HTQs should be at front of Labour’s growth levy queue, say researchers

Higher technical qualifications “should be a strong contender” for funding from Labour’s expanded skills and growth levy, say policy and research experts at Public First.

Modelling by the consultancy firm, shared exclusively with FE Week, shows pushing employers to boost investment in level 4 and 5 courses through the levy could generate up to £12.3 billion in lifetime earnings.

Labour has pledged to replace the existing apprenticeship levy with a “growth and skills levy” that would allow businesses to spend up to 50 per cent of their contributions on a wider range of training qualifications.

The party’s proposed new body, Skills England, will be tasked with creating a list of approved qualifications on which businesses can flexibly spend their levy money. 

Public First’s modelling, based on existing wage return research, set out to explore the impact of Labour’s levy changes.

It found higher technical qualifications (HTQs) are already available in the subjects Labour has said it will prioritise, align to occupational standards set by employers and can be taken flexibly, including by those in work, as they are “well suited” to a modular approach.

Public First also said previous government-commissioned reviews, including the 2018 Augar review of post-18 education, highlighted level 4 and 5 provision as a “missing middle” that could help meet demand for technical skills and boost productivity.

The consultancy firm’s modelling worked by breaking down spend of the apprenticeship levy by levy payers for the financial year 2021-22. Of the total DfE apprenticeship budget for that year of just over £2.4 billion, just under £1.6 billion was spent by levy payers on apprenticeships, with just over £800 million then recycled to non-levy payers.

Assuming employer spending behaviour does not change under the new growth and skills levy, Public First’s model finds “substantial benefits” from using the flexible levy portion to fund greater uptake of HTQs, with a benefit-cost ratio of 15:1.

It said if all £800 million of the levy not spent by levy payers was spent on HTQs, the “total lifetime economic return of such newly trained individuals could reach £12.3 billion”.

Under a more realistic scenario that Labour uses, a phased approach with 30 per cent of the flexible levy directed to HTQs “could result in 58,000 new qualifications and £7.8 billion in lifetime economic gains”, according to Public First.

This modelling assumes Labour would backfill the apprenticeship budget for non-levy payers, to ensure that spending on non-apprenticeship qualifications does not displace the overall number of apprenticeship starts.

Public First director Mike Crowhurst said: “Level 4 and 5 have long been the ‘missing middle’ in our skills system. Encouraging employers to use levy funds for these qualifications could stimulate demand for them and produce significant wage gains for workers – helping to deliver Labour’s goals on economic growth.”

There are around 163 HTQs currently approved for delivery by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

IfATE loses 30 staff in DfE cash cuts

The government’s apprenticeships quango has lost 30 staff after being ordered to find savings by the Department for Education.

Headcount at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has reduced to 282 following a voluntary exit scheme launched this year.

One of the big-name departures is second-in-command Rob Nitsch, IfATE’s current delivery director and a former chief operating officer. He stepped down to take over as chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies next month.

IfATE did not share information about which other departments had lost staff or how much their exits would save the organisation.

Staff costs at the quango ballooned from £14.4 million in 2020-21 to £21.5 million in 2022-23 as additional responsibilities were handed to the institute through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act.

In that period the institute’s hiring spree led to its average full-time equivalent staff figure growing from 200 to over 300.

The institute told FE Week in March it was embarking on a “reorganisation in line with wider civil service efficiency savings”.

FE Week understands the new Labour government is gearing up for further changes to IfATE’s workforce as it embarks on its plan for a new body called Skills England to oversee its skills strategy. Restructures could come as soon as next week.

READ MORE: Rob Nitsch moves to FAB

Launched in 2017 to spearhead the government’s apprenticeship reforms, IfATE, then known as the Institute for Apprenticeships, has seen its responsibilities and workforce expand in the past seven years.

“Technical Education” was added to the quango’s name and brief in 2019 as the authority also took over the content of T Levels and procurement for awarding organisations.

The institute had around 80 full-time staff in its first year of operation.

IfATE was handed new powers as set out in the 2021 FE white paper and skills bill, such as defining and approving new categories of technical qualifications as well as reviewing those already on offer and withdrawing their approval where they were no longer performing as expected.

The Staffroom: As the holidays approach, beware of The Slump

There are certain experiences so universal among a group that their naming is simple.

In teaching, there’s The Dream. This dream usually goes along the lines of apprehension, fear and the unmasking of incompetence.

For me, the Dream tends to involve something like being brought into a year 9 class halfway through a lesson and halfway through the year. (I haven’t taught Year 9 for over 25 years.) I know none of the students’ names. They are running riot, and without their names I can’t control them. I am supposed to be teaching them Physics. Except I don’t know a thing about it.

It is, quite literally, a nightmare. But that is just the universal teacher experience of The Dream.

There is also The Slump, which is no doubt equally familiar to everyone in education.

You are running on full throttle, working 50- to 60-hour weeks and putting things off until summer comes. You pass the point of normal tiredness. You’re using up reserves. Then you’re running on empty.

Thankfully the holidays arrive. At first, it’s a weekend like any other. You don’t even notice. You spend some time with the kids, you do some work. Like any other weekend. Then, on Monday morning, you get up later than normal (after waking bang-on as normal), and something happens.

Maybe you carry on with your work, trying to get it done at the start of the break so you can relax later. And you make the fateful decision to take today off. A reward. You clean the house. You go into town for lunch.

And then out jumps The Slump to club you about the back of the head. 

The Slump is that moment in a break when you feel yourself jolt as you come off the escalator. Your mood drops. Your energy is gone. You ponder the meaning of existence. You wonder how much longer you can go on in life like this. You crash.

The technical term for it is leisure sickness

That’s The Slump. Then all those things you so looked forward to doing don’t really gleam like you thought they would. You don’t relax over that coffee as much as you thought you would. Because you’re living in the shadow of the Slump.

The thing is, the Slump doesn’t last. It’s fleeting and it’s normal. So let yourself slump. But then get yourself back up again. There’s a break there waiting, a well-earned pause in proceedings that is not to be wasted. 

The technical term for The Slump is leisure sickness. It is common and seems to hinge around the movement from work to non-work. It may be a reaction to a drop in the stress hormones which have kept us going and, ironically, kept us healthy. The safe moment to slump comes and our bodies make the most of it. 

The presence of The Slump in your life should come as no surprise if you are a teacher, but it should come as a warning.

I have learned a thing or two over my years of teaching others. I have found that taking work home was a false economy, since that work took longer to do at home than it did at work.

When my kids were younger, I had no choice about timings: I had to drop them at school or pick them up afterwards. However, as they have grown I have tried to keep my work at work, even if that means going in earlier or coming home later.

When I have managed this, The Slump has not reared its head but slumbered on, undisturbed. 

So my advice is simple. Trace the shape of your slump. Mark out its boundaries. Notice when it appears, time how long it lasts, see when it has passed. And try to ease yourself into the break.

Really, approaching a holiday as a race to the line is always going to be a disaster. That is like driving into a corner at full speed; you will only career off the road. Slow into the break. Keep the work at work as far as you can.

And when you are home, work can then stay in its place. 

A new government must recognise the many benefits of college-based 14-16 provision

Properly resourced, colleges can dramatically improve the outlook for young people who are not enjoying and often not attending more traditional forms of 14-16 education. A new government must consider them as part of the solution to some of the challenges facing schools and the economy.

Leeds City College’s 14+ Academies offer a different environment and level of support for young people to complete valuable GCSE qualifications while also gaining a vocational element to their studies. The different environment, culture and level of support on offer has proven particularly effective in engaging young people disenfranchised by a more traditional approach to 14-16 education.

And demand for this provision far outstrips supply. Each year, almost 2,000 enquiries compete for the 110 places we can offer. What might the number be nationally?

These high levels of demand are indicative of how traditional 14-16 education is failing to effectively meet the needs of all learners. Our 14+ learners often come from challenging backgrounds, with many having experienced mental health issues, bullying or special educational needs. Parents and carers regularly tell us our 14+ Academies provide an invaluable ‘lifeline’ to children.

Although currently underutilised, further education colleges sit in a unique position to provide more tailored and engaging support to learners whose needs are not being met. They can also support traditional 14-16 education settings by taking on provision that they would otherwise struggle to offer.

Often, the failure of traditional schooling to cater for diverse learner circumstances and needs further disenfranchises those young people. This leads to falling levels of attendance as they progress to increasingly important years of their education. This process can be seriously detrimental.

As well as options to take core GCSE subjects, Leeds City College’s 14+ Academies students also have access to specialist English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) or P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) courses.

2,000 enquiries compete for the 110 places we can offer

Colleges can also offer practical, technical forms of education that are out of reach for traditional 14-16 settings. Through our 14+ Academies, we know that teaching technical skills that young people can see will benefit them in the world of work motivates and empowers students to succeed in subjects that would otherwise not have interested them, like English and maths.

Sometimes, it is the positive experience they encounter when pursuing a technical subject that encourages them into more academic forms of education. Other times, it can be the realisation that maths and English can be a requirement to pursue the technical option they have enjoyed at a higher level.

This impact is so great, in fact, that we frequently witness 14+ Academies students go on to pursue A levels that they would have thought completely out of reach beforehand.

There is general consensus that our education system should better encourage uptake of technical subjects. Likewise, the economic case for more young people to pursue technical subjects to tackle shortages in critical roles across the economy is well understood.

Expanding college-based 14-16 provision could play a significant role in widening the bridge young people cross when travelling from academic to technical education. This could increase the overall number of post-16 students taking up vocational forms of study – and succeeding first time in their English and maths GCSEs.

There is another facet of the economic argument for college-based provision of 14-16 education too. If our 14+ students were not attending the Academies, most would be in Alternative Provision or Pupil Referral Units. Such settings cost taxpayers around twice as much per student as our 14+ Academies and secure far poorer outcomes in the process.

The Association of Colleges is currently working with IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, on a Nuffield-funded research project exploring the offer to and experience of 14 to 16-year-olds in colleges, and what enables them to achieve their full potential and flourish.

Whatever the colour of the incoming government, a review of the funding behind colleges’ capacity to deliver this type of provision could prove incredibly valuable. So too would establishing local pilots to gather detailed data on their impact.

If we are serious about finding ways to improve outcomes for young people whose needs are not met by mainstream school environments, then this is a great place to start.

Inspiring Festival of Learning award winners 2024 honoured

A single mother who retrained as a carpenter, a life turned around by GP-prescribed learning and a bakery school for unemployed refugees have all won awards at this year’s Festival of Learning.

The festival, run by Learning and Work Institute (L&W), is a long-running annual celebration of adults who have used learning to transform their lives.

Its twelve award winners include both individuals and organisations that highlight how lifelong learning can offer “endless possibilities,” said Stephen Evans, L&W’s chief executive.

He added: “We know from our annual adult participation in learning survey that adults in England have a greater appetite for learning than ever – and that they’re investing billions of pounds’ worth of time and money on their own futures.

“On the eve of the general election, we’re calling on the next government to meet that ambition from individuals with its own higher ambition, achieved by getting employers training, helping people into learning, and building a better, more joined-up skills system.”

The single-mother carpenter

This year’s ‘new directions’ award winner, Shez Grigg, is a single mother who spent a decade working in food retail before turning to a career in carpentry and joinery after studying at Bolton College.

Aged 29, she enrolled on a construction multi-skills course, which she completed alongside a full-time job and caring for her daughter. She went on to gain a level 2 diploma in carpentry and joinery.

Finding a job in the “male-dominated industry” was difficult, but she now has a full-job which has had a “completely transformative” impact on her life.

She said: “I’m constantly challenged and inspired by the work I do, finding fulfilment and pride in every project.

“It’s not only given me a deep sense of purpose, but a good work and life balance, with structured hours that allow me to spend more time with my daughter.”

Paul Eeles, chief executive of award sponsor Skills and Education Group, said the award shows it is “never too late” to try something different and develop new skills.

GP-prescribed learning

A learner who struggled with a “chaotic and unmanageable lifestyle” turned her life around partly thanks to courses prescribed by her GP.

Angie Collard won the ‘return to learning’ award after taking five courses with the Bournemouth Churches Housing Association learning service including personal wellbeing, self-care techniques and chi gong, a meditation technique.

She described herself as a school “drop out” without qualifications, but is now thinking about applying to study at college or university.

Angie added: “Along with having a sense of purpose, my horizons have broadened, and I strongly feel that I am a useful and productive member of my community.”

Other celebrated learners include Susannah Goulding, who won the ‘learning for health’ award for studying art at City Lit after being diagnosed with incurable metastatic cancer.

‘Learning for work’ award winner Wayne Hardman is a former painter decorator who retrained for a site coordinator role in the rail industry after finding himself out of work during the pandemic.

Awards for organisations

Organisations that won awards include Breadwinners, a charity that aims to support refugees and asylum seekers into work through a bakery that sells bread on market stalls and wholesale.

The London and Brighton-based charity, which won the ’employer’ award, says it has helped more than five hundred refugees and young people seeking asylum by providing them with work experience, training and personal mentors.

Similarly, Code Your Future won the ‘learning with technology’ award for helping more than 250 marginalised adults into work through its offer of free technology and soft skills training.

The BEGIN project, set up by Nottingham College, won the ‘president’ award for creating a “one-stop-shop” for English as a Second Language learners which coordinates courses across the city to reduce waiting lists.

Five elephant traps to avoid in crafting a lifelong skills strategy

Since the election was called, I have emphasised to politicians that adult education and skills development is for all, not just level 3 and above.

The stats are alarming: government has cut investment by £1 billion since 2010; employers are investing 26 per cent less in training per employee than 2005; 17 per cent of adults lack a level 2 qualification; and 9 million have poor essential skills.

Traditional education failed these adults, and the previous government ignored them.

Adult community education (ACE) faces huge challenges. It needs to inspire adults to overcome their fear and anxiety of learning. But despite a 40 per cent austerity budget cut, ACE centres, colleges and institutions still educate over 400,000 learners annually in more than 10,000 venues, with 97 per cent rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. They could do more with government support.

The adults they teach and train often have disrupted educational backgrounds and are just starting to gain qualifications and skills. They lack a voice, so we urge the new government to prioritise education and skills programmes for them.

This renewed focus will soon pay for itself through enhanced productivity, increased economic benefits and improved wellbeing.

However, it’s crucial that a new government avoids the mistakes of its predecessors and develops a robust, lifelong learning strategy that is government-wide, led by a senior minister with cross-government responsibilities, inclusive of all ages and levels, delivered in all settings and underpinned by statute.

It will be easy for new ministers to accept a simple repackaging, but the sector needs more. In that vein, here are five elephant traps to avoid:

A single departmental Lifelong Learning Strategy

Creating a successful lifelong learning strategy is akin to navigating a minefield, with pitfalls created by previous administrations. Treating skills development in isolation is like cooking with only salt – bland and ineffective.

Integrate lifelong learning with broader economic and wellbeing plans for a cohesive approach. A lifelong learning strategy should be the responsibility of all government departments and underpin industrial, employment, health and migration strategies.

Ignoring the student voice

We all know the adage that you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Remember it is only the student who does the learning. If they are not on side, the programme will fail. So listen to their voice.

A new government could start with helping with living costs, for example, enabling students on courses below level three to draw down a grant, access maintenance loans, or carry-on claiming universal credit.

Not acknowledging local context and needs

What works in a bustling city won’t necessarily work in rural areas. Too many new programmes were designed in Whitehall. If we are keeping Local Skills Improvement Plans, expand them to cover all adults, not just those at level 3 and above.

Implementation needs to be local and at council ward level, so empower local authorities through statute to lead, because they know their communities best.

Insufficient engagement with those who deliver

Developing policies in an echo chamber is like planning a surprise party for someone without asking what they like – awkward! So don’t forget adult community education. We are out there and know what adults want and need.

Consult not just with businesses, but educators and communities to keep the new strategy grounded in reality and avoid embarrassing surprises.

Centralised control can stifle creativity. Allow educators to design flexible, adaptive programmes that respond to economic changes and technological advancements.

Creating an unfair funding system

Current post-16 budget allocations favour those who did well in school, and the system creates inefficiencies. Lifelong learning should be prioritised to ensure continuous personal and professional growth for all, so fund adult education properly to allow everyone the opportunity to succeed.

The adult skills budget has been reduced by 49 per cent since 2010. Cutting that funding without considering the consequences has led to 7 million fewer qualifications being achieved. The unintended consequences: poor productivity and increased reliance on foreign workers. Adequate funding is crucial to maintain a skilled workforce.

By avoiding these elephant traps, a new government can develop a veritable spend-to-save lifelong learning strategy – and that’s a policy win-win.

Labour’s plans for economic growth put FE at the heart of their agenda

Today could mark a shift in the fortunes of the post-16 education and skills sector, with a new Labour government committed to some potentially radical changes, even if there is unlikely to be lots of new investment in the short term.

New ministers will want to move quickly on some things to show that change is happening. They will probably announce some reviews and make some key early decisions (on things like pausing qualifications reform and school and college pay, for instance), while leaving bigger-ticket items until the Autumn when they’ve had time to consider things more fully.

At AoC, we have been working hard to influence the new government, both in public and behind closed doors, to ensure that any policies or reforms introduced work for colleges, their students, employers and communities.

I was pleased to see our ideas reflected in the pledges in many of the manifestos: it’s clear that colleges are viewed as essential anchor institutions by the Labour party and key to the delivery of many of their manifesto commitments in education and beyond.

If they get Skills England right, it should help ensure that the new industrial strategy includes clear implementation plans and investment for the skills and training that are needed to underpin their economic growth ambitions.

In our recent reports, including 100% Opportunity England published in April, we’ve been calling for a new post-16 tertiary system. So it was pleasing to see that Labour has committed to establishing Skills England and setting a new post-16 strategy.  

Those would be a great start, but we also need a strong young person’s guarantee, demand-led adult funding and a wide-ranging and forward-looking national review of curriculum and qualifications to help move to an effective, efficient and fair tertiary system.

We’ve tried to help this system thinking in other publications including our 14 in-depth policy papers, a detailed paper published by Work Advance and commissioned by AoC, which explores the role of a new national social partnership body (like Skills England), and proposals for the future of local skills improvement plans (LSIPs).

The case for investing in what colleges can offer is strong

This approach to a post-16 system will take time, but if done well it could lead to streamlined accountability arrangements for colleges and more flexibility for them to meet learner and employer needs.

There are urgent decisions for new ministers to make on their commitment to a pause and review on qualification reform as well as on college pay, which we will be keen to discuss.

More exciting, though, is the prospect of a wider reform of curriculum and assessment. This should be looking to the future and not hamstrung by the past, thinking creatively about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in assessment as well as teaching.

In the autumn, we will publish another important report in partnership with the Bell Foundation, This will focus on what needs to change in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and adult education to ensure all learners have access to the education they need to help them thrive.

As the adult education budget (and therefore most ESOL funding) is devolved to the mayoral combined authorities (MCAs), we have worked with them closely on this report. With Labour mayors in 11 of the 12 MCAs, we are keen to generate a debate about how an enhanced adult budget could support their ambitions for inclusive and fair economic growth.

We know that budgets for public services will be tight in the next few years, but the case for investing in what colleges can offer is strong: for the economic growth Labour has talked so much about, for fairness, and for a more tolerant and inclusive society. We will continue to make that case with the new government.

There has never been a stronger recognition that colleges are essential institutions and need to be nurtured and engaged. I am confident that this government knows that an investment in colleges is a worthwhile one and that in the medium term the funding will come.

In Manchester and nationally, Labour is on a skills mission

The biggest challenge facing our new government is how to kickstart productivity and deliver economic growth. I believe the answer to that challenge lies in rewiring our faulty education system so that all young people can achieve their potential.

That’s why, in September, Greater Manchester will become the first UK city-region to offer a genuine and equal alternative to the university route.

Last year, I set out my vision for a Greater Manchester Baccalaureate (or MBacc) to give all young people a clear line of sight to high-quality jobs. Since then, working with teachers, employers and young people, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has set out to tackle a fundamental imbalance in policy, which has too long neglected technical education.

Here, only a third of young people take the university route. Yet our education system is designed around that minority. Every year, thousands of young people pay the price.

The English Baccalaureate is a case in point. EBacc subjects are geared towards what top universities value, not what our young people and employers need. The last government wanted 90 per cent of pupils to enrol in EBacc by 2025, but only 40 per cent enrolled last year and only one-quarter of 16-year-olds achieved a standard pass in all EBacc subjects.

Meanwhile, the range of GCSEs chosen by students has shrunk and the curriculum has drifted further from the needs of the labour market.

In contrast, the MBacc will guide year nine students to the subjects employers value most. Its seven sector gateways have been designed using local labour market data, with the help of some of our most prestigious employers, to prepare young people for the jobs of the future.

Digital skills will be hard-wired into the MBacc and each gateway will be brought to life by real-world experience of the workplace – built in from day one.

We’ve developed our ambitious plan at a time when educational institutions are feeling beleaguered, battling heroically to do more with less.

Not a single person has said the status quo should remain

Their first battle is with uncertainty. The last government announced plans to defund level 3 applied technical qualifications like BTECs. Labour promised to review that policy, but if they don’t reverse it thousands of young people, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, will be left with no viable level 3 pathway, adding to the number those not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

On top of this, institutions are navigating an apprenticeship landscape that’s seen a shift away from early-career development towards older workers who already hold higher-level qualifications. And with a growing 16-18 cohort, the technical education system is quite simply running out of places.

Despite, or perhaps because of this backdrop, our MBacc proposals have been welcomed by many teachers and employers alike. There has, of course, been constructive debate around the challenges and opportunities our vision presents and how best to take it forward. But what has struck me most is that not a single person has said the status quo should or can remain.

It’s because these changes are so important and so urgent that I’ve challenged the system to come together to co-develop and roll out the first steps for the new academic year.

Next week, 200 of Greater Manchester’s educators, school, college, university, and careers leaders will come together to share progress and to launch co-developed resources and activities that will be tested with years 9 and 11 in 2024/25.

They’ll be joined by employers, without whom the MBacc would not be possible – including our Employer Integration Board, made up of leaders from the seven gateway sectors.

Ours is a bold shared ambition for our young people. We know it will be challenging to deliver, but this is a moment of maximum opportunity. Devolution has given us new levers to solve our problems, and now a new government has a clear mandate for change and five ambitious national missions that recognise the power of place-based approaches.

I often say that there are young people growing up in Greater Manchester who can see the obvious signs of our thriving economy, but not the way to a job within it. In this, my third term as Mayor, my priority is to build a clear route for them – so everyone can share in our city-region’s success.

Lifetime Training revives with Ofsted grade 2

England’s largest apprenticeship provider has returned to a ‘good’ Ofsted rating after a turbulent period.

Lifetime Training was praised by the watchdog in a report published today that revealed achievement rates are up 15 percentage points in just a year amid “substantial” improvements in apprentices’ learning experiences.

The provider has stopped working with multiple national employers that were refusing to release apprentices for off-the-job training, worked “more effectively” with employers to ensure apprentices study the right qualifications, and overseen a “careful” redesign of the curriculum for each apprenticeship.

David Smith, who became chief executive of Lifetime in July 2023, said: “We’ve made significant investments in quality, technology, and most importantly our people since our last inspection and have ambitious plans for the future. This rating, for us, is validation of that work and the progress we have made to date.”

Lifetime, which offers over 40 different apprenticeships to around 20,000 people, had long-held a ‘good’ Ofsted grade but was dropped to ‘requires improvement’ in 2022.

It trains apprentices in industries that historically have had a high attrition rate and have been particularly affected by the recent pandemic, such as hospitality, retail, care, business admin, public services, leisure, and early years.

The previous inspection criticised the provider for a focus on financial performance and starts over quality, as well as a lack of face-to-face teaching, off-the-job training and poor achievement rates.

Since then, Lifetime has changed its chief executive and chair twice, and was last year sold by private equity parent Silverfleet Capital to the company’s lenders Alcentra. 

It is currently engaged in a major clawback dispute worth millions with the Department for Education about overclaimed additional learner support funding, which FE Week understands is nearing its conclusion.

Today’s Ofsted report was full of compliments about Lifetime’s focus on quality improvements since the previous inspection.

It said Lifetime has increased the proportion of training it delivers face-to-face, which was previously mostly online, and pulled away from some employers who were unable to release apprentices for their training.

FE Week understands the firm has exited partnerships with less than 15 businesses (which is less than 5 per cent of its partnership base) but Lifetime wouldn’t name who they were.

The provider was also delivering advanced learner loans to a few hundred adults at the point of their last inspection but has since forfeited that contract to consolidate the business.

One key area of improvement related to Lifetime’s qualification achievement rates, which sat at 35 per cent in 2022/23. Ofsted’s report said the proportion of the provider’s apprenticeship completing and achieving their programme has now increased to half – around the same level as 2018/19.

Inspectors said: “The new leadership team has taken swift and effective actions to improve the quality of apprentices’ education and training. This includes a considerable investment in the development of the learning coaches’ teaching skills. Because of these decisive actions, apprentices’ learning experiences have improved substantially.”

Leaders have also worked more effectively with employers to ensure that apprentices “study the right qualifications, receive timely support, and take part in good quality training during their working hours”.

This has helped to reduce the proportion of apprentices who are taking a break from learning or studying beyond their planned end date by about half, the report said.

Lifetime has also “carefully redesigned the curriculum for each apprenticeship” since the last inspection. 

Inspectors found: “They have identified clearly what they want apprentices to know and be able to do when they complete the training. As a result of leaders working more closely with employers, apprentices study content that is current and relevant to their industry.”

There has also been “substantial improvements” to the design and teaching of the English and mathematics functional skills, Ofsted said.

Lucy Auchincloss, partnership development director at Lifetime, said: “We are pleased the inspection team recognised the considerable amount of effort which has been focused on improving learning experiences over the last few years.”