The government has announced that it finally expect to issue notices of decisions to providers next week, on the long-delayed non-levy tendering process for funding apprenticeships with small employers.
The message on the Bravo tendering site has gone out to those waiting for results.
It says: “Further to the agency’s Bravo message on November 17, the [Education and Skills Funding] Agency can now confirm it anticipates issuing notices of decisions to award to potential providers during the week commencing Monday, December 4.
“The notice will inform potential providers of whether they have been awarded a contract in the apprenticeship non levy procurement or not. Potential providers should check their Bravo account for their notice from December 5.”
The ESFA told providers more time was needed to evaluate a ‘high volume’ of applications and was unable to say when the results of the £650m tender round would be known.
That message sent via the tendering website read: “The agency has been pleased to receive a high volume of tenders following a very positive response to the invitation to tender for this procurement, and is currently finalising the evaluation process.
“Potential providers will be contacted again shortly with further information on the new date for the issue of award notifications.”
The postponement did not come as a surprise, as the tender process was fraught with problems that led to providers submitting nearly 1,000 official clarification requests.
Construction is now underway on a new £11 million technical college based at Stansted Airport, which will create around 500 new further education places in Essex, reports Samantha King.
Aptly named Stansted Airport College due to its location, it will open in September 2018 and is being funded by Stansted Airport, Harlow College, Essex and Uttlesford councils and the South East LEP.
“We know that small, standalone institutions aren’t always financially viable. It is in effect a campus of Harlow College but its brand is Stansted Airport College,” explained Karen Spencer, principal and CEO of Harlow College, which has put around half a million pounds into the project.
The new college, which has been in the pipeline for the last three years, will offer qualifications that support the airport industry and the services that wrap around it, from aeronautical engineering and logistics, to retail, business, hospitality and customer services.
“A lot of young people assume an airport is just cabin crew and pilots, and there’s significantly more to it as an organisation,” Ms Spencer added.
Claire Perry MP
A number of employers have already shown interest in the college, including Ryanair, Novotel, Hampton by Hilton and Stansted Airport – which has around 100 job vacancies at any given time – all keeping an eye out for talented graduates.
“We have employers who have committed to supporting things like work placements, visits and professional talks to students. They’re also committing to provide guaranteed interviews for jobs or apprenticeships,” Ms Spencer said.
“It’s sort of a sponsorship of the centre that says ‘actually, we’re prepared to take young people who studied at this airport college into roles in our organisations’.”
The college’s construction phase was officially launched by the minister for climate change and industry, Claire Perry, who coincided her visit with the launch of the government’s industrial strategy.
“The new college here at Stansted is a prime example of our industrial strategy in action,” Ms Perry explained. “Public and private sector working together to improve the skills of young people and delivering a pipeline of talent that will boost the local economy.”
Colleges in the south-east and the midlands have been hosting workshops aimed at women from FE and business, in a bid to increase female representation on boards.
The four workshops – run by the Women’s Leadership Network and funded by the Education and Training Foundation – attracted around 70 delegates to sessions at West London College and Fircroft College in Birmingham.
Pauline Odulinski, WLN’s managing director, told delegates that “equality and diversity are stalling because people are tired of the conversation”, and the focus on policies and targets is making matters “dry”.
Sessions encompassed the roles of governors and non-executive directors, tips for efficient board meetings, what skills are required and how to take the steps to join a board.
Part of the workshop focused on the lack of women in audit and finance committees, and how board members don’t necessarily need a background in finance or accounting to actively contribute.
“Delegates left the workshops with a clear understanding of how their current skills and experience could bring value to a board,” said Ms Odulinski.
“Several delegates asked to be matched straight away with colleges seeking board members, and 97 per cent said they are now interested in joining the board of an organisation.”
The government has been accused of double standards on subcontracting charges, after it missed its own deadline for issuing templates for providers to submit their figures.
Colleges and independent training providers had since 2013 been obliged to publish the amount of government cash they withheld before paying subcontractors to run training by the end of November each year.
But the government recently decided it would publish all the figures instead.
A government spokesperson told FE Week last December, following the change, that “providers will be given three months after the end of the financial year” to submit the data, i.e. in April.
But a long-promised form that providers will use to outline their charges has still not been issued, and no official guidance is available on when the information must be returned.
The Department for Education told FE Week on November 7 that it would issue the template and provide a deadline for returning the data “later this month”, but it refused to comment when we followed up this week.
The hold-up has provoked speculation that the government could be stalling, as high subcontracting charges have proved to be controversial in the past.
Robert Halfon
Subcontracting will be investigated by the Commons education select committee, led by former skills minister Robert Halfon, who has spoken out on the publication delay.
“More information should be available in the public domain about the fees providers charge their subcontractors, and this should be published in a timely fashion,” he said.
“Transparency is needed to ensure providers aren’t engaging in excessive top-slicing in their fees. We will tackle the issues around the poor training provided by subcontractors as part of our current inquiry into the quality of apprenticeships and skills training.”
It’s only going to damage confidence in the subcontracting system
Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden complained that it was wrong of the government to delay, when providers had been hauled over the coals in previous years if they hadn’t published their figures by the November deadline.
“Whether it’s lack of competence, capacity or transparency, it is double standards and it’s only going to damage confidence in the subcontracting system,” he said.
It came uncomfortably close to the 40-per-cent threshold that the former SFA boss Peter Lauener, told FE Week at the time that he would consider unjustifiable.
Updated 2016/17 guidelines on subcontracting charges ordered providers to tell the ESFA the “actual level of funding paid and retained for each of your subcontractors” in order that it could publish the information itself.
It is understood that agency changed the rules after it grew impatient with lack of compliance.
A DfE spokesperson denied the rules had been changed as result of any cover-up or efforts to play down subcontracting charges.
“In order to increase the transparency of each provider’s actual fees and charges, this information will now be published in a single location,” she said.
London South East Colleges student Billy Birchmore has won eight gold medals at the Downs Syndrome International Swimming Organisation European Championships in Paris.
Following his success, Birchmore (pictured), who is a student on the college’s Introduction to Work programme, will represent Great Britain at the DSISO World Championships in Canada – which could give him the chance to compete at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old began swimming aged 13, and is currently the world record-holder for the fastest 100m backstroke by a man with Downs syndrome, with a time of 1.15.70.
Birchmore has received support from the college to pursue his interest in sport, and the SEN team wrote him a personalised timetable allowing him one day per week working in sport, so he can get closer towards his dream of becoming a swimming coach.
“For now, it’s back to concentrating on my college work. I would like to become a swimming coach at a leisure centre one day and that’s what I need to focus on long-term” he said. “I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved so far and just want to keep winning. It gives me such a good feeling.”
Two colleges have seen their grades go up to ‘good’ this week – but three previously uninspected providers haven’t fared so well, including one rated ‘inadequate’.
KT Associates, an independent training provider, received the lowest possible grade across the board in a report published on December 1 and based on an inspection in October.
Safeguarding at the small loans-only provider, which had 220 learners at the time of inspection, is “not effective”.
Of particular concern was “weak” risk assessment, “including when assessors carry out late-evening, lone-working appointments and when family members and friends, including babies and young children, are in learners’ homes and community venues”.
Other issues included “ineffective” governance arrangements and the “very low” proportion of learners achieving their qualifications.
A spokesperson for the provider told FE Week it was “devastated” by the verdict.
“The wording of the report is hugely disheartening and does not accurately detail how we work, our motivations and company ethos,” she said.
Elmhouse Training received a grade three after its first inspection, in a report published on November 29 and based on an inspection in late October.
The proportion of learners at the small independent training provider that achieved their qualifications on time is “too low”, the report said.
Teachers do not “provide learners with sufficient information about what they have done well”, and they also put “insufficient focus on the development of learners’ literacy and numeracy skills”.
However, inspectors noted that “staff support learners well to develop their self-confidence and enthusiasm, and to manage any personal issues that might prevent them completing the course”.
Hob Salons, an employer-provider, also received a grade three in its first inspection, published on November 30 and based on an inspection at the end of October.
Staff “do not manage the link between apprentices’ workplace and classroom training well enough”, the report said, while apprentices are not given enough help to “improve their writing skills”, with the result that “the majority of apprentices do not develop good skills in written English”.
Leaders and managers “have been very successful in improving teaching and learning”, and “work well with employers and external organisations to strengthen and broaden the curriculum to meet local skills and requirements”.
The “large majority” of students and apprentices made “good progress” and “progress to further study at a higher level, into higher education or employment”.
Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College, a sixth-form college, saw its overall rating improve from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ in a report published on November 27 and based on an inspection at the end of October.
Senior leader and governors were praised for their “decisive actions” that had led to “considerable improvements in students’ progress and achievements since the previous inspection”.
Students benefit from “good and improved teaching” that “interests and motivates” them – with the result that “most” achieved their qualifications.
However, the report did note that “despite improvements since the previous inspection, not enough students on vocational courses, and very few students on academic courses, benefit from real work experience”.
Five providers held onto their ‘good’ ratings following short inspections this week: Brooklands College, the ITP 5 E Ltd, and adult and community learning providers North West Training Council, Southend-on-Sea borough council, and PETA .
England’s colleges are showing signs of turning a significant corner in their Ofsted performance.
Seven have managed to dig themselves out of failing grades in the early part 2017/18 – where none managed the same feat during that period last year.
Frustratingly however, this success will not be recognised in the education watchdog’s imminent annual report, which will only discuss inspections published up to the end of 2016/17, and which is expected to describe a huge decline in standards.
Just 69 per cent of colleges were rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by August 31, FE Week analysis revealed.
Read Editor Nick Linford’s view here
This represented a fall for the third year running for schools and colleges in the measure Ofsted effectively considers its minimum acceptable standard.
Now, though, FE Week’s analysis of the 12 full college inspections that have been published between September and November shows that eight have improved their grades: seven increased from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’, and one has moved from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’.
Three more declined – two moving from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ – while one stayed the same.
This represents a massive upswing in college performance; of the nine of the colleges that had full inspections published in the same period in 2016/17, six saw their grades go down and three stayed the same.
In other words, not a single one improved.
If Ofsted were to consider the full inspections published so far during this academic year in its annual report, the proportion of colleges rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ would sit at 72 per cent, higher than it was in last year’s report (71 per cent).
A spokesperson for the inspectorate said nothing had changed in terms of its inspection arrangements, and said it couldn’t draw any meaningful conclusions for why the improvement had been so substantial.
Two of the colleges that went from a grade three to a two – City of Liverpool and Richmond-Upon-Thames – have been subject to interventions from the FE commissioner since their previous inspections, which is likely to be one reason for better performance.
The five other colleges – North Hertfordshire, Wirral Metropolitan, Grantham, Burton and South Derbyshire, and Suffolk New College – however, have had no obvious support or intervention from the government.
David Russell, the chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation, said the noticeable surge in colleges’ Ofsted grades in recent months was “great news”.
He told FE Week there was a “large number of complex factors” which interact to create national patterns in Ofsted grading, but it seems “implausible” that the recent improvements are entirely unconnected to the “high-quality programmes” his organisation has been running over the last four years, such as CPD training.
This shock upturn in performance is welcome news after last month’s analysis showed that colleges are lagging considerably behind sixth-form colleges and independent learning providers.
Of these, 81 per cent were rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by August 31, a massive 12 percentage points ahead of colleges’ 69 per cent.
The slump had continued an annual trend which has seen the number of high-achieving colleges fall by 10 per cent in just three years, after a high of 79 per cent in 2014.
Colleges are dealing with “an enormous amount of work” and “a big challenge” as they face “reforms in practically all areas”, she told MPs.
Ofsted confirmed FE Week’s findings this week in an official statistical release for FE and skills inspections and outcomes.
It pointed out that during 2016/17, there were twice as many colleges that declined to ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ (18) than improved to ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ (nine).
The proportion of colleges with a grade two or one declined by two percentage points, from 71 per cent in August 2016, to 69 per cent in August 2017.
This decline would have been greater if the colleges that officially closed as a result of a merger had been included.
Thirteen separate apprenticeship standards with approved assessment plans have been left in limbo for two or more months because their costs still haven’t been agreed, FE Week can reveal.
It is understood that the holdup is the result of various new lengthy and complicated processes which came into force when the Institute for Apprenticeships introduced a funding board in April, which tries to secure value for money.
These processes have caused “stalling in decision making”, according to trailblazer groups who have developed the 13 standards, who admit they are “astonished” at the lack of urgency officials are displaying in approving costs.
“We are frustrated,” said Colin Huffen, the head of education at the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, who has been leading on the development of the ‘leisure duty manager’ standard.
The problem, he said, comes from “complicated, unstandardized, lengthy processes for rate approval that seem to change regularly without notice to trailblazer groups”, and the “ability of the IfA to deal with anything quickly, outside of the standard approvals cycle”.
He added that his group are “astonished at the proposed time for approval” of a new standard, which now has a best-case scenario of 12 months.
Click to enlarge
“This does not meet their needs in a fast paced commercial world,” he said.
Delays over costs are a new obstacle in approving standards; before the IfA was put in place, the funding band was allocated at the time of signing off the assessment plan.
But now there are various processes which can put cost approval on hold (see chart), and the IfA ultimately leaves final responsibility to the apprenticeships and skills minister.
The effects of this longwinded process are already being felt.
There are 124 employers with 902 apprentices ready to start their MBA apprenticeships, expecting teaching to get underway in January, according to the Chartered Management Institute.
Even though the standard was approved in August, and had an official launch last month, the fee scale will not be finalised until the end of January, meaning it cannot get underway beforehand.
The trailblazer group involved wants the funding band set at £27,000, but that is contested by the IfA.
“Processes have been changing, which has not been helpful and has created huge frustration among the employers ever since the standard was approved,” said Petra Wilton, director of strategy at the CMI, which is supporting the trailblazer group responsible for developing the senior leader master’s degree apprenticeship.
“Organising apprenticeships is quite a big personal commitment for individuals to potentially rearrange lifestyles to do them. They’ve taken the decision and got themselves excited for this and now there is personal frustration.”
Mr Huffen said his trailblazer group was also in dispute with the IfA over the funding band for the ‘leisure duty manager’ standard. It was initially proposed to cost £3,500 but his group wants the price set at £5,000.
“The delay in approval starts a chain of delays for training providers and end-point assessment organisations in developing programmes and resources to deliver and assess the standard,” he said, pointing out that the holdup also delays the recruitment of apprentices for employers.
A spokesperson for the IfA explained that the institute took the “conscious decision” to publish assessment plans for standards in development “as soon as we can – not to wait until the remaining elements of the standard are also approved”.
He said that while this does mean there can be a “gap” between the assessment plan’s publication and the standard being approved for delivery, trainers and assessment providers “benefit from having greater time to prepare accordingly”.
“We listen closely to feedback from trailblazer groups and all those involved in apprenticeships, and are working hard with them to improve the process,” he added.
The Department for Education would not provide any separate comment.
The education secretary has ruled out T-levels at level two and will not budge on mandatory three-month work placements, no matter what emerges from a new public consultation.
Justine Greening used her speech at the Skills Summit in London on Thursday to unveil the long-awaited T-levels consultation, urging businesses and training providers to share their views on how the new “gold standard” qualifications should be designed for the “skills revolution”.
The much-anticipated consultation, which has been delayed for over a year, has been launched in the midst of mounting concern and confusion regarding the government’s current design of T-levels, which are due to be taken on a limited basis from 2020.
The sector has been up in arms about how viable it will be for every T-level to include a mandatory 45-day minimum work placement. Senior figures in FE are worried that young people in rural areas will lose access to many subjects, and are dubious that thousands of businesses can be persuaded to join in.
It has also been unclear whether T-levels would strictly be level three – which is equivalent to A-level – and above qualifications.
Ms Greening, however, was absolutely clear when she discussed the qualifications with FE Week: T-levels will not be at level two and the mandatory work placement is here to stay.
“We are consulting, but we expect T-levels to be at level three, and we do expect a three-month work placement that is high-quality to be mandatory,” she insisted, before taking an even stronger stance.
“When I say we need to bite the bullet and make this work, because in the past it hasn’t, it is because of these sorts of compromises that shouldn’t be made,” she said.
“So no, I’m afraid it has to require proper on-the-job training. That is something that absolutely has to take place.”
The consultation will ascertain where “we put level four and five to make sure there is a ladder beyond T-levels for people to progress on to”.
When pressed by FE Week to confirm for certain that T-levels will start from level three and three-month work placements will stay mandatory, no matter what comes out of the consultation, Ms Greening said: “Yes. It is a consultation but not on those bits.”
The Association of Colleges has been lobbying to overturn the government’s stance on the work placement.
Its boss David Hughes used an interview with FE Week last month to plead with the Department for Education not to “punish” young people by making it mandatory, but it appears his wishes have gone unheard.
Responding to Ms Greening’s comments, he restated his disappointment.
“As I’ve said before, forcing everyone into a work placement means you limit people’s choices to what they can attend on a local basis,” he said.
“Through our response to the consultation, we will be asking for the DfE to look closer at this and how we can make it work better for all young people in every labour market.”
The AELP has previously urged the government not to forget level two qualifications during the reforms to technical education, insisting they are vital to social mobility.
Although Ms Greening ruled out T-levels beneath level three, the consultation has left the door open for a new qualification at level two as a standalone achievement, whether it’s via an apprenticeship or in the classroom.
“This welcome consultation gives us the opportunity to say that there should be a formal level two qualification with its own recognition however it is packaged,” said AELP’s boss Mark Dawe.
He insisted that the government must “stand firm” on the amount of work experience.
