Teachers in sixth-form colleges in England will get a pay rise of up to two per cent, backdated to September 2017.

The rise follows negotiations between the National Education Union and the Sixth-Form Colleges Association.

This week the SFCA agreed to increase its pay offer to match the September 2017 increase won by teachers working in schools.

The agreement will give sixth-form teachers on points one to six of the national pay scale an extra two per cent, while those above point six will get one per cent from the same date.

Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Sixth-form college teachers will be pleased that their pay will increase in line with school teachers for another year. The National Education Union worked hard to achieve this deal for its members, who showed their resolution to get a fair deal by rejecting the previous offer.

“The increase is, however, still below inflation and the NEU will continue to lobby to secure fully funded higher pay for teachers in schools and colleges alike.”

Graham Baird, SFCA’s director of HR services who led the negotiations on the employers side, said: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with the recognised trade unions for an across the board increase of 1 per cent on teachers’ pay, with higher targeted increases of 2 per cent on the lowest pay points.

“This agreement is at the edge of affordability for most colleges given the ongoing funding pressures facing the sector, but teachers in sixth form colleges work hard to support their students and it is important that they are rewarded for that.”

General FE colleges across the country were meanwhile facing strike action today over a one-per-cent pay offer made by the Association of Colleges to staff nationwide.

“The below inflation pay offer won’t address the real hardship caused to staff by years of pay suppression in further education,” said Sally Hunt, University and College Union general secretary. “Staff are 24 per cent worse off in real terms than they were a decade ago.”

“We have seen great support on the picket lines today with more to come tomorrow – employers need to address members’ concerns as a matter of urgency,” she added.

AoC boss David Hughes previously spoke out against the industrial action. “I appreciate that the decision to strike is never a decision taken lightly, but it is disappointing that this action is being taken so soon after we agreed to work together with unions to campaign on fair funding for colleges.”

Ofsted has confirmed it will apply stricter rules to FE providers judged ‘requires improvement’, and will now carry out monitoring visits to them and publish the results.

The education watchdog confirmed the crackdown this morning in its response to the consultation it ran in November on the rule change.

Under previous rules, providers that were given a grade three were given subsequent support and challenge visits that result in unpublished letters until they are re-inspected within 12 to 24 months of the inspection.

Ofsted has now changed this and will carry out monitoring visits which will then be made public, applying it to visits since Novemebr 10, 2017.

A total of 251 responses were gathered in the consultation, of which 65 per cent agreed with the proposal.

“In light of the responses to the consultation, we will be taking forward the proposal,” Ofsted said.

“For providers that are judged to require improvement, we will conduct a single monitoring visit, normally around 7 to 13 months after the inspection at which the provider was judged to require improvement.

“The re-inspection of requires improvement providers will still normally occur 12 to 24 months after the previous inspection. We will keep the re-inspection timing under review to ensure that the provider has enough time to improve on issues identified at the monitoring visit.”

The inspectorate said the monitoring visit will result in a published report that has progress judgements.

“Published monitoring visit reports will explain what the provider has achieved since the previous inspection and what improvement they still need to make.

“Inspectors will use the progress judgements set out in Part 1 of the Further education and skills inspection handbook.”

Ofsted added that this rule will apply to any provider found to require improvement since 10 November 2017 (i.e. those notified of inspection on or after 10 November).

It will write individually to providers directly affected and will make “necessary revisions” to the ‘Further education and skills inspection handbook’.

The government has doubled the amount of money on offer to encourage more schools and colleges to offer maths at A-level.

The new “advanced maths premium” announced in last year’s autumn budget was originally going to be worth £600 for every additional student studying an ‘advanced maths’ qualification, such as an AS or A level.

But the Department for Education has today announced that schools and colleges will get an additional £600 per year for 16 to 18-year-olds also studing AS or A-level Further Mathematics, taking the funding incentive to £1,200 per year. And where students study an advanced maths qualification and A-level Further Mathematics over two years the funding incentive would be worth £2,400.

The government has now named the incentive as the ‘advanced maths premium’, which is backed by £80 million in funding and has no cap on numbers. FE Week understands the first tranche of funding will be based on recruitment in early 2018/19 compared to a baseline, with schools and colleges actually receiving the money in their 2019/20 allocations and payments.

The DfE has published technical guidance for schools and colleges today, to include: how the baseline is calculated; a list of eligible qualifications and restate as per their letter to sixth-forms last November that “the payment will only apply to students who already have prior attainment equivalent to GCSE grade 9 to 4 or A* to C in maths”.

The advanced maths premium formed part of a £177 million investment in maths education at the autumn budget.

The Sixth-Form Colleges Association, which represents around 90 sixth forms and other post-16 providers, said although it welcomed “any new investment” in 16-to-18 education, the extra funding would have “little impact on the vast majority” of pupils.

“The government should focus on ensuring schools and colleges receive the funding they need to provide all young people with a rounded, high-quality education, irrespective of the subjects they choose to study,” it said.

“The best way of doing this is to conduct a fundamental review of 16-to-18 funding to restore a link between funding levels and the cost of providing a high-quality sixth-form education.”

The Association of College’s senior policy manager for curriculum and funding at 14 to 19, Catherine Sezen, said that “any additional investment” is welcome at “chronically underfunded” colleges, but warned that “this is not the right level of funding and it is not focused on the right area”.

“We would urge DfE to look at the difficulties and demands colleges face before even getting to level three,” she added. “Without changes to the condition of funding, and additional money allocated for level two and below, it will be a real challenge for colleges to properly staff and successfully deliver any additional level three maths.”

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said: “Although maths remains the most popular subject at A-level, this premium will open up the opportunity for even more young people to study advanced maths qualifications, providing them with the knowledge and skills for future success.”

Although the maths premium is now calculated on a per-qualification basis, rather than per pupil, there are restrictions to stop schools being “double-funded”.

Only pupils studying both a maths and further maths qualification in the same academic year will attract double funding, up to £2,400 over two years, but this is the “only combination of qualifications that will attract funding twice in one year”, the government said.

Two former professional footballers and four of their colleagues have been sentenced to a total of over 25 years in prison for defrauding colleges out of £5 million in apprenticeship funding.

Mark Aizlewood (pictured right), who played for Wales 39 times in the 1980s and 1990s, and Paul Sugrue (pictured left), who played for clubs including Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Cardiff City, were both sentenced this afternoon at Southwark Crown Court for their part in a scam which involved “ghost learners”.

Two of their former colleagues at the now-defunct provider Luis Michael Training, Keith Williams, 45, from Anglesey, and Jack Harper, 30, from Southport, were also sentenced after being found guilty earlier this month.

Two more men who were also involved in the con, Christopher Martin, 53, from Newbury, and Steven Gooding, 53, from Bridgwater, had pleaded guilty before the trial began in September and were also sentenced today.

This marks the end of a five month trial that was brought to court by the Serious Fraud Office.

This was a shameful exploitation of taxpayers and colleges

Luis Michael Training used its well-known footballing names to defraud the taxpayer between 2009 and 2011 by persuading nine colleges to use it as a subcontractor, using cash they got from the government to deliver apprenticeships.

The provider hoodwinked over 3,000 learners over this period, all aged between 16 and 19. Some were “ghost learners” – where the personal information of real people was used to claim apprenticeship funding. The use of their data was unbeknown to these ghosts.

Those actually enrolled were under the illusion that they were doing an apprenticeship in NVQ activity leadership, which would lead them to a career in football coaching.

Sentencing the men, Judge Tomlinson said this was a “shameful exploitation” of taxpayers and colleges.

“You misappropriated eye-watering sums of government money on the pretence of helping disadvantaged young people,” he added. “You all exploited this sad state of affairs and your involvement was dishonest from the outset.”

Using this lure of a career in football coaching, LMT even employed other high-profile former players, such as Welsh international Neville Southall, the Republic of Ireland’s Alan McLoughlin and Manchester United player Russell Beardsmore, as tutors to deliver some of the training, albeit unaware of the con.

The provider also used almost 150 professional and semi-professional football clubs as part of the scam, roping in big teams like Manchester City, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest.

“These men stole public money intended to give young people a start in life – these were cynical crimes for which they have been held to account today,” said the Serious Fraud Office’s general counsel Alun Milford.

Mark Aizlewood was sentenced to six years.

Christopher Martin was sentenced to two years and three months, and five years and three months, to be served concurrently.

Keith Williams was sentenced to three and four years’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently.

Paul Sugrue was sentenced to three and seven years’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently.

Steven Gooding received a 20-month prison sentence.

Jack Harper received two 18-month sentences, to be served concurrently.

Jack Harper and Steven Gooding were also disqualified as directors for seven years each.