Ofqual will regulate T-levels, boss insists

Ofqual will play a vital role in regulating T-levels, the chief regulator has said.

Sally Collier, who was appointed to the top role at watchdog in April last year, appeared before the education select committee this morning, where she was asked by MPs about the role that Ofqual will play with the new “gold standard” technical qualifications.

The government has been vague so far on the issue, but Ms Collier has now laid down a marker.

“We are the independent regulator for England and we anticipate regulating the qualifications within T-levels,” she told the MPs on the committee. “We would expect to regulate them and feel strongly that they should be.

“We will be working very closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships to ensure that our respective duties and powers are clear and that we can work alongside them to regulate them.”

The material put out by the Department for Education so far on T-levels has barely mentioned Ofqual, largely focusing instead on the importance of the Institute.

Ms Collier’s comments have been viewed by some in the sector as an indication that she wants a space at the table, stressing her organisation’s determination to be involved with the process, as talks continue behind the scenes.

The T-level action plan published in October explained that the “overall regulatory and assurance system for T-level qualifications will be different from that for A-levels and GCSEs and other existing vocational qualifications”.

“Standards set by employers will systematically provide the benchmark for approval of qualifications and grade awarding,” it added. “We are working to ensure that design, development, approval and regulation join together to form a robust quality-assurance system which ensures that the new T-levels consistently deliver the outcomes which employers and students need.”

The only mention of Ofqual in the document was in reference to the consultative role it will play in the development of the qualifications through the T-level stakeholder advisory group.

According to the minutes of its board meeting on November 15, the IfA will not now adopt responsibility for T-levels until the end of 2018, rather than in April as was previously expected, as the government delayed the first courses for a year until September 2020.

The first two T-level pathfinder qualifications were expected to be approved by February 2019, with teaching beginning that September, and the remaining routes phased in from 2020 to 2022.

This timescale was criticised as unrealistic by major awarding bodies, and it emerged in July that the first T-levels would be delayed until September 2020 – a year later than planned.

Roger Taylor, who chairs Ofqual, also appeared before the education select committee. He was asked about the pace of implementation for T-level, and told MPs that an “ambitious timetable” was needed.

Ms Collier was also asked about concerns over difficulties with plans to secure three month work placement for T-levels. She said this was not a matter for Ofqual.

The Department for Education was approached for comment on the role Ofqual will play with T-levels. It referred us to the consultation document on ‘implementaton of T-level programmes’, published in November.

“We are working with both bodies [Ofqual and the IfA] to develop a coherent, robust assurance system that can make the most effective use of the available quality assurance levers and powers across the technical education system,” it said.

 

Non levy tender update: First contracts to be awarded from tomorrow

Contracts from the much-delayed non-levy tender will finally be given out from tomorrow, the government has announced.

It remains to be seen, however, how long it will take for them all to be distributed.

“We said in the notification of award decision letters that we would begin entering into contracts from December 19,” said a message posted on the government’s Bravo tendering site. “We are pleased to confirm that the agency will start the process of issuing contracts from tomorrow.”

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has now confirmed this on gov.uk, saying that it will soon “start” awarding contracts to hundreds of providers for apprenticeship training to non-levy paying employers. None of these employers pays the apprenticeship levy, because they have an annual payroll of less than £3million.

“In cases where providers have been unsuccessful in the procurement, we are extending contracts by three months so businesses and apprentices have stability while completing existing training,” said a spokesperson. “Contracts for the non-levy funding will run between January 2018 and April 2019.”

“The investment announced today will ensure that all businesses are able to benefit from high-quality apprenticeship training provision,” said the apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton.

FE Week reported on December 15 that the ESFA was extending back the 10-day standstill period for the non-levy tender.

This meant they would not be given to successful providers in the early part of this week as had originally been expected.

The DfE claimed three days later that we were mistaken and there had “not been any change”, but the December 18 date when contracts had originally been expected subsequently passed.

The 10-day standstill period had clearly been extended.

Results of the procurement, which had already been plagued with delays and an aborted first attempt, were released on December 7.

It is standard practice for 10-day standstill period to follow, so providers have a reasonable amount of time to contest allocation decisions; the decision to extend would have been influenced by unhappiness with the results of the tender.

A total of 714 training providers won contracts in the £650 million procurement for opportunities to train apprentices between January 2018 and March 2019.

Yet almost a third did not have an apprenticeships allocation last year. One ‘outstanding’ provider was said to face a significant challenge to survive after it was only awarded a fraction of funding it needed.

Other high-profile providers, such as the ‘outstanding’ Exeter College, were denied contracts altogether.

Our investigations further found that a contract had been awarded to a provider that went bust two months ago, while at least one aggrieved provider had threatened legal action.

Minster launches consultation on college insolvency roll-out

The skills minister is asking for views on how new college insolvency arrangements should be rolled out.

An eight-week consultation seeks views from staff at general FE colleges, sixth-form colleges, local authorities, financial institutions and others from across FE, as well as insolvency practitioners.

Launched by Anne Milton and the Department for Education, it opened today and will close on February 12.

The accompanying documentation explains that the government’s goal is to have “the necessary legislation in force to allow the regime to be in place in late 2018”.

“I am very happy to be writing with an update on our work to introduce an insolvency regime for further education colleges, and to invite responses to this consultation on our current policy proposals,” Ms Milton wrote in the foreword.

“We recognise that some colleges may face financial difficulties in the future and we cannot rule out the possibility, however small, that a college could become insolvent. We therefore introduced primary legislation in the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 to create an insolvency regime for further education and sixth-form colleges.

“This will apply existing insolvency procedures to FE bodies, and will also introduce a special administration regime (SAR) called education administration which will protect learner provision.”

The government expects scenarios requiring insolvency arrangements will be “rare”, and will only apply where colleges are in “severe financial difficulties and there is no alternative viable solution for managing the college out of that situation”.

The government published a previous consultation on developing an insolvency regime for the sector in July 2016.

This set out plans for SARs that would help protect the interests of learners, and “be triggered where a college becomes insolvent and the secretary of state deems it appropriate to apply for a SAR to protect learner provision”.

The Technical and Further Education Bill received final clearance from the House of Lords in April.

The insolvency procedures it introduces are based on those relating to companies under the Insolvency Act 1986.

This new consultation seeks views on the “technical detail of the insolvency regime”.

It asks for comments on how the Companies House filing process could work for FE bodies, and on particular guidance that may be useful for governors.

It also requests views on how monitoring and intervention can be further improved “to identify cases of financial distress and work with those colleges to improve their financial position and avoid insolvency”; and who “should be specified to receive notice of an education administrator’s appointment?”.

The questions can be viewed here.

 

Delay to Institute of Apprenticeship taking on T-Levels but board expands to ‘bolster expertise’

The Institute for Apprenticeships will take responsibility for T-levels later than planned as it recruits new board members to boost its in-house expertise.

According to the minutes of a board meeting on November 15, the IfA will not now adopt T-levels until the end of 2018, rather than in April 2018 as previously expected, as the government delayed the first courses for a year until September 2020.

The first two pathfinder qualifications were expected to be approved by February 2019, with teaching beginning that September, and the remaining routes phased in from 2020 to 2022.

This timescale was criticised as unrealistic by major awarding bodies, so in July, skills minister Anne Milton announced that “a small number” of T-levels would instead be delivered from September 2020.

The IfA is still forging ahead with plans to expand its board and hire new members by April 2018, in order to “bolster the technical and professional education expertise at board level”.

“The agreed timeline was that the new board members [would be] in post by April 2018,” the board minutes state. “The board indicated that they would be keen to input into the recruitment.”

A job listing posted on December 15 shows that the Institute wants “up to three” new board members, including a replacement for its new chief executive Sir Gerry Barragan – who was originally appointed to the board, and who has pledged to make the IfA “faster and better”.

Successful applicants will receive £15,000 a year plus expenses for working two days a month to “contribute corporately to the IfA’s successful pursuit of its mission to ensure that apprenticeships are high quality”.

According to the job description, the board is focused on streamlining the process for developing apprenticeship standards and improving employer outcomes, developing a strategy for apprenticeships with partner organisations, and delivering its “extended remit” on technical education.

The board is seeking senior figures with a background in technical education, as well as a proven track record of leadership and analytical skills, and an ability to command respect from employers.

It also seeks “personal strength and integrity” and a “proven ability to drive cultural change”.

Skills minister personally delays controversial Kensington college merger

A controversial merger between two London colleges has been delayed after an intervention from the skills minister and the FE commissioner, motivated by the ongoing fallout from the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The final vote by Kensington and Chelsea College board of governors either to accept or reject a merger with Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College was supposed to have been taken on December 18.

But they are understood to have agreed to delay at least until the end of next April, after Anne Milton and Richard Atkins made fresh recommendations.

Anne Milton

A letter from Ms Milton sent to KCC leaders and seen by FE Week said that Mr Atkins’ main recommendation was that “there should be a pause to your merger”.

“The tragic event at Grenfell Tower six months ago has served to emphasise the importance of your role in supporting and providing different opportunities to the local community. It has also meant you have acted in very difficult circumstances,” she wrote.

“The circumstances of the colleges, including the financial position of Kensington and Chelsea, have changed since the original decision to merge. The FE commissioner will conduct a further diagnostic assessment to consider the college’s financial position in January 2018.”

She added that Mr Atkins had agreed with KCC leaders that they would have to enter into some sort of merger in the coming months.

“Any structural change will require a solution that preserves appropriate capacity to deliver for learners in North Kensington in consultation with the local community,” she wrote.

“This will require a legally binding agreement around the future of the Wornington Road site involving the college and the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The RBKC has indicated to the commissioner that they are willing to consider a range of options to maintain use of the site for learners and the community.”

More than 1,600 campaigners who oppose the merger have signed a petition to be handed to college leaders.

Richard Atkins

They are convinced the resulting super-college would be more likely to allow the local council to redevelop KCC’s Wornington Road campus, situated close to Grenfell Tower, which was devastated by fire over the summer killing 71 people, for housing.

Mr Atkins visited KCC earlier this month under orders from Ms Milton to review the merger plan which were meant to go ahead from January.

Campaigners, led by Grenfell survivor Ed Daffarn, believe they are being given special consideration by the government because of the tragedy.

All the Department for Education would say on the issue was: “At the request of the minister, the FE commissioner has undertaken a review of the proposed merger,” a Department for Education spokesperson said. The commissioner has made a number of recommendations to the colleges regarding the proposed merger. These are currently being considered.”

The colleges released a joint statement.

“We welcome the FE commissioner’s findings and the board will be responding once they have had a chance to review the document and discuss its contents this week,” they said.

Verena Beane, a retired KCC employee and leading campaigner, stressed that the campus was vital to the sort of less privileged local residents affected by the tragedy.

“This delay is great news and our campaign is gathering more and more momentum,” she said. “This merger must be stopped to save the Wornington campus, preserve quality adult education in our area, and stop job losses.”

The campus is one of the college’s two main sites, and was recently sold under a lease-back deal for £25.3 million to the borough council, which then outlined plans for the site which would at best result in greatly reduced teaching space.

Kim Taylor-Smith, who took over as deputy leader of the council in July and is lead member for Grenfell recovery, said he had listened to the complaints, and paused the campus redevelopment plans.

Pic: Save Wornington College campaigners outside the governors meeting last night  (photo by Tia Sadek) 

‘Inadequate’ employer provider still on apprenticeship register

A FTSE 100 employer-provider has not been kicked off the register of apprenticeship training providers, even though Ofsted gave it a grade four nearly six months ago.

The Compass Group is still permitted to take on new apprentices in its capacity as a subcontractor, and has only stopped recruiting them on a voluntary basis.

According to an Ofsted monitoring report, the group has “secured the services” of a new partner, Creative Learning Partnership, and is in the “advanced stages” of hiring two new subcontractors to deliver apprenticeships in hospitality and management.

Compass had 460 apprentices on its books at the time when Ofsted visited in June, but declined to clarify whether it planned to operate as a prime or subcontractor.

“The levy-funded apprenticeships we deliver are through preferred providers,” a spokesperson said.

“In line with the ESFA’s rules regarding apprenticeship delivery, the apprenticeships we offer to colleagues are provided through approved third-party providers.”

The apprenticeships we offer to colleagues are provided through approved third-party providers

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said Compass is “no longer able to take on any new apprentices for direct delivery” and that it would be removed from the register once it had been “issued a letter telling it that it’s going to be removed”.

“It doesn’t have permission to take on and be funded for new apprentices, but it is a large levy-paying employer so it has two different routes open to it,” she said.

“It can procure new apprentices through its levy fund, and it’s also still eligible to subcontract from existing register-approved providers with a value of up to £100,000.”

Compass would have been compelled to stop recruiting apprentices had it not agreed to do so voluntarily, she added.

The company provides contract catering and support services, employing around 60,000 people at 10,000 client sites across numerous sectors.

It was rated ‘good’ in November 2014, but the latest full inspection report warned that “few line managers are engaged in the apprenticeship programme” and too few manage the subcontractor’s performance “rigorously enough” or have “sufficiently accurate or detailed awareness” of the quality of learning provided.

Learners made slow progress due to “operational restructuring, changes of assessors, poorly planned learning and a lack of time at work to devote to their apprenticeship”, and too many were left to teach themselves from workbooks.

Although the report accepted that UK directors had a “clear vision” for apprenticeships, it warned that they did not have a “clear understanding” of the performance of the programme and were not holding senior leaders to account for poor quality.

The company was allocated over £200,000 for 2017/18 for apprenticeships as of November. It was working with one subcontractor at the time of the monitoring visit; Jigsaw Training provided teaching, learning and assessment for apprentices in security services, hospitality and catering and administration.

The monitoring report said that Compass would now be focusing its “direct delivery” on providing apprenticeships in culinary programmes and chef leadership programmes.

It had also appointed, or were in the process of appointing, a new head of apprenticeships, a quality manager and an apprenticeship delivery manager.

ESFA to delay non-levy tender contracts as complaints mount up

The ESFA is extending the non-levy tender’s 10-day standstill period to December 28, meaning no contracts will be given to successful providers next week, FE Week understands.

Results of the procurement, which has frustrated the sector all year after being plagued with delays and an aborted first attempt, were finally released on December 7.

The outcome has been seriously questioned by many, after an FE Week investigation found that a contract was awarded to a provider that went bust two months ago – even while several high-profile colleges ranked ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ missed out.

One provider with over 30 years’ experience in delivering apprenticeships even threatened legal action after being denied allocations.

A 10-day standstill period immediately got underway after the release of results, which is standard in procurement processes, and meant that providers could contest the allocation they got, or appeal the decision not to award them a contract.

Providers that won contracts, however, were expecting them to be handed out on December 18.

But the ESFA has decided to extend this by a further 10 days, and will now only hand out contracts after December 28.

Responding to the delay, AELP boss Mark Dawe said: “While FE Week deserves congratulations on its scoop, is this a transparent process or not?  It’s clear that the procurement is damaging the whole of the programme reforms and the social mobility agenda.

“AELP’s legal advice suggests that all providers who have passed the tender criteria can be given at least a minimum contract without breaching the existing tender rules. If the extension allows the ESFA to sort this mess out, it is welcome.”

The decision, which is expected to be announced on the Bravo tendering site later today, is likely to have been made following the catastrophic fallout of the tender.

A total of 714 training providers won contracts in the £650 million procurement, but nearly a third of did not have an apprenticeships allocation last year.

One ‘outstanding’ provider now faces a significant challenge to survive after it was only awarded a fraction of the funding it said it needed.

Other high-profile providers, such as the Ofsted ‘outstanding’ Exeter College, were denied contracts altogether.

The outcome led Mr Dawe to describe the situation as a “Wild West of apprenticeship contracts and delivery”.

The ESFA has been approached for comment.

Application window opens for £170 million Institutes of Technology cash

The application window has opened for providers that want to apply for a share of £170m available for new Institutes of Technology status.

Education secretary Justine Greening has today invited applications from further education and higher education providers, and employers, through its eTendering portal. It follows an announcement that this would be happening imminently at last months Skills Summit.

She said: “Institutes of technology will play a vital role driving our skills revolution with business and unlocking the potential of our country’s young people through better technical education.

“By bridging the country’s skills gaps, these new institutions will drive growth and widen opportunity.

“This government continues to invest in developing our homegrown talent so British business has the skills it needs and so that young people can get the opportunities they want. These new institutions will help tackle the skills gap at a local, regional and national level and extend opportunity to thousands of people.”

A DfE spokesperson said applications will close in March.

Institutes of Technology were first mooted in the Productivity Plan in July 2015 , which said: “The government anticipates that many colleges will be invited to specialise according to local economic priorities, to provide better targeted basic skills alongside professional and technical education, and that some will be invited to become Institutes of Technology.”

Despite the DfE repeatedly saying the plan is to “establish high quality and prestigious institutions”, in truth and as previously reported by FE Week, it has since emerged that the IoT funding is in fact a relatively small three year wave of capital funding for mainly existing colleges, not to create new ones.

However, a number of providers have previously expressed a firm interest in applying, due to the prestige and extra money they hope this will bring to them.

The government release uploaded this afternoon onto gov.uk invites applications to be lodged here.

Non-levy tender shocker: Defunct provider gets contract but ‘outstanding’ college misses out

An organisation that went out of business two months ago has been awarded a contract in the non-levy tender – even while several high-profile colleges ranked ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ missed out.

PTM Group, which incorporated in May 2015 but has never held its own direct contract with the ESFA to deliver apprenticeships, last week became one of 714 providers given an allocation to train apprentices with small employers between January 2018 and March 2019.

There’s just one small problem: the Newcastle-based provider ceased trading on October 5, according to records published by Companies House.

Exeter College, on the other hand, which FE Week recently crowned the best college in the country for the second year running and is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, was denied a contract.

Another high-profile casualty of the process is Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, which has a successful track record of delivering apprenticeships and is rated ‘good’ by the country’s education inspectorate.

A spokesperson admitted that the group was “mystified” by the outcome and, like Exeter, is appealing the decision.

“Both the ESFA and the IfA need to get a grip on this matter very rapidly,” declared the shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden after he saw FE Week’s findings.

“This is further evidence of the lack of joined-up thinking and the state of disarray on apprenticeships in general and non-levy-payers in particular at the DfE.

“The stop-start approach that Anne Milton [the skills minister] endorsed is now complicated by the sorts of examples that are coming forward and which FE week has illustrated.”

PTM Group was run by directors Peter Tighe and Jamie Paterson.

We are hopeful that this will reach a positive conclusion

Mr Tighe is also the sole director at Northern Construction Training and Regeneration Community Interest Company, another provider which was funded during the tender, again without any direct, prior apprenticeships contract with the government.

Mr Paterson resigned as a director on November 29; neither he nor his erstwhile colleague would comment.

The Department for Education also refused to comment on how or why PTM Training had received a contract, nor what would happen to its funding considering the business is no longer running, because, a spokesperson said, the non-levy tender remains a “live procurement”.

The non-levy tender has tormented the sector all year, plagued with delays and an aborted first attempt.

FE Week analysis of the 714 providers that were successful in the procurement reveals that nearly a third (227) are on their first direct apprenticeships contract.

Exeter College, which has an 81-per-cent overall apprenticeship achievement rate, well above the national average of 67 per cent, told FE Week that it was “not satisfied” by the result and would appeal.

Karen Dobson, the chief executive of the Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, which has an apprenticeship achievement rate of 84 per cent, said she was “disappointed and mystified” at the outcome.

“Apprenticeships are an important and successful part of our operation,” she told FE Week.

“As you would expect, we have submitted an appeal. We are hopeful that this will reach a positive conclusion over the coming weeks, for NSCG and our many satisfied employer partners and apprentices.”

More than 10 colleges had non-levy allocations to use this year but were denied contracts in the procurement. The Association of Colleges is helping its members with their challenges and appeals.

Proven private providers which didn’t get contracts are also angry at the tender outcome.

Jamie Rail, the managing director of Focus Training Group, which Ofsted rates as ‘good’ and has delivered apprenticeships in the south-west for 20 years, said he “can’t believe” it had been the government’s intention “to lose good provision”.

He claimed that the procurement had been “more about how good you were at writing a bid” rather than the “quality of what you do”.

Nick Linford editorial: Non-levy investigation and recount?

Nobody could have predicted that the ESFA would accidently award non-levy apprenticeship funding to a company that went bust months ago.

Although the DfE is tight-lipped and presumably red-faced, there must surely be an independent investigation into how this slipped through the due diligence process.

Conversely, that some high-quality colleges and training providers will see their funding stop from January is nonsensical.

The ESFA will no doubt say its bid evaluation team simply scored the applications on the basis of the 10,000 words they included.

That the result is a fail for grade one Exeter College and others like it is most likely because a small part of the submission they had written wasn’t deemed to answer the question well enough.

But as a result, over 98 per cent of employers, those not paying the levy, can’t continue to work with these colleges and providers.

There will always be winners and losers in any competition, but as our investigation has laid bare, a recount shouldn’t be ruled out.