UPDATED: To ensure we’re comparing like with like, the table has been updated to include provisional figures from August to December 2016, as the figures for this period in 2017 are still provisional. Figures for May to July are final for both 2016 and 2017.

Apprenticeship starts were down 23 per cent in December on the same period in 2016, according to provisional statistics published by the Department for Education this morning.

There were 16,700 starts that month in 2017, down from 21,600 provisionally reported in 2016.

This will be viewed as more discouraging news for the government, as it attempts to hit its target of three million apprenticeship starts by 2020.

Mark Dawe, the chief executive of Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said that “another month has passed and nothing has been done”.

He urged the government to stop charging non-levy-paying companies for hiring apprentices under the age of 25 for at least a year.

“We need more young people starting apprenticeships at levels two and three – good for social mobility and good for small business,” he said.

The figures from August 2017 onwards remain provisional, and the DfE stresses that they are subject to change.

We need more young people starting apprenticeships at levels two and three – good for social mobility and good for small business

Starts for recent months have generally been revised up since they were first published; for example, November starts now stand at 32,500, up 5,500 or 20 per cent since the month was first reported in February.

The Conservative government first introduced its target for three million apprenticeship starts in 2015, and repeated it in last year’s election manifesto.

Tim Thomas, the director of employment and skills at manufacturing body EEF, claimed the latest figures as “the final signal to government that now is the time for a review and change”.

“Since the levy was introduced nearly a year ago, we have seen a worrying fall in the number of new apprenticeships,” said Jane Gratton, head of business environment and skills policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.

“The government urgently needs to work with businesses to find ways to make the apprenticeship levy work better for everyone, and ensure that the UK economy has the skilled staff it needs.”

The government had hoped that the levy would help drive up starts, by forcing more employers to invest in apprenticeships.

Speaking at last week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference, the boss of the Institute for Apprenticeships claimed that it was a myth that starts had plummeted since the introduction of the levy last year.

Sir Gerry Berragan admitted that while starts were indeed down, the drop is now closer to “about 30 per cent” – rather than the 60-per-cent fall recorded at one point.

During an exclusive FE Week interview last month, skills minister Anne Milton revealed she expected to see a surge in apprenticeship starts by September. 

“I will be told by my officials that I shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to say it anyway,” she said. “I would hope that by September to see some real numbers.”

The skills minister did not comment directly on today’s overall figures, but did mention there had been a rise in the number of starts on apprenticeship standards and at higher levels.

“We want to see more people doing an apprenticeship with all the opportunities it provides. However it’s important not to sacrifice quality for quantity,” she said.

“I’m pleased to see an increase in people starting apprenticeships designed under our higher-quality standards, which we are developing with businesses so those programmes meet the needs of employers and apprentices.

“We’ve also seen a big jump in higher-level apprenticeships which can lead to a range of exciting, highly skilled jobs.”

 

Fourteen general FE and sixth-form colleges have received grants through a fund designed to support failing colleges to improve the quality of education and training.

Details of the successful applicants to the two pilot rounds of the £15 million ‘Strategic college improvement fund’, along with the colleges that will support them, have been published by the Department for Education.

The programme, which opened in October, is part of a package of measures announced by former education secretary Justine Greening intended to improve standards at failing colleges or those at risk of doing so.

Colleges rated ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ overall, or for their apprenticeship provision, are able apply for grants of between £50,000 and £250,000. The exact allocations have not yet been announced.

Each application had to be supported by a stronger college, rated at least ‘good’ at its most recent Ofsted inspection.

Working with a partner college will “enable the applicant college to refine its understanding of the quality challenges it faces, develop a rigorous and costed programme of work, and use the experience and know-how of the partner college to put that improvement programme in place”, according to the DfE’s guidance.

Further details of the main programme, which is expected to run until at least March 2020, are due to be announced later this year.

In an interview with FE Week last November, the FE commissioner Richard Atkins said the fund was “enough money to make a real difference”.

“I’ve spoken to a number of colleges; if we made between £200,000 and £300,000 available in-year and focused it on key quality-improvement, they’ve all said to me that could make a real difference,” he said.

Eligible costs aren’t predetermined and can include diagnosing a college’s quality issues and developing a plan to tackle them, mentoring and other professional development activities for senior leaders, or the cost of staff time.

He said he wanted to learn from the pilot before deciding what will be funded during the main phase.

Three of the supporting colleges announced today are part of the FE commissioner’s national leaders of FE programme, announced in January.

They are Grimsby Institute, St John Rigby College and Dudley College of Technology, all rated ‘outstanding’.

The NLFE initiative aims to use the expertise of successful colleges to support struggling institutions.

Mr Atkins told FE Week in January that he expected principals and other members of senior management teams to work with a number of colleges in need to improvement – and that this work would lead to applications to the SCIF.

Two providers managed to pull themselves up from grade four this week – one to ‘good’ and the other to ‘requires improvement’.

But at the other end of the scale there was disappointment for another provider as it failed to improve from its previous ‘inadequate’ grade.

Adult and community learning provider Essex county council boosted its grade from four to two, in a report published March 29 and based on an inspection in mid-February.

Leaders were praised for having worked “tirelessly” to “secure a wide range of improvements to the provision”, the report said.

Leaders were praised for having worked “tirelessly” to “secure a wide range of improvements to the provision”

Teaching, learning and assessment had “improved markedly” since the last inspection, in December 2016, with the result that the “large majority” of learners and apprentices “rapidly develop their skills and knowledge”.

The proportion of apprentices completing their courses on time was also “greater” than before, although “not enough” learners on unaccredited courses progressed onto “courses that lead to qualifications”.

Epping Forest College saw its rating go up to ‘requires improvement’ in a report published March 29 and based on an inspection in late-February.

Inspectors noted that, “despite improvements since the last inspection”, in November 2016, “actions to strengthen the quality of teaching, learning and assessment have not yet resulted in good teaching and good outcomes for learners”.

Management of apprenticeships and subcontracted provision was ‘inadequate’.

But “more learners achieve their qualifications than previously” and “behaviour has improved”, the report noted.

Independent learning provider UK Training and Development Limited failed to improve on its previous ‘inadequate’-overall grade in a report published March 28 and based on an inspection in October.

The apprenticeship provider, based in Hemel Hempstead, also received grade fours in two headline fields – along with three ‘requires improvement’ grades.

Safeguarding arrangements “remain ineffective”, the report said, with leaders criticised for failing to ensure that “staff follow statutory guidance to ensure that apprentices are safe”.

Governance arrangements were found to be inadequate, with leaders and managers not being “challenged rigorously or held to account for all aspects of the provision”.

In addition, “too many” apprentices were failing to make the progress “of which they are capable”, the report said – although “most apprentices” demonstrated “effective teamworking skills and provide good customer care”.

Plumpton College became the latest college to see its grade improve to ‘good’, from its previous grade three, in a report published March 26 and based on an inspection in February.

Learners at the land-based college were “excited about their subjects and the wider opportunities that staff provide”.

Learners at the land-based college were “excited about their subjects and the wider opportunities that staff provide”.

The “excellent arrangements” for work experience and enrichment activities “develop learners’ skills, knowledge and confidence well”.

“Senior leaders have exceptional partnerships with local and regional employers, schools and community leaders which benefit learners and the local community,” the report said.

There was less good news for Chesterfield College this week, which saw its grade drop from two to three in a report published March 26 and based on an inspection in mid-February.

Study programme learners “make insufficient progress”, while the teaching, learning and assessment on these courses was deemed “not good enough” and “dull and uninspiring”.

But apprentices, adult learners and those with high needs “make good progress from their starting points”, inspectors noted.

Two independent learning providers had reports published from their first-ever inspections this week: Mediprospects and Beacon Education Partnership Limited.

London-based Mediprospects, which delivers loans-funded provision, was rated ‘good’ across the board, in a report published March 29 and based on an inspection in mid-February.

Leaders and managers were praised for having “high expectations” and for creating a “highly aspirational learning environment in which learners develop good knowledge and skills required to work in the care sector”.

Thanks to “very good academic and pastoral support” learners “achieve their qualifications and progress well into care-related employment”, the report said.

Beacon Education Partnership Ltd, which also delivers loans-funded provision, was rated ‘requires improvement’ across the board in a report published March 28 and based on an inspection in late February.

Leaders were unaware that “too few” learners were “making good progress”, because they “do not gather sufficient and accurate information about the progress learners make”.

They were also criticised for failing to have “high enough expectations” of their learners, or to have “a clear plan to promote and develop learners’ English and mathematical skills”.

As previously reported by FE Week, the report into the second monitoring visit to Learndirect Limited following its inadequate grade last year was published this week – with a mixed bags of findings.

And the first ever report of a monitoring visit into subcontracting, published this week, criticised leaders at Wigan and Leigh College for being slow to improve performance.

 

GFE Colleges	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Epping Forest College	20/02/2018	29/03/2018	3	4
Wigan and Leigh College	01/03/2018	26/03/2018	Monitoring	Monitoring
Chesterfield College	13/02/2018	26/03/2018	3	2
Plumpton College	20/02/2018	26/03/2018	2	3

 

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Mediprospects	13/02/2018	29/03/2018	2	–
Beacon Education Partnership Limited	27/02/2018	28/03/2018	3	–
UK Training & Development Limited	17/10/2017	28/03/2018	4	4
Learndirect Limited	27/02/2018	27/03/2018	Monitoring	Monitoring

 

Adult and Community Learning	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Essex County Council	20/02/2018	29/03/2018	2	4

FE champion Shakira Martin (pictured above) has survived a row over allegations of bullying to be re-elected as president of the National Union of Students.

The incumbent scored a comfortable victory over challengers Momin Saqib and Sahaya James at this year’s annual conference in Glasgow.

Ms Martin won in the first round with 50.9 per cent of the 694 votes cast.

She scored 352 votes, while Mr Saqib came second with 168 votes and Ms James received 104 votes. Sixty-six people voted to reopen the nominations, and one delegate spoiled their ballot paper.

Ms Martin said “I am honoured and humbled to have been elected as NUS’ national president for a second term. I was elected to listen, learn and lead, now it’s time to get real about what that means both for all forms of education, and what it means for NUS.”

In January this year Ms Martin was alleged to have bullied other NUS staff members.

All elected NUS officers – including its vice-president for FE Emily Chapman – were made to work from home for a week while the claims were investigated.

Ms Martin has been a strong advocate for the learner and apprentice voice since being elected VP for FE in April 2015, when she was president of the student union at Lewisham Southwark College. 

She became only the second national NUS president to have attended an FE college when she was elected last year, in a stunning victory over her predecessor Malia Bouattia.

Her successor as VP for FE, Emily Chapman, also successfully stood for re-election this year.

She won 61 per cent of the vote to retain her position as NUS vice-president (further education) until the end of 2018/19.

“When you elected me as your vice-president further education last year, I made a promise to get the FE and college voice loud and proud, both in NUS and across the sector,” Ms Chapman told delegates.

“That is exactly what I have been doing, and what I will continue to do in my second term. “I will continue to fight for all forms of further education to be free and accessible, I will campaign to reduce travel costs with the #MyFEJourney campaign, and lobby for FE maintenance grants to be introduced, and ensure FE is remembered whenever we talk of loans and fees.”

The Federation of Awarding Bodies has announced skills and enterprise policy expert Tom Bewick as its new chief executive today.

Mr Bewick (pictured above speaking at FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeships Conference last week) will take up the helm from May 1, replacing John McNamara, who has led FAB on an interim basis since the departure of Stephen Wright in December.

“Following a robust and comprehensive recruitment process, the board decided on a candidate that brought the strongest possible experience in lobbying and policy influencing of the skills and qualifications agenda,” said FAB chair Paul Eeles.

Mr Bewick has an “exemplary track record” of “building solid representative industry organisations” and “working with government”, and has “influenced skills policy spanning a 25-year career both in the United Kingdom and internationally, most recently in the United States”, Mr Eeles said.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Tom over the coming months as we strive to put the value of our qualifications and assessment organisations at the heart of the UK’s rapidly evolving technical education, skills and apprenticeship systems.”

He added the board’s thanks to Mr McNamara for “his leadership of FAB through this interim period”.

Mr Bewick said he was “delighted” to have been appointed as the new FAB boss.  

“Throughout my career I have been passionate about leading and representing organisations committed to growing a highly-skilled and qualified workforce,” he said. “The fact is that strong qualifications, assessment and awarding organisations are the engine room of a 21st-century economy.

“Without good qualifications, people can’t get the rewards they deserve and our society will not succeed. I will be unrelenting in putting forward the positive case, representing FAB members’ interests, and explaining why the public should listen to what is a fantastically comprehensive and diverse industry.

“I’m proud to represent a sector that provides so many individuals, employers and communities with the means to succeed up and down the land. I can’t wait to get started.”

Mr Bewick is co-founder and board director of Franklin Apprenticeships in the US, and founded the Transatlantic Apprenticeship Exchange Forum in 2015 to promote opportunities for UK training providers in the US.

He led the International Skills Standards Organisation Ltd for four years, from 2011 to 2015, and prior to that was chief executive of Enterprise UK, a former government quango, from 2010 to 2011.

Other government roles include adviser to the minister for adult skills in the early 2000s.

He has also been a council member for Brighton and Hove City Council since May 2015.

A cash-strapped college that was forced to seek a merger after it became only the second institution to return to FE commissioner intervention has announced its new partner.

Guildford College will become the fifth college member of Activate Learning later this year.

John Denning, Guildford’s governing body chair, said the partnership was “very good news” and would secure the “future while protecting the heritage of our long-established colleges”.

“This new venture will secure a great future for the group and is an opportunity for a new lease of life that will benefit our learners, staff, local communities and employers we serve,” he added.

Sally Dicketts, the chief executive of Activate Learning, said the merged college would be “stronger and more sustainable, providing benefits to learners, staff, businesses and the community through its greater scale and negotiating power, sharing of expertise and resources, greater combined expertise around teaching, learning and assessment and combined group services”.

The merger is expected to go ahead “towards the end of the year” subject to consultation, according to today’s announcement.

Guildford College, currently rated grade three by Ofsted and with a turnover of £27.9 million in 2016/17, was visited by the FE commissioner last November.

It’s the second time it experienced intervention, having previously been in through the process between March 2014 and September 2015.

Richard Atkins’ recent intervention was “a result of the college’s uncertain financial position” according to his report, which came out in February.

The college had “faced financial difficulties for a number years” which meant its “financial position has been weak and is likely to continue to be so for the medium term”.

Mr Atkins’ main recommendation was for the college to “fully engage with and support” a structure and prospects appraisal to “identify a merger partner for the college, with a merger to be completed by the end of calendar year 2018 at the latest”.

Guildford had come out of the Surrey area review with a recommendation to merge with Farnborough College of Technology, but progress had stalled.

“Fresh impetus is now required,” the FE commissioner’s report said.

Activate Learning, rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in January, currently has three college members: Reading College, City of Oxford College and Bicester College.

The group also includes three university technical colleges in Didcot, Reading and Swindon, a studio school in Bicester, its own apprenticeships arm in the form of Activate Apprenticeships and ATG Training, and an HE business school, along with colleges in Saudi Arabia.

Its turnover, excluding the schools and UTCs, was £53.9 million in 2016/17.

Consultation on a proposal for grade two Bracknell and Wokingham College to become the fourth college member of the group opened earlier this month, with an anticipated merger date of August 1.