Learners in Leek held the life of their principal in their hands, as he abseiled down a local church for charity.
Buxton & Leek College’s principal Len Tildsley, alongside the town’s mayor Brian Johnson, descended the town of Leek’s only medieval church, St Edward’s, to raise money for the Mayor’s Charity, which supports youth organisations based in the area.
A team of level three outdoor sports students set up the fundraiser as part of their course with the help of their tutor, Allan Shaw. They fixed the abseil to the top of the fourteenth-century church tower, and fitted the pair with ropes and safety equipment to keep them secure amidst the windy weather.
“This is just one of the many activities that we get to do as part of this course that makes it so great” said student Tom Bailey. “We are really prepared for the world of work because we get to experience a wide range of activities. Being based in the Peak District is also a perfect setting as we get to experience it all on our doorstep.”
The Institute for Apprenticeships has rejected concerns about apprentices being unable to graduate – accusing people who raise them as simply “inflammatory”. FE Week was first to raise the issue of a lack of end-point assessments back in 2016, but are the apprentices really affected? We spoke to scores of providers and employers, and our investigation paints the most comprehensive picture yet of what’s really going on
It’s the nightmare scenario that sector leaders warned could happen – but desperately hoped wouldn’t.
Nine would-be dental practice managers began their apprenticeship with Barnet and Southgate College in November 2015.
They finished their training and should have completed last May.
But almost a year later nobody is available to test them because the assessment plan is unworkable.
We also found the shocking example of a blameless apprentice on a level two large goods vehicle driving standard, who missed out on a pay rise because there is no EPA ready for him [see below].
There are deep feelings of betrayal among many learners who can’t complete, especially those stuck on minimum wage until they finish.
Speaking on April 6, at an event to mark a year since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, the IfA’s boss Sir Gerry Berragan (pictured above) insisted neither apprentices nor employers are concerned.
Our findings paint a very different picture. We’ve found numerous apprentices who have been unable to complete – either because there was no-one in place to deliver the EPA, or because organisations on the EPA register weren’t ready to deliver.
Yet when we put our findings to the IfA it declined to comment, arguing that the situation is the Department for Education’s responsibility alone.
It also refused our request to interview Sir Gerry.
“We recognise that there is more to do, which is why we continue to work closely with the Institute of Apprenticeships and end-point assessment organisations to address concerns,” said a Department for Education spokesperson.
The DfE claimed 99.1 per cent of all apprentices are on standards with at least one end-point assessment organisation, rising to 99.7 per cent for those due to finish within the next 12 months.
But, as our investigation has revealed, simply having an EPA organisation in place isn’t enough: they have to be ready to deliver.
Our findings prompted the director of policy at Holex, Sue Pember, to demand apprentices be treated “with the respect they deserve”.
“It is wrong to treat young people in this way. We need to protect their interest,” she insisted.
“It is wrong to treat young people in this way. We need to protect their interest”
AELP’s boss Mark Dawe meanwhile accused the government of “swerving the question on the true picture of EPA”.
Apprentices waiting for 12 months for EPA appear not to “register as a problem”.
“Let’s have some honesty and openness which means a collaborative approach and working together to solve the problems,” he said.
AELP submitted the findings of its research (see below) into the readiness or otherwise of standards and assessment plans to the government back in January.
The proportion of standards approved for delivery without at least one assessment organisation in place has dropped in that time, from 59 per cent in October 2016 to 30 per cent – or 77 out of 253 – now.
Twenty-one of those 77 have been approved for over a year. Six were fully signed off more than three years ago.
Many of these standards have apprentices on programme – including more than 300 on the level three fire emergency and security systems technician standard, which was approved for delivery in August 2016.
The ESFA requires assessment organisations to have the “necessary infrastructure, policy and assurance procedures” in place within nine months of being accepted onto the register, but that doesn’t mean they have to be ready to deliver.
In the case of the Barnet and Southgate College apprentices, there are two EPA organisations on the register for the dental practice manager standard.
The college told us the assessment plan had been redeveloped and was currently awaiting sign off by Ofqual. This was preventing the EPA from being delivered.
FE Week has asked a number of the organisations listed as providing EPA for these standards how ready they are to deliver the assessments.
A spokesperson for City and Guilds, which is on the register for 41 standards, said it had already delivered 400 EPAs and had “prioritised completion of all EPAs that already have customers”.
Pearson, on the register for 30 standards, is “working to meet demand for EPA based on need”.
NOCN and Highfield, listed as offering EPA for 43 and 22 standards respectively, both said they have assessments booked, while Innovate claimed it is in a position to deliver assessments for 18 standards once apprentices were ready.
The EPA organisations that aren’t ready to deliver
Providers repeatedly told us they had apprentices ready to take their end-point assessment, but the organisations listed as offering it aren’t ready.
Nine apprentices at Barnet and Southgate College began a pilot of the level four dental practice manager standard in November 2015.
They were all ready for their assessment as planned in May 2017 – but the assessment wasn’t ready “due to issues with the content, methods and its overall design”, a college spokesperson told us.
With input from the college, the employer group that developed the standard went back to the drawing board and has now resubmitted a revised assessment plan to Ofqual.
But according to Ofqual, the assessment plan has been with the trailblazer group since February 2017 – so it seems the apprentices are no closer to finishing their apprenticeships than they were last May.
Changes to the assessment plans have also been holding up apprentices on the level two large goods vehicle standard.
One provider who asked to remain anonymous said he had one apprentice on the standard who should have been coming up to assessment now but instead his progress has “ground to a halt”.
“He will have a wage rise when he completes his apprenticeship because he’s on a slightly lower rate at the minute,” he said.
“He will have a wage rise when he completes his apprenticeship because he’s on a slightly lower rate at the minute”
It’s also affecting the provider’s relationship with employers who “see it as our problem, our fault, because they don’t understand everything that’s going on”.
Richard Weston, speaking on behalf of the National Logistics Academy, has 18 apprentices who started last May and “clearly the employer is looking now to see what the options are for EPA”.
Although there are six organisations on the register, none are in a position to deliver it.
The one that’s closest to being ready is “looking to start” in June or July “but they’re requiring 90 days’ notice to book an EPA” – meaning it could be September or October before the assessment can actually be taken.
However, Highfield Qualifications, one of the six EPA organisations, told FE Week that it is now ready to deliver the assessments.
Sandra Cooper from the Care Learning Centre has around 85 apprentices approaching their end-point assessment on three standards in the coming months.
“We didn’t shy away from the new standards, we wanted to get on and do it straightaway, so we started ours in May last year, so realistically most of our learners should be ready in May,” she said.
The level two adult care worker, level three lead adult care worker, and level three team leader/ supervisor standards all have multiple EPA organisations on the register.
But she said none of the ones she’d contacted had been able to guarantee they would be in a position to offer the assessment when her apprentices were ready.
One provider told us that their apprentices have been held up because EPA organisations don’t have enough qualified assessors – even though they claimed to be able to deliver the assessments.
A further two providers were forced to take the regressive step of moving apprentices from standards back to the equivalent frameworks, simply because the EPA was undeliverable.
Coventry College has done this for learners on the welding standard “to keep employers happy”.
Apprentices can’t complete without any EPA organisations
According to the DfE, just 0.3 per cent of apprentices due to complete in the next 12 months are on standards without at least one EPA organisation in place.
Among those are 21 apprentices at one provider, who asked to remain anonymous, on the land-based service engineer standard.
It was approved for delivery more than two years ago, but so far no assessment organisations have stepped up to the plate.
Furthermore, there is “no sight” of when the assessment might be available.
“Until you can actually give them a flavour of how they’re going to be tested it’s very difficult to prepare them”
The provider’s current cohort is unlikely to complete their apprenticeship within the allotted time – which will have a knock-on effect on the next cohort of apprentices.
As things stand, the current apprentices only have limited knowledge of what will be in the final assessment, which means they can’t properly prepare.
Other providers, including Richard Weston at the National Logistics Academy, told FE Week how valuable it was for apprentices to have practice papers ahead of the EPA.
“Until you can actually give them a flavour of how they’re going to be tested it’s very difficult to prepare them,” he said.
Another provider has learners halfway through their programme on the level two sports turf operative standard, with “no sign” of anyone signing up to offer the EPA.
No EPA means fewer starts
It’s impossible to quantify how many people haven’t started an apprenticeship because of a lack of EPA – because, by definition, they’re not counted in any statistics.
But Havering College told us it had delayed a cohort of 10 apprentices on the level three accident repair technician standard, as there’s no assessment organisation on the register – and “it doesn’t appear that anyone is applying”.
The college’s fall-back position – if it gets to the point where employers will take their business elsewhere – is to start the apprentices on the equivalent framework.
But that would mean they would only get trained in one of three disciplines (paint, panel, or mechanical, electrical and trim) when the standard covers all three.
The standard is “the employer’s preference for smaller garages, because smaller garages tend to not have only one person who only does the repair or the spraying”.
They’re not the only ones to be holding off starts.
Another provider has employers in their area interested in two standards which “will not sign up” without assessment organisations in place.
This has had an impact on the overall view of apprenticeships, and employers are asking why there were standards approved without an EPA organisation in place.
The providers’ body sought views from ITPs and assessment organisations on the fitness-for-purpose of both standards and EPAs, which it compiled into a report sent to the Department for Education and the Institute for Apprenticeships in January.
The findings were intended as “part of a constructive engagement on the reforms to help facilitate improvements”, but “we have seen little progress made” it was sent in, a spokesperson admitted.
AELP used a red, amber and green ratings system to show where action is needed on a standard or assessment plan.
Of the 157 assessment plans reviewed, 78 were rated ‘green’ – meaning there were no problems.
But 57 were graded ‘amber’ and needed to be looked at, and an alarming 22 were rated ‘red’ – indicating they required urgent action to fix.
Problems included assessment plans that were too detailed and difficult to follow, and a lack of standardisation of assessments, with apprentices being assessed in different ways for the same standard.
End-point assessment is a vital part of any apprenticeship, and Thomas Burton explains how to get it right.
The government wants its trailblazer apprenticeship reforms to have independent end-point assessment (EPA) to drive up productivity.
Seen as a vital source of ammunition in the nation’s economic arsenal, the reforms are designed to redress a skills deficit that has forced businesses not only to compete with each other for orders, but also for a small pool of potential workers with the necessary skills.
Apprenticeships give employers back control, by nurturing and developing their own talent pools. Managed properly, they can greatly expand any company’s skills base and create a committed, able and highly competitive workforce.
The pressure and stress of an EPA experience is like learning to drive and taking a driving test
NOCN has been working in partnership with employers, FE colleges, training providers and skills experts in many trailblazer groups to develop a range of standards and assessments for new apprenticeships. The group has already been approved to deliver 43 standards – the most of any end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) to date.
Working with employers and training providers, we have all started to learn some valuable lessons. Early involvement in EPA Involvement from both the employer and training provider is required early in the process.
EPA planning must involve the employer, and must be considered and planned for at the outset of delivery. Flexible approach EPAOs need to have a flexible approach when engaging with training providers and employers. Agendas and employment demands can change in the workplace and the ability to respond to employers is a requirement of any successful EPA provision.
Training providers have a key role to ensure that apprentices have a full understanding of what EPA looks like. The pressure of an EPA experience is like learning to drive and taking a driving test. Clear structure An EPAO needs to provide a clear structure to the training provider and employer. Vitally, this information must also reach the apprentice.
An apprentice will need the support, preparation and guidance to ensure that during EPA they perform to the highest level. The training provider must allow the apprentice to own their EPA process; it’s their apprenticeship and apprentices must understand that it is down to themselves to prepare, with the support of their provider.
Robust gateway A robust gateway prerequisite process is a regulatory requirement for all EPAs, ensuring that every apprentice has reached the level of competence accepted by the employer at a recognised industry level. The EPAO needs to consider the ability to respond to a reasonable adjustment request and the suitability of assessment across all apprentices, in all job roles.
The EPAO and training providers must work with employers, especially those engaged with level two apprentices, to consider the impact of assessment. Resits, complaints and appeals Training providers need to ensure a contractual agreement is in place for resits, complaints and appeals.
Education technology and the portability of mobile learning devices portability both play an important role in how employers and apprentices view modern assessment.
Every option for a successful delivery should be considered when working with an EPAO. Effective regulation Feedback from the EPAO to both the training provider and the employer ensures that the future quality of apprenticeships is maintained within the standard.
This in turn makes sure that a standardised approach is applied to all assessments, and rigorous internal quality-assurance is applied by the EPAO to mitigate poor or inaccurate assessments.
To achieve this, we need to ensure consistent, effective and efficient regulation of EPAs. The advent of the apprenticeship levy is an opportunity for the English apprenticeship system to become a true driver of skills, productivity and workforce development.
To make it a success, employers, training providers and EPAOs need to work together to achieve the desired benefits.
The issue of apprentices starting standards without an end-point assessment organisation in place was first raised by FE Week in June 2016.
At the time a former senior civil servant, Dr Susan Pember, described the lack of consideration towards learners as “diabolical”.
A few months later the interim chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships Peter Lauener described it as “not ideal” but “manageable”.
The Education and Skills Select Committee wasn’t convinced, and last year recommended that standards should not be launched until at least one end-point assessment organisation was in place.
This recommendation was rejected by the government, but is it still manageable?
Skip forward to 2018, and the chief executive at the Institute for Apprenticeships, Sir Gerry Berragan, clearly thinks so.
He took to the stage to “bust myths” on the issue at FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeships Conference in March and early this month told a conference that ongoing concerns are“inflammatory”.
The IfA refused an interview and declined to comment, but the DfE admitted “there is more to do” and it needed to “address concerns”.
Hopefully our investigation has served as a wake-up call, as the first step in fixing a problem is admitting there is one.
Step two should be to stop standards from being available for delivery until at least one assessment organisation is registered and both willing and able.
A legal anomaly is stopping Catholic sixth-form colleges from reaping the benefits of academisation. Putting this right would be a simple matter, writes Paul Barber.
In the wider Catholic school sector there are a variety of legal safeguards which protect the distinct character and ethos of Catholic schools – for instance the emphasis put on religious education.
These legal protections have been in place, and have largely stayed the same, since the Butler Act in 1944. When academy legislation was brought in and developed by successive governments, Catholic schools were allowed to keep the same safeguards which protected their Catholic character when they converted from a voluntary-aided school to an academy.
We remain hopeful that this legal anomaly will be resolved
However, because academisation legislation for sixth-form colleges was developed separately from schools, the same safeguards given to schools were omitted for Catholic SFCs – as FE Week reported last week. This was done not out of any malice towards the church, but because of our relative size in the FE sector.
Because the Catholic Church is the largest provider of secondary education and the second largest provider of primary education in the country, accounting for one in 10 of all schools, any academy legislation for schools would naturally have to take into account the uniqueness of our sector. With just 14 Catholic SFCs in England, our sector was simply not big enough to register.
The situation in which this legal anomaly has left the Church is frustrating for several reasons.
It is holding back colleges that want to convert to academies for the VAT boon this would bring, which could be so easily rectified with one line of legislation. Moreover, the Church actually has sixth-form colleges which are academy sponsors for schools whilst being unable to convert themselves.
The Catholic Education Service has a strong working relationship with the Department for Education which is fully aware of the issue and how it is specifically affecting our sector. We remain hopeful that this legal anomaly will be resolved as and when the next piece of education legislation is brought to Parliament.
Because of the size of the Catholic school sector in this country, people often overlook the Catholic further and higher education establishments which the Church runs.
As the longest-serving provider of education in the country, the mission of the Church has always been to educate the whole person, allowing them to achieve their best, whatever their best may be.
A key part of this is providing a wide variety of education establishments to help young people succeed throughout the entirety of their academic life.
Much of this has been through the provision of sixth-form education. The vast majority of Catholic sixth forms are attached to existing schools, but there are also 15 standalone Catholic sixth-form colleges – 14 in England and one in Wales.
To this extent, the only standalone SFCs to have a religious character in England are all maintained by the Catholic Church.
Like all other Catholic nurseries, schools, colleges and universities, they have a very distinct character rooted in the Catholic faith.
In addition to its many voluntary aided schools and academies, the Catholic Church also maintains four universities, a variety of teaching schools and 11 special schools for children with severe learning difficulties.
We even have some dioceses which have looked into the prospect of opening a pupil referral unit. The Catholic community is perhaps the most ethnically and socially diverse in the country, and our wide variety of education establishments are there to cater for them all, offering a high-quality education within a distinct Catholic ethos.
Catholic sixth-form colleges have a proven record of success with many being rated either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and achieving A-level results significantly above the national average. This success is down to these colleges’ distinct Catholic ethos – something they shouldn’t have to lose if they were to convert to academies.
Paul Barber is director of the Catholic Education Service
Staff at the cash-strapped Hull College Group are demanding the immediate resignation of their chief executive after she offered discounted ice-creams to deter them participating in a protest over job losses.
Members of the University and College Union unanimously backed a vote of no-confidence in their boss Michelle Swithenbank today.
It follows yesterday’s vote for strike action which came about over a bitter dispute over the potential loss of up to 231 full-time jobs.
UCU said Ms Swithenbank’s position is now untenable after her failure to defend jobs at the college and a “bizarre” 24 hours which saw the management team attempt to “bully and then bribe” staff not to attend a protest on Wednesday (April 18).
The college had first sent an email to all staff saying that anyone who joined the protest risked doing so illegally. It then tried a different approach, inviting staff to purchase discount ice-creams at a venue at the opposite end of the college to the protest.
The college hired the ice cream van from 11am to 1pm – coinciding with the protest.
“Staff have made it quite clear that they have no confidence in Michelle Swithenbank’s leadership and want her to resign immediately,” said UCU regional official, Julie Kelley. “To go from bullying to bribery in less than 24 hours highlights the chaotic shambles at the heart of Hull College leadership.
“Staff need someone running the college who will talk it up and publicly defend its staff and students. The college should scrap damaging plans to cut jobs and courses, and work with us to develop a more positive approach which meets the needs of local people.”
UCU said it expects to announce strike dates in the next few days.
A spokesperson for the Hull College Group said it had received no correspondence as yet from the union suggesting a vote of no confidence in Ms Swithenbank, but “should any such vote be received, the group will gladly provide their response”.
He added that the college’s employment solicitors “identified participating in an unofficial protest during staffing hours (11am) could result in a breach of contract”.
“A communication was sent to staff to give clear advice on their own responsibility and to make an informed decision to participate,” the spokesperson said.
“We felt it was our responsibility as an employer to highlight the possible actions of joining a protest organised by an organisation which is not affiliated with the current negotiations.”
The FE commissioner reported in February last year that HCG’s finances remained precarious after the then-Skills Funding Agency had issued a notice of concern in November 2016.
Richard Atkins warned that HCG’s “operating performance, as measured by surplus/deficit after interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation costs has amounted to a cumulative deficit of around £10 million over the past four years”, while “a further deficit in excess of £1 million is forecast for the current year”.
The Commons education committee will investigate long-term education investment – especially whether colleges and schools are getting the money they need.
The influential group of MPs has launched an inquiry into whether a longer-term plan is needed for investment across education, including FE, and what resources are really needed.
MPs will look ahead to the government spending review process, which will determine the overall level of public funding for schools and colleges.
The inquiry will also look at the effectiveness of “targeted funding” such as the pupil premium, and how a new national funding formula will be implemented.
“Young people are in compulsory education for around 13 years, yet government only plans investment in education every three or four years,” said committee chair Robert Halfon.
“We need to move to a situation where education funding is not driven primarily by Treasury processes but rather by a long-term strategic assessment of our national priorities for education and skills.”
He warned that rising cost pressures faced by sixth-forms and FE colleges have led to “serious challenges” in the provision of high-quality education “which can be a key driver” for social justice and productivity.
“The spending review provides the government with an opportunity to help close the funding gap and it is vital this process is informed by the views of parents, teachers and pupils,” he added.
Some areas of public expenditure are informed by an overall target, whether it’s 0.7 per cent of gross national income on international aid or two per cent of gross domestic product on defence.
“Other areas are vocal about their level of need, such as in the case made for greater expenditure on health services,” said Mr Halfon. “I hope our inquiry will help give ordinary people a role in creating a 10-year vision for education investment.
“The prime minister recently signalled a new approach to funding the NHS; I hope the education committee can help to make the case for a similar plan for expenditure on our schools and colleges.”
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, threw his support behind the inquiry.
“We welcome the education committee’s inquiry into the level of funding for schools and colleges, which comes at a time of severe financial pressures caused by government under-investment in education,” he said.
“The funding crisis is putting hard-won education standards at risk and damaging social mobility. Our young people deserve better.”
“The comments made by the chair of the Education Committee are a breath of fresh air. We entirely agree that a longer term plan is needed for investment in education and have long been calling for such an approach. It cannot come soon enough.”
Apprenticeship starts were down 31 per cent in January on the same period in 2017, the latest provisional government statistics have revealed.
The news comes just days after the chancellor Philip Hammond admitted to Parliament that he had expected the apprenticeship levy would usher in a fall in starts – but not quite to this extent.
There were 25,400 starts in the first month of 2018 – down 11,300 from January 2017’s provisional total of 36,700, according to the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s monthly apprenticeship statistics update, published April 19.
“I recognise that starts are down—we always expected that,” he said during Treasury questions on April 17.
“There are fewer starts than we expected, but we are seeing a much higher level of apprenticeship. The Department for Education and the Treasury are looking carefully at how this is working.”
David Hughes, boss of the Association of Colleges, wants the government to “engage with colleges and employers to work out how to stimulate growth where it has fallen”.
This might include more outreach and “developing provision to encourage reluctant employers to engage in the system”.
“Where standards are not ready yet, frameworks should be fully-funded and there should be more support for pre-apprenticeship training to help people get ready for their apprenticeship,” he said.
Mark Dawe, Mr Hughes’ counterpart at the Association of the Employment and Learning Providers, warned that the government is “creating social immobility” through the apprenticeship system.
“The government said at the end of last year that its funding priorities lay with levy-payers, and this has been borne out by the fact that nearly half all starts can now be found in large employers and this proportion continues to grow,” he said.
“Given many levy-payers across the country are concentrating on higher level starts, it’s no wonder that we’ve seen a massive collapse in level two starts and starts for 16- to 18-year-olds.”
Apprenticeship figures from August 2017 onwards remain provisional, and the DfE stresses that they are subject to change; starts for recent months have generally been revised up since they were first published.
There have now been 206,100 starts recorded to date for 2017/18, which represents a 24-per-cent drop on the same period last year.
Of these, 44 per cent have been at level two, which is nine percentage points lower than 2016/17’s final share of 53 per cent.
Meanwhile, 11 per cent of starts so far this year have been at level four or above, an increase of four points on last year’s final share of seven per cent.
“I feel quite strongly that an apprenticeship can offer social mobility, so I sit and wait and watch,” Anne Milton told a House of Lords committee hearing on March 13.
In response to the latest statistics, a DfE spokesperson said its reforms were “about increasing the number of quality apprenticeships, so people of all ages and backgrounds can take advantage of the opportunities apprenticeships bring”.
“We have recently seen an increase in the number of people starting on higher level apprenticeships”, which had been “designed by employers themselves to meet their needs,” she continued.
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said it was “helpful” that arrangements for SFCs were now aligned with FE colleges.
“But the introduction of the insolvency regime means that arrangements for colleges in financial difficulty are likely to change again in the near future,” he warned.
“The vast majority of SFCs will not require exceptional financial support, but there is no question that ongoing funding pressures are having a negative effect on the financial health of the sector.”
He added that he was “pleased” the DfE was reviewing funding for the FE sector “in response to our joint funding campaign”.
EFS – which can come in the form of a grant or a loan – is only available to colleges that are “encountering financial, or cashflow, difficulties that put the continuation of provision at risk”, and which have “exhausted all other options”.
One SFC that could benefit is Cadbury Sixth Form College. An FE commissioner report published in March reported a “series of financial items” that “could result in the college being at immediate risk”.
A cash-flow forecast for the college “indicated that external support for cash flow would be needed in March 2018”, according to the report.
Last month the current skills minister announced a review into how the current system of funding for FE meets the costs of high-quality provision.
But just two days later at hearing of the Commons education select committee the education secretary Damian Hinds cast doubt on Anne Milton’s announcement – and the DfE later confirmed that it was as “internal” review within the department.
The SFCA, along with other organisations including the Association of Colleges, launched its Support our Sixth Formers campaign last year, calling for more funding for learners aged 16 to 19.
