The Baker clause, which forces schools to open their doors to FE providers to let them advertise their services to pupils, will take effect from January, according to guidance published this morning by the Department for Education.
The amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act, which came into law in May, was proposed by the former education secretary Lord Baker, who acknowledged the move was likely to be universally hated by schools.
“From January 2, 2018 all local authority-maintained schools and academies must give education and training providers the opportunity to talk to pupils in years 8 to 13 about approved technical qualifications and apprenticeships,” the DfE said.
“Schools must have clear arrangements in place to ensure that all pupils have opportunities to hear from providers of post-14, post-16 and post-18 options at, and leading up to, important transition points.”
All schools must also publish a policy statement outlining how providers can access them, the rules for granting and refusing access, and what providers can expect once granted access.
Lord Baker, the architect of the controversial UTC programme, proposed his amendment while the bill was passing through the House of Lords in February.
He accused schools of “resisting” those who tried to promote more vocational courses to their pupils, and insisted that “every word” of his proposed clause was needed because it would be “met with great hostility in every school in the country”.
The decision by the minister for the school system, Lord Nash, not to challenge the amendment, was met with surprise as it is considered unusual for the government to accept an amendment in this manner.
The amendment also went unchallenged when the bill was passed – meaning that the requirement became law.
However, there is still no sign yet of the government’s long-awaited careers strategy.
Skills minister Anne Milton outlined the four main pillars of the strategy earlier this month, and later promised delegates at the Association of Colleges annual conference that it was on its way.
The government will invest an extra £20 million to help colleges prepare for the introduction of T-levels, the chancellor has announced in his autumn budget speech.
“We are introducing T-levels and today I announce a further £20 million to support FE colleges to prepare for them,” he told the nation.
It is thought this cash injection will come on top of the £50 million Justine Greening revealed in July, that is to be available from April 2018 for “capacity building” ahead of the launch of the new technical qualifications in 2020.
It’s also in addition to the annual £500 million investment in T-levels announced by the Treasury in March, which will come into play from 2022.
Gordon Marsden
Gordon Marsden, Labour’s shadow skills minister, said Mr Hammond’s announcement did not go far enough and more detail is needed.
“Hammond says #Budget2017 he will give £20 million to FE Colleges to bring in T Levels but no time frame given,” he tweeted. “It’s a fleabite compared to cuts Colleges have suffered – and FE needs far more funding to support CPD for staff which we’ve pledged.”
He later told FE Week he wasn’t even sure if it was new money.
“In the ‘new money’ columns of the full budget document for skills there is no mention of this extra £20 million for T-levels, there is a mention saying they will spend £20 million on T-levels but they don’t say where it is coming from. My assumption is that this is a sleight of hand, first that it is very small and second it is not new money.”
The chancellor also used his autumn budget speech to say the government would keep under review the “flexibility” apprenticeship levy payers have in spending their levy cash.
“Meeting the challenge of change head-on means giving people the skills to reap the rewards from it and we have a plan to do so,” he said.
“We are delivering three million apprenticeship starts by 2020 thanks to our apprenticeship levy, and I will keep under review the flexibility levy payers have to spend this money.”
It was also revealed that Unionlearn, an organisation of the Trades Union Congress to boost learning in the workplace, will receive £8.5 million over the next two years.
This is in addition to its grant from the Department for Education, which is usually £12 million per year but was expected to be cut this year. The Treasury’s investment will mean Unionlearn’s annual government funding will remain at around £12 million.
One of the most prominent campaigns to get extra funding for FE is Support Our Sixth-Formers, which has been backed by various organisations including the AoC and the SFCA, demanding a £200 “SOS uplift” in 16-to-18 per-pupil funding rates.
Campaigners have said the autumn budget was a “missed opportunity”.
“Schools and colleges will welcome the Chancellor’s decision to introduce a £600-per-student maths premium, as sixth-formers in England are chronically underfunded compared to other countries and other phases of education,” the groups said in a statement.
“However, the chancellor has missed the opportunity to address the fundamental underfunding of sixth form education in England. The government’s priority should be to ensure that schools and colleges receive the funding they need to provide young people with a rounded, high quality, education – irrespective of the subjects they choose to study at A-level.”
David Hughes, chief executive of the AoC added: “I said last week that the Chancellor should take a long term and moral view of investment in young people and adults to address the skills challenges which he has so eloquently described in today’s Budget. Unfortunately, he has chosen to make short term decisions which tinker at the edges.
“The chancellor did miss the opportunity to address the chronic underfunding of all 16 to 19-years-olds in education and training”
University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said that even though Mr Hammond spoke “warmly” about the importance of skills in his speech today, the “pockets” of funding announced for T-levels and a national retraining scheme will “do little to plug the hole in college finances left by cuts in recent years.”
AELP boss Mark Dawe “welcomed” the new investment in digital skills and said the levy review should be “very short” review because it is “far too early to dilute levy spend on anything other than apprenticeships, especially after a 61 per cent drop in programme starts since the levy was introduced“.
When the Treasury later released its full budget statement, it revealed it wants to find ways to improve resit outcomes for learners, by launching a new pilot scheme.
“The budget announces support for maths, given its crucial role in preparing the next generation for jobs in the new economy,” the document said.
“The government will test innovative approaches to improve GCSE maths resit outcomes by launching a £8.5 million pilot, alongside £40 million to establish Further Education Centres of Excellence across the country to train maths teachers and spread best practice.”
Since 2013, all 16- to 19-year-olds without at least a grade C in GCSE maths or English have had to enrol in courses alongside their main programme of study.
This requirement was tightened in 2015 to require all of those with a grade D – now a 3 – in those subjects to sit a GCSE course, rather than an equivalent stepping-stone course such as functional skills.
David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said it was “excellent news” about the government’s new pilots.
“I’m very pleased they have been listening to the feedback we have been giving them on the need to understand what works for GCSE resits and support colleges to get this right,” he said.
But Gordon Marsden, Labour’s shadow skills minister, described the announcement as a “fudge”.
“It sounds all very worthy but it is not going to at any time soon deal with the issue of maths people having to resit,” he said. “There is no commitment in there to actually stop the resits and introduce functional skills.
“I think this is a fudge because of the competing views of skills ministers and Nick Gibb who of course is absolutely wedded to the GCSE resits policy.
“There isn’t any mention of English resits and I think people concerned about the humanities side of technical education should be concerned about that. Maybe he [Mr Hammond] didn’t have the money or think it was important enough but either way it is not great.”
A major college that has been battling a financial crisis has clawed its way up to a ‘good’ Ofsted rating, four years after it tumbled from the top grade to the bottom.
City of Liverpool College has experienced a rocky few years since its current principal Elaine Bowker took over in 2011, including two interventions from the FE commissioner.
But it now appears to have emerged into the light once more.
In an Ofsted report published this morning, leaders were lauded for identifying the college’s strengths and “areas for improvement” through a “comprehensive self-assessment process that involves all staff”.
Senior leaders set “measurable targets to improve, which they check regularly”, inspectors said, and there is a “culture of high expectations”.
They have “rectified most areas” that needed improving at the previous inspection in 2015, in which it received a grade three.
Governors hold senior leaders and managers to account for the quality of education and training, and they provide a “good level of scrutiny and challenge”.
Students and apprentices meanwhile develop the practical and technical skills “they need for work”.
“Consequently most of them progress into further study, higher education or employment,” inspectors wrote.
Elaine Bowker
Ms Bowker first caused controversy in 2012/13, when she was given a £40,000 pay rise, up from £139,000, in the same year that the college’s Ofsted rating nosedived from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’.
The intervention finished in November 2014, following an improved Ofsted rating, and a more encouraging financial performance in 2013/14.
But it was referred again before it was allocated over £15 million for 2017/18, and told the ESFA last January that it needed £2 million in exceptional financial support to cover working capital requirements.
This prompted a further notice of concern in February 2017.
A warning of “financial crisis” amid a £15 million deficit was published in March – along with a critical letter from the then-apprenticeships minister Robert Halfon.
Today’s Ofsted report said that the 8,000-learner college’s leaders “recognise the challenges” that they face to maintain financial stability.
Inspectors noted that they have taken steps to “manage the college’s financial future so that the decisions they take do not affect the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and students’ achievements”.
The chief executive of a large general further education college in the north of England has resigned.
The Sheffield College confirmed today that Paul Corcoran “has decided to resign” from his senior role, which he had held since June 2015.
A spokesperson for the 16-000-learner college said it had accepted his resignation, and installed principal Angela Foulkes – who only joined the college in September – as its acting chief executive and accounting officer.
“We wish Paul well and would like to thank him for his contribution to the college, which remains focused on its top priority of transforming lives through learning and providing an inspirational experience for students,” said Richard Wright, the chair of the college’s board.
Ms Foulkes was only appointed principal in June this year, having previously been vice-principal for curriculum and support at the Manchester College.
She has 25 years’ experience in the further education sector, holding senior leadership roles in a range of London colleges and as vice-principal at Barnsley College.
She took over at Sheffield from Heather Smith, who retired after 33 years at the college.
At the time, Mr Corcoran said: “Angela brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise as we progress with investment in teaching and learning, and strongly position the college to respond to national changes in vocational education, training and skills.”
The learner college, which has been allocated £12.4 million for 2017/18, was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted when Mr Corcoran started as CEO in 2015, but slipped to ‘requires improvement’ in January last year.
The “effectiveness of leadership and management” was one of the headline fields rated grade three in the 2016 report, which rated apprenticeships and provision for learners with high needs as ‘good’.
Mr Corcoran and his senior team launched a consultation over the summer on controversial proposals for a staffing shake-up.
The plan was to “reduce 40 senior leadership, managerial, business support and administrative posts – affecting 45 staff”.
But at the same time they wanted to create “54 jobs by appointing 40 new roles and filling another 14 posts by lifting a recruitment freeze on vacancies”.
A local paper, The Star, reported on unease among employees about the way the restructure was being handled.
“We are reviewing our staffing needs and the curriculum so they align to significant changes in vocational education and to ensure that the college is strongly positioned for the future,” said Mr Corcoran a the time.
“Any job losses are regrettable. However, under the proposals we would create a significant number of new roles.”
Colleges will get £600 for every extra student who studies maths at level three under a proposal due to be set out in today’s budget.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the chancellor will announce the £177 million incentive as part of a bundle of new education measures.
The money for maths skills will cover a £600 payment to schools and colleges for every extra student who continues to study the subject beyond GCSE, which the Treasury confirmed this morning.
This applies to all level three maths provision, so it includes core maths qualifications.
“Colleges will welcome any new investment in 16 to 19 education, as sixth formers in England are chronically underfunded compared to other countries and other phases of education,” said James Kewin, the deputy chief executive of the SFCSA.
“Our recent funding impact survey showed that over a third of schools and colleges have dropped STEM courses as a result of funding pressures, including further maths and core maths qualifications.”
James Kewin
Core maths was first introduced for teaching in 2014 and is a “generic title” for a range of different level three maths qualifications, but not a qualification in itself.
Its purpose is to widen participation in the subject from 16 and to support the development of maths skills for progression to higher education and employment.
It is mostly for learners not studying A-levels to study a level three maths course alongside their main study programme.
Core maths is used in the Department for Education’s 16-t0-19 performance tables and can be used as part of the tech bacc – a vocational qualification which involves students taking one or more tech levels, a maths qualification and an extended written project, and will appear in T-levels.
“This new package of measures does not address the fundamental underfunding of sixth form education in England,” added Mr Kewin.
“The government’s priority should be to ensure that schools and colleges receive the funding they need to provide young people with a rounded, high quality, education – irrespective of the subjects they choose to study at A-level.
“The government has clearly listened to some of the concerns expressed through the Support Our Sixth-formers campaign – but there is still a long way to go to ensure all sixth form students in England get a fair deal on funding.”
Support Our Sixth Formers, also backed by the Association of Colleges and FE Week, wants a £200 “SOS uplift” in 16-to-18 per-pupil funding rates.
The Treasury is to roll the fund out in a new “formal partnership” with the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, which will oversee a new national retraining scheme.
The chancellor will make his budget statement in parliament shortly before 1pm today.
Plans to invest £76 million into retraining adults who want to work in the digital and construction sectors have been explained ahead of the budget.
The Treasury will roll the fund out in a new “formal partnership” with the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, which will oversee a new national retraining scheme.
A spokesperson for the Treasury explained this will be divided between digital skills and construction.
“As a first step, £36 million will be invested in digital skills courses using AI, so that people can benefit from this emerging technology as they train for digital tech jobs in one of the fastest growing sectors across Britain,” she said.
A further £40 million will be invested in construction training programmes across the country, she explained, to train people for jobs such as groundworkers, bricklayers, roofers and plasterers.
“In order to build the homes the nation needs, it is vital there are enough construction workers with the right skills to meet this challenge,” she added.
“The government is establishing a formal partnership with the CBI and TUC to oversee the national retraining scheme, to help adults across the country to retrain and get the skills they need to succeed in the new economy.”
This partnership will be expanded a later date to oversee retraining for other priority sectors, the spokesperson said.
The announcement was made by the Treasury ahead of the budget, to be unveiled by chancellor Philip Hammond on Wednesday (November 22).
“The CBI looks forward to working alongside the government and the TUC to build an approach that works for the long-term,” said Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI director-general.
“It is the training decisions that take place every day in businesses across the country that will make a difference – so a genuine partnership is needed to get the system delivering effectively for businesses and employees.”
She added that this new commitment to retraining will be welcomed by businesses across the country, but it must “go hand in hand with government readiness to reform the skills system to meet the challenges that the partnership identifies, including the apprenticeship levy”.
The TUC’s general secretary Frances O’Grady said that “every worker deserves the opportunity to improve their skills and get qualified for better-paid work”.
“We welcome the proposal that government, trade unions and business get around the table to tackle Britain’s great skills challenge, and we look forward to learning more details,” she said.
“The TUC wants all workers to get the support and security they need through the changes to come. Everyone, in every corner of the country, needs the chance to learn, win promotion, and boost their pay packets.”
But they did not go into details about funding at the time, other than to link it to cash being available through the apprenticeship levy launched for large employers in April.
The manifesto said that to “help workers to stay in secure jobs as the economy changes”, the government would introduce a national retraining scheme, under which “the costs of training will be met by the government, with companies able to gain access to the apprenticeship levy to support wage costs during the training period”.
The apprenticeship levy is having a challenging introduction, the new person in charge of education finances has admitted.
Eileen Milner (pictured above) admitted as much in a statement marking her first day as chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
“Seven months into the apprenticeship levy, which has brought about much change, the sector has quickly adapted,” she said.
“However, I am aware there are challenges.
“There is more work to be done on understanding the needs of our providers and employers, so they understand the investment opportunities the apprenticeship levy brings.
“I am keen to work with the sector as a priority to ensure continued delivery and support as we implement the apprenticeship and devolution reform requirements ahead.”
Ms Milner, formerly an executive director at the Care Quality Commission, was appointed in August.
She replaces Peter Lauener, who has held multiple sector leadership roles in recent months.
In addition to leading the agency since it was formed in April – and the separate Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency prior to that – he has also been interim chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships since October 2016.
Mr Lauener had been expected to retire after permanent replacements were found to both of his senior jobs, but it emerged earlier this month that he will take over at the Student Loans Company later this month, after its chief executive departed suddenly.
According to a statement on the SLC’s website, he will start in an interim capacity on November 27, and will remain in the post until a permanent replacement for Steve Lamey is recruited.
Nearly 200 of the UK’s most talented young tradespeople were rewarded with gold, silver and bronze medals at The Skills Show’s closing ceremony tonight – at which a Scottish college emerged as the biggest winner for the third year in a row.
Those that finished in the top three positions in 55 different skill areas, as well as 26 competitors with learning difficulties who participated in inclusive skills competitions, took home the top prizes after working tirelessly over the last three days.
It was City of Glasgow College, who finished second at last year’s show and first in 2015, which came out on top, with eight of their students claiming medals. They finished top of the official medal table with a total of 22 points (see full table below).
In second was northern Ireland’s Southern Regional College with a total of 17 points, followed by Scotland’s New College Lanarkshire, who came first last year, in third with 15 points.
The winners were presented with their awards at a special ceremony hosted by TV presenter Will Best.
“This has been a wonderful showcase for UK skills,” Dr Neil Bentley, chief executive of WorldSkills UK, said after the event.
“The competition was fierce and the standards very high – all the finalists have done brilliantly well just to get this far. All their hard work and dedication has been rewarded and we at WorldSkills UK salute you.”
Record numbers of spectators, totalling more than 80,000, thronged the thrilling three-day interactive careers event.
Almost 500 young apprentices, exponents of 55 disciplines – as diverse as aircraft maintenance, 3D game design, cabinet making, plumbing, beauty therapy and cyber security – took part in the National Finals.
Skills minister Anne Milton, who attended the event with several other Cabinet colleagues this week, said: “You have something amazing – WorldSkills UK is without doubt one of the most important organisations within my portfolio.
“Skills have never been higher on the government agenda.”
Many of the winners now have the opportunity to go forward and be considered for Team UK selection and represent their country in forthcoming international finals in Budapest and Kazan in Russia.
At the recent WorldSkills Finals in Abu Dhabi, known as the ‘skills Olympics’, Team UK finished 10th out of 77 countries.
