After a 3,000 mile flight Team UK has landed in Abu Dhabi ahead of their contests with the rest of the world’s best young people in trade careers at WorldSkills 2017.
The 34 competitors representing our country headed to London Heathrow airport in the early hours (around 5am) this morning after staying overnight at a nearby Hilton hotel following a parliamentary send-off event yesterday.
Accompanied by the WorldSkills UK operations and media teams, their team leaders, and FE Week, the competitors used the three-hour wait until the flight to relax and bond as a group.
“It’s exciting [coming out as a group], there’s a great team atmosphere,” said Ethan Davies, the UK’s CNC Milling competitor, who added that he expects the competition in Abu Dhabi to be “fierce”.
His team-mate Daryl Head, who’s competing in car painting, also told FE Week: “Everywhere you look there’s someone there that you can speak to. It’s [the experience] surreal, I don’t think it will really hit us until we get there and heat hits.”
At 9.35am we boarded the plane but before taking off the captain gave Team UK a special good luck message over the speakers, which was met with thunderous applause from all passengers.
FE Week chatted with chief team leader Joanne Maher about the importance of heading out to the competitions as a group.
“Building the team is absolutely essential, they need to have that bond and ethos,” she said.
“They live together 24/7 for 11 days straight and they become each other’s family, support networks and all of that. Bringing them together as a team really gives them that sense of pride in wearing the Team UK shirt but also a sense of belonging.”
Ms Maher, who’s also the principal of Boston College and Team UK’s psychologist, added: “We make sure the flight and the journey out there is fun and as soon as they land and see the other teams that instantly brings them together as that sense of ‘we are the UK and this is what we’re about’ kicks in.”
At 7.30pm Abu Dhabi time the team were met by sweltering desert heat of close to 40 degrees as they got off the plane.
The team swiftly headed off to their hotel to get some rest ahead of ‘one school one country’, which is happening tomorrow morning and will see the competitors visit a local school to share their stories.
And of course, FE Week will be joining them. You can show your support on Twitter throughout the competitions by tweeting #TeamUK.
A health and social care training provider has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in a report that warns of “weak” management of apprenticeships.
The report out today on First City Training said it was not doing enough to improve the learning and training experience of students, and its apprenticeship provision came in for heavy criticism.
The ‘inadequate’-overall verdict was a fall from the grade three-overall rating it received after its previous inspection in January last year.
FCT said it was “disappointed” with the overall rating but added it was “reflective of endemic pressures felt across the sector.”
“The management of the apprenticeship programme is weak,” the report said of the provider, which has centres in Swindon, Salisbury and Bournemouth, and which was allocated almost £400,000 by the Education and Skills Funding Agency for 2016/17.
“Leaders and managers do not provide sufficient oversight of the programme, and do not have high enough expectations.
“Apprentices do not receive sufficient training away from their workplace and as a result they make slow progress towards completing their apprenticeships and improving their skills.”
Managers do not provide “sufficient oversight” of the apprenticeships programme, nor high enough expectations of their staff or learners.
And leaders’ actions to increase learners’ progress had meanwhile been “largely unsuccessful”.
Other concerns included poor support for learners trying to improve their English or mathematical skills, and a general failure to “ensure that the risks to learners of radicalisation and extremism are properly considered and combatted”.
First City Training was rated ‘inadequate’ for leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for learners and apprenticeships. It received a grade three for its adult learning and personal development, behaviour and welfare.
However, Ofsted described the level five higher apprenticeships in management of health and social care as “well managed”, saying they help apprentices “develop valuable skills and knowledge”, while the training materials provided for adult learners were praised for being clear, easily understood and capturing the “important principles of working in the care sector”.
A spokesman for FCT said: “We are disappointed to have received this overall rating, but feel that this is reflective of endemic pressures felt across the sector with regards apprenticeship training and in particular the continual cuts to the funding.
“We are pleased, however, at the strengths highlighted in the report including the skills, commitment and enthusiasm our learners have for the health and care sector and the people they look after.”
FCT is part of the larger First City Group and had 217 learners on funded programmes at the time of the inspection in September.
Ofsted has recommended that FCT implement a system to provide information to senior management on the achievements of learners, sets up systems for self-assessment, provides better teaching for professional, English and mathematical skills, undertakes reviews of learner progress and immediately implement the Prevent duty.
The Education and Training Foundation are conducting the largest-ever research survey into what training teachers, trainers and leaders working at all levels within the FE sector feel they need.
The Training Needs Analysis survey will be used to shape future training that’s given within the sector, so it aligns with professional needs and priorities.
Conducted by the Education and Training Foundation, in partnership with the Association of Colleges, Association of Employer and Learning Providers and HOLEX, the survey will be carried out with both organisations and individuals, with the aim of gathering several thousand responses from people at every level of the workforce.
Organisations will be selected at random for a telephone survey over the next few weeks, with individuals able to access it online.
It will be the first time research of this scale has been undertaken within FE, and findings will be published in early 2018.
“This cross-sector collaboration shows the depth of commitment to ensuring the CPD that teachers and trainers receive actually meets their needs, their learners’ needs and the needs of the country,” said David Russell (pictured), chief executive of the ETF.
“It will inform our future direction and give sector leaders a much richer insight into the opportunities and challenges we face together.”
A former Skills Funding Agency boss will take over as chair of the work-based learning specialist JTL, nine months after another major provider he had been overseeing went into administration.
Geoff Russell will take over from Dr Ian Livsey when his term in office ends in December.
“It is a privilege to continue to support apprenticeships working with such a well-known and successful organisation,” said Mr Russell. “I look forward to working with the board of trustees to help JTL continue to thrive at this time of unprecedented change and opportunity in the sector.”
JTL is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, and was allocated £24.8 million by the Education and Skills Funding Agency for 2016/17.
It describes itself as “the leading provider of apprenticeships in the building services engineering sector”.
The registered charity currently has more than 6,500 apprentices across England and Wales and works with more than 3,000 employers.
In its 26 years in business, JTL has enabled more than 37,000 young people to gain their qualifications.
Positive Outcomes Ltd had an SFA contract worth more than £11 million around the time it went into administration. According to its most recent Ofsted inspection report, published the previous June, it had around 4,700 learners, the majority of whom were apprentices.
Mr Russell, who was also chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council from March 2009 until the SFA was set up, was previously an audit partner at KPMG for 14 years including a spell at the Treasury.
JTL’s chief executive Jon Graham said he was “delighted” to be able to welcome Mr Russell to the business.
“Ian has done a great job for the business over the past six years and we’re fortunate to be able to appoint someone of Geoff’s stature and level of experience to succeed him,” he said.
“These are very exciting times for JTL and we have an excellent senior team running the business. Geoff’s arrival will help to take us to the next level of success in the provision of work-based learning in the building services engineering industry.”
Apprenticeship starts in one of England’s largest cities have shown a “notable and significant decline” since the introduction of the levy, according to local training providers.
A total of 50 “established and reputable apprenticeship providers with a strong track record of apprenticeship delivery” completed the Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network apprenticeship impact survey, which compared starts between June 1 and August 31 this year with the same period last year.
The drop has emerged just a day before the government publishes its own figures on the overall number of apprenticeship starts for the final quarter of 2016/17.
The Manchester providers between them recorded 4,366 starts across all ages and all levels over the three-month period this year – a drop of 36 per cent, or 2,477, from the 2016 figure of 6,843.
The most dramatic fall was among apprentices aged 25 and older, with starts down 50 per cent across all levels – from 3,217 in 2016 to 1,594 this year.
At the same time, the “overwhelming majority” of providers reported a drop in demand from both levy and non-levy-paying employers – some are even reporting a full 100-per-cent decline in demand.
Mark Dawe, the chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the survey findings were “particularly alarming” as “Greater Manchester is a mature apprenticeship market populated with many good-quality providers, so it’s really worrying to think what it will be like elsewhere”.
Andy Fawcett, the network’s executive director, described the fall as “dramatic”.
“Having surveyed our members who deliver over 85 per cent of apprenticeships in Greater Manchester, it is clear that the reforms have led to a significant and dramatic reduction in starts. The funding reductions, off-the-job training requirements and mandatory employer contributions have depressed employer demand,” he said.
“Of great concern is the drop in level two apprenticeship opportunities. At a time when government is prioritising social mobility here we have an example where their policy in action is taking us in completely the wrong direction.”
The government will publish its latest statistical first release tomorrow, which will include figures on the overall number of apprenticeship starts for the final quarter of 2016/17.
Figures published last week revealed that barely half of eligible employers were registered with the apprenticeships service, which is currently only open to large, levy-paying companies.
Lack of understanding and awareness of the apprenticeship reforms was among the reasons cited by respondents to the Manchester survey for why starts had fallen.
Other issues included the 20-per-cent off-the-job training requirement and the 10-per-cent employer contribution, both seen as barriers by some companies.
Meanwhile, roadblocks introduced by the government, including the introduction of a minimum turnover of £200,000 in the recent non-levy tender, have also added to the decline.
Mr Dawe claimed the results were further evidence that “ministers need to take an urgent look at the co-investment and 20-per-cent off-the-job training requirements”.
Thirty-four of the UK’s most gifted young tradespeople were told that the country “desperately” needs their “skills and inspiration” during a special send-off event ahead of the WorldSkills 2017 competition in Westminster today.
The apprenticeships and skills minister said the UK could not give “enough publicity” to the team and lauded them as the most skilled young people in the country – and pleaded with them to share their experiences in inspiring the next generation upon their return.
“To those competing I’m sure you’re nervous, apprehensive, excited,” she said. “Irrespective of what happens in this competition, your job when you come back is to pull another person to do what you have done.
“We desperately need your skills, we desperately need you as ambassadors and, more importantly than anything, we desperately need you as an inspiration to the generation that are coming up behind you.”
Ms Milton also offered some words of advice on how the competitors can win in their chosen discipline.
“Mind definitely, body definitely, spirit definitely, and there’s one other thing I would add. When you are competing at this level you have to put your hand deep inside you and get hold of something in your soul. These competitions are won on that last degree of application.
“A huge well done to you all for getting to this stage, good luck and I hope to see you out there next week.”
The minister was one of many heartfelt voices heard at today’s event in the House of Commons, where parents, team leaders and staff from WorldSkills UK, which organises the nation’s WorldSkills entries, came to wish the competitors luck.
Compère Peter Bakare, a former British volleyball Olympian, got the packed terrace pumped up with an opening speech before introducing shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, who hosted the event.
“It is really important when at a time of doom and gloom that we have some really positive good news coming out of this country for skills,” he said. “You’re going out to Abu Dhabi to fight it out with the finest.
“Very best of luck to all of you, a message which is reciprocated by my leader Jeremy Corbyn who spoke about the importance of skills at our party conference. Go out there, do your best, come back, spread the news and we will be right behind you.”
Dr Neil Bentley, the chief executive of WorldSkills UK, added that Team UK “represents this country’s future”.
“3D game-design, aircraft maintenance, cooking, mechatronics, plumbing, welding, restaurant services and many more – this alphabet of skills is what this country needs so that we can aspire and create and achieve what we want to do as a global trading nation,” he said.
Robert Halfon hold his Go Team UK poster at the WorldSkills 2017 send-off event
Other high-profile guests at today’s reception included outgoing chief executive of the ESFA, Peter Lauener, the UTC architect Lord Baker, and Robert Halfon, the chair of the education select committee.
The competitors were each issued with a special enamel pin.
“The stress hasn’t kicked in yet but the excitement certainly has,” the 19-year-old said. “It is very familiar at the moment because it feels like Sweden and I feel like I’ve done it before so once I land in a different country the realness of it will kick in.
“The judges know what I can do so I’m going to try and show them something they have not seen before. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a gold medal but I’m just made up to be at this event and heading out there.”
The team will fly to Abu Dhabi tomorrow morning, in preparation for competitions which will run between October 15 and 18, where FE Week will be joining them.
Keep up with all the action before and during the competition on feweek.co.uk or on Twitter with the handle @FEWeek and the #TeamUK hashtag.
But that information did not include details of which panels they would chair – so FE Week inquired.
The full breakdown the DfE provided us (included below) reveals that just six panels are currently in play – for the priority routes that will be delivered by 2021.
Panel chairs include representatives from the Bank of England, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM and Fujitsu, as well as a number of consultants.
It’s not yet clear who will join them as panel members, nor how big the panels will be: the DfE said that offers had been made for all these roles, but no member has yet been named.
“The content of T-levels will be developed by newly appointed panels comprising industry professionals and employers – ensuring that they have real credibility,” said a DfE spokesperson.
“The government is today confirming that panels have been launched across all six routes for delivery in 2020 and 2021.”
They will be responsible for developing the “outline content for technical qualifications and the broader T-level curriculum” in each of the first six routes – childcare and educations, construction, digital, engineering and manufacturing, health and science, and legal, finance and accounting.
Adverts for the panel members and chairs were posted by the DfE in January, when FEWeek reported that the roles were paid.
The employer of each panel chair would receive £2,000 per quarter, while a panel member’s employer would receive £1,000 per quarter.
FE Week estimates the cost of each panel will be £48,000, for a one-year term.
Each panel will be overseen by the Institute for Apprenticeships’ separate route panels.
The IfA’s panels, made up of industry experts and institute members, are responsible for the ongoing management of standards, qualifications and occupational maps for each technical route, for both apprenticeships and T-levels.
UPDATE, 10am: The T-level action plan has now been published. To read it click here.
The first three T-levels have been announced by the education secretary.
Qualifications in digital, childcare and education, and construction will be taught by a small number of providers from 2020, according to today’s announcement.
The Department for Education’s T-level action plan, due to be published later this morning, will set out how the new qualifications will be developed and delivered.
And the government has also admitted that it will be 2024 before the “vast majority” of providers are delivering T-levels.
Education Secretary Justine Greening
“We are transforming technical education in this country, developing our home grown talent so that our young people have the world class skills and knowledge that employers need,” said Justine Greening in her announcement.
“I want to see T-levels that are as rigorous and respected as A-Levels.”
Each route brings together related occupations in a particular sector, in order to provide “clarity about which programmes to follow in order to target particular careers”, according to the Sainsbury review.
Each route is expected to have between three and five pathways – which the DfE today described as “a number of specialisms” within each route, “clustered together in a straightforward way so that young people can see a clear path to the occupation of their choice”.
The three qualifications being developed first are the education pathway in the childcare and education route, the software applications design pathway in the digital route, and the building, services, engineering pathway in the construction route.
These will be delivered by a “small number of providers” – with the process for determining which providers to be confirmed “during autumn 2017”.
All the pathways for these three routes, plus a further three “priority routes” – legal, finance and accounting; engineering and manufacturing; and health and science – are due to be ready for delivery by 2021 by “selected providers”.
And all pathways in the five remaining routes will be “available to be delivered by providers who want to or are able” in 2022, according to today’s announcement.
However, the “majority” of providers are not expected to be delivering the new qualifications until 2024.
A consultation on the new qualifications, originally planned for the summer, has also been delayed.
The DfE won’t say why only one pathway is being delivered for the first three routes by 2020, nor how those pathways were chosen, now how the first six priority routes were chosen.
FE Week also asked for more information about the process by which the first providers to deliver T-levels will be chosen, and whether the consultation is still going ahead.
A spokesperson told us that all the answers to our questions would be in the action plan, which had not been published at the time of writing.
The DfE has also today confirmed that chairs have been appointed to the panels of professionals who will advise on the content of T-levels, and panel members are in the process of taking up their roles.
The DfE said content for the first round of the new qualifications will be developed with, for example, “industry professionals and employers – including EDF, Rolls Royce, Fujitsu, Lloyds, Morgan Sindall, Skanska and Morphy Richards”.
In July the DfE committed £50 million from April 2018 – the first instalment of the additional funding for T-levels announced by chancellor Philip Hammond in March – to invest in “high-quality work placements”, which are intended to be a central part of all T-levels.
David Hughes, chief executive of the AoC, has been more upbeat about today’s announcement and told FE Week: “This is an important step forward in helping to develop a technical and professional education system in England which matches the best in the world. The Government has worked hard to build support for this from colleges, employers and from across the political parties – all of that is critical to making this a success. We have a culture in this country which has always under-valued anything other than a traditional route from school to university; we need to change that.
“The new routes and pathways should provide greater clarity for students, advisers, parents and employers about what skills and qualifications are valued in the labour market. We need more people with strong STEM skills and to improve productivity across the economy so getting this right will matter for everyone over the long term.
“Colleges are ready to deliver the high quality teaching, facilities and links to jobs which they are well-known for; the new investment announced earlier this year in the Spring Budget will help make this a reality.
“What we need now is for employers and schools to get behind this, providing support and encouragement for young people to value going to college to study in key sectors of the economy. There are all sorts of challenges to address, and far more opportunities to realise if we get this right.”
The T-level timetable
2020 – three pathways delivered by a small number of providers
Childcare and Education (Education Pathway)
Digital (Software Applications Design Pathway)
Construction (Building, Services, Engineering pathway)
2021 – all pathways from first 6 ‘priority routes’ delivered by selected providers
Legal, Finance, Accounting (full route)
Childcare and Education (full route)
Digital (full route)
Construction (full route)
Engineering and Manufacturing (full route)
Health and Science (full route)
2022 – all pathways from all routes available to be delivered by providers who want to/are able
Hair and Beauty (full route)
Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care (full route)
Business and Administration (full route)
Catering and Hospitality (full route)
Creative Design (full route)
2024 – vast majority of providers offering T levels
Jisc’s head of FE, Paul McKean, digs out his crystal ball for what he reckons is coming to the sector over the next half-decade
Our vision for the sector over the five years to 2022 is for FE organisations to become digital by default, supported by a digitally capable workforce that understands the needs of employers and the jobs learners will need to fill.
Achieving this involves a commitment to digital transformation that some colleges have already embraced, and others must adopt or risk a struggle. Here’s an overview of the digital changes we predict for the next five years.
EdTech learning tools
Education technology (EdTech) will challenge more advanced learners, while enabling the less able to receive the individual support they require to succeed.
By 2022, national education technology strategies for post-16 education will be in place in England and Wales, with Northern Ireland likely following suit. As a result of these strategies, learners throughout the UK are likely to be supported by a myriad of technological tools, apps, simulations and virtual reality platforms.
Indeed, virtual reality tools will be increasingly used to save money, reduce risk and add excitement, for example enabling learners to “use” potentially dangerous machinery, hazardous or expensive substances in safety and to practise without blowing the budget.
Technology will not only personalise learning, but feedback and assessment too, so that individuals can progress at their own pace and study where and when they choose, regardless of age, background or personal circumstance.
Formative assessment will mainly be carried out online via quizzes with instant constructive feedback, virtual observations or e-portfolio evidence, while summative and end-point assessments are likely to incorporate the use of technology as a way of reducing costs.
Learner expectations
Learners will expect “always-on” access to the internet and technology regardless of their location, or workplace environment, and to use a device of their choice.
High-quality digital content and the digital capabilities of teaching staff will become major learner satisfaction indicators.
More feedback from data
Behind the scenes, data intelligence will inform strategic and operational decision making, particularly around teaching and learning support, pastoral care and curriculum design. Learning analytics data, for example, will detect when and for how long a student is engaging with the virtual learning environment, or whether work is handed in on time, and track attendance. Such information will make it easy to spot learners who are struggling and arrange intervention and tailored support.
Robust cybersecurity
Helping to provide this digital-first, data-led environment will be a digital infrastructure that also takes account of information security and the new (May 2018) General Data Protection Regulation.
The sector must absorb the potential risks associated with implementing technology, to ensure security and business continuity. Robust cybersecurity policies will minimise the risk of breaches that could result in data loss, chaos and reputational damage and maximise user awareness of safe practice.
Technical education reforms
Across the UK right now, FE estate structure is already changing, with a shift toward bigger regional colleges, which have strong links with one-another, and independent providers and industry.
All of this adds up to a new era of collaboration and competition, where the most successful colleges will be those that use technology effectively to facilitate smooth and successful partnerships between themselves, students and employers.
Colleges will have developed stronger relationships with universities in order to deliver degrees and higher-level apprenticeships, or will have attained degree-awarding powers themselves.
Their investment in new facilities and equipment required to deliver these reforms will have been designed at the outset with technology at the heart of all operations, and transcending geographical locations.
Borderless education
The sector will be technically focused by 2022 and will also be looking to develop internationally. Technology will support global mobility of learners and the collaboration of colleges, following in the footsteps of many UK universities with established overseas partnerships.
The sector will have harnessed the use of technology to prepare learners for the world of work locally, regionally, nationally and globally and, in doing so, equipped them with the digital skills, knowledge and behaviours they require to live, work and play, safely and securely, in an ever-changing digitally focused world.
