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Lowest percentage of colleges rated ‘outstanding’

The number of colleges with top marks from Ofsted has fallen to its lowest ever level this week, after Blackburn College slumped to a shock grade three.

New analysis by FE Week has uncovered a downward grading spiral for general FE colleges over the last 10 years.

Just one college has received an ‘outstanding’ grade, across the 124 full inspections that the inspectorate has carried out since the latest Common Inspection Framework (CIF) was introduced in September 2015.

An average of 11 colleges received grade ones every year between 2005/06 and 2014/15. The most successful year was 2007/08, when 37 of the 133 colleges inspected (28 per cent) were given full marks.

The overall percentage of general FE Colleges with a grade one has now fallen to just 13 per cent, or 26 out of 205 colleges.

The number of colleges graded either ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ has also fallen to a record low, of just 69 per cent.

This grading spiral has happened despite several mergers over the last two years, which saw several poorly performing colleges removed from the stats as they joined their better-graded neighbours.

Colleges had been hoping that the inspection regime might soften under Ofsted’s new chief inspector Amanda Spielman – something that has so far not materialised.

David Corke, director of education and skills policy at the Association of Colleges, said it was “clear” that Ms Spielman is “fully committed” to inspecting colleges based on evidence but that it would take time for her to introduce changes to the new CIF.

“The CIF predates [her] arrival and it takes time to introduce changes to an existing framework which is deeply linked to current government policy,” he told FE Week.

An Ofsted spokesperson insisted that under Ms Spielman’s lead, Ofsted would continue to “treat the FE sector with the same rigour, and with the same regard to the evidence, as any other area we inspect”, adding: “That is what colleges and their students deserve.”

The latest college to lose its grade one was Blackburn College, which crashed to ‘requires improvement’ in a report published April 4. It had not been inspected for nearly a decade.

Two other former ‘outstanding’ colleges, Bury College and Holy Cross College in Manchester, were also revisited earlier this year after 10 years without inspection and both found themselves tumbling to grade threes.

The only college to be given a grade one since the new CIF came into play has been Truro and Penwith College in Cornwall. Its report, published in April last year, saw Ofsted return the highest possible rating for six headline fields, including leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for learners, and 16-to-19 study programmes.

Ms Spielman, who took the reins from Sir Michael Wilshaw in January, has made it clear that the inspectorate would consider scrapping the ‘outstanding’ grade now she is in charge.

She told MPs on the education select committee last June that getting rid of the rating was “something I would like to see fully discussed”, following criticism that FE providers and schools are given a false impression when they’re labelled with it.

But in an interview with FE Week editor Nick Linford in March, Ms Spielman said that although there were “many cuts possible” to Ofsted grades, the trade-offs “have to be looked at and you have to have some degree of acceptance by all stakeholders involved that this is going to serve the various purposes”.

She added that she didn’t see the removal of grades “as something for me with my scythe and armour”.

DfE ditches Boles back-to-school plan for apprentices

A plan to force apprentices to go back into schools and promote apprenticeships has seemingly been dumped just a year after it was announced by the former skills minister.

Nick Boles told the parliamentary sub-committee on education, skills and the economy last April that the government would introduce the “commitment on the part of an apprentice and of the apprentice’s employer”, an idea that was welcomed by the Confederation of British Industry.

Mr Boles first mentioned the idea in October 2015 at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, when he proposed “asking every apprentice to sign a simple contact”, requiring them to return to their schools when they’d finished their training and “talk about the values of the apprenticeship they did”.

But the government has been quiet on the scheme since Mr Boles resigned last July – prompting FE Week to ask the Department for Education if the plan had been scrapped.

A spokesperson stopped short of confirming a cancellation, but admitted that there was now “no obligation” for apprentices to go back into schools, adding: “Our Get In Go Far campaign is raising the profile and we have launched the ‘ASK project’ to raise the prestige of apprenticeships. We are also developing the Young Apprenticeship Ambassadors network who will bring their recent experience directly into schools.”

The government had talked the talk and not walked the walk

Her reference to ‘Get In Go Far’ follows Mr Boles’ comments last year, that apprentices returning to schools would “do more to correct the bad impressions than any amount of government marketing”.

He said that hearing from other young people about positive experiences of apprenticeships would “probably be the most powerful thing of all”.

‘ASK’ or ‘apprenticeship support and knowledge for schools’ aims to deliver apprenticeship and traineeship information to young people in years 10 to 13, through teachers, careers advisers, parents and governors – but not those young people directly involved in the training.

The CBI welcomed the plan last April, when its head of education Pippa Morgan told FE Week that businesses were “keen to engage with schools to help children and young people understand the opportunities their subjects can open up”.

The organisation refused to comment on the apparent demise of the scheme.

However, shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said the government had “talked the talk and not walked the walk”.

“It is part and parcel of the overall debate about how we get more knowledge of apprenticeships into schools, and it seems to me if the minster is serious about that as part of his career strategy, he shouldn’t be allowing his department to backtrack on this particular commitment,” he told FE Week.

Mr Marsden backed development of a young apprenticeship ambassador network, which it is understood would involve a limited number of apprentices speaking with young people about the training, but warned it would “take some time to do”.

He said: “They could be actually doing a lot more with some of the existing networks, for instance the National Union of Students sponsors the National Apprenticeship Association.”

Shakira Martin, the NUS’ vice president for FE, also refused to comment directly, but did tell FE Week that if “apprentice ambassadors are well trained”, the resulting network would have “a fighting chance of getting the message out there”.

Breaking: Landmark EU court ruling could see colleges repaid millions in VAT

A Hampshire college has won a long-running dispute with the taxman, in a landmark ruling from the European Court of Justice which could save the sector millions.

The case centred on whether supplies for Brockenhurst College’s training restaurant, MJs, were exempt from VAT, and was originally sent to the EU’s highest court in January 2016, after three courts in the UK failed to resolve it for good.

Legal experts believe the verdict will set a precedent which could save the sector tens of millions of pounds as many colleges operate similar facilities.

In their summary of the case proceedings, published this week, the judges wrote that supplies for the college’s restaurant “may be regarded as supplies ‘closely related’ to the principal supply of education and accordingly be exempt from value added tax (VAT)”.

This is the case “provided that those services are essential to the students’ education and that their basic purpose is not to obtain additional income for that establishment, by carrying out transactions which are in direct competition with those of commercial enterprises liable for VAT”.

The court agreed with the arguments made on behalf of the college, that VAT was not due on the income generated from areas such as the training restaurants or hair and beauty salons, where members of the public pay for services supplied by students as part of their courses.

Brockenhurst’s principal Di Roberts said: “We are pleased with the recent judgement by the European Court regarding the ongoing VAT case and the treatment of income from our training restaurant.”

The case has now been referred back to the UK courts, but Ms Roberts added that the college “remains hopeful” it will ultimately be successful and set a precedent for other educational institutions in similar situations.

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive at the Association of Colleges, agreed the verdict was positive.

He said: “It is useful for Brockenhurst College to get this clarification on the VAT status of their training restaurant.

“The education VAT rules are very complicated. Brexit could be an opportunity for a wider review that removes VAT entirely from publicly funded sixth form education.”

Noel Tyler, director of VATangles, the VAT consultancy which advised Brockenhurst College, welcomed the “extremely good news”.

“The European Court has agreed with the arguments that we have consistently made on behalf of Brockenhurst and other colleges through the First Tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and the Court of Appeal,” he said.

“Hopefully, this will now finally result in HMRC making the repayments due to the colleges who have made claims to them.”

An HMRC spokesperson said only that HMRC is “currently considering the judgment of the CJEU”.

Further successful payback campaigns in the vein of Brockenhurst’s could net the sector tens of millions of pounds if this case starts a trend.

A hearing in February 2014 awarded Brockenhurst College £55,000 – representing four years’ worth of tax payments – and the college went on to win a second hearing in August 2014, after HMRC appealed the decision.

Then, at the third hearing in November, the Court of Appeal agreed with the request from both HMRC and the college to refer the case to the European Court of Justice on the basis that the law was unclear.

College crashes two grades from ‘outstanding’ after lengthy inspection wait

A college that went nearly 10 years without being inspected by Ofsted after being rated ‘outstanding’ has crashed two grades.

Blackburn College was given a ‘requires improvement’ verdict by the inspectorate in a report published this morning, following inspection from March 14 to 17.

It comes nearly a decade after its previous full inspection in November 2007 when the college was lauded with a grade one.

The fall represents the latest in a string of ‘outstanding’ colleges to go around 10 years without inspection, only to drop two grades.

As previously reported by FE Week, Blackburn was one of 20 colleges who would have gone a full decade without inspection by the end of this year.

Leaders and managers at the college were found to not have “a sufficient oversight of the progress that students make on their courses” and “too few” students achieve the grades and “develop the skills to their full potential”.

Senior leaders have also “failed to evaluate accurately” the quality of the provision through the colleges annual self-assessment process.

The report added that managers are “overly positive” about the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and “insufficient attention” is given to how the quality of course delivery is having an impact on students’ progress.

Quality of teaching and learning was also found to be a big problem for the nearly 4,500-learner provider.

“Planning for learning on study programmes and adult learning programmes does not take into account the needs of all students, particularly the most able and, as a result, students on study programmes do not make sufficient progress to achieve their qualifications,” inspectors said.

They added that teachers focus too much on middle-ability students in most lessons and “too few students make the progress of which they are capable.

“Teachers do not set challenging enough targets, and as a result, approximately half of the students on study programmes fail to meet their target grades.”

However, students with high needs were found to “make good progress, and most achieve their personal targets and qualifications”.

Phil Watson, chair of Blackburn College, said: “The college recognises the areas of improvement identified and had begun to address those improvement areas throughout the previous year which has already resulted in the 2015/16 results in our A-level achievement rate outperforming the national rate by 2 per cent and with 94 per cent of FE students progressing into work or further study.”

Dr Thomas Moore, Blackburn College principal, added: “We are confident the hard work and commitment of staff to delivering the best possible outcomes for learners will come to even greater fruition over the forthcoming term.

“We are again on a journey towards ‘outstanding’ and have the full support of our governing body.”

Blackburn College has followed in the footsteps of two former ‘outstanding’ colleges, Bury College and Holy Cross College in Manchester, who were revisited earlier this year after 10 years without inspection and both fell two grades.

There are nine current FE providers who have been given the long respite period by Oftsed, and by the end of this year, 19 FE providers will have gone the full 10 years without inspection, as reported by FE Week last week.

The watchdog’s most recent FE and skills inspection handbook, for use from September 2016, states that providers judged ‘outstanding’ at their most recent inspection are “not normally subject to routine inspection”.

AELP demands 4 million apprenticeship starts commitment

A call on the next government to commit to 4 million quality apprenticeships over the life of the next parliament has been made by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, in its new general election manifesto.

The conservatives pledged, ahead of the 2015 general election, to fund 3 million apprenticeship starts over the following five years – but the major political parties are yet to reveal their manifesto commitments for June 8.

The possibility of raising that target to 4 million, as now requested by AELP, was put by FE Week last month to apprenticeship and skills minister Robert Halfon. He countered that he “didn’t know what was going to be in the manifesto”.

AELP’s key demand comes despite a whole host of issues surrounding the implementation of apprenticeship reforms surrounding the new levy, with fears growing that it could result in a huge drop-off in small and medium sized enterprises running such training.

AELP also warned, as they launched their manifesto, that the levy proceeds will “fall well short” of being able to fund the apprenticeships of SME employers.

It therefore also wants the government to guarantee funding of at least £1 billon a year for non-levy paying SMEs to meet their apprenticeship needs.

AELP boss Mark Dawe said: “Major increases in the number of apprenticeships and continued improvements in the quality of their delivery can happen at the same time.

“More starts doesn’t mean poorer quality if employers and providers can work closely with the new Institute for Apprenticeships on a measured approach to new standards and assessment in the programme.”

A spokesperson for the organisation also said, with reference to its manifesto launch, that the levy should be retained, despite grave concerns by many providers over how it is being implemented, with proceeds continuing to only fund apprenticeships rather than other forms of training as well.

He added: “With evidence growing that many large levy paying employers are planning to reclaim their levy to fund high and degree level apprenticeships, a new government should also show its commitment to social mobility by ensuring apprenticeships remain available at [lower] levels two and three.”

It comes amid widespread concern, including from Ofsted, that quality of apprenticeships had already been sacrificed as the government drove towards its 3 million target.

FE Week editor Nick Linford pressed Mr Halfon, during the exclusive interview last month, what the level of commitment would be in this year’s conservative manifesto to apprenticeship starts.

The minister could not say for certain, but stressed: “I’m very proud that we’ve got 900,000 apprenticeships in our country at the moment. Highest on record.”

He was then asked whether the figure should be increased to 4 million, and said in response it was “a very good question”. But he would only add that he “would love millions of quality apprenticeships – definitely.”

According to government statistics published in March, there had been almost 1.3 million apprenticeship starts from 2014/15 to January this year.

See the full AELP manifesto below. It is calling for a new government over the next parliament to:

Deliver 4 million quality apprenticeship starts
Retain the apprenticeship Levy with its proceeds being used to fund apprenticeships only
A firm long term commitment to apprenticeships being available at levels two and three to support social mobility
Guaranteed funding of at least £1 billion a year for non-levy paying SMEs for their apprenticeship needs
Ensure that the whole apprenticeship system is underpinned by quality but allows innovation and evolution and is backed up by rigorous end assessment to ensure that national standards are achieved by all
A fully demand-led skills funding system, driven by and reflecting the needs of employers and learners
Traineeships and employment programmes that reduce the benefits bill and create opportunities for people of all ages
Good applied English, Maths and Digital Skills across learners of all ages and ending the failed GCSE resits policy
Embracing the expertise and experience of independent training providers in the implementation of the Technical and Professional Education reforms
Suspension of current Adult Education Budget procurement until ready to re-procure the entire £1.5 billion budget to avoid disruption and deliver consistency

Don’t shy away from campus grades

The ongoing decline in the number of colleges with outstanding inspection results risks seriously undermining confidence in the sector.

This comes at a time when our minister Robert Halfon keeps stressing the importance of boosting the public image of FE.

Surely colleges can’t be solely to blame for this.

They clearly have a problem with securing the top score under the current common inspection framework.

I suspect this is due, in part at least, to problems with assessing increasingly large and diverse institutions, often spread over multiple towns and cities.

To her credit, the new chief inspector Amanda Spielman sympathised with colleges’ plight when I interviewed her in March, and looked ahead to possible changes in how they are inspected following an imminent review.

We haven’t seen the results of this yet, but let’s hope long-mooted plans to introduce “campus level” inspections, which would involve different reports for separate local college campuses that exist within a large merger, are a key change to emerge.

Sixteenth studio school confirms it will close

An ‘inadequate’ studio school in Essex has announced it will close in August following dwindling student numbers, making it the 16th of its kind to shut its doors.

The closure of New Campus Basildon Studio School means just 34 will be left open, after 14 others have already closed and another, Future Tech Studio School in Warrington, revealed in March it would shut up shop by the end of this academic year.

New Campus Basildon Studio School had just 158 students on roll last September, as confirmed through a freedom of information request lodged by FE Week, despite having a capacity of 340.

The poor pupil numbers coupled with a damning ‘inadequate’-overall Ofsted report, published in April last year, led to the final demise of the technical school.

Inspectors said there was low achievement and poor standards of teaching, while governors “failed to provide sufficient challenge” to senior leaders.

Paul Griffiths, the college’s chief executive, said the decision to close was “incredibly difficult but necessary to ensure pupils were given the best possible educational chances”.

Admissions to year 10 were suspended in September 2016, when St Clere’s Co-operative Academy Trust took over as the studio school’s sponsor, pending investigations into its long term viability.

The school announced that year 11 and 13 students will now be able to finish their courses, while those in year 12 have received support to complete studies or obtain places with other colleges.

Headteacher Ashlie Hughes said: “Everyone has worked hard to improve the educational provision for the students, who have made significant progress over the last two terms.

“The decision to close the studio school was a very difficult one to make.”

New Campus Basildon offers vocational courses for youngsters aged 14 to 19 in subjects including health and social care, sport, art, media and music.

It is understood the school opened in September 2013, with Essex-based Seevic College as its main sponsor, but the Essex-based college later withdrew its sponsorship.

New Campus Basildon Studio School was reportedly placed under financial restrictions by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in June 2015, following concerns about a “significant deficit”.

News of the latest closure comes just over a year after the Shared Learning Trust in Luton, formerly known as the Barnfield Academy Trust, announced that it would be closing its studio school.

As reported by our sister paper FE Week, the Studio School, Luton, opened in 2010 but only had just 66 pupils and 12 staff, with no new students signed up to start in September 2016.

That announcement came a day after two Da Vinci studio schools in Hertfordshire said they too were closing due to the “real challenges” they have faced.

They were part of a string of closures for the programme which has struggled with recruitment since its conception in 2010.

It comes after FE Week revealed the studio school model’s big brother, University Technical Colleges, had around two thirds of its institutions experience a drop in student numbers this academic year.

It has led to calls for the technical institutions to be abandoned.

Michael Gove, the key ministerial architect of the government’s policy on UTCs – which also recruit at age 14 – has even admitted the experiment has failed.

Commissioner concerned over ‘strain’ on leaders running two colleges

Concerns about the “strain” on a leadership team running two colleges simultaneously – one of which is deeply troubled – have been raised by the FE Commissioner, in one of three reports.

Richard Atkins and his team visited Huntingdonshire Regional College in January, following an inadequate Ofsted grade in October – with the report now published.

The college is currently being run by senior leaders from Cambridge Regional College ahead of a merger between the two, planned for August.

Mr Atkins’ report noted that “the strain on the capacity of the senior leadership team to undertake the triple challenge of sustaining quality AND financial improvement at Huntingdonshire Regional College at the same time as progressing a merger cannot be overstated”.

Cambridge Regional College’s senior leadership team took over at Huntingdonshire in November to lead on the merger between the two colleges, Mr Atkins’ report said.

“Accelerating the formal merger process” was his key recommendation for the college, despite his concerns over the dual leadership.

The report noted that, in addition to the damning Ofsted verdict, the college was also facing significant financial challenges.

It said the college’s current financial plans “do not provide a reliable basis on which to sustain an independent college”, and it was also found to have been propping up a “rapid decline in income” with “substantial sub-contracted activity”.

A spokesperson for the college insisted that “the current arrangements are working well” and that “quality is already improving” with “clear plans in place to improve the financial performance of the college”.

This included a move away from “subcontracting arrangements to increased levels of direct delivery”, he added.

Meanwhile, a report into the FE Commissioner’s intervention Stratford-upon-Avon College noted the urgent need for a merger – and that the entire board could step down.

That visit, which took place in March, was prompted by the college being hit with a financial notice of concern from the Skills Funding Agency at the end of February.

As previously reported by FE Week, Stratford upon Avon College had been forced to turn to the SFA for a bail out after Lloyds Bank refused to provide it temporary financial support.

Its precarious financial position meant the college’s only option was to pursue a merger – a view backed up by Mr Atkins in his report.

“A recovery plan on its own is unlikely to restore the college to a financially sustainable position,” the report said.

Stratford chair Lord Digby Jones has previously said he would step down once a partner had been found for the troubled college, but Mr Atkins’ report indicated the resignations could be more widespread.

“They [governors] stated to us they would all be prepared to stand down” once a “merger solution” had been found, it said.

A spokesperson said the college “fully accepted” the recommendations, and it had “formally commenced the process of securing a merger partner” with the aim of a “chosen partner being identified before the end of May”.

He added: “Whilst individual governors are willing to stand down, including the chairman, we believe it important that the governing body of the merged college understands and embraces the unique character of Stratford-upon-Avon”.

Leaders at Essex County Council’s Adult and Community Learning Service were also commended for taking “immediate action” after a grade four Ofsted rating in December, in a report based on a visit in February.

A council spokesperson said: “A great deal of work is underway following the findings of the Ofsted report and we are pleased to see that the FE Commissioner has noted the improvements that have already been achieved.

“We will continue to work to improve the service and welcome this report and its recommendations.”

Large London college leaps two grades from inadequate

A large London College that was rated inadequate less than two years ago, has pulled back from the brink to register a ‘good’ overall Ofsted rating in a report out today.

The report out today was full of praise for the leadership team at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College.

The good-overall verdict, with only apprenticeships provision rated below this at grade three, represented a huge improvement from its previous inadequate report in October 2015.

Inspectors noted: “Through a persistent determination to ensure long-term sustainability, leaders, managers and governors have markedly improved the quality of provision, learners’ achievements and the financial position of the college.”

The report added they are “highly ambitious” for the college, with a clear vision and mission, that is well-communicated and understood by staff throughout the college.

The college, which has just over 13,000 over the last academic year, experienced tough times in the immediate aftermath of the previous inadequate rating.

It underwent an intervention from the FE Commissioner in December 2015, prompted by that damning Ofsted report.

Former Skills Minister Nick Boles, wrote in his letter reflecting on this: “Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College faces a challenging future.

“I shall be looking to you, the other members of the board and the college’s senior leadership team to provide the appropriate leadership in these difficult times.”

But the latest report recognised how they had risen to the challenge, with excellent results for learners.

It recognised that “extensive investment in improving teachers’ teaching and learning skills” has directly led to improved teaching and learning, and better outcomes, including for English and mathematics.

Governors, it recognised, also provide “good levels of support for the senior leaders”, while also holding them to account with “robust scrutiny”.

“Managers and staff create an inclusive, safe and welcoming environment for learners, where they behave well, and in which they and staff treat one another with care and respect,” the report added.

“In sharp contrast to the previous inspection, the large majority of learners now successfully complete their courses and make good progress.

“The large majority of learners attend their lessons well and punctually. Learners’ overall attendance has improved significantly since the previous inspection, and managers and all staff are committed to its further improvement.

Garry Phillips, the college’s chief executive, said: “I am incredibly proud of what the team and the students have achieved.

“We knew that the only way to transform the college quickly would be to have an unwavering focus on improving outcomes for students.”

In order to do this, the college “focused on providing courses which lead directly to employment or progression into further learning” and “created a strong working culture for staff at the college, training and incentivising staff and providing them with an environment where they can develop engaging learning materials”, Mr Phillips explained.

He added: “This inspection result is a testament to the staff’s dedication, professionalism, passion and ambition.”

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College, which was allocated £1.2 million for adult apprenticeships, £11.8 million from the adult education budget, and £545,000 for 16 to 18 apprenticeships and traineeships for 2016/17, has four main sites at Ealing, Hammersmith, Acton and Southall.

The report said that 90 per cent of all enrolments are for courses up to, and including, level two. Around 75 per cent of all enrolments are for adult learners, mostly attending the college part-time.

Learners attending full-time are largely on 16 to 19 study programmes, mainly in vocational areas.

The report said: “In sharp contrast to the previous inspection, the large majority of learners now successfully complete their courses and make good progress.

“Learners’ achievement of a grade C or better in GCSE English and mathematics, although improving, remains too low.”