Invest in Ofsted to guarantee apprenticeship quality

This week the number of providers and employers able to directly tap into an annual £2.5 billion apprenticeship pot exceeded 2,000.

Everyone and anyone is being given a piece of the funding action, from Cambridge University, to Greggs, to one-man-band sole traders.

Regulating the quality of training in this proliferation of actors will be mission impossible for Ofsted.

But however hard monitoring and reporting on the apprenticeship delivery taking place across England is going to be, there needs to be a solid plan with substantial and additional resource.

Against a backdrop of public funding cuts, it is still vital that the Department for Education invests substantially in the inspectorate.

Failure to do so will be to fail to protect the apprenticeship brand along with any of the apprentices participating.

T-level occupational maps must be flexible

Unless there’s the space for young people to transfer the skills they learn onto another route, we risk locking them into careers they no longer want to follow, writes Julie Hyde

With just under a week to go until the Institute for Apprenticeships closes its consultation on the occupational maps for the new T-levels, there are many problems that need to be addressed.

Some are basic errors and easy to fix, but others are larger structural problems requiring thought, which I hope organisations across the sector will highlight in their responses, and decision-makers will recognise.

The maps set out the skilled occupations in the 15 new vocational education routes. Each map has pathways for possible career progression, and clusters that group together occupations with similar training requirements: shared skills, knowledge or behaviours. The core content of T-levels will be based on the chosen route and pathway, with more specialised content based on the specific occupation.

These maps will form the basis for a “coherent curriculum” and are designed to offer clear and credible routes into employment. However, as they stand, they demonstrate a lack of understanding of the occupations they cover, and the realities for young people making decisions about future careers.

How many of us are in exactly the job that we thought we would end up in at 16?

It is vital that the new qualifications have flexibility built in, and are portable. This is particularly evident in our specialist areas: education and childcare, and health and social care. In the current system, many learners start down one of these routes and end up choosing a career in another. Crucially, they can do so without having to start from scratch.

The routes do not divide as neatly in practice as they will in the new system. Occupations in these sectors require many of the same skills and attract similar personalities and learners, who know they want to work in a caring profession, but may not know exactly where their strengths and interests lie.

If the qualifications are not portable from day one, we risk closing options off – and choices made at 16 could limit career options long term. We are in danger of oversimplifying the system and forcing learners to specialise too early on.

This is unlikely to be a recipe for success. How many of us are in exactly the job that we thought we would end up in at 16? Can we really expect a 16-year-old who has an interest in working in the care sector to know confidently that they want to work with adults in a social care setting until they have experienced the work first-hand?

We know that many of our learners currently move freely between childcare, education, health, and adult social care, as their interests and priorities change.

This is important to ensure that they find a career that suits them and gives them job satisfaction – which in turn is vital to delivering the skilled, motivated workforce that these sectors require.

Under the current proposals, the social care route would be apprenticeship only, arguably a mistake.

Many of the qualifications that learners currently take to pursue occupations within the route are delivered successfully in classroom settings and there is no reason that a credible T-level route cannot be created – either as a distinct path or within the health and science route. After all, integrating health and social care is also a government priority, and the workforce is crucial to delivering this shift and will need transferable skills to make it work.

This would also allow learners to choose the mode of learning that suits them best, ensuring that they have a better chance of completing the qualification and succeeding.

If the new system does not work for learners in practice, it will ultimately fail to deliver for employers. It is vital that decision-makers ensure that learners’ needs and experiences are taken into account. We need the system to be flexible enough to allow young people to find the right path, otherwise some will fall through the cracks, and the government’s ambition to create world-class vocational education will flounder.

Julie Hyde is associate director of CACHE

Aspiring makeup artists get experience on new TV comedy series

Two aspiring makeup artists have had work experience on a new comedy series starring Jonny Vegas, Mackenzie Crook and Emma Thompson.

Middlebrough College makeup artistry students Aimie Carr, 19, and Emma Dodds (pictured), 17, spent several days working on the set of the new production, which has not yet been revealed to the public, honing the skills acquired on their level three advanced technical diploma.

The pair also experienced the challenges of makeup continuity and a demanding filming schedule.

Following their placement, Benidorm star Johnny Vegas has requested their skills for another shoot taking place in the north-east.

“It’s very easy for students to get star struck in situations like this, particularly as the crew work, eat lunch and relax with the cast,” said Heather Ferguson, the college’s hair and media makeup course leader who organised the placement. “This didn’t phase Aimie and Emma, and they showed total professionalism at all times.”

Emma added: “It was a fantastic experience to be able to work on a real production, and it’s confirmed to me that a career in media makeup is exciting and rewarding.”

Ghanaian ministers visit UK college to learn about vocational education

Delegates from the Ghanaian Ministry of Education and National Teaching Council visited New City College’s Hackney campus to learn more about vocational education.

The visit was organised by the British Council to aid the Ghanaian government in their drive to develop technical and vocational education in the country.

As part of the trip, the guests toured the campus, observed carpentry and hospitality training sessions, and took part in a round table with college managers, where they discussed how staff were recruited and trained, and the benefit of vocational training to students.

“We were delighted to welcome our visitors to the campus, and to share our experiences with the key people who will be able to impact the development of skills training and education in Ghana,” said Richard Surtees, New City College’s director of international.

“We were impressed with what we have seen and hope that through this visit we can improve technical and vocational educational training in Ghana,” added
Enoch Cobbinah, the director of Ghana’s Ministry of Education.

Former battery hens wear jumpers knitted by learners

Bald hens at Reaseheath College are keeping warm with jumpers knitted for them by learners.

The 12 former battery hens had never been outside before and had poor feathering as a result, so animal behaviour students pulled together to knit the woolly outfits to keep them warm in the cold weather.

Free-range fashion

Since joining the college, the hens have already started to grow new feathers, and students are closely monitoring their progress and behaviour as they transition to free-range hens at the college’s onsite zoo.

The hens are just over a year old, and were adopted by the college from the British Hen Welfare Trust, a rehoming charity for commercial laying hens destined for slaughter.

“The hens responded very quickly by showing natural behaviour such as perching and scratching the ground, and will hopefully go on to enjoy long and happy lives with us,” said Lauren Lane, head keeper at the college.

“It looks like they’re being thoroughly spoilt which is the kind of life we want for all our ex-battery hens,” added Francesca Taffs, communications officer for the British Hen Welfare Trust. “While the jumpers are not something we would generally recommend for rehomer use, it’s clear these little ladies are being monitored and cared for closely.”

WATCH: The Reaseheath College hens get their jumpers fitted

National College for Motorsport receives national recognition

The National College for Motorsport (NC4M) has been recognised for its services to the motorsport industry, reports Samantha King.

The college, which was established in 2003, was presented the MIA Service to Industry Award at the Motorsport Industry Association’s Business Excellence Awards in January, attended by representatives from across the motor industry, including people from Bentley, British Aerospace and Porsche.

Students get to work on Lewis Hamilton’s car

Categories at the awards included the ‘teamwork award’, ‘technology and innovation award’ and ‘business of the year with annual sales over £5 million award’. Winners in each category were voted for by industry professionals and MIA members.

The NC4M was up against Ginetta, a specialist builder of racing and sports cars, the service charity Mission Motorsport and the Warwick Manufacturing Group in the ‘service to the industry’ category, and was the only educational establishment to receive an award at the event.

The college won for its performance in training, guiding young people into apprenticeships as race mechanics, and its “dedication to the future of motorsport”, a spokesperson for MIA said.

“The MIA represents all aspects of the industry at the highest level so it is especially nice for them to recognise our work,” said Chris Weller, a motorsport apprenticeship assessor at NC4M, who accepted the award on behalf of the college. “The majority of our students go onto to work within the industry, some working in Formula One and in teams based all over the world.

“We provide specialist training and the feedback we receive from the industry is that we get it right – they want to employ our students.”

Based at the Silverstone Circuit, the college is part of Tresham College and the Bedford College Group, and was the first college in the UK to achieve the Motorsport Academy employer recognition scheme charter mark for training race mechanics.

Jungle-themed murals displayed in hospital’s radiography department

New animal murals now festoon the walls of a hospital’s radiography department to help cheer up children who have to go in for X-rays.

Painted by Barnet and Southgate College’s level three art and design students, the two large murals depicting colourful jungle scenes are on display at Barnet Hospital, and formed part of a work experience module to come up with a creative distraction for patients.

Aoife Drummond (and panda)

The paintings took two weeks to complete, and pupils from nearby Brunswick Park Primary School raised £250 through cake sales and a school tuck shop to pay for paints and other materials.

“It has been a great experience working on the mural,” said 18-year-old student Aoife Drummond, who painted the panda in the mural. “It’s lovely to hear the positive comments from staff and the school children.”

“We are very grateful for their huge commitment,” added Dr Steve Shaw, chief executive of Barnet Hospital. “It will make the experience at hospital a hundred times better for the children who will need to come here for their X-rays.”

Movers and Shakers: Edition 233

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving

Louise Harris, Managing director, Alder Training

Start date: December 2017
Previous job: Operations director, Your Housing Group
Interesting fact: Louise is an identical twin, which she says can come in handy at times. She won’t reveal why.

____________________________________________

Alison Munro, Chair, the National College for High Speed Rail

Start date: November 2017
Previous job: Advisor to HS2 and non-executive director, Ofwat (ongoing)
Interesting fact: Alison previously led the strategy and implementation plans for a £6 billion programme for advanced management of motorways, working for the Department for Transport.

____________________________________________

Altaf Hussain, Principal, Luton Sixth Form College

Start date: September 2018
Previous job: Vice-principal for students and quality, Luton Sixth Form College
Interesting fact: One of Altaf’s earliest childhood memories is washing his Action Man and hanging him out to dry on the washing line. He can still vividly see him clinging on for dear life as the wind blew.

____________________________________________

Fay Gibbin, CEO, BB Training Academy

Start date: January 2018
Previous job: Training manager, BB Training Academy
Interesting fact: As a new year’s resolution, Fay began learning to ski, and hopes by next year she’ll be able to keep up with her children on the slopes.

____________________________________________

Seb Schmoller, Chair of governors, the Sheffield College

Start date: January 2018
Previous job: Chief executive, Association for Learning Technology
Interesting fact: Seb is an avid Nordic ski-tourer and cyclist, previously winning a Brompton world championship team event in 2010.

 

If you want to let us know of any new faces at the top of your college, training provider or awarding organisation please let us know by emailing news@feweek.co.uk

Cambridge University and Greggs among 354 organisations added to register of apprenticeship training providers

The government increased the size of the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP) by 354 today, pushing the total to 2,187 organisations with direct access to funding and in scope for Ofsted inspection.

The number of apprenticeship providers now in scope for Ofsted inspection, assuming the vast majority recruit level two and three apprentices, has now more than doubled since the levy reforms were introduced last year. 

The majority of successful organisations in this third official application window are private companies, 12 of which have yet to file their first set of accounts with Companies House.

In addition, 15 universities, including the University of Cambridge, join the register taking the total number of universities on RoATP to just over 100. Under current arrangements, degree level apprenticeships will be inspected by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and where there is a prescribed HE qualification contained within an apprenticeship at Levels 4 to 5, this will be done jointly with Ofsted.

Funding allocations for 2016/17 suggest that prior to the introduction of RoAPT there were 837 providers in scope for inspection and in the same year Ofsted inspected 189 providers on the delivery of their apprenticeships.

In a wide ranging FE Week interview last March, the Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman was asked about the impact of RoATP, which Ms Spielman said included “a lot of people with very limited experience and potentially quite a lot of fragmentation,”

When pressed on a prediction that the number of providers would exceed 2000, against a backdrop of ongoing budget reductions at Ofsted, Ms Spielman said she and Paul Joyce, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE and skills, were “worried”.

Earlier this month, at a recent Public Accounts Committee hearing, Ms Spielman said: “This is something that I raised last year with Jonathan Slater [the permanent secretary at the Department for Education], that if the levy policy was a success then a lot of these new providers are going to come on stream and start having learners and we expect to have more work and need more resource to do that,” she said.

“We had the acknowledgement that the more work we had the greater resource we would need,” she added.

“We haven’t got a specific resource increase because we don’t know how many of these [new providers] will come on stream with a volume of learners. But we have the acknowledgement in principle that this will be required.”

The following day the issue was also raised during an Education Select Committee session as part of the inquiry into apprenticeship quality.

Joe Dromey, a senior research fellow for the policy think-tank IPPR, warned apprenticeship numbers and Ofsted resource was “going in opposite directions”.

Of the 354 additions, 61 are employer providers that can now directly access their own levy funding and include household names such as the Salvation Army, Greggs, British Airways, River Island and Lloyds Bank.

And the 2,187 total does not include the 114 organisations added to the 276 with ‘supporting provider’ status taking their total to 390 on RoATP.

Providers catagorised as ‘supporting’ cannot access funding directly. They can only subcontract from one of the main providers up to the value of £500,000 per year and are not directly in scope for Ofsted inspection.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has so far completed three official RoAPT application windows, and as reported by FE Week last September, is currently reviewing the process.

For more information and analysis see the next edition of FE Week.