern foreign languages post-2015 look to have driven the decline for humanities, NFER notes.

While 56 per cent of students studied a humanities subject in 2015-16, only 38 per cent took one in 2021-22, the research shows.

But the decline across arts subjects started in the early 2010s and has been “more gradual”, falling from a high of 42 per cent in 2006-07 to 24 per cent in 2021-22.

The likelihood of a student studying a humanities and arts subject was, respectively, about 21 and 15 percentage points lower in 2021-22 compared to 2003-04, NFER adds.

“The decoupling of AS- and A-level qualifications has likely played a key role in the reduction in the range of subjects taken up by students,” the report states.

“These changes have particularly affected the take-up of humanities and arts subjects – and risk having a profound impact on the future shape of these disciplines.”

5. But social science and STEM ‘relatively stable’

But the proportion of students studying STEM and social science subjects over the past two decades has remained “relatively stable”.

But the proportion of students studying STEM and social science subjects over the past two decades has remained “relatively stable”.

In 2003-04, 62 per cent of students took a social science subject – such as psychology – compared to 63 per cent in 2021-22.

For STEM subjects, the proportion has hovered at around half of all students in each cohort since 2003-04, ranging from 48 per cent to 54 per cent.

Participation in maths peaked at 36 per cent of the 2017-18 cohort but since the decoupling of maths AS in 2017, this has dropped to 30 per cent by 2021-22.

6. Renewed union calls for EBacc to be axed

Pepe Di’lasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said “we have to get the balance right between specialisation at post-16 and maintaining a reasonable breadth of study and options for the future, and that balance isn’t quite right at present.

“The new government’s curriculum and assessment review will need to consider how to address that.”

Di’lasio renewed the union’s call for the English Baccalaureate to be scrapped as it was “favouring a particular set of academic subjects at GCSE” and “has led to a decline in entries to other subjects which has a knock-on effect in post-16”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said the curriculum and assessment review will “transform the outdated curriculum and assessment system.

“The renewed curriculum will ensure young people get the opportunity to access a broad and balanced curriculum, as well as crucial work and life skills, providing the foundation to succeed in both the workplace and throughout their lives.”

Government defends college teacher pay snub

The government has blamed the “very challenging fiscal context” and the fact that FE does not have a pay review body for its decision to exclude college teachers from public sector pay awards.

On July 29th chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5 per cent pay rise for teachers.

To help fund this the government will hand out £1.2 billion in additional cash to schools, starting from September 1, and is equivalent to an increase of over £2,500 for the average teacher.

Despite positive signs from Department for Education insiders that ministers would also find extra cash to help fund pay rises for teachers in colleges, like the previous government did last year, officials confirmed that this announcement would not be extended to FE.

College leaders are especially angry because the government reclassified their institutions as public sector bodies in November 2022, imposing a series of strict controls around borrowing, governance and several other areas, similar to what schools have to abide by.

But, like the government’s refusal to exempt colleges from paying VAT despite now being classified as public sector bodies, officials have opted to also ignore colleges when it comes to public sector pay awards.

Association of Colleges deputy chief executive Julian Gravatt said the membership body had conversations with people in the DfE in the build-up to the pay decision that gave them “optimism”, but added it “looks like Treasury kyboshed any action on FE pay and funding”.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) last year found college teachers have seen pay fall by 19 per cent in real terms over the last decade, compared to 14 per cent for their school counterparts. On top of being paid less, teachers in colleges were more likely to leave their jobs than other public sector professionals, with more experienced college teacher the most likely to quit. 

The DfE has now offered a justification for snubbing colleges from the school teacher pay award.

Wait for spending review for funding decisions

In response to enquiries from FE Week, the DfE explained that unlike in maintained schools, government does not set or recommend pay in further education and the sector does not have pay review body – independent panels that evidence and provide the government with advice each year on public sector pay. 

Instead, college leaders in England have autonomy to set the pay level of their staff, but their decisions are anchored on annual recommendations made by the AoC following negotiations with FE’s five trade unions.

However, this arrangement didn’t stop the previous government from pumping an extra £500 million into colleges in part to help fund teacher pay rises, as announced in July 2023.

The DfE told FE Week the department recognises there is a disparity in pay between schools and colleges – currently a gap of more than £9,000 – but “as the chancellor has set out, the fiscal context is very challenging”.

A spokesperson said decisions on “funding for further education, as with other workforces which do not have a pay review body, will be taken as part of the forthcoming multi-year spending review which will set out funding for 2025-26 and beyond”.

The DfE spokesperson added: “We recognise the vital role that FE teachers and providers play in equipping learners with the opportunities and skills they need to succeed in their education, and to drive growth in our economy.”

Another kick in the teeth from last month’s announcement was that the £1.2 billion package includes an additional £97 million for school sixth forms delivering post-16 education (£63 million) and early years (£34 million) provision.

Gravatt, who has questioned why DfE used a pay review body to make cost-informed decisions on school funding but not colleges, said this extra funding for sixth forms was the point that “really niggles”.

In a message to AoC members he said: “In 2005, when Labour came into power, we secured a common 16 to 19 funding formula and a promise to close the funding gap, but two decades later and we’re still grappling with policies, processes and systems that privilege those who cater for just 38 per cent of the 16 to 18 age group. This is a deep-rooted issue that needs discussion.”

The AoC will recommence discussions with FE’s five trade unions in September over their pay recommendation for 2024/25.

But college leaders have warned they will not be able to reach a 5.5 per cent bump without more funding. Pay award proposals among several colleges FE Week spoke to range from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent. 

‘A decline in FE educators will continue’

Writing for FE Week this month, Gravatt pointed out that when taken into context with the increase of 1.9 per cent in 16 to 18 funding for this coming academic year and competing pressures on budgets, there is a “real prospect of a lower pay award for college staff and a further widening of the pay gap between FE colleges with schools”.

A petition was launched last week by David Birnie, a lecturer at South Essex College, which calls for “collective action to urge the government to extend the 5.5 per cent pay increase awarded to teachers of further education staff”.

Birnie said: “Without action on pay and conditions, without respect for the FE sector, without understanding of the job we do, a decline in FE educators will continue. Many electricians, bricklayers, plumbers, plasterers, and IT technicians (to name but a few) can earn vastly more in the private sector than in FE and without those trades taught by competent FE teachers this country will struggle to grow.”

At the time of going to press, his petition on change.org had reached almost 4,000 signatories. 

However, unlike the parliament website which requires the government to respond to petitions that reach 10,000 signatures and leads to a potential debate in parliament if 100,000 are achieved, no such requirements are placed on petitions on change.org. 

The petition can be viewed here.

Leading a strong college response to riots and disorder

I have much to thank the NHS for. In my first career as a critical care nurse, I learned to expect the unexpected. Urgent care is, by its very nature, uncertain and multifaceted. It requires emotional resilience, decisiveness under pressure, and leadership through uncertainty; learning that has served me well into my second career.

As a further education leader, I see daily how the sector’s work is deeply rooted in advancing social justice. With this comes complexity and this is why adaptability and responsiveness are skills many further education leaders – including myself – hone over time.

In recent days, Sunderland city centre was targeted, at short notice, with a pre-orchestrated influx of rioters and opportunists intent on public disorder.

For Sunderland College, and EPNE overall, actions were grounded in risk management and business continuity.  Mobilising an engagement plan, and mindful of escalating tensions, our actions were informed by principles of timing, perspective, and balance.  

Our objective was to lead with head and heart – caring for our people and partners, protecting our assets and united leadership across the city’s ecosystem.   

The lived experiences of our people are deeply important to leadership and planning

Leaders across the college group were provided with clear direction, triggering consistent internal communications.

Despite the holidays, contact was made with our colleagues from a wide range of ethnicities. It felt important as chief executive to make individualised contact to check on the safety and well-being of our staff and their families, reiterate there is no place for hate and racism in our college, and offer my support.   

This has been welcomed and provided authentic insights to help shape our approach moving forward. The lived experiences of our people are deeply important to leadership and planning. 

All staff were updated on our response, tone of voice, and progress. With the potential for ‘heat of the moment’ errors of judgment, we reminded anyone opting to comment, particularly on social media, to remain considerate and mindful within the context of our values.

With an overwhelming surge of vitriol across global social media, external communications were carefully crafted, pre-approved and focused on messages of unity, support, and simple acts of kindness.

Leading our engagement, swift contact was made with local authorities, business leaders, charities, partners, and friends from our multifaith and ethnic minorities community. This included an offer to relocate Sunderland’s Citizen Advice Bureau after it was senselessly targeted.

Whilst our insurance comprehensively covers our assets for civil unrest and riots, with risk of further incitement, we reviewed and bolstered our security technology.

City leaders from differing sectors including the police have convened and together we will play an active role in the city’s response – anchored by a deep understanding of the place and people we serve.

Leading with learning

Pivoting upcoming enrolment events, parent letters, our gold standard induction and student presentations have been enhanced. Specific interventions for SEND, ESOL and ethnic minorities students are being planned, such as tailored activities through creative expression, mixing and engaging, advocacy and debate. 

Active bystander training has started, and we are unequivocally communicating our standards and expectations for belonging and inclusion, with zero tolerance for harassment, hate, racism, and discrimination, including in digital spaces. 

Understanding online hate versus free speech matters more than ever

Equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging, and self, society and skills frameworks inform an already robust curriculum, yet we will go deeper. 

For students to understand what has happened and why, safely explore curiosity and difference, know how to critically consume information, and understand online hate versus free speech, matters more than ever. Our creative arts, sports and English curricula are being positioned to lead from the front too. 

Afsina Begum, alumna of our college, is clear: “Fear remains, yet I am glad to see the city I love respond as one community where Muslims and all ethnicities are coming together in support. Going forward social cohesion and inclusion in all forms, if not already, must sit firmly at the heart of school and college strategy.”

Colleges are critical to our nation’s future. To respond, we have developed a ‘cohesion and integration plan’, underpinned by a comprehensive ‘3-step social cohesion framework’ to be implemented in the days and months ahead.

I, along with my leadership team, are fully committed to ensuring our approach is not just short-medium term but one that is long-term and action-focused.

Leading through a crisis is different to business as usual. Nevertheless, college leaders are well-positioned to respond to the challenges ahead. I am liaising with the Further Education Commissioner’s team to explore the best way to achieve this with a collaborative and united approach.

Why do governments keep letting colleges down?

Why do governments have a blind spot on colleges? The last government banged on endlessly about a skills revolution. At one point, several education secretaries ago, I recall Gavin Williamson promising to “super-charge” further education with the aim of overtaking Germany. Whatever that means.

And yet what they actually did from 2010 was allocate such a miserably low funding rate to colleges that the pay of college teachers fell further behind that of school teachers and an insolvency regime was introduced for colleges that went bust. 

It is hard to imagine a less effective way of bringing about a skills revolution. The lack of investment in the college sector is one of the reasons why it has been so difficult to secure economic growth over the past 15 years. Things could and should have been different had we invested in developing the nation’s skills base.

Now we have a new government which is looking to set a different tone with the launch of … a new quango. Called Skills England it will bring together government, businesses, colleges etc to provide “strategic oversight of the post-16 skills system.”

Unfortunately, at the same time, the government has made two decisions which have left colleges feeling that they continue to be the poor relations.

First, was the fudge over the supposed “pause and review” of the previous government’s controversial plans to defund applied general qualifications, such as BTECs. This should have given colleges assurance that they could offer these qualifications in their prospectuses for next year while the review takes place.

However, Bridget Phillipson, apparently under pressure from former prime minister Gordon Brown and Lord Sainsbury, decided the “pause” would only apply to qualifications being defunded this year and not next year – leaving colleges and students with no idea whether or not these qualifications will still be available.

Bridget Phillipson

These are the self-same students who have been through the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis and now face the uncertainty of not knowing whether the course they may want to take will still exist in a year’s time. 

This was then compounded by the school teachers’ pay announcement being soured by the lack of a funding allocation to colleges to enable them to match the award for their staff. This, of course, means that college teacher pay is likely to fall even further behind that of school teachers, making recruitment and retention yet more difficult, and rendering the goals of the new skills agency a great deal harder to achieve.

It might be that the government addresses this issue in the autumn budget and that in a few months’ time we’ll be applauding the sort of investment in skills education that is so clearly required as part of any plan for sustainable economic growth, as well as improving the life chances of students who are often from disadvantaged backgrounds.

However, it isn’t a great start, and feels like a failure on the part of the government to understand the extent to which the FE sector feels bruised, battered and undervalued.

I can’t help feeling that governments – of whatever hue – have a blind spot about colleges because, by and large, the people who make up governments don’t go to them. They tend instead to have gone down a glittering academic route, often products of Oxbridge, which is about as far away from life in a FE college as it is possible to imagine.

That’s the way that our country works. Academic superstars are the elite, progressing to the top jobs and top salaries, gracing our television screens and standing up in the House of Commons making important speeches. It was ever thus.

But it cannot continue to be like this if we are to make this a fairer and more equitable society in which skills are genuinely valued in the same way as A-level grades and university degrees, and it is only the government that can bring about that change.

Colleges need to be treated as a jewel in the crown of the education system, rather than as some sort of after-thought. This is the only way that a skills revolution will happen.

Leeds FE ‘capacity crisis’ risks leaving poorest behind

A shortage of FE places in Leeds means some of the city’s poorest young people risk being left behind as colleges struggle with a “capacity crisis” caused by rising demand. 

Last month the city’s MP Alex Sobel questioned the government over the shortage, prompting two local college leaders to speak out about rising waiting lists and shortages of teaching space and staff.  

Colin Booth, chief executive officer of Luminate, which runs Leeds City College and Leeds Sixth Form College, told FE Week there is a “capacity crisis” for almost all courses except A-levels. 

The northern city is facing a “perfect storm” of a lack of strategic planning, growing numbers of 16- to 18-year-olds, and a shortage of space for levels 1, 2 and technical education teaching that will most severely impact the poorest, he added. 

Both Booth and Leeds College of Building (LCB) principal and CEO Nikki Davis said their colleges are trying to expand rapidly to meet the demand of a growing post-16 population and avoid waiting lists.

The capacity crisis will add to existing sector concerns such as shrinking budgets for 16 to 18 education and a growing pay gap between FE and school teachers.

How bad is the problem? 

When Sobel submitted a Parliamentary question asking for an estimate of how many young people risk missing out on an FE or training place in Leeds, education minister Janet Daby would only answer that the DfE is “working closely” with Leeds City Council and local providers.

But several courses at Luminate have had waiting lists since May this year, despite the additional places it has created, FE Week understands. 

Leeds City College leased “short-term extra space” in September 2023, enabling it to grow its 16-18 student numbers by 650, to a total of 7,400. 

The college is also considering taking on extra space to boost capacity by another 400 this September as a further “short-term sticking plaster”.

Booth said: “This will take Leeds City College to being full to beyond reasonable capacity for 2024-25 with several hundred students in leased and temporary accommodation.” 

However, this may not be enough as 16- 18-year-old population levels are expected to continue rising until at least 2028, Office of National Statistics projections suggest. 

Booth suggested that the DfE should redirect “unused” allocations from its post-16 capacity capital fund, FE capital transformation fund and levelling up fund to Leeds and other cities where there is a “clear need” for capacity in FE. 

Leeds City College (Photo: Steven Craven)

Deprived young people most impacted 

The shortage of FE places for vocational courses is most likely to impact young people from deprived areas, local authority data suggests.

According to a recent Leeds City Council report on children and young people, 35 per cent of 16-year-olds did not achieve qualifications required for them to progress to level 3, but only 26 per cent of local post-16 provision was for level 1 and 2 in 2022 and 2023. 

This rate is higher in more deprived areas of the city, with rates of pupils not achieving grade 9-4 in English and math as high as 49 per cent. 

Numbers of young people classed as not in education, employment or training (NEET) grew by 15 per cent to 800 in the year up to 2023/24, it also revealed. 

The report said the council has submitted an analysis to the Department for Education (DfE) which shows a “post-16 provision deficit”. 

“If the city is not able to significantly increase capacity in post-16 education at level 1, level 2 and for technical education, there will be growing numbers of young people who are not in education, employment or training in Leeds,” Booth warned.

“This will have the greatest negative impact on the most economically deprived areas of the city.” 

He pointed out that while more than 60 per cent of young people do not get the GCSE grades to start A-levels, only 3 per cent secure apprenticeships. 

Specialist teaching space shortage 

Nikki Davis

Davis agreed that there is “absolutely a crisis” for young people looking for a college place in Leeds, based on her experience at LCB. 

The college, which has more than 4,300 students and apprentices, has waiting lists of about 300 students, predominantly for electrical, bricklaying and multi-skills. 

On top of difficulties hiring staff and paying for materials, teaching space is a “major issue” at LCB, Davis said. 

She added: “At the College, we are in the process of trying to create more space to accommodate level 1 and level 2 students across all of our provision. 

“We have had to repurpose space, from one area of construction to another, such as converting classrooms to bricklaying workshops. 

“In addition to this, we are recruiting additional teaching staff, which has always been very difficult against a buoyant construction market and salaries for FE staff.

“Leeds College of Building will do what it can to support and teach young people across Leeds, but this requires quick and decisive action from the Department for Education to address the lack of physical capacity in Leeds.”

Who’s responsible?

A rise in 16–18-year-olds is a well-known national issue, but no single organisation seems to have responsibility for planning ahead in cities like Leeds.

This appears to be split between providers such as colleges, local and mayoral authorities, and the DfE. 

Colin Booth

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said “pretty much all the responsibility” for managing student demand has been left to individual institutions, such as Luminate. 

Luminate chief executive Booth accused the DfE of not “checking the data centrally” and called the split responsibility for planning a “fundamental failure of policy and systems” that needs a long-term solution. 

A DfE spokesperson denied suggestions that it doesn’t keep data to track demand, arguing it “closely” monitors capacity in all education sectors, although they refused to explain how they do so. 

They added: “We will work closely with the local authority and providers in the area to ensure that all 16- to 18-year-olds have the opportunity to receive funded education.” 

They also claimed that responsibility for strategic planning of 16-19 education lies with local authorities such as Leeds, although Gravatt countered that this is only “theoretically” the case. 

The DfE does not publish annual estimates of post-16 student numbers in the same way as its national nursery, primary and secondary pupil projections.

However, it collects local data, controls “all of the funding” and has “extensive intervention powers,” Gravatt said. 

On projecting capacity needs, he pointed out that 16-18 education course numbers have “always been difficult” as people move and migrate, course options have grown and GCSE grades are only released shortly before the new academic year – leaving colleges “scrambling”. 

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said it continues to “monitor and respond” to demand for FE places in partnership with “strong and vibrant” post-16 education providers in the city.

“There has been limited funding available to the local authority to support this growth and the rising demand for entry-level, level 1 and level 2 courses despite national funding arrangements, has created additional challenges.

“However, we are working proactively across our post-16 provider forum to identify effective and creative opportunities for expansion.” 

Regardless of who should be ultimately responsible, Luminate’s chief executive is clear that capital funding for extra space is “the only solution available” to meet demand in Leeds.

Beauty and the best: Hair and beauty provider graded ‘outstanding’ across the board

An Essex-based training company specialising in hairdressing and beauty therapy courses has been upgraded from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ by education inspectors. 

Ofsted visited Debut Training in June for the first time in five years to inspect the quality of training on offer to just over 200 learners and apprentices at the provider’s five academies. 

They judged the provider ‘outstanding’, the top grade possible, for all areas including the quality of education, leadership and management and personal development, up from a stack of ‘good’ grades last time.

Managing director Carla Hales told FE Week the inspection was “intense” but she was “thrilled with the result.”

“Everything we do is based around what we call our ‘training for purpose’ programme. So everything we do has a reason why we do it, whether that be to change learners’ lives, change their progression opportunities and make sure they excel to a high standard so they are career ready when they walk out the door,” Hales said.

Inspectors said learners and apprentices had an “exceptional understanding” of additional topics alongside their courses, such as business, finance, literacy and numeracy, environmental sustainability and citizenship. 

For example, hairdressing apprentices are taught to adapt the way they talk to customers with a hearing impairment and beauty therapy apprentices know not to provide Muslim clients with refreshments during Ramadan. 

“This helps apprentices develop empathy and understanding for people from all walks of life,” the inspection report said, highlighting how many learners progress to self-employment in the industries.  

Most adult learners study the level 3 nail technology and beauty therapy courses, although learners also have access to level 4 courses in advanced beauty therapy and aesthetic practice.

Apprentices meanwhile train towards level 2 standards in hair professional and beauty therapy. At the time of the inspection, nearly two-thirds of apprentices were under 19 years of age. 

Tutors at Debut Training regularly inform learners about local safety risks, such as how to stay safe at night, drink spiking and the dangers of domestic violence during sporting events. Inspectors said learners also understood safety risks in the workplace, such as “working in proximity alone with clients.”

Managers at the training provider “role model extremely good business practice” and “have a forensic understanding of the sector” which Ofsted said helped learners’ skills and professional behaviours. 

“Managers role model the high levels of support for staff that tutors in turn provide to learners and apprentices,” the report said. 

Hales added: “This was a whole team collective effort, this wasn’t me. They work way over and above to help us achieve. Without them there’s no way we would have got this grade.”

Inspectors heaped praise on tutors’ use and value of English and maths in their teaching. For example in hairdressing, maths skills are developed when covering cutting angles and mixing tints. 

“Tutors use hairdressing and beauty-related examples extremely effectively. Apprentices who struggled at school increase their confidence significantly in English and mathematics,” the report said.

Three prompts to kickstart FE’s response to the far right riots

The far right violence of the last few days has impacted our young people and the communities we are part of in multiple ways, and although the riots may die down soon, the explicit racism and Islamophobia will continue. When term starts, the problem won’t be gone.

Working in a small youth charity in Greater Manchester, the last few days have been heavy. The team has checked in on our young people, checked in on each other, dispelled misinformation, coached people through tough conversations and tried as hard as we can to make our delivery safe.

At RECLAIM we work with working-class young people. Not hard to reach, not deprived, not young people on a social mobility journey. Our programmes are designed to build solidarity, power and community, centering the understanding that a working-class identity is intersectional, it is valued and it’s something to be proud of.

We run programmes that explore gender justice, belonging and the impact of austerity in communities. We partner with brilliant organisations like Muslim Northern Women to work with young people exploring the intersections of Islamophobia and class, and we provide intergenerational mentorship so working-class young people can build their support networks.

Like FE providers, our provision is embedded in our communities. We know racism and Islamophobia are deeply rooted in every aspect of our society, and that it trickles down from the top. We also know that we need a long-term community approach if we’re going to challenge the rise of far-right violence on our streets. There are no quick fixes.

There are many parallels between community youth programmes and FE provision, most notably who we exist to serve. If we want to root out the far right, we must build strength in our communities, and we must learn from each other about what works.

To that end, here are some prompts that I hope will kickstart dialogue about the work we need to start doing now of building on the long legacy of anti-racism and anti-Islamophobia organising in our localities.

Precise language and targeted support

Our young people are able to easily name what they’re seeing and experiencing as racism and Islamophobia. They’re going to need you to name it too and not brush it off as ‘mindless thuggery’.

Students and staff will be carrying the scars of the past few days. Ensure you’ve got the right provision in place, such as culturally sensitive therapy and trauma-informed counsellors as part of your wellbeing and safeguarding offer.

There will need to be space for hard conversations that are held in safe and non-punitive ways. If you’re anxious about how to hold those conversations, get paid support from youth and community organisations in your local area who do this every day.

You might be doing great work with government-funded youth social action programmes, but be realistic about the remit of this work and whether you need extra capacity from youth organisations doing detached or specialist youth work.

Safe spaces and self-defence

Government will likely announce quick fixes to curb the current far-right violence. More punitive policing, more curtailing of civil liberties, more Prevent measures. These approaches only serve to kick the can down the road. They will also disproportionately affect working-class Black youth. How can our spaces offer collective safety and accountability rather than surveillance?

I’ve written before about community self-defence. Over the past 14 years, we’ve seen youth centres and places where young people come together decimated; don’t underestimate your role in filling this vacuum left by austerity.

From learner voice to learner leadership

Finally, the problem with youth voice is that it often sees ‘voice’ and participation as the outcome rather than part of a process.

If your learner voice strategy extends as far as mirroring our flawed political system but doesn’t provide students with critical thinking skills, autonomy, space to organise and the messy, bold joy that comes from youth campaigning, you’re not enabling the community builders and social leaders of the future.

And we really need those people.

UCU staff threaten ‘last resort’ indefinite strike action

Workers at the trade union representing college and university teachers will walk out indefinitely next month unless their dispute over workplace racism and alleged breaches of collective agreements is resolved.

Unite the union said its 200 members working for UCU will take “last resort” continuing strike action from September 9 in what is a significant escalation in a dispute now it its fifth month.

This would be latest in a series of industrial actions taken by UCU staff against its employer in recent months.

The union originally planned to walk out from September 2, but have since pushed back the date to accommodate a further ACAS meeting with UCU.

“It clearly wouldn’t be fair to ask our members to walk out just before an opportunity to reach a resolution,” the Unite branch said.

A walkout disrupted UCU’s annual congress earlier this year, and staff are currently running an overtime ban and are ‘working to rule’ which means sticking to their job descriptions and contractual working hours.

Unite regional officer, Rose Keeping, accused UCU of refusing to “meaningfully negotiate” during the dispute.

“Industrial action one this scale is a last resort but our members have been pushed to breaking point by our employer’s failure to meaningfully negotiate on the serious issues in dispute,” she said.

“We are faced with a trade union employer who refuses to negotiate with its staff union.”

In response, a UCU spokesperson said accusations from Unite are “unfair and untrue” and criticised them for announcing action before a planned ACAS talks between the two unions next week.

“UCU are stunned to find out via social media that Unite UCU plan to call what amounts to an all out strike from September 2nd,” they added.

“We have a further meeting scheduled with ACAS on August 12 so to put out a call and announce this action prior to even attending those negotiations demonstrates a lack of integrity and sincerity.”

The dispute officially began following complaints of “institutional failings” at UCU over how Black staff are treated, with Unite alleging Black staff were more likely to face “punitive action” in internal procedures.

Before that, UCU workers were already engaged in disputes over pay, hybrid working and workplace health and safety.

Unite also accused UCU of repeatedly breaching its agreements with the staff union, such as recognising a separate staff union by senior leaders – which Unite says breaches their recognition as the sole union for UCU workers.

And Unite now claim that UCU staff are being subjected to a pay freeze, alleging that UCU is refusing to respond to a staff pay claim from April despite the new pay year starting on August 1.

UCU said it will “continue to table fair proposals covering an independent assessment and review of UCU’s organisational culture, starting negotiations for a draft gender identity policy, and for a hybrid working policy.

“We are increasingly concerned about an unwillingness from Unite UCU to reach an entirely reasonable phased agreement for staff to return to hybrid working – something most unions and most workers have been doing for years now following the pandemic.

“Despite this, we cannot and will not give up on trying to achieve a positive outcome because we know our staff need and deserve a speedy resolution.”

This article was updated on August 22 to reflect the revised strike action date.

Moulton College exits financial intervention after seven years

A Northamptonshire land-based college is celebrating coming out of FE Commissioner intervention after seven years thanks to increasing student numbers, asset sales and a £13 million government loan.

Moulton College, which has more than 3,000 students and 450 hectares of land, had been under intervention from the FE Commissioner since 2017.

This was due to spiralling cost pressures and knock backs including a commercial loan of more than £20 million, declining learner numbers, two consecutive ‘inadequate’ Ofsted judgements and being taken off the apprenticeship register.

Today the college announced it is entering ‘post-intervention management support’ after restoring its financial health from growing learner numbers and raising its Ofsted grade to ‘good’ in 2021.

However despite repeated requests in recent months, no one from the college was been available for an interview with FE Week.

According to a press release, the intervention was withdrawn after a meeting with the Further Education Commissioner (FEC) last month.

The Department for Education quietly confirmed the withdrawal notice on its website this week without explanation.

In a written statement, chief operating officer Alicia Bruce said: “Moulton College has made great strides over the past few years to address the issues identified by the FE Commissioner (FEC) and Education and Skills Funding Agency (EFSA).

“We’re delighted that these efforts have been recognised with the withdrawal of the notice.”

Chair of the board of governors David McVean added: “By focusing on the quality of our education and the student experience, as well as prudent sales of non-essential assets, we have created a turnaround that very few thought possible.

“We are incredibly thankful to our former Principal and CEO, Corrie Harris, and her senior team, who led the College out of intervention and has built a secure foundation for her successor as CEO, Oliver Symons.

“Moulton College has an extremely bright future, and we are looking forward to the new opportunities that lie ahead for our students.”

Moulton had the longest running intervention at the time of its withdrawal, with Brooklands College holding the next longest at five years.

According to the FE Commissioner’s most recent investigation report in 2019, Moulton’s “exceptionally high” debt levels, understood to have peaked at more than £21 million, funded facilities that made it “one of the best specialist college estates in the country”.

In the same year the college had reduced its debt slightly to £18 million, but faced a deficit of £4 million on an annual income of £21.5 million.

Its financial recovery is understood to have involved selling several unspecified “surplus” asset sales worth more than £4 million.

According to the college’s board minutes, the government agreed to take on the remaining £13 million commercial loan that the college had with Santander UK after “extensive” negotiations.

The previous year, an FE Commissioner-recommended merger with Abingdon and Witney College collapsed due to concerns about a bond Moulton College had entered into as part of its “operation” in Saudi Arabia.