WorldSkills 2017: Team UK given send-off at Parliament

Thirty-four of the UK’s most gifted young tradespeople were told that the country “desperately” needs their “skills and inspiration” during a special send-off event ahead of the WorldSkills 2017 competition in Westminster today.

Anne Milton delivered a passionate keynote speech to the competitors in Team UK flying out to Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

The apprenticeships and skills minister said the UK could not give “enough publicity” to the team and lauded them as the most skilled young people in the country – and pleaded with them to share their experiences in inspiring the next generation upon their return.

“To those competing I’m sure you’re nervous, apprehensive, excited,” she said. “Irrespective of what happens in this competition, your job when you come back is to pull another person to do what you have done.

“We desperately need your skills, we desperately need you as ambassadors and, more importantly than anything, we desperately need you as an inspiration to the generation that are coming up behind you.”

Ms Milton also offered some words of advice on how the competitors can win in their chosen discipline.

“Mind definitely, body definitely, spirit definitely, and there’s one other thing I would add. When you are competing at this level you have to put your hand deep inside you and get hold of something in your soul. These competitions are won on that last degree of application.

“A huge well done to you all for getting to this stage, good luck and I hope to see you out there next week.”

The minister was one of many heartfelt voices heard at today’s event in the House of Commons, where parents, team leaders and staff from WorldSkills UK, which organises the nation’s WorldSkills entries, came to wish the competitors luck.

Compère Peter Bakare, a former British volleyball Olympian, got the packed terrace pumped up with an opening speech before introducing shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, who hosted the event.

“It is really important when at a time of doom and gloom that we have some really positive good news coming out of this country for skills,” he said. “You’re going out to Abu Dhabi to fight it out with the finest.

“Very best of luck to all of you, a message which is reciprocated by my leader Jeremy Corbyn who spoke about the importance of skills at our party conference. Go out there, do your best, come back, spread the news and we will be right behind you.”

Dr Neil Bentley, the chief executive of WorldSkills UK, added that Team UK “represents this country’s future”.

“3D game-design, aircraft maintenance, cooking, mechatronics, plumbing, welding, restaurant services and many more – this alphabet of skills is what this country needs so that we can aspire and create and achieve what we want to do as a global trading nation,” he said.

Robert Halfon hold his Go Team UK poster at the WorldSkills 2017 send-off event

Other high-profile guests at today’s reception included outgoing chief executive of the ESFA, Peter Lauener, the UTC architect Lord Baker, and Robert Halfon, the chair of the education select committee.

The competitors were each issued with a special enamel pin.

Speaking to FE Week during the send-off, 3D game-design competitor Dan McCabe, who won a gold medal at EuroSkills 2016 last December, said he was “buzzing” to get out to Abu Dhabi.

“The stress hasn’t kicked in yet but the excitement certainly has,” the 19-year-old said. “It is very familiar at the moment because it feels like Sweden and I feel like I’ve done it before so once I land in a different country the realness of it will kick in.

“The judges know what I can do so I’m going to try and show them something they have not seen before. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a gold medal but I’m just made up to be at this event and heading out there.”

The team will fly to Abu Dhabi tomorrow morning, in preparation for competitions which will run between October 15 and 18, where FE Week will be joining them.

Keep up with all the action before and during the competition on feweek.co.uk or on Twitter with the handle @FEWeek and the #TeamUK hashtag.

Exclusive: T-level priority panel chairs revealed

The chairs of the first six T-level panels have been announced by the Department for Education.

Fifteen names of people who will chair and co-chair the so-called “priority” panels were published this morning, alongside details of the first three subjects that will be delivered by 2020, and the T-level action plan.

But that information did not include details of which panels they would chair – so FE Week inquired.

The full breakdown the DfE provided us (included below) reveals that just six panels are currently in play – for the priority routes that will be delivered by 2021.

Panel chairs include representatives from the Bank of England, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM and Fujitsu, as well as a number of consultants.

It’s not yet clear who will join them as panel members, nor how big the panels will be: the DfE said that offers had been made for all these roles, but no member has yet been named.

“The content of T-levels will be developed by newly appointed panels comprising industry professionals and employers – ensuring that they have real credibility,” said a DfE spokesperson.

“The government is today confirming that panels have been launched across all six routes for delivery in 2020 and 2021.”

They will be responsible for developing the “outline content for technical qualifications and the broader T-level curriculum” in each of the first six routes – childcare and educations, construction, digital, engineering and manufacturing, health and science, and legal, finance and accounting.

Adverts for the panel members and chairs were posted by the DfE in January, when FE Week reported that the roles were paid.

The employer of each panel chair would receive £2,000 per quarter, while a panel member’s employer would receive £1,000 per quarter.

FE Week estimates the cost of each panel will be £48,000, for a one-year term.

Each panel will be overseen by the Institute for Apprenticeships’ separate route panels.

The IfA’s panels, made up of industry experts and institute members, are responsible for the ongoing management of standards, qualifications and occupational maps for each technical route, for both apprenticeships and T-levels.

In April, the IfA appointed chairs for each of the 15 route panels, along with a panel of apprentices to advise the board.

 

The 15 chairs of the first six T-level panels:

Childcare and education

  • Edward Sallis, Education Consultant, lately member of Education and Training Foundation’s Expert Panel on Professional Standards

Construction

  • Dayle Bayliss, Dayle Bayliss Associates
  • David Matthews, Institute of Domestic Heating and Environmental Engineering
  • Julian Weightman, Boardercraft Group

Digital

  • Julie Oxley, Digital Care Consultancy
  • John Meech, Fujitsu
  • Anna Withrington, IBM

Engineering and manufacturing

  • Mike Westlake, Autodesk
  • Peter Winebloom, EEF

Health and science

  • Probash Chowdhury, GlaxoSmithKline
  • Jane Hadfield, Health Education England
  • Hilary Jeffreys, consultant

Legal, finance and accounting

  • Weiyen Hung, Bank of England
  • Maura Sullivan, Banking, UK International Wealth Management
  • Cassie Williams, 39 Park Square

 

First T-levels announced by minister

UPDATE, 10am: The T-level action plan has now been published. To read it click here.

The first three T-levels have been announced by the education secretary.

Qualifications in digital, childcare and education, and construction will be taught by a small number of providers from 2020, according to today’s announcement.

The Department for Education’s T-level action plan, due to be published later this morning, will set out how the new qualifications will be developed and delivered.

But just one ‘pathway’ from each of the three ‘routes’ will be ready in time for the 2020 deadline, as FE Week has previously reported.

And the government has also admitted that it will be 2024 before the “vast majority” of providers are delivering T-levels.

Education Secretary Justine Greening

“We are transforming technical education in this country, developing our home grown talent so that our young people have the world class skills and knowledge that employers need,” said Justine Greening in her announcement.

“I want to see T-levels that are as rigorous and respected as A-Levels.”

The timetable below explains how T-levels are being developed for 11 of the 15 technical routes set out in the post-16 skills plan last July, based on proposals put forward by the government-commissioned Sainsbury review of technical education.

Each route brings together related occupations in a particular sector, in order to provide “clarity about which programmes to follow in order to target particular careers”, according to the Sainsbury review.

Each route is expected to have between three and five pathways – which the DfE today described as “a number of specialisms” within each route, “clustered together in a straightforward way so that young people can see a clear path to the occupation of their choice”.

The three qualifications being developed first are the education pathway in the childcare and education route, the software applications design pathway in the digital route, and the building, services, engineering pathway in the construction route.

These will be delivered by a “small number of providers” – with the process for determining which providers to be confirmed “during autumn 2017”.

All the pathways for these three routes, plus a further three “priority routes” – legal, finance and accounting; engineering and manufacturing; and health and science – are due to be ready for delivery by 2021 by “selected providers”.

And all pathways in the five remaining routes will be “available to be delivered by providers who want to or are able” in 2022, according to today’s announcement.

However, the “majority” of providers are not expected to be delivering the new qualifications until 2024.

Today’s announcement comes three months after skills minister Anne Milton confirmed that delivery of the first T-levels had been delayed by a year – from 2019, as originally planned, to 2020.

A consultation on the new qualifications, originally planned for the summer, has also been delayed.

The DfE won’t say why only one pathway is being delivered for the first three routes by 2020, nor how those pathways were chosen, now how the first six priority routes were chosen.

FE Week also asked for more information about the process by which the first providers to deliver T-levels will be chosen, and whether the consultation is still going ahead.

A spokesperson told us that all the answers to our questions would be in the action plan, which had not been published at the time of writing.

The DfE has also today confirmed that chairs have been appointed to the panels of professionals who will advise on the content of T-levels, and panel members are in the process of taking up their roles.

The DfE said content for the first round of the new qualifications will be developed with, for example, “industry professionals and employers – including EDF, Rolls Royce, Fujitsu, Lloyds, Morgan Sindall, Skanska and Morphy Richards”.

FE Week previously reported that appointments to these panels still hadn’t been made in July, six months after the roles were advertised.

In July the DfE committed £50 million from April 2018 – the first instalment of the additional funding for T-levels announced by chancellor Philip Hammond in March – to invest in “high-quality work placements”, which are intended to be a central part of all T-levels.

But guidance on accessing this cash issued by the department was criticised by the Association of Colleges earlier this month, which feared that providers will struggle to fit in the minimum 45 days per learner.

David Hughes, chief executive of the AoC, has been more upbeat about today’s announcement and told FE Week: “This is an important step forward in helping to develop a technical and professional education system in England which matches the best in the world. The Government has worked hard to build support for this from colleges, employers and from across the political parties – all of that is critical to making this a success. We have a culture in this country which has always under-valued anything other than a traditional route from school to university; we need to change that.

“The new routes and pathways should provide greater clarity for students, advisers, parents and employers about what skills and qualifications are valued in the labour market. We need more people with strong STEM skills and to improve productivity across the economy so getting this right will matter for everyone over the long term.

“Colleges are ready to deliver the high quality teaching, facilities and links to jobs which they are well-known for; the new investment announced earlier this year in the Spring Budget will help make this a reality.

“What we need now is for employers and schools to get behind this, providing support and encouragement for young people to value going to college to study in key sectors of the economy. There are all sorts of challenges to address, and far more opportunities to realise if we get this right.”

The T-level timetable

2020 – three pathways delivered by a small number of providers

  • Childcare and Education (Education Pathway)
  • Digital (Software Applications Design Pathway)
  • Construction (Building, Services, Engineering pathway)

2021 – all pathways from first 6 ‘priority routes’ delivered by selected providers

  • Legal, Finance, Accounting (full route)
  • Childcare and Education (full route)
  • Digital (full route)
  • Construction (full route)
  • Engineering and Manufacturing (full route)
  • Health and Science (full route)

2022 – all pathways from all routes available to be delivered by providers who want to/are able

  • Hair and Beauty (full route)
  • Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care (full route)
  • Business and Administration (full route)
  • Catering and Hospitality (full route)
  • Creative Design (full route)

2024 – vast majority of providers offering T levels

 

How will EdTech shape the FE sector over the next five years?

Jisc’s head of FE, Paul McKean, digs out his crystal ball for what he reckons is coming to the sector over the next half-decade

Our vision for the sector over the five years to 2022 is for FE organisations to become digital by default, supported by a digitally capable workforce that understands the needs of employers and the jobs learners will need to fill.

Achieving this involves a commitment to digital transformation that some colleges have already embraced, and others must adopt or risk a struggle. Here’s an overview of the digital changes we predict for the next five years.

EdTech learning tools

Education technology (EdTech) will challenge more advanced learners, while enabling the less able to receive the individual support they require to succeed.

By 2022, national education technology strategies for post-16 education will be in place in England and Wales, with Northern Ireland likely following suit. As a result of these strategies, learners throughout the UK are likely to be supported by a myriad of technological tools, apps, simulations and virtual reality platforms.

Indeed, virtual reality tools will be increasingly used to save money, reduce risk and add excitement, for example enabling learners to “use” potentially dangerous machinery, hazardous or expensive substances in safety and to practise without blowing the budget.

Assessment technology

READ MORE: FE must lead on the EdTech agenda

Technology will not only personalise learning, but feedback and assessment too, so that individuals can progress at their own pace and study where and when they choose, regardless of age, background or personal circumstance.

Formative assessment will mainly be carried out online via quizzes with instant constructive feedback, virtual observations or e-portfolio evidence, while summative and end-point assessments are likely to incorporate the use of technology as a way of reducing costs.

Learner expectations

Learners will expect “always-on” access to the internet and technology regardless of their location, or workplace environment, and to use a device of their choice. 

High-quality digital content and the digital capabilities of teaching staff will become major learner satisfaction indicators.

More feedback from data

Behind the scenes, data intelligence will inform strategic and operational decision making, particularly around teaching and learning support, pastoral care and curriculum design. Learning analytics data, for example, will detect when and for how long a student is engaging with the virtual learning environment, or whether work is handed in on time, and track attendance. Such information will make it easy to spot learners who are struggling and arrange intervention and tailored support.

Robust cybersecurity

Helping to provide this digital-first, data-led environment will be a digital infrastructure that also takes account of information security and the new (May 2018) General Data Protection Regulation. 

The sector must absorb the potential risks associated with implementing technology, to ensure security and business continuity. Robust cybersecurity policies will minimise the risk of breaches that could result in data loss, chaos and reputational damage and maximise user awareness of safe practice.

Technical education reforms

Across the UK right now, FE estate structure is already changing, with a shift toward bigger regional colleges, which have strong links with one-another, and independent providers and industry.

All of this adds up to a new era of collaboration and competition, where the most successful colleges will be those that use technology effectively to facilitate smooth and successful partnerships between themselves, students and employers.

Colleges will have developed stronger relationships with universities in order to deliver degrees and higher-level apprenticeships, or will have attained degree-awarding powers themselves.

Their investment in new facilities and equipment required to deliver these reforms will have been designed at the outset with technology at the heart of all operations, and transcending geographical locations.

Borderless education

The sector will be technically focused by 2022 and will also be looking to develop internationally. Technology will support global mobility of learners and the collaboration of colleges, following in the footsteps of many UK universities with established overseas partnerships.

The sector will have harnessed the use of technology to prepare learners for the world of work locally, regionally, nationally and globally and, in doing so, equipped them with the digital skills, knowledge and behaviours they require to live, work and play, safely and securely, in an ever-changing digitally focused world.

Paul McKean is head of FE and skills at Jisc

Kensington MP lends weight to college survival campaign

The MP for Kensington is backing a campaign by Grenfell residents to save their local college campus from housing developers, in a letter handed to governors before another evening of heated protest.

Labour member Emma Dent Coad’s letter, seen by FE Week, was hand-delivered by protestors to Kensington and Chelsea College’s governors ahead of a contentious board meeting last night.

It is understood that two hot-button issues were discussed: the future of KCC’s Wornington Road campus, which could be demolished largely to make way for housing, and plans for KCC to merge with Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College.

“In our post-Grenfell times, we need to build trust and keep all our local services,” wrote Ms Dent Coad (pictured above, inset).

“I am therefore asking you to stop the merger decision-making process now, to allow genuine dialogue in a spirit of co-partnership with the local community which you serve.”

The Wornington Road campus, one of the college’s two main sites, was recently sold under a lease-back deal for £25.3 million to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which has outlined plans for the site that would at best result in greatly reduced teaching space.

But this has generated increasing controversy since the devastating fire at the nearby Grenfell Tower in June, in which at least 80 people died.

Save Wornington College campaigners claim that this is the latest example of local services for poorer people being eroded, including those who were affected by the tragedy.

The same protest group also opposes the merger in part because members fear the resulting giant institution will be less likely to retain learning at Wornington Road.

Hundreds of residents and staff members, who back the campaign, attended a packed public meeting with college leaders in September.

Many gathered again outside the gates last night to take part in a rowdy protest.

“Much of which was apparently disrupted by our noisy demo drumming throughout,” claimed one campaigner Gill Evans. “At one point the whole board had to move to a different room.”

KCC principal Dr Elaine McMahon told FE Week this morning about a survey the college is carrying out to assess the long-term future of its estate.

“Following a tender process, Fusion has been appointed to undertake a detailed survey of the college sites [including Wornington Road] and to undertake an options appraisal to consider different curriculum delivery models that are affordable, meet strategic objectives and stakeholder needs,” she said.

“Further discussions with RBKC will take place when we have the results from the survey of the North Kensington site building.”

The Save Wornington College group also sent an open letter to college leaders ahead of tonight’s meeting.

“The community want to keep the north Kensington college where it is, not in a RBKC new development, but in a renovated Wornington Road building, where there has been educational provision for 140 years,” they wrote.

“Now is the time for the council and the corporation to think creatively and imaginatively about other options that could lead to the recreation of a vibrant community college.

“The future of KCC can no longer be considered in isolation. It is part of the same policy and ideology which has seen other public assets in RBKC mismanaged, then disposed of and – in June – tragedy rip through our community.”

Reflecting on the future of the Wornington site, Kim Taylor-Smith, who took over as deputy leader of the council in July and is lead member for Grenfell recovery, told FE Week that he was listening.

“This is an issue I inherited, but I can say it was the college that approached the council about buying the site in 2016,” he said.

“I can confirm that having listened to the concern on the issue, we have extended the college’s lease on the site by a year to September 2019, and no redevelopment plans will go before the council before then.”

He added that, in the meantime, there will be a new consultation will be held with the college and residents over how and if the Wornington site could continue and “flourish” in future.

College leaders beg Theresa May for more 16-to-19 funding

Principals and chairs from 140 colleges have written to the prime minister begging for more funding for 16- to 19-year-old learners.

They want the prime minister to address long-term underfunding for that age group.

“Our students are now in danger of studying an impoverished curriculum, which has already reduced in breadth and choice, and cannot prepare our young people to take their place in employment and compete in a global economy,” they wrote in the letter.

“You will be aware that colleges educate the majority of young people aged 16-19 in England, and our work is essential in improving the skills of the nation, boosting social mobility and improving productivity, particularly in light of the changes Brexit will bring.

“We know that additional funding is planned to support the new T-levels, and some capital has been identified to underpin the new Institutes of Technology, and we are keen to support these developments.

“However, this additional money will not reach the majority of students studying in our colleges, and a more significant issue remains regarding the breadth and nature of the education and training colleges can now offer to our young people.”

An AoC spokesperson complained that in England, the current base funding level for 16- to 18-year-olds is £4,000 per year, which “decreases to £3,300 at 19”.

Such funding covers around 600 teaching hours per year – equivalent to around 15 hours per week, according to the Sixth Form Colleges Association, which “compares poorly with countries such as Denmark, which has a minimum number of 26 teaching hours per week, the Netherlands, which provides 1,000 hours per year, and Norway, which offers 980 guided learning hours per year”.

College leaders are asking for an immediate £200 uplift to the base funding rate per student, to help maintain the breadth of provision and help attracted and retain teachers and trainers.

“This is not just a funding issue, it’s a moral issue and should deeply concern every one of us,” said David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges.

“How can we expect our young people, whether at school or college, to get the support and education they need to progress in their chosen path without the right investment?

“The government has already made a welcome funding commitment to increase the teaching hours for the incoming T-levels, but this will cover only around 25 per cent of 16- to 19-year-olds.

“The next step must be to address the unfairness for the majority of young students.”

The Association of Colleges said it will be working with other organisations, including the Association of School and College Leaders and the National Union of Students, to highlight the issue ahead of the autumn budget.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said: “This is a helpful letter that complements the work being taken forward through the Support Our Sixth Formers campaign and shows the strength of feeling across the college sector.”

The SFCA’s campaign, launched in May, also calls for an additional £200 funding per sixth form student, along with a call for VAT to be scrapped for all sixth form providers. 

“Sixth form students in England are being short changed – if the government is serious about improving social mobility, raising standards and increasing productivity it should prioritise this modest increase in funding in the forthcoming Budget.

“Why plug the gap in schools funding and put more money in the pockets of graduates if the crucial phase of 16-19 education is continually starved of resources?”

BAE Systems: Apprenticeships safe from mass job losses

Britain’s biggest defence manufacturer has promised that its apprenticeship programme will not be affected by today’s announcement that it is cutting nearly 2,000.

BAE Systems, which among other major contracts makes Britain’s nuclear submarines and Eurofighter Typhoon jets (pictured), announced that job losses would be made at its centres across much of the country.

It runs a large apprenticeship programme, with around 2,000 apprentices currently on roll, but a spokesperson denied they would be affected when asked today by FE Week.

“There will be no impact on apprenticeships or grads,” she said. “We really appreciate the contribution they make to the company. Every apprentice and grad will complete their training.”

She added there were also no plans to rein in future support for apprenticeships, including the numbers that they will take on in future.

BAE Systems is listed as an employer-provider on the register of apprenticeship training providers.

In the last academic year, it was allocated £3.1 million for 16-to-18 apprenticeships and traineeships and £940,488 for adult apprenticeships.

It was last inspected by Ofsted in 2010, when it was rated ‘outstanding’ overall, in a report full of praise for its apprenticeships.

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said he was pleased to hear BAE’s ongoing commitment to apprenticeships and he hoped the company would be true to its word.

“I hope that BAE systems are able to follow through on their view that will be no diminishing of apprenticeships,” he said.

“We also of course have to think about the impact on the supply chain and the firms there that will be offering apprenticeships as well.”

Tender delay with single awarding organisation plan for prisons

Plans by the Ministry of Justice to appoint single awarding organisations for seven areas of study in prisons have been hit with a hold-up to the tender launch.

The initial approach to market for this already delayed process was to have been officially opened on September 21, and the contract was to run for a total of four years, from August 1, 2018, until July 31, 2022.

But with no tender apparently available almost three weeks after that date, when asked today what had happened with this, an MoJ spokesperson could only tell FE Week: “It is our intention to issue the invitation to tender shortly.”

The areas of study are to be English, ESOL, maths, ICT, catering and hospitality, construction, and cleaning and facilities, which between them cover 42 per cent of the MoJ’s learning delivery.

These, it says, are the curriculum areas which are studied by the largest numbers of prisoners and are most likely to be qualification-bearing.

FE Week previously learned that a “market engagement” event to outline the plan took place for interested awarding organisations in August.

According to the presentation from the event, seen by FE Week, bid returns were expected by October 20, with the contract to be awarded on November 3.

If the plans do eventually go through, this would be the first time the government succeeded in procuring single awarding organisations for qualifications – which can be considered risky due to the lack of competition or alternative supplier if something goes wrong.

It follows the Coates Review into prison education in May last year, which criticised existing provision.

“Currently there is too much variation between the requirements of different awarding bodies,” wrote Dame Sally Coates.

The prison reform white paper published in November last year then looked toward the introduction of “a core common curriculum across the estate, focusing on maths and English”.

This, it added, would “seek to use the same awarding bodies for particular types of provision, so those starting a course at one prison can bank and build on their progress if they move elsewhere”.

Plans to overhaul prison education began under Michael Gove, when he was justice secretary, who had looked at the single awarding organisation approach before.

Launching the GCSE reforms which came into force for the first time this year, he indicated his intention to replace them with the English Baccalaureate, which would be offered by a single AO. This, however, never happened. 

 

Greening opens National College for High Speed Rail

The new National College for High Speed Rail was officially launched by the education secretary yesterday.

The college, which has taken on its first cohort of apprentices, is the third of five government-backed national colleges to fully open.

Justine Greening was full of enthusiasm at the official launch.

“It is part of how we are steadily transforming technical education in this country, training up a new generation of skilled young people and the existing workforce so that British business has the skills it needs and people have the opportunities they want – a win-win for everyone,” she said.

The NCHSR, which has campuses in Birmingham and Doncaster, received £40 million in government funding to construct new buildings and equipment, with a further £12 million provided by the Sheffield city region combined authority, and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull local enterprise partnership.

Its first small cohort of apprentices were already employed in the rail sector in September, and its first full entry will enrol in September 2018.

The former apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon, who now chairs the Commons education select committee, was guest of honour at the official opening ceremony for the National College for Digital Skills in London, in November last year.

The college, also known as Ada, received £18.2 million from the London local enterprise partnership’s further education capital fund, and £13.4 million from the government

The National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries, based in Purfleet, Essex, which was allocated £5.5 million from the public purse, opened to students the previous month.

Details of the five national colleges and the £80 million allocated to their development by the government were announced in May 2016.

In addition to the three colleges already fully open, plans were announced for a National College for Nuclear, which will have campuses in Somerset and Cumbria.

It secured £15 million for buildings and equipment, together with a further £3 million from the south-west LEP and £4.5 million from Bridgwater and Taunton College.

A spokesperson for NCN told FE Week that over 100 students were enrolled at its northern hub, based in Cumbria, although the southern hub, based at Bridgwater and Taunton College in Somerset, is not set to welcome its first cohort until January. 

The NCN is due to be officially launched on February 7, he said.

The fifth college to receive a share of the cash was the National College for Onshore Oil and Gas, which received £5.6 million plus equipment donations from industry.

But FE Week reported in April that plans for the college had stalled, while the industry develops.