UVAC demands special treatment for degree apprenticeships

The University Vocational Awards Council is demanding special treatment for universities offering degree apprenticeships, following the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s recent decision to extend existing non-levy contracts by a year.  

The body, which represents HE institutes delivering vocational training, is claiming that degree apprenticeship provision has been hit the hardest by the move and is calling for all smaller employers to have access to funding for degree apprenticeships.

“UVAC has been arguing for a new targeted procurement aimed at ensuring all non-levy paying employers have access to degree apprenticeship provision in their locality from the provider/university of their choice,” its position statement, published yesterday, said.

“Or, alternatively, that any ESFA transition arrangement prioritises and allows providers without ESFA contracts to tackle apprenticeship cold spots such as those that exist for degree apprenticeships,” it continued.

It is also asking for funding allocated to other providers who claim they can’t spend it because the 10 per cent co-investment is putting off employers to be reallocated to HE institutes without an existing allocation and who are “turning away employers and individuals who want to use degree apprenticeship”.

Apprenticeships with small, non-levy paying employers are currently funded through contracts held by just 683 providers.

The ESFA had planned for all employers to be transferred over to its apprenticeship service, currently used only by levy-paying employers, by April 2019.

But earlier this month the ESFA announced that this move had been put back by at least a year.

This was followed by a survey of providers currently on the register of apprenticeship training providers, asking for their views on the transition period for non-levy paying employers, which ran for just four days and closed on Monday.

UVAC has argued that extending the existing contracts was particularly unfair for degree apprenticeship provision.

The original tender process through which the contracts were awarded was “not fit for purpose”, UVAC argued, and had resulted in “cold-spots” where neither employers nor learners had access to degree apprenticeships.

Furthermore, it said, many HE institutes did not bid in the procurement and relied instead on the planned move of all employers onto the apprenticeship service.

“Now having developed provision and secured employer buy in they may be unable to meet such employer demand because of the ESFA failure to meet its own timetable,” it said.

Furthermore, it argued that the ESFA policy was “totally anti-competitive” and that those HE institutes or FE colleges offering HE provision “that have secured funding are being given an unfair competitive advantage; a point that might be of interest to a local MP”.

However, Simon Ashworth, chief policy officer at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said it was important to “ensure that the new system is fair to all rather than considering components within it that might lead to institutional bias”.

“The ESFA have made it clear that all providers on the register should have access to non-levy funding as part of the transition process,” he said.

An FE Week investigation, published on A-level results day, found that the options for those considering a degree apprenticeship as an alternative to a traditional degree were limited – with just 117 places across England on offer.

Degree apprenticeships, first introduced in September 2015, are apprenticeships at levels six and seven.

Of the 330 standards available for delivery, 61 are at this level.

But there were just 8,560 starts on 28 degree apprenticeship standards in the first nine months of 2017/18, out of a total of 119,580 starts on standards.

IfA funding rate review: retailer standard facing 20 per cent cut

The retailer apprenticeship standard is facing a 20 per cent funding cut, following the Institute for Apprenticeships’ review.

The level two standard will have its funding cap reduced from £5,000 to £4,000, FE Week has learned.

It’s currently the 13th most popular standard, responsible for 2,750 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18.

Annette Allmark, director of strategic policy at People 1st, who worked with the employer group that developed the standard, said the group had yet to respond to the proposal.

The standard, approved for delivery in May 2016, was developed by a number of employers from across the retail sector including John Lewis plc, Tesco Stores Ltd and the Co-operative Group, which chaired the group.

It’s designed to train apprentice retailers to be “passionate about delivering a quality service that always aims to exceed customers’ expectations”.

It covers a wide range of knowledge, skills and behaviours that a retailer apprentice must have to do their job, in areas including customer service, sales and promotion, and product and service.

The IfA’s funding band review, launched in May, was intended to “help make sure that employers can access high quality apprenticeships and that funding bands represent good value for money for employers and government”.

It covers 31 standards – including some of the most popular.

Analysis at the time the review was launched found that the 31 represented 64 per cent of all starts on standards for the first half of 2017/18 (45,900 out of 71,720).

FE Week has so far learned of the outcomes of six of these reviews – all of which have resulted in a rate reduction.

The level two hair professional standard is set to be cut by 22 per cent, from £9,000 to £7,000.

Three management standards – including the level three team leader/ supervisor, responsible for the highest number of starts of any standard – will be reduced by between 10 and 22 per cent.

This includes the chartered manager degree apprenticeship, which is set to have its funding band reduced by £5,000 from £27,000 to £22,000.

And the level two customer service practitioner standard is facing a 13 per cent reduction, from £4,000 to £3,500.

Each of these proposals is subject to potential appeal by the employer groups behind them, and final approval by the education secretary, Damian Hinds.

Writing for FE Week, the IfA’s chief executive Sir Gerry Berragan insisted that the “collaborative approach” it had taken with the reviews was working.

Some of the reviews had resulted in recommendation that the band “stay the same, some increase, and some decrease”, he said.

“We know some trailblazers disagree with the proposed new funding bands. 

“However, some groups are content, and we have had some encouraging feedback from trailblazers who have been impressed with the level of engagement.”

If you are part of a trailblazer group that’s been through a funding band review, email us at news@feweek.co.uk to let us know how it went for you!

 

The funding band reviews are a good model for the future

Following the success of the funding band reviews, the Institute for Apprenticeships will use the same collaborative approach to carry out quality reviews, declares Sir Gerry Berragan

Reviews have been a focus for the Institute for Apprenticeships in recent weeks. As we look to make our final recommendations for the funding band review, we’re also finalising our approach to the statutory reviews of apprenticeship standards.

Some might see this as a dual challenge, but I think we have a unique opportunity to learn from the collaborative approach we’ve taken to the funding band review, capture feedback in real time and replicate what works well in future reviews.

We have engaged with trailblazer groups at every stage

With the funding band review, we have engaged with trailblazer groups at every stage. This is an opportunity to ensure each of the 31 standards have the appropriate funding to support high quality delivery, and provide value for money for both employers and government.

Each funding band review has been individual, using a consistent approach without pre-judging the outcome. Our decisions have been evidence-based, and we will communicate the outcome of the review to trailblazers before we submit our recommendations to the Department for Education, who will make final decisions.

We asked trailblazers to provide information to inform our recommendations. As this was a review of existing funding bands, we were able to assess information on actual delivery costs rather than estimates – including quotes from providers and end-point assessment organisations – as well as data from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Using this evidence to review the identified standards has made for a more accurate and better informed assessment.

We have had some encouraging feedback from trailblazers

We have contacted 19 employer groups with reviewed funding band recommendations – we are recommending some stay the same, some increase, and some decrease.  Reflecting on how things have gone so far, we know some trailblazers disagree with the proposed new funding bands.  However, some groups are content, and we have had some encouraging feedback from trailblazers who have been impressed with the level of engagement. 

We will use this open, fair and collaborative approach as we start to undertake our wider review of all existing standards that will become an integral part of the Institute’s work as we move forward.

Statutory reviews of apprenticeship standards

It’s just over a year since the Institute was created. The initial focus was to ensure the seamless transition of the apprenticeship approvals process, whilst setting a high quality threshold for new standards. Thereafter, we sought to boost our productivity with the Faster and Better programme, accelerating the way apprenticeship standards are developed and approved. We now recognise it’s time to turn our attention to those standards approved before the Institute came into existence.

We’ve designed an approach that is employer-led

We have a statutory responsibility to regularly review apprenticeship standards and assessment plans to make a judgement on whether they should be amended or withdrawn. This will ensure all apprenticeship standards continue to be high quality and meet the needs of employers.

In February, we announced that a review of apprenticeship standards within the digital route would begin later in the year. We’ve designed an approach that is employer-led, informed by stakeholders, overseen by the appropriate route panel and that will underpin the quality of T-levels as well as apprenticeships. It will also be proportionate, taking into account other work such as the funding band review.

Balancing these requirements, we will be taking a staged approach to reviews. By choosing to focus on the digital route, a fast-evolving route driven by changes in technology, we can prioritise those standards approved prior to April 2017, linked to T-levels and where there have been low numbers of starts.

There are mixed views from our stakeholders regarding the reviews. Some are concerned that it could create further uncertainty at a time when we want to increase the number of starts on apprenticeship standards. I recognise this concern, and so this graduated approach ensures that we focus on those standards that do not meet our quality threshold – a necessity if we are to create an apprenticeship and T-level system that gives confidence to employers and learners.  

We aim to report our findings by early next year. At the same time we will publish a detailed timeline and approach for further reviews, which will build on the lessons learnt from the digital review.

If you are part of a trailblazer group that’s been through a funding band review, email us at news@feweek.co.uk to let us know how it went for you!

Government no longer backing its own 3m apprenticeship manifesto commitment

The Department for Education has, for the first time, refused to commit to its 3m apprenticeship starts target, after a spokesperson for the prime minister dodged the question this morning.

The target has been included in the past two Conservative party election manifestos, but with starts falling it’s slipping ever further out of reach.

At a Downing Street lobby briefing this morning a spokesperson for the prime minister reportedly refused to back the target, after being asked three times.

And the Department for Education subsequently told FE Week it had nothing further to add.

In its 2015 election manifesto, the Conservatives – under former leader David Cameron – promised to “support three million new apprenticeships, so young people acquire the skills to succeed”.

This was reaffirmed in 2017 under Ms May’s leadership, who pledged to “deliver our commitment to create 3 million apprenticeships for young people by 2020 and in doing so we will drive up the quality of apprenticeships to ensure they deliver the skills employers need.”

As previously reported by FE Week, there have been just 22,300 starts reported to date in May this year – an increase of 9,400 on the same month in 2017 but still 40 per cent down on May 2016.

According to FE Week’s analysis of the latest figures, starts are 414,300, or 23 per cent, down from where they need to be to hit the target.

There have been 1,435,700 starts since May 2015, when the target was launched – meaning a further 1,564,300 are needed to reach 3m.

With just 23 months left until the target end date, in April 2020, that’s an average of 68,013 starts per month – more than three times the number so far in May.

According to Politics Home, a spokesperson for Theresa May was questioned about the number of starts at a lobby briefing for journalists this morning.

Despite being asked three times if the government would meet the 3m target, the spokesperson reportedly refused to say.

Writing in The Times newspaper earlier this year, skills minister Anne Milton also appeared to back away from the target.

The government’s reforms had “made sure that apprenticeships are high quality”, and “we won’t sacrifice that quality just to meet the target that was set,” she wrote in an opinion piece in May.

Just two months earlier, in a hearing for an inquiry by the House of Lords economic affairs committee, Ms Milton said her aim was “to meet the 3m target”, but admitted that she had “absolutely no idea” how that target was arrived at.

According to an interview with the Institute for Government think-tank, published in January, former skills minister Nick Boles came up with the target during the build-up to the 2015 election.

“We had delivered two million apprenticeships in the 2010–15 parliament,” he said. “So in the manifesto process, there was a classic exercise in ‘well, okay, what are we going to promise for the next parliament?’

“There was this feeling that you can’t say two-and-a-half million – that sounds a bit tame, nobody would be excited by that – so we’re going to say three million. Then three million is really a lot of apprenticeships, it’s big growth.”

IfA funding rate review: Customer service set for 13 per cent cut

Yet another popular apprenticeship standard is set to have its funding cut, following the Institute for Apprenticeship’s rate review.

The level two customer service practitioner standard will have its funding cap reduced by 13 per cent – from £4,000 to £3,500 –  according to documents shared with FE Week.

It’s currently the third most popular apprenticeship standard, with 6,500 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18.

The decision is not being challenged by the employer group that developed the standard, according to its chair.

Dean Ashton, standards and accreditation associate at the Institute of Customer Service, told FE Week the group had instead “asked the IfA to monitor any trends in uptake/decrease in the number of apprenticeships”.

The group will also keep an eye on starts and report back to the IfA “any evidence that suggests this funding review will affect the take up and support for customer service”.

According to the letter sent to Mr Ashton from the IfA, the decision to reduce the funding band for the standard was based on a number of factors.

These included information provided by the Trailblazer group, providers and assessment organisations; the “cost and funding bands of any equivalent frameworks”; and the “initial funding band that would have been allocated to the standard” under the IfA’s new funding approach.

The group’s “nominated training providers submitted information about the cost of training delivery, with totals ranging from £3,937 to £4,960” while the “nominated end-point assessment organisation submitted assessment costs of £545”.

“If this were a new standard, the Institute’s initial band (allocated at proposal stage) would have been £2,000,” the letter said.

The customer services framework, which has “similarities” to the standard, has a “funding band maximum of £1,500”, it said.

The IfA’s funding band review, launched in May, was intended to “help make sure that employers can access high quality apprenticeships, and that funding bands represent good value for money for employers and government”.

It covers 31 standards – including some of the most popular.

FE Week analysis at the time the review was launched found that the 31 represented 64 per cent of all starts on standards for the first half of 2017/18 (45,900 out of 71,720).

The employer group behind three management standards, including the level three team leader supervisor, responsible for the highest number of starts of any standard, revealed on Friday that it was planning to appeal after being told that all three would have their rates cut.

This includes the chartered manager degree apprenticeship, which is set to have its cap slashed from £27,000 to £22,000.

And the hair professional standard is also set to have its funding rate reduced from £9,000 to £7,000.

All funding rate cuts are subject to final approval by the education secretary, Damian Hinds.

The 31 standards under review

A spokesperson for the IfA  said: “Following a request from the Department for Education, we are conducting a funding band review on 31 existing standards using the new 30 band structure and the Institute’s funding process. We have contacted 19 trailblazer groups to inform them of our recommendations.  Throughout the process, we worked with trailblazers to ensure the process and outcome was fair and appropriate for each standard.

“We will submit our recommendations to the Department for Education, who will make the final decision.”

Read the IfA’s letter here.

Funding rates to be slashed for popular management apprenticeships

The management degree apprenticeship standard is set to have its funding slashed by a massive £5,000.

And funding rates for two other management standards – including the most popular standard, for team leader/ supervisor – will also be reduced.

The employer group behind the standards, led by the Chartered Management Institute, is planning to appeal the cuts, according to an email seen by FE Week.  

All three, which between them accounted for almost 20,000 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18, were part of the Institute for Apprenticeship’s funding band review, which began in May.

According to documents seen by FE Week, the level management degree apprenticeship will have its funding cap cut from £27,000 to £22,000, pending approval by the education secretary Damian Hinds.

The band for the level five operational/departmental manager standard will go from £9,000 to £7,000, while the level three team leader/ supervisor standard will be capped at £4,500 – down from £5,000.

The team leader/ supervisor standard is the most popular to date, with 12,080 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18, while the operational/ departmental manager is the fourth most popular with 5,530 starts over the same time period.

And there have been 1,750 starts on the level six standard, making it the most popular degree apprenticeship.

Petra Wilton, director of strategy at the Chartered Management Institute, hit out on social media to say that “cutting funding for new high-quality apprenticeships that are working – runs counter to all commonsense”.

And Sean Williams, chief executive of training provider Corndel, warned that the funding cuts would have a “catastrophic effect”.

The Trailblazer group has said it is intending to appeal the decisions, warning that if implemented they would hit the quality of training and the reputation of apprenticeships, and would lead to a drop in the number of starts.

According to the letter from the IfA to the leadership and management trailblazer group, seen by FE Week, the decision to cut the funding band for the degree apprenticeship was based on a number of factors – including information provided by the Trailblazer group.

This included quotes from a range of providers, stating that it would cost between £27,000 and £28,994 to deliver, and one quote from an end-point assessment organisation with a cost of £1,169.93.

“You told us that a reduction to funding would lead to providers exiting the market and reduce provider ability to deliver high quality training provision,” the letter said.

The news comes on the same day as the Trailblazer group behind the hair professional standard, another of the 31 under review, revealed that they’d been told their funding was being cut from £9,000 to £7,000.

The Institute for Apprenticeships declined to comment.

Read the IfA’s letters to the Trailblazer group in full:

Popular apprenticeship standard to be hit with £2k funding rate cut, claims employer group

One of the most popular apprenticeship standards is in line for a more than 20 per cent funding rate cut, according to the employer group that developed it.

The level two hair professional standard was one of 31 named by the Institute for Apprenticeships in May as part of its funding band review.

It had 4,940 starts in the first nine months of 2017/18, making it the seventh most popular standard, and currently attracts a maximum funding rate of £9,000.

However, this is set to be cut to £7,000, according to the Trailblazer group behind it.

“The government’s aim was to have a flagship apprenticeship programme which cannot be achieved if there is insufficient funding,” said Wendy Cummins, who chaired the group.

“The hair professional standards took two years for employers to develop, with constant policy changes which were both frustrating and time-consuming. Just as the industry is adopting the new style standards, this blow falls.”

Trevor Luker, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ sector lead, urged the government to leave the standard “as it is” until “there is more empirical evidence to support a review, based on known costs and outcomes”.

Mr Luker is a director of the London Hairdressing Apprenticeship Academy, and would therefore be hit by the funding cut.

It is understood that any decision to change the funding band will need to be signed off by the education secretary, Damian Hinds.

The IfA has also committed to a minimum two-month notice period before the changes come into effect for any new starts.

The launch of the funding band review in May followed an earlier announcement that the number of bands would increase from 15 to 30 – a move that the Department for Education said was because employers did not “feel able” to negotiate on price.

According to the published standard the hair professional apprenticeship has an estimated duration of 24 months.

But many of the vacancies listed on the government’s Find apprenticeship training website list the duration as between 12 and 18 months.

Of the 4,940 starts between August and October 2017/18, almost 90 per cent – or 4,330 – were for 16- to 18-year-olds.

Given that most salons are likely to employ fewer than 50 people, and therefore don’t have to pay an employer contribution, it is unlikely that any will have negotiated on the price.

Furthermore, training the youngest apprentices attracts a £1,000 provider incentive – which means that providers could be claiming a total of £10,000 to deliver a 12- to 18-month apprenticeship.

The 31 standards included in the IFA’s funding review:

Is degree apprenticeship a viable alternative to university?

There’s been a lot of talk of degree apprenticeships as a great alternative to university. Just this morning, education secretary Damian Hinds tweeted that there is a “huge range of opportunity” for students collecting results today, “whether it’s university, college, starting an apprenticeship or entering the world of work”.

With degree apprenticeships typically paying salaries of £15,000 – £20,000, compared to annual tuition fees of £9,000, the finances make sense. Plus, you get to work in your chosen field for three to five years, become proficient on the job, receive time off for training and study and still come out with a degree.

So what opportunities are there for A-level students looking for degree apprenticeships today?

Disguised as 18-year-olds (or parents of the same…) FE Week did some mystery shopping, and here’s what we found.

1/ There are virtually no degree apprenticeships available

On A-level results day, are only 117 places currently being advertised for degree apprenticeships across the whole of England, compared to over 30,000 university courses with places still available this morning, according to UCAS (after 411,860 places were accepted).

In fact, degree apprenticeships at level 6 (equivalent to a standard university undergraduate degree) make up only 0.3 per cent of all apprenticeship adverts on the government’s Find an Apprenticeship service.

Level 4-7 apprenticeships make up just 1.8 per cent of the total (359 adverts), with level 2 and 3 occupying a whopping 98.2 per cent (19,677 adverts).

Apprenticeship adverts by level on the government’s Find an Apprenticeship service 16/08/2018

FE Week found only five civil engineer degree apprenticeship positions listed for England: three in London, and one in each of Norwich and St Ives. The civil engineer degree apprenticeship is a five-year course, with a typical annual salary of  around £15,000, with entry requirements ranging from ‘BBC’ to three ‘A’ grades at A-level.

There were no results for professions such as solicitor or architect.

Eight positions are listed for the three-year level 5 laboratory scientist apprenticeship starting this autumn, in various locations from Scunthorpe to Slough. The standard requirement is 80 UCAS points (BB or CDD at A-level) including A-level biology, although some employers state they are more flexible, allowing A-level equivalents such as BTEC. There is just one five-year level 6 laboratory scientist apprentice opening.

Other degree apprenticeships that are likely to see more opportunities in the near future include manufacturing engineer, digital and technology solutions professional or chartered surveyor.

2/ The National Careers Service doesn’t offer additional advice

The government is pushing the National Careers Service as the place to look for careers advice, but they don’t offer any additional advice on where to find degree apprenticeships.

The NCS website pushes users towards the Find an Apprenticeship service, and when FE Week asked a helpline advisor about degree apprenticeships, we were told again, to check the Find an Apprenticeship website, the UCAS website or the Institute for Apprenticeships website (which again, redirects to Find an Apprenticeship).

UCAS is currently advertising just 121 higher and degree (level 4-6) apprenticeships across England.

The NCS helpline advisor also told us that employers sometimes advertise independently, and that more degree apprenticeships will be available soon.

3/ There are no nursing degree apprenticeship vacancies

Aspiring nurses will have to apply via the university route, which costs £9000, or wait until the January intake, when more nursing degree apprenticeship opportunities will become available, said Lucy Hunte, National Programme Manager for Apprenticeships at Health Education England. She added that Imperial College in London will advertise about 50 nurse apprenticeship openings “in the next few days”.

There are several reasons for the lack of nurse apprenticeship positions. One is that the first wave of apprentice nurses have all been existing healthcare assistants within the NHS. “We did have a lot of healthcare assistants that aspire to be nurses but with the removal of the bursary they couldn’t resign from their jobs and go down that route,” Hunte told FE Week.

Another is that it has been “a huge battle” to get universities to adapt their programmes to the new apprenticeship standard, she added. The Nursing & Midwifery Council then has to approve each university apprenticeship provider, which is adding to the backlog.

This is despite there being around 40,000 nursing vacancies across the country.

4/ Many degree apprenticeships are still under development

Degree apprenticeships are new, so the available places are currently low. The number of people starting apprenticeships at all levels has been dropping since the government reformed the system, despite their intention for an increase in apprenticeship places.

But the good news is that more degree apprenticeship standards are being developed, and as more employers and universities develop their courses, the number of opportunities is likely to grow rapidly over the next few years.

Apprenticeship standards approved by level on 16/08/2018

Over 90 per cent of universities have joined the government’s register of apprenticeship training providers, which suggests that they are intending to provide them at some juncture.

What seems to be missing, however, is for more employers to sign up to provide them – as FE Week recently found out. A university is unable to run a degree apprenticeship without an employer willing to take on the apprentice (and pay their wage!).

 

So, what should A-level students looking for degree apprenticeships do?

  • Keep an eye on the Find an Apprenticeship service. New opportunities are appearing all the time.
  • If you know which industry you want to go into, why not approach an employer directly? If they’re not sure how to go about taking on an apprentice, you can point them to the government’s Hire an apprentice website.  
  • And if you want to be really proactive, you can check out the Institute for Apprenticeships website to see which new apprenticeship standards have been approved, and point your potential employer in the right direction!
    The IfA’s list of approved degree-level apprenticeships includes professions such as: Digital and technology solutions professional, Aerospace engineer, Nuclear scientist and nuclear engineer, Clinical trials specialist, Geospatial mapping and science, Paramedic, Podiatrist, Police constable and Professional economist.

Ofsted given final say over new apprenticeship provider quality

Ofsted has officially been given the final say over poor-performing apprenticeship providers following an early monitoring visit, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has confirmed today.

FE Week reported back in May that the move was on the cards, following embarrassment for the government over apprenticeship accountability.

According to the ESFA’s ‘Removal from register of apprenticeship training providers and eligibility to receive public funding to deliver apprenticeship training’, updated today, any provider making ‘insufficient progress’ in at least one of the themes under review will be barred from taking on any new apprentices – either directly or through a subcontracting arrangement.

They can continue to work with existing apprentices, but must tell the employers, and any lead providers, about the monitoring visit outcome.

These restrictions will remain in place until the provider has received a full inspection and been awarded at least a grade three for its apprenticeship provision.

The ESFA can only overrule this guidance if it “identifies an exceptional extenuating circumstance”.

FE Week reported in May that Ofsted was set to be given these new powers – along with up to £7 million more cash to visit every new apprenticeship provider.

That followed an Education select committee hearing at which skills minister Anne Milton admitted it wasn’t clear who was accountable for quality at these new providers.

There had been considerable dismay at mixed messages from the ESFA, which recently permitted a provider to recruit apprentices once more – just two months after Ofsted branded its provision “not fit for purpose”.

FE Week has asked Ofsted if it has received the additional resources, and how soon after a monitoring visit a provider deemed to be making ‘insufficient progress’ would receive a full inspection, but has yet to receive a response.