How can we get more adults to learn?

We are already looking at the supply of skills training, writes Fiona Aldridge. Now we need to encourage people to want grow these skills.

In yet another busy news week for the sector, it can be easy to miss some of the most interesting developments, especially when they’re launched without the major fanfare of an industrial strategy, or the wider news appeal of a decline in apprenticeship numbers.

For me, one such development was last week’s government foresight review into the Future of skills and lifelong learning, bringing together an impressive body of evidence to consider the policy implications for five of our most important challenges: low levels of literacy and numeracy, work-readiness of labour market entrants, mismatch in the demand for and supply of skills, low skills equilibriums, and how we support learning across the life-course.

This will be a valuable evidence base for many years to come. It has already played a role in shaping one of the more overlooked announcements in Justine Greening’s speech at this week’s Skills Summit.

One million fewer adults are learning than five years ago

Alongside a series of announcements aimed at developing the skills of young people – a new skills partnership, the T-level consultation, the Institutes of Technology – a £10 million investment was announced to “test the best ways of incentivising adults to train in the skills that their local economy needs”. This is important; if we are to address the skills needs both of today and the years to come, we must focus on those who are already in the labour market, not just those who are entering it.

This is the second announcement in as many weeks, detailing how the £40 million “career learning” package, first mentioned in last year’s spring budget, will be spent. The £10 million Flexible Learning Fund is designed to address a range of challenges in the supply of adult skills provision. This investment is focused on increasing demand. 

Over the coming months, Learning and Work Institute will be working with local partners in Leeds, Devon and Somerset, Lincolnshire, Stoke-on-Trent and the West Midlands to design and support a range of outreach and cost pilots. Each pilot will explore different approaches to engaging more adults in learning. It will also trial and test ways of overcoming some of the financial barriers that adults face. Our learning about what works will inform the National Retraining Scheme.

As the foresight review shows us, the challenge is significant. One million fewer adults are learning than five years ago, and many lower-skilled workers say that they aren’t interested in developing their skills, that they feel too old or don’t have the confidence to learn new things.

But it also shows that the prize is high. Learning benefits not just the individual, but also their families, their communities, their employer, as well as the wider economy.

Developing your skills is associated with higher wages and a greater chance of being employed and progressing at work. And as our local partners recognise, it is critical in addressing skills gaps, boosting productivity and stimulating growth. These are exciting times and we look forward to sharing progress with you as the pilots develop.

Fiona Aldridge is assistant director of research and development at the Learning and Work Institute

Robert Halfon: Consolidate the UK’s ‘duplicated’ careers services

The Careers and Enterprise Company and the National Careers Service should be brought under a single umbrella to avoid duplication of resources, Robert Halfon has said.

The former skills minister outlined his vision for a National Skills Service on the same day that his successor Anne Milton finally launched the government’s long-awaited careers strategy – which gave both existing careers bodies an expanded role.

“We need to transform careers advice into careers skills advice, avoid the duplication of the National Careers Service, Careers Enterprise Company and the like, and reallocate the many millions of pounds that go to careers and create a one-stop shop of a National Skills Service,” he said during a keynote address for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation this morning.

He told FE Week that “there’s so much duplication of what’s going on” and “so many different agents”.

These include the CEC, the NCS and the National Apprenticeship Service, and he claims teachers find it difficult to navigate their options.

His proposal would not represent a merger of the different bodies, but would instead integrate the services each currently offers, Mr Halfon, who now chairs the education select committee, explained.

He gave his speech before Ms Milton unveiled the careers strategy at the Careers Development Institute’s annual conference – and he later stressed his comments were not an “attack” on the strategy, which he said he welcomed.

That document – originally promised two years ago – includes an expanded role for the CEC, which was launched in 2014 to provide careers and enterprise support for people aged between 12 and 18.

The company will support schools and colleges to meet all eight of the benchmarks for excellent careers advice outlined by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation – up from the two on which it had previously concentrated.

The National Careers Service website will also be revamped so that, from 2018, all government careers information will be available in one place – including over 800 job profiles, and an interactive course directory.

Other careers strategy announcement included £4 million to ensure every school and college has a careers leader, and £5 million to develop 20 careers hubs.

“It matters to me that we give people from all backgrounds the best possible preparation to move into a job, or training that enables them – whatever their background or wherever they live – to have a fulfilling life,” Ms Milton said.

But her Labour shadow Gordon Marsden said the government had “belatedly put together a jumble of ideas without the necessary funding or resources”.

“It is vital that we give both young people and adults the knowledge of opportunities available to them,” he said.

“Unfortunately with just pocket change offered to already over-stretched services the government is letting them down again.”

Special interview: Minister speaks to FE Week about careers strategy

The long-awaited careers strategy was revealed to the world in a conference hall in Solihull earlier today. FE Week was there for the first exclusive interview with the skills minister who brought it – at last – to fruition.

Anne Milton admitted that there will be those in the sector who still think that more money is needed to make the careers strategy work, and will review it next year, based on its outcomes.

Just moments after walking off stage to encouraging, if not ecstatic, applause, she acknowledged that when it comes to government policy, there is “always something else”.

“Everybody would like more money. I know everybody would like more money,” she told FE Week, adding: “But a strategy should be reviewed, shouldn’t it?

“I think we should always look at how it’s going. Somebody asked me what success looks like. Well, we need to see some progress in a year’s time.”

Key points in the strategy, which was launched at the Career Development Institute’s annual conference, include £5 million for developing 20 careers hubs in disadvantaged areas and £4 million for a career guidance leader in every school and college in the country.

Milton also used her speech to apologise for such a late launch, but talked passionately about social mobility and creating a country where everyone is free to “fulfil their dreams”.

Last year, FE Week reported that the Careers and Enterprise Company, set up in 2015 to connect young people to the world of work, was creating a postcode lottery for FE coverage: 15 LEPs were not covered and London was completely absent.

Today’s careers strategy outlined plans to allow all colleges to access an enterprise advisor by 2020. Are the issues with CEC coverage in FE now being addressed then?

Milton answered “yes”, and insisted the organisation was “brilliant” at “harnessing the skills of employers”.

“The drive comes from both directions really. Us pushing schools to make sure careers advice is good, that people who provide technical education and know about apprenticeships come into schools, and also employers from the other side,” she said.

“I think the two together will hopefully squeeze young people into a place where they will get all the information they need. But I think we haven’t made the best use of labour-market information and I think colleges have quite an important role to play in the use of that information.

“You can go to college or do A-levels in a certain subject, or go to university or do a degree at a college, but actually what you need is labour-market information. There are very few people who can afford the luxury to study for the sheer enjoyment of it,” she added.

Responding to questions from delegates at the end of her speech, Milton also insisted that “joined-up government thinking” is integral, and that it wouldn’t be just another “political cliché that people mention from time to time”.

“We’re at a new beginning. We will see where we are in years’ time, but I think we will have made considerable progress,” she insisted.

 

Is FE ready for the big apprenticeship frameworks switch-off?

The process of closing the old-style apprenticeship frameworks to new starts began in March 2016, but only those with few or no starts have so far been affected.

That’s about to change, as two of the most popular frameworks – health and social care, and hospitality – are due to be withdrawn at the end of December. FE Week found out whether providers are ready.

The most popular apprenticeship framework in 2016/17, responsible for around 17 per cent of all starts, is about to be switched off.

Even though the level two and three health and social care framework clocks up 86,500 starts last year, Skills for Care and Development announced in April that it would be closed from December 29.

Replacement standards are available, but starts are low.

So what will happen when the framework is switched off? And is it a good thing it’s being closed?

Expense was a major issue that was raised by providers.

A spokesperson for MiddletonMurray said it hadn’t yet started to deliver the level two adult care worker or level three lead adult care worker standards that replace the health and social care framework, citing cost as a major barrier.

The framework attracted between £1,500 and £2,000 per learner, depending on the pathway, while the standards have a funding cap of £3,000.

But, she said, this is “economically unviable for training providers” when factoring in “the costs of qualification registrations and claims, delivery hours, resources, functional skills delivery and examinations, and the end-point assessment” together with the longer duration of the standards than the frameworks.

With the standards you don’t make any more money

However other providers, including Barnsley College and Sheffield College, have already switched over either entirely or in part to standards, a decision they said was led by employer demand.

One provider which did not want to be named said it would have been “impossible” to deliver the minimum government requirement for 20-per-cent off-the-job training on the funding available for the frameworks.

“With the standards you don’t make any more money, but it enables us to deliver that requirement,” they admitted.

The off-the-job training requirement became mandatory for all apprentices this May, as one of a number of changes introduced alongside the levy, including an employer contribution from non-levy paying employers.

These changes have hit the health and social care apprenticeship market hard, a number of providers said.

Care homes are “a predominantly small- and medium-sized enterprises market”, the anonymous provider said, and many “aren’t prepared to pay the 10 per cent”.

For those that are willing to pay, “some providers have stayed on frameworks purely to keep that 10-per-cent contribution lower, but I don’t know how they financially deliver the 20-per-cent off-the-job delivery model”.

Richard Goodwin, the managing director at the JGA Group, said starts across both frameworks and standards had been “flat as a pancake” since May.

Julie Carrigan

“I think it’s all migrating over to loan-funded learning, because what they really want is the diplomas for professional reasons,” he said.

However, not all providers are so pessimistic about the future for health and social care standards.

Julie Carrigan, the curriculum and quality manager at Acacia Training, said she was “excited” about the switchover.

With the new standards, “the assessors are going out and focusing on key areas, it’s allowing them to look above what the standards are asking”.

“It gives them some more time with the learner to focus on what’s important,” she said.

“Both of these frameworks are being withdrawn by the issuing authorities, a strong indication of the sector’s desire for the standard to be taken-up,” said a Department for Education spokesperson.

“We have been actively encouraging employers and the authorities in question to work with us when moving across to the new, high-quality standards.”

Skill for Care and Development declined to comment on the withdrawal of its frameworks.

Poised to deliver with hospitality

The hospitality framework, which had 25,440 starts across levels two and three in 2016/17, is due to be switched off on December 31.

John Hyde (pictured above), chairman of HIT Training, was positive about the changeover to standards – a move he said HIT had started over a year ago.

“We’ve not had a single complaint from the employers – they love them,” he said.

But, he conceded “they are a lot harder work to deliver”.

How can you deliver a quality programme at that price?

The hospitality framework was funded to the tune of £1,500 to £2,500, depending on the level and pathway, which Mr Hyde said was “peanuts”.

“How can you deliver a quality programme at that price?” he asked.

The replacement hospitality team member and hospitality supervisor standards each have a cap of £5,000.

“In all honesty you’re not going to make an easy buck – you have to do twice as much work,” he insisted.

Not all providers are quite as ready to deliver the standards as HIT, however.

Mr Hyde, who chairs the AELP hospitality group, said he had been “quite worried” at the group’s last meeting a few months ago, as it was “very apparent” that a number of small providers hadn’t looked at the standards.

Annette Allmark, director of strategic policy at People 1st, said the decision to withdraw the frameworks had been taken following a “thorough consultation” involving employers and training providers.

“The majority of feedback, particularly from employers, was to withdraw the frameworks as soon as possible in order to focus on the new apprenticeship standards,” she said.

Anne Milton finally unveils much-delayed careers strategy

The long-overdue careers strategy has finally been unveiled by the apprenticeships and skills minister, at the Careers Development Institute’s annual conference this morning. 

This includes £4 million to support every school and college to have a careers leader, and a further £5 million funding to develop 20 careers hubs, which will be led by the Careers and Enterprise Company. 

It explains that the National Careers Service will provide specialist advice for adults who need it most, including the long-term unemployed and those with additional needs, and will also have an updated “one-stop shop” website. 

“Without access to the best possible careers support, some people will miss out on the opportunities available,” Ms Milton said.

“They will continue to be held back if they don’t have the right advice, at the right time to make informed decisions about their future, or may not have access to the broader experiences and role models to help them develop as people. 

“It matters to me that we give people from all backgrounds the best possible preparation to move into a job, or training that enables them – whatever their background or wherever they live – to have a fulfilling life.”

According to today’s announcement, the £4 million is to ensure that every school and college has a dedicated careers leader in place by the start of the new academic year, who can give advice on the best training routes and up-to-date information on the jobs market and help young people make decisions about their future.

Schools and colleges will also be “expected to publish details of their careers programme for young people and their parents” by September 2018, it said, when Ofsted will also have to “comment in college inspection reports on the careers guidance provided to young people” from.

Plans from the same launch date were also announced that are set to involve the the CEC launching “a new investment fund of £5 million to support the most disadvantaged pupils”.

The document added: “To target more support on those who need it most, the government will invest £5 million during 2018 in a new round of the CEC’s investment fund. This will help disadvantaged pupils to get the additional support they need to prepare for work, including opportunities for mentoring and guidance.”

The 20 careers hubs will be developed in the areas of the country most in need and will link schools and colleges with local universities and employers to help broaden pupils’ horizons.

A new website, to be launched by the National Careers Service next year, will bring together careers information to support people at the start of their careers or who want to retrain or upskill.

The Careers and Enterprise Company will also have an expanded role to support schools and colleges to meet the eight clear benchmarks for good careers advice, as set out by the Gatsby charitable foundation. 

Ms Milton, who introduced the four “pillars” of the strategy at the Careers Education and Guidance Summit in early November, had previously said the strategy would be coming “shortly”.

Today marks the end of a two-year wait for the careers strategy.

It was promised as far back as in December 2015, by the former education and childcare minister Sam Gyimah, who said the Department for Education would “publish a comprehensive careers strategy in the coming weeks”.

Nothing materialised, however.

Robert Halfon, Ms Milton’s predecessor as skills minister, also promised that a strategy was on its way at a meeting in parliament in January, when he claimed it would appear the following week.

The four pillars of the strategy are ensuring a “high-quality careers programme” in every college and school; making sure employers “are an integral part of our approach”; making sure everyone can benefit from “tailored support”; and making the most of the “rich sources of information about jobs and careers that exist”.

 

The government’s timetable for change, taken from the new careers strategy:

Complaints over apprenticeship payments system breakdown

The government has been swamped with complaints about its malfunctioning apprenticeship payment systems, which are incorrectly demanding cash from levy-funded employers.

Numbers providers have been leaving anguished and irate messages on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s online FEConnect forum.

One of many to leave a message is Chris Bradley, who showed FE Week an apologetic message he recently received from the ESFA’s business operations service centre.

It recognised that the apprenticeship funding system had been incorrectly expecting cash contributions from levy-funded employers, in a case relating to Nottinghamshire-based provider SREducation, where Mr Bradley is data and contracts manager.

It is the people in control that have no clue. Heads need to roll in my view

“We have identified an issue with the funding calculation which is incorrectly classifying learners as co-funded and reporting an expected employer contribution for learners who should be fully funded,” the message stated.

“We are working on a fix for this. Once this is live it will correct any future payments, but a further change, which will be made at a later date, will be required to correct the payments already made.

“Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.”

Only employers with an annual payroll of at least £3 million contribute to the levy, which was launched in April this year, and their training is funded using this pot.

Meanwhile, smaller firms also have to contribute to training costs for their first time under the new system, through a 10-per-cent co-investment model, which should involve the government paying 90 per cent of costs from leftover levy revenue.

Mr Bradley warned on FEConnect about “confirmation from period-end reports” that levy-payers had been “coming through as 90-per-cent ESFA and 10-per-cent employer contribution due”.

He went on to express sympathy for staff working on the ESFA’s service desk, saying it was “not down to them”.

“It is the people in control that have no clue. Heads need to roll in my view,” he added.

Another user of FE Connect concurred.

“I don’t feel I am being unreasonable here, but I would like to be able to reconcile funding summary reports, remittance advice, monthly co-funding reconciliation reports so that it all agrees. Am I the only one pulling my hair out?” they said.

An ESFA “known Issues” document dated November 28 lists nine apprenticeship funding-related problems with its software.

It notes: “This issue has been raised with our technical team as a defect and they are working on a fix.”

Neither the DfE nor the ESFA were available to comment on the complaints or issues with the payment system.

Who will run the FE centres of excellence for maths?

The autumn budget brought with it a commitment from the government to invest £40 million in new further education centres of excellence for maths. FE Week looks at where these new maths hubs might be built.

Plans to spend money to address the government’s forced GCSE resits policy were widely welcomed last week, including the idea for new maths centres of excellence.

The Treasury’s budget statement pledged “£40 million to establish ‘further education centres of excellence’ across the country to train maths teachers and spread best practice”.

The Department for Education said they will support the post-16 sector to “design, deliver and disseminate best practice”, and help with the development and evaluation of “new, high-quality” teaching methods. It will also support the sector to “use diagnostic tools to help teachers understand the capabilities of their students” to allow for more targeted teaching.

The DfE has not yet announced where the centres will be situated, or even how many there will be.

We’re keen to know more and would not rule out applying to be one in the future

However, FE Week has had a think about where it might want to build them. Based on analysis of national achievement rate data for 2015/16, we have identified the top 10 best performing-colleges for maths in the country.

They are ordered by percentage pass rate for A* to C at colleges with a cohort of 200 or more.

The data revealed that the top eight colleges had an A*-to-C pass-rate in maths that was more than double the national average rate of 17.6 per cent.

But what do these top-performing colleges make of the centres of excellence, and would they be interested in joining?

Dudley College was the clear leader: all its 240 GCSE maths students managed an A-to-G pass and 52.3 per cent achieved A* to C.

Its principal Neil Thomas described centres as a “potentially exciting” idea.

“We’re keen to know more and would not rule out applying to be one in the future,” he added.

Since 2013, all 16- to 19-year-olds without at least a C in GCSE maths or English have had to enrol in courses in these subjects alongside their main programme of study.

The 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.

But this places huge extra pressure on FE providers, which have had to massively increase their GCSE maths and English provision, and recruit extra teachers to cope. And after successive annual GCSE results showed huge numbers of learners aged 17 and older failed to improve their grades in resits, many in the sector have now demanded government action to improve the situation.

Click to enlarge

A spokesperson for Seevic College in Essex, which came third with an A*-to-C pass-rate of 40.9 per cent and total pass rate of 99.2 per cent, agreed that the centres could be a “really exciting initiative” which it hopes to be “fully involved with”.

Fourth-place New College Swindon had 38.9 per cent of students achieve A* to C in maths and English, and a 93.5 per cent pass-rate overall.

A spokesperson said that it too wanted to be considered as a centre of excellence, and described the plans seen as “a much-needed way to spread best practice around the sector”.

Richmond-upon-Thames College’s chief executive and principal, Robin Ghurbhurun, said his college would “certainly consider” becoming a centre of excellence.

“We welcome any commitment to increased funding and support for improving English and maths outcomes for students, although this must be holistic and beyond GCSE resits with an equally committed focus on delivering functional skills where it is best suited to the curriculum model and needs of the students,” he said.

RUTC was ranked fifth on FE Week’s table, with an A*-to-C pass-rate of 37.9 per cent and total rate of 97.5 per cent.

The director of maths at sixth-place Derby College, Bronagh Quigley, said the college welcomed “any government initiative that looks to support improvements” but more details would be needed before her employer could comment further.

Derby had 36.6 per cent of its students achieve A* to C, and 91.2-per-cent rate overall.

The other colleges on the list were unable to comment ahead of publication.

Map shows locations of the top 10 colleges by 16-18 A*-C math grades, where they have a cohort of 200 or more (see above table)

Dudley College shares secrets of its success

Dudley College has shared the secrets to its impressive resits success.

The college achieved a 100-per-cent A-to-G pass-rate for all ages in both the English and maths GCSEs.

Its principal Neil Thomas said it had “placed a great emphasis over many years” on improving student outcomes in the subjects.

In 2015/16, 52 per cent of learners achieved A*-C in maths and English. And according to Mr Thomas, results in 2016/17 showed further improvement, with 71 per cent achieving grade 4 or above in English and 55 per cent receiving C or above in maths.

“Given that the majority of our learners are resitting these examinations after failing to achieve at school, we are very proud of these results,” he said.

“This has been realised after a sustained period of improvement in which we reviewed all aspects of the delivery and made a series of changes, both large and small, that have made all the difference.”

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Improvements made include restructuring timetables to emphasise English and maths, creating a team of teaching specialists, and continually reinforcing the importance of the subjects to learners.

Mr Thomas became principal on December 1, as former principal Lowell Williams was promoted to chief executive of the college and the Dudley Academies Trust.

Dudley College of Technology was rated ‘outstanding’ in its most recent Ofsted report, published in June this year, and particular praise was paid to the college leaders and their “ambitious vision” for the provider and the “significant” improvements in learner outcomes.

The number of pupils at schools in Dudley and Sandwell that achieve five GCSEs at A* to C, including English and maths, is below the national rate. Dudley is ranked among the 35 worst local authorities in the country for secondary school attainment.

However, the report commended the culture and learning programmes at the college.

“Learners and apprentices develop skills in English and mathematics exceptionally well, and achievement rates in these subjects are continuing to improve,” it said.

Also noted was the investment in “high-quality buildings and equipment” including £9 million spent on a ‘centre for advanced manufacturing and engineering technology’ which opened in 2013, and £12 million on a ‘centre for advanced building technologies’ – known as Dudley Advance II – which opened this year.

The report was the first grade one for a general FE college in 14 months.

International students meet cows for the first time at college farm

Twenty-one international students have met cows for the first time at Askham Bryan College as they learned about the UK farming industry.

The group was made up of students aged 13 to 18, who all study a cookery course at ESF Island School in Hong Kong. The visit to the college was part of a culinary and cultural tour of Yorkshire, so they could learn more about farming and food production.

Chantelle Astley, the college’s recently appointed farm manager, led the tour, which gave the students a look at ABC’s dairy and beef units, and its 280 hectares of farmland.

“Many had never seen cows or sheep before and were full of questions about everything to do with farming,” she said. “They particularly loved feeding the calves and were surprised at the size and scale of the farm and indeed the size of the cows! It was great to be able to explain what’s involved in agriculture and to share their enthusiasm.”

The college currently has a 240-strong milking herd of Holstein and Holstein-cross cows, as well as 300 ewes.

Unleashing Leadership study offers free leadership training for 400 FE organisations

A new research study on leadership in FE is offering the first 400 organisations who take part free leadership training.

The Unleashing Leadership project, sponsored by the Further Education Trust for Leadership, will explore how leadership currently functions in the FE sector, and the conscious biases and preferences that shape how it is thought about, developed and practiced.

Participants will be asked to select 30 to 80 individuals they think will most benefit from leadership development, who will then fill out an online questionnaire and take part in a qualitative research interview and focus group.

“In our research we are starting at the beginning. This means doing a baseline study of where leadership currently is situated in the FE sector,” said the project’s lead, Simon Western. “This study has been planned to deliver research for the FE sector while giving back to the individuals and colleges who partake in it. We hope it will stimulate learning and change at individual, college and at sector level.”

To find out more and how to get involved, click here.