Apprenticeships must not accredit existing knowledge

The apprenticeship levy was a brave move for a Conservative government. But unless it gets to grips with apprenticeships now, a generation of young people will be the big losers, warns Conor Ryan

The government says it wants to see three million more apprenticeships by 2020. Promises of improved quality, and the push on large employers through the levy, are meant to ensure that the ambitious numbers deliver a better trained workforce.

But the reality may fall far short of the rhetoric. Last week, new figures showed a big drop in apprenticeship starts between April and July this year. Today’s Sutton Trust report Better Apprenticeships highlights how the levy could produce perverse incentives. Analysis by Lorna Unwin and Alison Fuller notes that one way employers can circumvent the levy is by converting existing employees into apprentices. Of course, in doing so they may give them new skills, but without robust checks they may simply accredit existing knowledge.

That was something that bedevilled Gordon Brown’s flagship training programme, Train to Gain, in the first decade of this century.

When I was education adviser to Tony Blair in Downing Street, we were desperate to remove the substantial deadweight cost caused both by such accreditation or paying a subsidy for existing training. Yet in their 2009 report, the National Audit Office found that half of employers using the money from the programme said they would have arranged similar training without public subsidy.

One way employers can circumvent the levy is by converting existing employees into apprentices

The levy was supposed to address the latter point by shifting the costs to employers, but the danger is that it does little to develop new skills. Moreover, the public perception of apprenticeships is that they are targeted at young people – largely school leavers – and that they are a practical way for them to gain good qualifications, earning while they do so. But, in reality, the latest government survey suggests two thirds of apprentices are conversions.

It is vital that there are tough minimum expectations in every apprenticeship, so that they give apprentices the expertise and capability to adapt to a rapidly changing labour market and they do not become a bureaucratic burden on business to be dodged by clever accountants.

This is not the only problem with how apprenticeships have developed in England. Instead of being a high quality programme targeted at enabling young people to start a fulfilling career, they have become a catch-all title for training at all levels. So, over 40 per cent of all apprentices are aged over 25, largely at work. Of course, adults at work need upskilling, but they are not apprentices, and those positions should be targeted at young people, particularly those entering the workforce.

And then, among apprenticeships for young people, 60 per cent of places are at intermediate level. New analysis by Sandra McNally for today’s report, of the experience of those aged 16 in 2003 who subsequently embarked on apprenticeships, suggests that fewer than one in four of those who start a level 2 apprenticeship progress to level 3.

The Sutton Trust will be campaigning through 2018 so that in future anyone completing level 2 should automatically progress to level 3, unless they opt out. The focus on apprenticeship starts rather than overall apprentice numbers in the government target does a disservice to young people. McNally’s research also shows that those doing advanced apprenticeships are less likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds, but those doing level 2 are more likely to be disadvantaged, so such automatic progress is vital to their social mobility. One interesting point in last week’s figures was that intermediate starts had fallen faster than advanced starts, suggesting that a seamless progression could be valued by employers, even if they don’t like the levy.

Good apprenticeships can lead to earnings on a par with academic qualifications, from level 3 through to higher apprenticeships. So, the focus should be on creating more such opportunities for young people and supporting progression to them.

The apprenticeship levy was a brave move for a Conservative government. But unless the government – and the Institute for Apprenticeships as both a quality and access guarantor – gets to grips with apprenticeships now, the danger is that no government will be so brave again. And more importantly, a generation of young people will be the big losers.

Conor Ryan is Director of Research at the Sutton Trust

Read more: Two thirds of apprenticeships ‘convert’ existing employees, new report warns

Industrial strategy: what’s missing is what matters

Given the challenges the UK’s society and economy now faces, the industrial strategy is a rather small, faltering step, according to Professor Ewart Keep

The industrial strategy, launched on a day when the UK media was obsessing about the engagement of the man fifth in line to the throne, did not appear trailing clouds of glory. In the event, this was probably just as well.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, a vaguely defined “industrial strategy” has been back in fashion at a rhetorical if not a practical level and, following New Labour and the Coalition government’s efforts, the current Conservative administration has been putting its own particular, minimalistic stamp on this policy area.

In presentational terms, this new strategy is a retro affair: style substitutes for substance, recalling the glossy productions of Tony Blair’s days. Content-wise, much of it turns out to be very familiar indeed. In the recent past we had “eight great technologies”; now we have “four grand challenges” – AI and data, clean power, transport (mystifying labelled “mobility”), and the ageing society.

The sums of money to back up the good intentions are vanishingly small

A lot of space is devoted to R&D and innovation. We now aspire to become the world’s most innovative economy, but as long as we cling to the outdated “science and science only” model of innovation, our chances are exceedingly slender. Workplace or employee innovation in process and product remain entirely absent in official thinking, which puts us a long way behind many of our competitors, who many years ago realised that incremental improvements were at least as important as the next big breakthrough.

The skills and employment section is an odd mixture of analysis and policy. The strategy is at pains to endlessly repeat how enviable our flexible labour market is, but while we have been very successful at creating a lot of jobs, many of them are low-wage, low-productivity openings propped up by the tax credit system and a crackdown on benefits. How socially and economically sustainable much of this employment will be in the long run is a moot point. It is certainly hard to imagine many Scandinavian workers, or even employers, wanting to copy our model.

The skills measures are an utterly predictable blast from the past: more STEM, extra money for maths teaching, apprenticeship and T-levels, a small sum for some pilot work on FE staff development, another run at adult skills and retraining.

It is also deeply disappointing to see the hoary trope of average wage premiums to degrees still being trotted out, long after longitudinal educational outcomes data showed how utterly misleading this average figure is (25 per cent of all graduates earn less than £20,000 a decade after graduating).

As ever, what is missing is what matters

One warning sign is that, with the exception of the maths teaching policy, the sums of money available to back up these good intentions are often vanishingly small. Radical departures from the traditional policy menu are absent, and the implicit start and finish point is the supply side, with the happy assumption that demand for skill and its effective utilisation in the workplace can be left to market forces and luck.

As ever, what is missing is what matters. The earlier green paper on industrial strategy was mainly focused on 10 per cent of the manufacturing workforce, or one per cent of the overall UK workforce. The latest version of the industrial strategy is only a little broader. The only chink of light is the promise that a review of productivity and growth in SMEs will be undertaken.

The first four emerging sector deals confirmed in the Industrial Strategy cover AI, construction, automotive and the life sciences, but more are expected to follow. In some sectors at least, these may form the template for more joined-up thinking and action on job quality, inclusive growth, productivity, skills and new forms of innovation.   

Given the challenges the UK now faces, the industrial strategy represents a small and rather faltering step. At some point, rather more radical thinking may need to be entertained.

Professor Ewart Keep is director of SKOPE at Oxford University

Tough new intervention trigger for FE Commissioner

The FE commissioner has new powers to trigger formal intervention, under tougher plans to enter colleges before they hit rock bottom.

According to a new intervention policy, published by the Department for Education this morning, Richard Atkins will now be able to take formal action at a college that isn’t yet failing, but where a “diagnostic assessment” has revealed it is in danger of doing so.

Previously intervention could be triggered in one of three ways: a college being rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted rating, or ‘inadequate’ for financial health or control by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, or for failing to meet the DfE’s minimum performance standards.

This new “escalation” process – which will happen before a college hits one of these markers for failure – will occur where “action is required quickly, which is likely to include leadership and governance change”.

The new trigger and diagnostic assessments are both part of the FE commissioner’s expanded remit, first announced by the education secretary Justine Greening in July.

He told FE Week last month that he wanted to do more work helping those colleges that repeatedly receive grade threes, to prevent their performance from sliding further.

The new policy sets out in detail the process that Mr Atkins and his team will follow when intervening at failing colleges.

Mr Atkins and his team will now be involved with colleges at an earlier stage.

Any college with a grade three overall, a grade four for apprenticeships, or which is in early intervention for financial health, could be subject to a two-day visit.

Through these diagnostic assessments Mr Atkins and his team will “review the college’s financial and educational performance, self-assessment and improvement plans”, meet with senior leaders and others at the colleges, and “assess the capacity and capability of leadership and governance to see improvement through”, according to the new policy.

There are three possible outcomes from a diagnostic assessment: endorsement of the college’s approach to improving, an action plan for recovery, or escalation to formal intervention.

The last option is only expected to be triggered in “exceptional cases”, where, for example, “the college is not taking action, or has no realistic plan to improve areas which have been flagged for concern by Ofsted or the EFSA” or “existing leadership and/or governance at the college is an impediment to securing necessary improvement”.

There will also be a new principals’ reference group and a college improvement board, both of which are designed to improve accountability, oversight and coordination.

As previously reported by FE Week, the FE commissioner will also oversee a £15 million strategic college improvement fund, to focus on quality improvement at colleges with an Ofsted grade three or four.

In an exclusive interview with FE Week to mark one year since he started as commissioner, Mr Atkins denied that his new remit was stepping on other organisations’ toes.

He also outlined his long-term ambition for “around 80 to 85 per cent” of colleges to be rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.

Industrial strategy confirms delay to adult education budget devolution

The devolution of the adult education budget has been delayed by a year.

In its industrial strategy white paper the government announced today that it “will devolve the adult education budget to mayoral areas in 2019”.

The former Skills Funding Agency previously said that seven regions were supposed to get devolved AEB budgets from August 2018. London was to join from August 2019.

The areas were Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City, Sheffield City, Tees Valley, West Midlands, and the West of England.

A Department of Education spokesperson did not deny that the white paper confirmed that the AEB devolution would be delayed.

“As outlined in the Industrial Strategy, the adult education budget will be devolved to mayoral areas in 2019,” she said.

“We want to make sure that Mayoral Combined Authorities have enough time for this transition, and we are working with them to make sure that we get it right. This is a significant move to give local areas more freedom to spend their adult education budget where it is needed the most.”

The DfE previously refused to comment back in July on whether its own timetable for AEB devolution delivery was still viable, after an FE Week investigation found that regional deals were likely to be delayed beyond the planned 2018-19 delivery date.

The paper said that local industrial strategies will “be long-term, based on clear evidence, and aligned to the national industrial strategy”.

“This might include addressing skills issues, improving infrastructure, harnessing the potential of world-class science and innovation, supporting new high-value businesses, or identifying leading sectors to inform the development of deals,” it continued.

These strategies will establish new ways of working between national and local leaders in both the public and private sectors, with colleges as key players.

“Universities, colleges and other local institutions will be key, as will an approach that is responsive to both local and global market conditions to provide greater long-term certainty,” it said.

“We will prioritise areas with the potential to drive wider regional growth, focusing on clusters of expertise and centres of economic activity.”

Places in England with a mayoral combined authority will have a single strategy, led by the mayor and supported by local enterprise partnerships.

“For parts of the country without a mayor, the development of the strategy will be led by the LEPs.!

Yet in addition to spelling out how LEPs will play a leading role in the devolution process, the same document also said the workings of these business-led regional bodies need to be reviewed.

“While LEPs across the country have played an important role in supporting local growth, feedback suggests that their performance has varied since 2013,” it said.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, called last December for LEPs to have a new contracting process that’s “fair and transparent” if they’re dealing with AEB cash.

This followed an investigation published by the Mail Online, which alleged that LEPs had made more than 270 payments to companies or other projects connected with their own board members, in sums ranging from £13,000 to £1 million.

Conflicts of interest like these are of concern to the sector, as in addition to planned AEB devolution, LEPs already control much of the funds available to FE providers for capital spending.

“We are reviewing the roles and responsibilities of LEPs and will bring forward reforms to leadership, governance, accountability, financial reporting and geographical boundaries,” the strategy said. “We will work with LEPs to set out a more clearly defined set of activities and objectives in early 2018.”

FE Week’s investigation in July this year found that AEB devolution deals were likely to be delayed beyond the planned 2018-19 delivery date because the timetable no longer seems viable for the government.

Over the previous two years, seven combined authorities had agreed devolution deals with the Treasury, which included powers to deliver the AEB, and had elected metro mayors ahead of its scheduled introduction in September next year.

But five of the seven said that while they wanted to deliver on time, they were not confident that the timescale is realistic at the government’s end, given the disruption of various local elections, the EU referendum and the unexpected general election over the past few years.

Government research finds colleges must do more to motivate GCSE resit students

Government research has found that colleges need to do more to motivate GCSE maths and English resit students. 

“Motivation is low for many students,” a new report out today has found, which notes that “providers almost invariably state that motivating students to learn English and mathematics is a major challenge”.

CFE Research was commissioned by the DfE to look into effective English and maths teaching for 16- to 18-year-olds resitting these subjects at FE and sixth form colleges.

Researchers determined that “for those who did not achieve the accepted standard of a GCSE grade C previously, this apparent ‘failure’ can lead to contrasting attitudes and different levels of motivation to re-engage with learning the subjects”.

“Providers often need to cultivate a positive mental attitude among students to increase motivation and confidence to retake their English and mathematics qualifications,” it explains.

Since 2014 all learners aged 16 to 18 without at least a C, or now a four, in both English and maths at GCSE have had to keep the subjects on as part of their study programmes.

In 2015 the policy was tightened so that learners with a grade D at 16 must resit the GCSE rather than an alternative qualification, such as functional skills.

The research claims the policy is “demotivating for some students as they are being asked to continue with a qualification that they perceive they have ‘failed’”.

In fact, it states, “motivating students in English and mathematics lessons is a central feature of further education teaching”.

Strategies adopted by colleges to encourage learners’ interest in the subjects include an “adult-to-adult relationship”, making use of the “different environment compared to schools in an attempt to change sometimes deep-rooted attitudes”, and “trying different methods” to “develop subject understanding”.

“Colleges also appear to operate more effectively when curriculum managers and teachers in other subjects value English and mathematics teaching,” it states.

It also questioned the “blanket policy” of forcing all D-grade learners to resit “regardless of their knowledge of English or mathematics fundamentals”, which is “problematic” for some learners.

“There were many examples given as evidence of students who lacked some primary school level knowledge on some topics, even for students with a D grade,” researchers say.

Other issues raised in the report, which is based on data, interviews and lesson observations from 45 FE colleges and SFCs, include the high numbers of learners with “additional support needs” such as dyslexia, autism or mental health issues for whom “additional resources and support are required”.

“Providers with large numbers of ESOL [English for speakers of other languages] students can struggle to provide the additional support that they require,” it finds.

Travel poses an additional challenge for colleges “in coastal or rural settings”.

The GCSE resit policy has proved controversial since it was first introduced.

After last year’s GCSE results – the first since the policy was tightened – showed large number of learners aged 17 and older had failed to improve their grades in resits, many in the sector demanded the government scrap the policy.

Last week’s budget included £8.5 million to pilot innovative approaches to improving GCSE maths resit outcomes.

Anne Milton apologises for non-levy tender delays

The skills minister has offered her “sincere apologies” to FE providers which have been caught up in the non-levy tender debacle and insisted the delay is to ensure government “gets it right”, in an exclusive interview with FE Week.

Anne Milton admitted she understands the “frustration” the sector has been put through with this exercise, after the results of the second attempted procurement for funding apprenticeships with small employers were postponed.

Communication from the Department for Education and ESFA about the delay has been non-existent so far, but speaking to FE Week today, Ms Milton offered this message to providers: “I really understand people’s frustration. It is terribly frustrating when people expect deadlines to be kept, and the message is ‘I understand your frustration and you have my sincere apologies’.

“These exercises are not easy to run. Things will only be delayed to make sure we get it right,” she added.

“The other message is that there will be winners and losers. There always are. I understand one of the reasons we have to do this is because of a change of EU rules. I think it’s important people realise we wouldn’t necessarily do it like this, if we had our way.”

The latest postponement to the £650 million non-levy tender followed extended delays and ultimately an aborted first attempt, as more time was needed to evaluate a “high volume” of applications.

The ESFA has so far been unable to say when the results of this procurement would be released, and Ms Milton did not provide an answer today.

FE Week understands their release is imminent, however.

During today’s interview, the minister explained that procurement exercises have been the most challenging part of her role ever since she took on the skills brief in June.

“They’re really hard,” she said. “We as the government say what our priorities are and then there is an application process. It is essentially a competition, and about making sure that you have got bars set in the right place to make sure you get the best.

“But you also have to make sure you have a mitigation scheme for those that lose out. You run a procurement but as a result of that procurement you don’t want to destabilise the system.”

She feels the adult education budget and non-levy tenders have “not gone badly” but at the same time admitted that they have “not been great”.

“Whatever you say when you start a procurement, making sure people are clear about your priorities, that people understand how to do their bids, that there is enough available support to help people maximise their bids, is quite important but you do have to make a choice,” she said.

“Politics is about compromise but it is also about making choices, government is about making choices.”

You can read our full interview with Ms Milton in the next edition of FE Week which will be published this Friday (December 1).

Ofsted Watch: ‘Good’ news all round for FE

It was ‘good’ news all round for FE this week as all inspected providers either maintained or improved their ratings to a grade two.

Two colleges, which previously hit the headlines for management issues, were celebrating after boosting from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’.

Its welcome news coming after FE Week revealed earlier this month that just 69 per cent of colleges had been rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in 2017 – which amounted to a fall for the third year running in what Ofsted effectively considers in its annual reports to be a passable standard.

North Hertfordshire College, which in 2015 found that success rates were artificially increased while former principal Fintan Donohue was in charge, returned to its grade two rating in a report published November 23.

Governors, senior leaders and managers were lauded for providing “inspirational leadership” and for having a “robust understanding of the quality of provision and have been effective in improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for learners”.

Inspectors highlighted that learners who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities benefit from “outstanding provision” that ensures that a “very high proportion excel, complete their programmes and gain highly effective independent living skills”.

They added that “highly effective” partnerships enable learners to “participate in high-quality work experience” and consequently, learners gain “good work-related skills that are valued by employers”.

The 10,500-learner provider was rated ‘good’ in all categories except for traineeships and provision for high needs students, which were deemed ‘outstanding’.

Earlier in the week City of Liverpool College, which has been battling a financial crisis, clawed its way up to a ‘good’ Ofsted rating, four years after it tumbled from the top grade to the bottom.

The provider has experienced a rocky few years since its current principal Elaine Bowker took over in 2011, including two interventions from the FE commissioner.

But in an Ofsted report published November 21, leaders were praised for identifying the college’s strengths and “areas for improvement” through a “comprehensive self-assessment process that involves all staff”.

Senior leaders set “measurable targets to improve, which they check regularly”, inspectors said, and there is a “culture of high expectations”.

They have “rectified most areas” that needed improving at the previous inspection in 2015, in which it received a grade three.

Meanwhile, the Construction Industry Training Board held onto its ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted.

The report, which looked only at its apprenticeship provision that is all run through subcontractors, returned grade ones across the board.

CITB was also rated grade one-overall in a report published January 2013.

The “exceptional” progress made by apprentices who “achieve well” was one of the areas highlighted for praise this time by inspectors.

“The proportion of apprentices who achieve their qualifications has increased and is now significantly higher than apprentices on construction programmes with similar providers,” the report said.

“Employers value highly the support they receive from CITB staff to make the most of these apprenticeship opportunities which benefit their businesses significantly.”

Fellow adult and community learning provider, Nottinghamshire County Council, retained its ‘good’ grade.

Inspectors said that adult learners participating in “non-accredited courses” achieve their planned learning aims “well; they improve their personal effectiveness, well-being and future employability very effectively”.

They added that leaders and managers “plan the range and location of courses very effectively to meet learners’ needs and minimise barriers to participation”.

There were also two monitoring visit reports published this week, the most high-profile of which was Learndirect.

Ofsted noted several improvements, while highlighting various areas of concern in their first visit to the nation’s biggest FE provider’s since its grade four earlier in the year.

One of the most concerning findings was that its apprenticeship achievement rate has fallen again for 2016/17.

Inspectors also met with Barnsley College, which was graded ‘outstanding’ in 2010, to review documentation relating to safeguarding and visited two college sites to ensure the provider is still performing to the highest quality.

Ofsted said the college’s systems and procedures for keeping learners safe are still “effective”.

One private provider, Leslie Frances (Hair Fashions) Limited, from Barnsley, maintained its grade two rating in a short inspection.

 

GFE Colleges Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
North Hertfordshire College 31/10/2017 23/11/2017 2 3
The City of Liverpool College 02/10/2017 21/11/2017 2 3
Barnsely College 26/10/2017 20/11/2017 M M

 

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Learndirect Ltd 31/10/2017 23/11/2017 M M

 

Adult and Community Learning Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Nottinghamshire County Council 16/10/2017 24/11/2017 2 2
CITB 10/10/2017 24/11/2017 1 1

 

Short inspections (remains grade 2) Inspected Published
Leslie Frances (Hair Fashions) Limited 18/10/2017 21/11/2017

National retraining partnership outlined in new industrial strategy

The government has published its industrial strategy white paper this morning, with details of a national retraining partnership unveiled.

The document, called Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain for the future, has just been published on gov.uk, following up on the green paper published in January.

It elaborates on what is planned for the “ambitious rational retraining scheme”, involving a new partnership.

“To drive up adult learning and retraining, we will introduce an ambitious national retraining scheme in England by the end of this parliament,” it said.

“A high level advisory group – the national retraining partnership – will bring together the government, businesses and workers, through the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, to set the strategic direction and oversee implementation of the scheme.

“The national retraining scheme will be informed by £40 million announced in the spring budget to test innovative approaches to helping adults up-skill and re-skill. The pilots will help us learn more about how to support and incentivise adults to learn skills that will help them, their local economies and national productivity.”

Starting next year, it adds, the national retraining scheme will “initially target skills shortages in key sectors, ensuring that we can develop much-needed digital and construction skills”.

A total of £30 million will be invested to test the use of artificial intelligence and innovative education technology (edtech) in online digital skills courses, so that students can benefit from this emerging technology.

“We will provide £34 million to expand innovative construction training programmes across the country, including a programme in the West Midlands, focused on supporting the country’s housing needs and building upon existing good practice.”

It is elaborating on retraining funding announced through the budget last week, although senior figures including Liberal Democrats leader warned more funding was still needed to make much of the industrial strategy work.

The new document also reflected on performance measures.

“We will update school and college performance measures to ensure that students can make an informed choice between technical or academic education in time for the introduction of the first T levels, recognising them as equally valued routes,” it said. 

With regards to the apprenticeships levy it said: “From April 2018, we plan to allow levy-paying employers in England to transfer up to 10 per cent of their funds to another employer, including within their supply chain.” 

There was also a section reaffirming the government’s commitment to FE devolution.

“The government has a role to play in ensuring that the connections and capacity exist in local areas and regions to link educational institutions with labour market,” it said. “Devolution of
budgets and control within England plays its part, and we will devolve the adult education budget to mayoral areas in 2019.”

 

Another new document published this morning, called Industrial Strategy: the Five Foundations, said one of its key policies would be to “establish a technical education system that rivals the best in the world, to stand alongside our world-class higher education system”.

The government’s industrial strategy green paper was published in January.

It contained encouraging words for those, including Labour MP David Lammy, who had been campaigning for more funding for adult education and a return to widespread “night schools”. The white paper’s announcements on the national retraining scheme will be seen as further development of this.

The green paper acknowledged that there is a “growing challenge” with lifelong learning.

“People are living and working longer, but training across working life is going down,” it added.

It committed to exploring “ambitious new approaches to encouraging lifelong learning, which could include assessing changes to the costs people face to make them less daunting; improving outreach to people where industries are changing; and providing better information”.

The green paper also fleshed out what it expects from a “prestigious” new network of Institutes of Technology, set to be handed £170 million to improve higher-level technical education nationwide.

The government first announced plans for the institutes in July 2015, then again through its Post-16 Skills Plan in July.

The Prime Minister’s office confirmed in a press statement, as reported in FE Week and looking ahead to publication of the green paper called Building Our Industrial Strategy, that £170 million of capital funding would be spent on these.

The green paper itself stressed that these “institutes will increase the provision of higher-level technical education”, to ensure that it is available “in all areas”.

The green paper also acknowledged issues colleges are experiencing with maths and English and maths GCSE resits.

Since 2013 all 16 to 18-year-old students who do not already have a grade C in GCSE English and maths have had to continue studying these subjects – and in 2015, this was further tightened to require those with a grade D to only study GCSE rather than an alternative.

Management apprenticeships debate rages

The Institute for Apprenticeships has defended the rise in management apprenticeships, amid stark warnings about the fate of those at level two from the boss of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers.

“The number one reason for our lower productivity has been analysed as leadership and management,” said Dame Fiona Kendrick, an IfA board member, during the morning panel session of the University Vocational Awards Council conference in Birmingham on Tuesday (November 21).

“And that’s why some of the things we’re talking about today, particularly talking about the degree apprenticeship and investing in people in terms of the right management is so important, not just for individuals, not just for the company, but for the economy at large.”

However, AELP’s Mark Dawe (pictured above) disagreed, calling for a debate on how they are funded, particularly in light of the ongoing government commitment to social mobility.

“Someone having access to level two and moving on to a level three, that to me is what social mobility is about,” he said.

“When we’re talking about restricted resources we have to decide what the government pays for, what the employer pays for, what the individual pays for. There will have to be a debate, because there’s not enough money to cover all of this.”

Without changes, he warned, “you can say bye bye to level two”.

But, speaking to FE Week following the panel, Dame Fiona said that while there was a “very clear” shift to higher-level apprenticeships, it wasn’t “at this moment in time to the detriment of the level ones and twos”.

Dame Fiona Kendrick

She insisted that the move towards them would “drive both productivity and social mobility”.

A focus on management apprenticeships “at least in the short- to middle-term” has “got to be good for the overall country”, she said, “but we need to make sure that that is managed in a fair and well-distributed way”.

The panel session, which also included Adrian Anderson, UVAC’s chief executive, and Nicola Turner, head of skills at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, focused on the future of degree apprenticeships.

The programmes, at levels six and seven, are very new, with the majority having only started this September.

But the most popular higher- or degree-level standards in 2016/17 were both in management: the level five operations/departmental manager, and the level six chartered manager degree apprenticeship.

The management framework soared in popularity over the same time period, to become the second most popular.

And levy-funded apprenticeships at higher or degree level jumped by a massive 424 per cent in September on the previous month, according to experimental Department for Education statistics, although it’s not clear which standards or frameworks these relate to.

Dame Fiona said the IfA wanted to “shift the apprenticeships up from levels one and two much more into the four, five and upwards”, and that degree apprenticeships were “absolutely key to this”.

Mr Dawe called degree apprenticeships “a game-changer” that had given apprenticeships a “brand” that “will lift us up”.

“There will be some very sharp-elbowed middle class parents knocking everyone else out of the way to get their kids into a non-debt apprenticeship with a degree and a salary,” he cautioned. “Why wouldn’t you do that?”

 

IfA: “A broad spectrum of apprenticeships”

The Institute for Apprenticeships’ strategic guidance sets out its commitment to boosting social mobility.

But will it take action if the inexorable rise in management apprenticeships gets in the way of this commitment, by edging out those at level two?

Dame Fiona Kendrick insisted that opening up “the whole apprenticeships brand across the spectrum” was the key to boosting both social mobility and productivity.

“At this moment we have got a broad spectrum of apprenticeships coming through, and it’s very clear there is a shift more to the higher levels, but we’re certainly not seeing that to the detriment of the level ones and twos,” she said.

The question of whether there can be too many management degree apprenticeships is “a tough one to answer”.

“What we do know is that we have to seriously upgrade our management capability,” she said, but any growth in this area should be “managed in a fair and well-distributed way”.

Nor does she think that apprenticeships would replace all management training.

“Every employer is quite clearly different, and every employer will have their own strategies on how they’re going to develop and train their managers. In certain cases, employers will continue to put funds in to do that.”

 

Higher education: Different sector, same issues

While apprenticeships are a new field for the HE sector, many of the issues raised during the UVAC conference were far from new.

Nicola Turner, head of skills at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said one of her biggest concerns is qualifications being taken out of degree apprenticeships.

“It’s not what employers want, it’s not what apprentices want,” she said.

Ongoing delays to the non-levy procurement were described as a “complete nightmare” by at least one delegate. The issue particularly affects universities as many of them don’t have an existing contract for delivering to smaller employers.

And Chris Cherry, a senior associate at the Strategic Development Network, said that the 20-per-cent off-the-job training rule was causing a particular challenge at higher levels.

A number of delegates discussed the difficulty of managing employer expectations amid ongoing delays to standards being approved for delivery.

However, one HE-specific issue was raised throughout the day: the difficulty of getting other university colleagues on side, and to adapt their usual systems and ways of working to meet the demands of employers.

For this, Neeta Barot, the business development manager at London South Bank University recommended getting someone higher up at the institution – such as a vice chancellor – to act as an advocate.