National retraining partnership outlined in new industrial strategy

The government has published its industrial strategy white paper this morning, with details of a national retraining partnership unveiled.

The document, called Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain for the future, has just been published on gov.uk, following up on the green paper published in January.

It elaborates on what is planned for the “ambitious rational retraining scheme”, involving a new partnership.

“To drive up adult learning and retraining, we will introduce an ambitious national retraining scheme in England by the end of this parliament,” it said.

“A high level advisory group – the national retraining partnership – will bring together the government, businesses and workers, through the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, to set the strategic direction and oversee implementation of the scheme.

“The national retraining scheme will be informed by £40 million announced in the spring budget to test innovative approaches to helping adults up-skill and re-skill. The pilots will help us learn more about how to support and incentivise adults to learn skills that will help them, their local economies and national productivity.”

Starting next year, it adds, the national retraining scheme will “initially target skills shortages in key sectors, ensuring that we can develop much-needed digital and construction skills”.

A total of £30 million will be invested to test the use of artificial intelligence and innovative education technology (edtech) in online digital skills courses, so that students can benefit from this emerging technology.

“We will provide £34 million to expand innovative construction training programmes across the country, including a programme in the West Midlands, focused on supporting the country’s housing needs and building upon existing good practice.”

It is elaborating on retraining funding announced through the budget last week, although senior figures including Liberal Democrats leader warned more funding was still needed to make much of the industrial strategy work.

The new document also reflected on performance measures.

“We will update school and college performance measures to ensure that students can make an informed choice between technical or academic education in time for the introduction of the first T levels, recognising them as equally valued routes,” it said. 

With regards to the apprenticeships levy it said: “From April 2018, we plan to allow levy-paying employers in England to transfer up to 10 per cent of their funds to another employer, including within their supply chain.” 

There was also a section reaffirming the government’s commitment to FE devolution.

“The government has a role to play in ensuring that the connections and capacity exist in local areas and regions to link educational institutions with labour market,” it said. “Devolution of
budgets and control within England plays its part, and we will devolve the adult education budget to mayoral areas in 2019.”

 

Another new document published this morning, called Industrial Strategy: the Five Foundations, said one of its key policies would be to “establish a technical education system that rivals the best in the world, to stand alongside our world-class higher education system”.

The government’s industrial strategy green paper was published in January.

It contained encouraging words for those, including Labour MP David Lammy, who had been campaigning for more funding for adult education and a return to widespread “night schools”. The white paper’s announcements on the national retraining scheme will be seen as further development of this.

The green paper acknowledged that there is a “growing challenge” with lifelong learning.

“People are living and working longer, but training across working life is going down,” it added.

It committed to exploring “ambitious new approaches to encouraging lifelong learning, which could include assessing changes to the costs people face to make them less daunting; improving outreach to people where industries are changing; and providing better information”.

The green paper also fleshed out what it expects from a “prestigious” new network of Institutes of Technology, set to be handed £170 million to improve higher-level technical education nationwide.

The government first announced plans for the institutes in July 2015, then again through its Post-16 Skills Plan in July.

The Prime Minister’s office confirmed in a press statement, as reported in FE Week and looking ahead to publication of the green paper called Building Our Industrial Strategy, that £170 million of capital funding would be spent on these.

The green paper itself stressed that these “institutes will increase the provision of higher-level technical education”, to ensure that it is available “in all areas”.

The green paper also acknowledged issues colleges are experiencing with maths and English and maths GCSE resits.

Since 2013 all 16 to 18-year-old students who do not already have a grade C in GCSE English and maths have had to continue studying these subjects – and in 2015, this was further tightened to require those with a grade D to only study GCSE rather than an alternative.

Management apprenticeships debate rages

The Institute for Apprenticeships has defended the rise in management apprenticeships, amid stark warnings about the fate of those at level two from the boss of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers.

“The number one reason for our lower productivity has been analysed as leadership and management,” said Dame Fiona Kendrick, an IfA board member, during the morning panel session of the University Vocational Awards Council conference in Birmingham on Tuesday (November 21).

“And that’s why some of the things we’re talking about today, particularly talking about the degree apprenticeship and investing in people in terms of the right management is so important, not just for individuals, not just for the company, but for the economy at large.”

However, AELP’s Mark Dawe (pictured above) disagreed, calling for a debate on how they are funded, particularly in light of the ongoing government commitment to social mobility.

“Someone having access to level two and moving on to a level three, that to me is what social mobility is about,” he said.

“When we’re talking about restricted resources we have to decide what the government pays for, what the employer pays for, what the individual pays for. There will have to be a debate, because there’s not enough money to cover all of this.”

Without changes, he warned, “you can say bye bye to level two”.

But, speaking to FE Week following the panel, Dame Fiona said that while there was a “very clear” shift to higher-level apprenticeships, it wasn’t “at this moment in time to the detriment of the level ones and twos”.

Dame Fiona Kendrick

She insisted that the move towards them would “drive both productivity and social mobility”.

A focus on management apprenticeships “at least in the short- to middle-term” has “got to be good for the overall country”, she said, “but we need to make sure that that is managed in a fair and well-distributed way”.

The panel session, which also included Adrian Anderson, UVAC’s chief executive, and Nicola Turner, head of skills at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, focused on the future of degree apprenticeships.

The programmes, at levels six and seven, are very new, with the majority having only started this September.

But the most popular higher- or degree-level standards in 2016/17 were both in management: the level five operations/departmental manager, and the level six chartered manager degree apprenticeship.

The management framework soared in popularity over the same time period, to become the second most popular.

And levy-funded apprenticeships at higher or degree level jumped by a massive 424 per cent in September on the previous month, according to experimental Department for Education statistics, although it’s not clear which standards or frameworks these relate to.

Dame Fiona said the IfA wanted to “shift the apprenticeships up from levels one and two much more into the four, five and upwards”, and that degree apprenticeships were “absolutely key to this”.

Mr Dawe called degree apprenticeships “a game-changer” that had given apprenticeships a “brand” that “will lift us up”.

“There will be some very sharp-elbowed middle class parents knocking everyone else out of the way to get their kids into a non-debt apprenticeship with a degree and a salary,” he cautioned. “Why wouldn’t you do that?”

 

IfA: “A broad spectrum of apprenticeships”

The Institute for Apprenticeships’ strategic guidance sets out its commitment to boosting social mobility.

But will it take action if the inexorable rise in management apprenticeships gets in the way of this commitment, by edging out those at level two?

Dame Fiona Kendrick insisted that opening up “the whole apprenticeships brand across the spectrum” was the key to boosting both social mobility and productivity.

“At this moment we have got a broad spectrum of apprenticeships coming through, and it’s very clear there is a shift more to the higher levels, but we’re certainly not seeing that to the detriment of the level ones and twos,” she said.

The question of whether there can be too many management degree apprenticeships is “a tough one to answer”.

“What we do know is that we have to seriously upgrade our management capability,” she said, but any growth in this area should be “managed in a fair and well-distributed way”.

Nor does she think that apprenticeships would replace all management training.

“Every employer is quite clearly different, and every employer will have their own strategies on how they’re going to develop and train their managers. In certain cases, employers will continue to put funds in to do that.”

 

Higher education: Different sector, same issues

While apprenticeships are a new field for the HE sector, many of the issues raised during the UVAC conference were far from new.

Nicola Turner, head of skills at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said one of her biggest concerns is qualifications being taken out of degree apprenticeships.

“It’s not what employers want, it’s not what apprentices want,” she said.

Ongoing delays to the non-levy procurement were described as a “complete nightmare” by at least one delegate. The issue particularly affects universities as many of them don’t have an existing contract for delivering to smaller employers.

And Chris Cherry, a senior associate at the Strategic Development Network, said that the 20-per-cent off-the-job training rule was causing a particular challenge at higher levels.

A number of delegates discussed the difficulty of managing employer expectations amid ongoing delays to standards being approved for delivery.

However, one HE-specific issue was raised throughout the day: the difficulty of getting other university colleagues on side, and to adapt their usual systems and ways of working to meet the demands of employers.

For this, Neeta Barot, the business development manager at London South Bank University recommended getting someone higher up at the institution – such as a vice chancellor – to act as an advocate.

 

Maths GCSE investment adds up

The extra £48.5m in the budget to support college students pass their GCSE maths is to be celebrated – and it’s an important signal. 

It’s to be celebrated because it’s recognition that colleges need investment to make new policies succeed. Too frequently, new policies, like the
English and maths condition-of-funding requirement, are thrust upon colleges without a thought to the cost of successful implementation.

But it seems with the T-level investment announced in the April budget, and now this extra £48.5m, the message has at last got through to the  Treasury. And it’s an important signal because it means the policy is here to stay.

This won’t be a popular thing within the sector to say, but the GCSE resit policy is better than no policy. It’s typically misunderstood: it’s only those that nearly passed (grade D or 3) that colleges must ensure study again towards improving their GCSE by at least one grade. 

Employers (even colleges and apprenticeship providers) typically demand an A*-C at GCSE (or now a 4-9) before interview. It’s not in our gift to change that, so if colleges don’t help their students get a GCSE they can’t progress into quality jobs.

And where the budget didn’t deliver on an increased rate for 16-to-18s, don’t rule out the DfE redistributing internally to pay for it.

How to increase apprenticeship starts

The levy has had more than its share of teething problems, but it’s not time to bin it yet, says Kathleen Henehan

The apprenticeship levy got off to a troubling start: figures show a 59-per-cent fall in starts during its first three months. This seems to confirm fears that it would place incentives into the hands of large employers who don’t typically hire apprentices, and put stumbling blocks before the smaller employers who rely on them.

It is far too soon to write off the levy for good, but there are steps the government can take to get starts back on an upward path, and ensure the new system doesn’t sacrifice quantity for quality. 

Some of these are pragmatic and short term: work with providers to troubleshoot procurement problems, collaborate with smaller employers to prevent delays in coinvestment payments, and build in a safety net for non-levy allocations during the first two years of the new funding system. Others require a step-change in the way information is collated and published.

First, it’s important to recognise the volatility inherent in a system that places employers squarely in the driver’s seat. We don’t quite know which types of businesses will hire apprentices, at what level, or even whether the 45 per cent of levy-payers who have yet to register an account will do so, or whether they do nothing and treat the levy as a tax. 

This gap from level two to higher apprenticeships must be bridged

This matters if unspent levy funds could, after their two-year expiration, be used to subsidise training for non-levy-payers who have already been struggling under the new system.

Some of this uncertainty can be alleviated through more streamlined and detailed data releases. Currently, figures are published in a series of different spreadsheets, often on different websites, and at different dates. 

Bringing these sources together, and allowing for cross-tabulation, will help us understand where trouble is brewing. Allowing analysts to spot potential problem areas could bring interventions forward before training providers lose access to longstanding contracts and smaller employers their access to apprentices.

We also need to ask what we’d like the levy to achieve. Its aims are, on the surface, to shift training expenditure from government balance sheets to the private sector, and to meet the much touted three million apprenticeships target. But it should also be explicitly focused on building up a strong skills supply – vital in post-Brexit Britain – and providing young people with the education and training not just for a job, but for a career. 

Despite shining examples of apprenticeships which allow non-university-bound young people a pathway into skilled, rewarding careers, figures indicate that less than a quarter of level two apprentices move to the next level.

Apprenticeship starts have been dominated at level two recently, and in sectors that offer lower levels of pay. More positively, there has also been growth in degree and master’s-level apprenticeships, albeit from a low base.

There is a chance that putting employers in charge could simply reproduce the occupational hollowing out that we’re seeing in the wider labour market – where growing shares of younger people filter either into high-skill, high-pay jobs, or low-skill, badly paid ones, with a reduction in the middle.

This gap from level two to higher apprenticeships must be bridged. This requires some sector-based soul-searching on what is and isn’t an  apprenticeship, and a more deliberate approach to funding: should we prod employers to invest in mid-level skills? Will additional funding incentives for apprenticeships at level three do the job? 

As well as focusing on the right mix of apprenticeships, there are steps that could address quality concerns quite quickly – such as requiring at least one end-point assessment organisation is in place before an apprentice starts their programme.

Then there are steps that might take a little more thought: with data sources like Longitudinal Educational Outcomes available, we may want to debate incentives for hosting apprenticeships associated with continued education and training or perhaps strong employment prospects.

Big reforms always have bedding-in challenges. But with the right adjustments the government can ensure these are temporary glitches, rather than permanent problems. 

Kathleen Henehan is a research and policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation

Third of employers unaware of off-the-job rule

The government should make sure employers are aware of the 20-per-cent off the job training rule, sector figures have said, after nearly a third were shown to be oblivious.

In a survey of just over 800 employers with apprentices currently on their books, the Learning and Work Institute found 32 per cent did not realise they had to allow their apprentices one in five days of training off the job.

A further 23 per cent did not know that this training time should be included in an apprentice’s contracted hours of employment.

Teresa Frith, a senior policy manager at the Association of Colleges, described the findings as “disappointing but not surprising”.

“Whenever there’s a big reform of education and training rules, employers struggle to keep up,” she said. “Colleges make considerable efforts to keep the employers they deal with up to date, but the task is huge and the activity is only funded if employers actually send apprentices for training.”

Dr Fiona Aldridge (pictured above), the LWI’s assistant director, said improving awareness “should be a priority for government, with training providers having a key role to play in supporting this”.

“It is concerning, both for quality and for apprentice pay, that nearly a third of apprentice employers appear to be unaware of the off-the-job training requirement and nearly a quarter are unaware that this should be paid,” she added.

The National Society of Apprentices, which helped with the survey, claimed the findings follow a “depressingly familiar” theme, of “apprentices not receiving the training they’re entitled to”.

“It is time for some evidence that this unacceptable situation is being taken seriously,” a spokesperson said.

According to the government’s guidance, off-the-job training must amount to “20 per cent of the apprentice’s contracted employment hours across the whole apprenticeship”.

In final apprenticeship funding rules for providers from May 2017 to March 2018, training is defined as “learning which is undertaken outside of the normal day-to-day working environment and leads towards the achievement of an apprenticeship”.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers called as long ago as April for the 20-per-cent minimum to include time teaching compulsory English and maths resits.

It also wants blended learning to be properly recognised within the definition, as “well supported distance learning should be supported and not discouraged”.

“It is still relatively early days for the 20-per-cent requirement amidst a raft of changes, and we would expect many more employers to be aware by the end of 2017, but we fundamentally disagree with its imposition as a rigid rule,” its boss, Mark Dawe, said.

A Department for Education spokesperson admitted it had “more to do”.

“We are undertaking a wide range of engagement activity to ensure employers of all sizes are aware of providing at least 20 per cent off-the-job training for apprentices. This makes an apprenticeship distinct from other work-based learning,” she said.

“Throughout the implementation of our reforms, we have continued to engage with thousands of employers and training providers, helping them to understand the benefits of this route.”

Awareness of the rule was found in the survey to be strongest in the education, IT & telecoms, hospitality, and leisure sectors, but much lower in media, marketing, advertising and sales.

The LWI commissioned the research, which involved 2,000 employers in total, including those without apprentices, after the government’s 2016 apprenticeship pay survey suggested one in five apprentices were paid less than their legal minimum wage entitlement. The government will from April increase the apprentice minimum wage from £3.50 to £3.70 per hour.

“The aim of the survey was to find out more about why there appears to be a problem with apprentice pay non-compliance,” said its chief executive Stephen Evans.

AAC Apprenticeship Awards launched by FE Week and AELP

FE Week and AELP are proud to announce the launch of the inaugural AAC Apprenticeship Awards, which will be held at the next Annual Apprenticeship Conference to recognise the very best in apprenticeship provision.

The awards mark the fourth year of the apprenticeship sector’s biggest conference, run in conjunction with AELP and the Department for Education, which will also include six route summits, keynote speakers from across industry, government and civil service, and over 100 practical workshops.

Shane Mann, the managing director of FE Week’s parent company, said the awards were “a great opportunity to celebrate the amazing work of employers and providers in the apprenticeship sector”.

“This is a fantastic chance for all providers to receive some well overdue recognition for their efforts in providing world class apprenticeship learning opportunities for people across the UK,” he added.

The conference programme will created in partnership with the DfE, and in a close working relationship with bodies including AELP, the Institute for Apprenticeships, the University Vocational Awards Council and the Association of Colleges, to ensure it “opens the door for even more professional bodies to gain valuable insight and knowledge of what is happening in the apprenticeship sector”.

The AAC Awards include regional and national accolades, and regional winners will have the chance to compete for the national crown in their categories.

Regional winners will be announced at the FE Week and AELP parliamentary reception hosted by former skills minister Robert Halfon, now the chair of the education select committee, during National Apprenticeship Week next March.

The regional awards include recognition for providers in the categories of engineering and manufacturing, business and administrative, social care, childcare and education, construction, sales, marking and procurement and digital. 

Other regional categories include apprenticeships promotion campaign of the year, apprenticeship provider of the year and apprentice employer of the year.

Each regional winner will also receive a pair of tickets for the awards dinner for the national awards, which will be held on March 22.

Winners of the outstanding contribution to the development of apprenticeships prize in both the individual and employer/provider categories will also be announced at the dinner.

The AAC Conference will run from March 21 to March 23 at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

Nominations for the AAC Awards open today and will close on January 8, 2018. To nominate a provider or employer, or for more information about the conference, click here. 

 

National Union of Students launches campaign to tackle ‘problem’ of poor FE transport

The National Union of Students is campaigning for free or subsidised travel for FE learners to tackle the “huge problem” of poor transport for students.

The ‘My FE Journey’ campaign is also asking learners to share their experiences of the struggles they face reaching their provider, particularly concerning cost or poor services, and organisers are urging union branches to meet with senior leadership and transport companies to lobby for change.

The NUS vice-president for further education, Emily Chapman, described transport as a “huge problem” for students and apprentices that presents “a significant barrier to education”.

“Students suffer from poor, unreliable services on public transport and most receive no financial support,” she said.

“Our FE Journey campaign will lobby for subsidised or free travel for post-16 learners and apprentices ensuring everybody can access and succeed in education, and transport to and from their place of learning is no longer a barrier.”

Apprentice’s travel costs have been on everyone’s lips recently.

In a draft version of the Labour manifesto, leaked in May to our sister paper FE Week, the party was planning to cover the cost of apprentice travel.

It estimated that apprentice travel costs an average of £24 a week, around a quarter of what those on the minimum wage will earn, a figure taken from the National Society of Apprentices, part of the NUS.

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said the party would cover transport for 16-to-19 starts, at a cost of around £99 million, after he committed in March to funding apprenticeship travel at FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference.

However, the pledge was left out of the final version of the manifesto, and the party refused to comment on the leaked version.

The Conservatives also committed to cutting travel costs for apprentices in their manifesto with “significantly discounted bus and train travel” to encourage more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to take up the qualifications.

However, FE Week reported at the start of November that there has been no evidence so far that these discounts have been implemented in the wake of the election in June.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said the government was still “exploring options” and would set out plans “in due course”.

The NUS has been collecting the views of students through its ‘FE Unplugged’ campaign for the past two years, the issue of transport costs and quality crops up repeatedly around the country.

The new campaign was launched in response on November 21, asking local student unions to join forces and demand change, lobbying local transport companies to offer discounts and improve services, councils to provide funding for transport discount schemes and college leadership to improve bursary offers.

According to the NUS, the union at Mid Kent College successfully won extra bus services, better subsidies and improved transport services after petitioning the local council and inviting local politicians and transport providers to speak to students at the college.

Learners can fill in a survey online to share their transport experiences, and have the chance of winning £150.

For more information about the campaign, click here. 

Highlights from Skills Show 2017

Click Here to download

In a year of vast reforms and financial crisis for the sector, there has been one event that has allowed us to take a breather and witness FE at its best: the Skills Show.

Almost 80,000 people headed to Birmingham’s NEC for the country’s biggest careers event, which took place between November 16 and 18, to watch the crème de la crème of skills.

The finals of the national WorldSkills UK competitions were, as ever, the heart of the show, and broadcast the incredible talent that our colleges, independent learning providers and employers produce.

We start this special souvenir supplement with a sit-down interview with the man that makes this all happen, Dr Neil Bentley, the chief executive of WorldSkills UK. He discusses how he feels the sixth annual show went, what his highlights were, and what he has learned to take into 2018.

Turning over to page four, you will read about the unusual number of government ministers who descended on the NEC to help tackle what one former skills minister described as “the nightmare on skills street” that Britain currently faces.

You’ll also find the inspiring story of Kaiya Swain, who won a gold medal in beauty therapy at last month’s WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi. She reflects on her experience of the Skills Show, her time in Abu Dhabi and how she uses her experience to drive her business forward.

On page five, our managing director Shane Mann tours the show, meeting employers and apprentices, and finding out why they get involved in the exhibition. There you can also read about the Skills Show’s inaugural Youth Summit.

Over on pages six and seven we put inclusive skills competitions into the spotlight, where students with learning difficulties and disabilities show off their employability.

We then celebrate those who made it into Squad UK, and take stock of where we are on the road to WorldSkills Kazan in 2019, with a comment piece from Dr Bentley on the industrial strategy and the role that WorldSkills UK can play in boosting productivity.

Finally we cover a celebration from the final night: the medal ceremony which brought Skills Show 2017 to a close, with reaction from some of the medal-winners. On pages 12 to 15 you can read the full listing of winners.

 

What is Core Maths and why is funding it so important?

The chancellor has announced £600 for each additional student studying maths at level three. Paul Glaister, explains why core maths is such an important qualification

After nearly four years of much hard work to introduce a qualification that will enable far more learners to develop the mathematical, quantitative and statistical skills to be better prepared for work, life and further study, the government has provided a welcome further endorsement for core maths.

Even though it was highly recommended by Sir Adrian Smith’s independent review of 16-to-18 mathematics, core maths is still commonly less well understood than the A-level. So here’s an explainer.

What is core maths?

Core maths is a post-16/level three qualification taken alongside A-levels, or other level three qualifications, complementing a range of academic and technical programmes. It is designed for students to retain, deepen and extend their knowledge and skills from GCSE, as well as studying and applying new level three material relevant to their needs.

READ MORE: Which English and maths resits should your students take?

The primary focus is on using and applying mathematics and statistics to address authentic problems and real-life scenarios, drawn from study, work and life, with a strong emphasis on problem-solving.

Core maths has three key objectives:

  • deepen competence in the selection and use of methods and techniques
  • develop confidence in representing and analysing authentic situations and in applying mathematics to address related questions
  • build skills in mathematical thinking, reasoning and communication

Who is core maths for?

It is suitable for students who achieved a grade 4 or above (formerly a C) at GCSE, who do not wish to study AS or A-level but who do wish to develop their mathematical, statistical and quantitative skills.

There are approximately 271,000 such students each year who would not otherwise continue to study mathematics, many of whom intend to go on to further study of quantitative subjects for which core maths is hugely relevant.

Core maths for students who need to be equipped for the mathematical and quantitative demands of other courses and employment, but it is also particularly relevant for those who need to these skills to meet the demands of a range of courses in higher education. In fact, over 40 universities this year made a statement in support, and it was publically endorsed by the Russell Group of research-intensive universities.

How is core maths taught?

Key to students’ success in core maths is the commitment that:

  • they make to learning through collaboration and problem solving – both vital for future studies and work
  • their teachers make by embracing collaboration between each-other and with students, and to teaching through problem-solving.

Group work and discussion is strongly encouraged, with content studied and skills acquired through focusing on contexts, developing fluency and confidence in applying mathematical skills, even when applying known techniques and methods to new problem areas, and will include examples from economics, sociology, psychology, chemistry, geography, computing, and business and management.

Where is the CPD for it?

There is wealth of knowledge and experience in the teaching of core maths across hundreds of schools and colleges, including the highly-skilled core maths leads who provided CPD for early adopters as part of the core maths support programme. The sector will be well-served by this network of professionals.

The level three maths support programme starting in April 2018 will provide high-quality professional development, support and resources for teachers of core maths, as well as those teaching AS/A-level mathematics and further mathematics.

The STEM learning site is an excellent place to find out more and, access a rich bank of resources, including problems, activities, contexts and case studies, many of which were developed as part of the CMSP.

Why is core maths so important?

Core maths will raise the skill levels in students across the nation in using and applying maths, whatever further study, training or employment they progress to. Increasing participation in mathematics after 16 in this way is hugely important to the future productivity of the UK.

Paul Glaister is professor of mathematics and mathematics education at the University of Reading