Latest news from FE Week

The incoming subcontracting tax bombshell

Our front-page story will make for very uncomfortable reading for principals, chief executives and accountants at hundreds of colleges and training providers.

In fact, a mild panic may set in after reading that HMRC has tasked over 20 of their specialist inspectors to sniff out unpaid VAT on management fees for subcontracting.

And all the evidence we’ve seen suggests this will come as a huge bombshell to the sector, especially for colleges, as very few of them chargesubcontractors the required VAT.

It is honestly quite shocking to me that so few people in the sector knew that VAT was meant to be applied in this way. Perhaps HMRC should bear some of the blame for leaving the situation so murky?

Exactly how much unpaid VAT and over how many years is not known, but some basic analysis of the few subcontracting figures that are available suggests the tax office should expect to receive around £40 million per year in VAT on top- sliced management fees.

This guestimate is based on 20 per cent VAT for £200 million in management fees on £1 billion in subcontracting. And I’ve arrived at that last amount because, as in May last year, the ESFA’s list of self-declared subcontracting for apprenticeships, ESF and AEB amounted to just over £800 millionacross 504 prime providers and 1,308 subcontractors.

Plus, in 2015/16 there were over 27,000 16- to 18-year-olds on study programmes across 317 prime providers and 627 subcontractors according to the ESFA’s list published last July.

There is no way to sugar-coat this: the final VAT bill over the past six or more years, plus fines, could run into the many hundreds of millions of pounds.

What’s next for Kensington and Chelsea College?

After local campaigners successfully prevented an unwelcome merger, the college’s chair explains how the board intends to take things forward in a more amenable fashion

An FE Week headline recently cast me as the “embattled” chair of Kensington and Chelsea College, but that’s not what it feels like to me.

There’s no doubt that this college has been through a difficult period, and I was sorry in many ways that the merger with our neighbouring Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College did not proceed.

But a successful college always needs the support of its students, staff and the community it serves, and we were not able to secure that support for this merger.

The recent history of KCC has seen student numbers fall, a grade three rating from Ofsted and an unpalatable level of financial operating losses.

The FE commissioner’s assessment makes it clear that KCC does not have a future as a standalone college. Add to that the sale of our north Kensington site to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the terrible toll wrought on our community by the Grenfell Tower fire last summer, and it’s not hard to see why charting the college’s future is challenging.

We need to tread more carefully in our quest to steer ourselves to a sustainable future

The fact that the proposed merger is not going ahead tells us that we need to tread more carefully in our quest to steer ourselves to a sustainable future, and the board of governors agreed a number of measures at our last meeting which should ensure the success of the new, commissioner-led merger process on which we are now embarking.

We are in the process of commissioning an independent review of the 2016 sale of the Wornington Road site to RBKC, which took place before I was brought into the college.

It’s important that the full facts about this transaction are in the public domain because the building is of deep importance to the community and its sale has raised important questions which need to be answered. In parallel, we are working with RBKC to agree terms for the long-term use of the Wornington Road site for future provision.

We are also planning to bring together a new community engagement group to ensure that there is a forum for dialogue between the college and its community.

Although there are statutory requirements for consultation about any future merger, we want the dialogue to go much further than this, to give our community a voice in the wider issues of provision and community services that the college can offer now and in the future.

In all of this, it’s important that we continue to put our primary stakeholders, our learners, at the forefront in considering the future.

Our new principal Andy Cole brings long experience of FE provision in London and a background in curriculum and quality improvement. Andy’s top priority is driving up standards in teaching, learning and achievement for the students who rely on the college to underpin their future ambitions and career development. His appointment has been unanimously welcomed by the governors, who are already working closely with him to ensure the college can meet the future skills needs of local employers and the community.

KCC is emerging from one of the most difficult periods in its history for both staff and students. Many lessons have been learned and tough decisions taken, but I have been struck by the tremendous commitment that exists to improving the quality and breadth of opportunities available to residents in the area.

It was wonderful to see our recent open day so well attended by young people from across the community and we are more determined than ever to build a further education institution that everyone can be truly proud of.

Mary Curnock Cook is chair of Kensington and Chelsea College

Queen Mary’s College launches its STEM Sellers project

Sixth-formers and university graduates will work together to educate schoolkids about STEM subjects and career options in an innovative new pilot project launched at Queen Mary’s College, reports Samantha King

The STEM Sellers initiative will partner five recent graduates on the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s (AWE) graduate programme with 20 of the Hampshire sixth-form’s students on STEM courses. They will all come up with ideas for outreach activities to take to local primary and secondary schools.

Managed by the graduates, the project will provide the college’s students with an opportunity to work closely with people who have been through university and who are taking their first steps on the STEM career ladder, as well as developing their own employability skills.

“We see this project as a win-win-win,” explained Marcus Rutland, STEM development lead at Queen Mary’s. “Our local schools get somebody else in doing something entirely free, with everything managed. It’s great for our students because they can build their skills and interact with people who can give them an eye-opener about the opportunities ahead, and it’s good for the AWE graduates who get to work on their project management and teamwork skills.”

Running every two weeks in the college’s timetabled tutor time, students and graduates have been brainstorming the activities they’ll deliver to schools, striking a balance between “fun science” activities including forensic challenges and chemical reaction experiments, with informative sessions on why youngsters should pursue STEM subjects post-16.

A body language expert from AWE will visit the group next week to run a workshop on how to deliver a good presentation, to equip the students with the skills they’ll need to run their sessions successfully in schools.

“If you’re speaking to a crowd of educationalists, this project has the benefit of being something that is high impact without requiring any one person at the college to be cooking up every detail from scratch, which would be really time-consuming. Having AWE as a partner and the graduates there is fantastic,” Mr Rutland added.

“It’s something I can see could be repeated elsewhere. I’m sure lots of STEM employers have lots of graduate-intake programmes where they want the graduates to take a lead on something.”

Funding for the project, including minibus hire and any purchases required for the workshops, will be covered by a fund accessible to the AWE graduates.

Twentieth Century Fox delivers movie masterclass to students

Creative media students have enjoyed a week-long crash course in movie marketing with representatives from film studio, 20th Century Fox.

The learners from Manchester College were told to build a digital campaign around the studio’s upcoming film release, Love Simon, a rom-com telling the story of a closeted gay teenage boy in high school.

The campaigns were judged by Cameron Saunders, UK managing director for 20th Century Fox, as well as members of the studio’s marketing team, and the winning campaign used the idea of “facing your fears” to fit the film’s theme of coming out.

As part of the project, students were also allowed to see snippets of the film, which is officially released in April, and received an invite to a pre-screening in March.

“This has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as a tutor,” said Katy Rushton, a media tutor at the college. “I’ve seen students who were too shy to answer questions in class grow in confidence over the course of a week, to the point where they could pitch their ideas to 20th Century Fox professionals.”

The series of workshops with the film giant were facilitated by Ideas Foundation, a charity which gets 13- to 19-year-olds hands-on experience in the creative industries.

Main picture: Students and reps from 20th Century Fox

College caterers learn the art of military cooking

Catering students experienced the world of military cooking after a visit from the army’s 167 Catering Support Regiment.

Under the watchful eye of the team of military chefs, the Warrington and Vale Royal College learners used basic rations to whip up nutritional dishes that could support a soldier in the field, including pasta, stews and flapjacks made with tinned and long-life produce.

Students also had the opportunity to ask the army chefs about the career options available in the forces, and heard about their experiences in a field kitchen.

“This was a great opportunity for our students to see what it’s like to work within the armed forces as a chef. It’s a career option that many of them had never thought about before,” said Andy Macleod, the college’s curriculum manager for hospitality and catering.

“Using the ration packs to produce a meal was really interesting – we all loved it,” added student Maddie Hannam.

The college hopes to take students on a visit to the 167 regiment’s Lincolnshire-based barracks over the next few months.

Hugh Baird College L20 restaurant becomes first ‘centre of excellence’ in Liverpool

A college’s on-site restaurant has become the first in Liverpool to achieve gold accreditation from People 1st.

The L20 hotel school and L20 restaurant at Hugh Baird College was also awarded ‘centre of excellence’ status for the quality of the training it delivers to aspiring chefs, as well as its links with the catering industry.

The restaurant was also placed at the “top end” of the college rosette award scheme by AA inspector Garry Baldwin, who presented it with a ‘highly commended’ award.

“To be the first college in the region to be awarded gold accreditation and named as a centre of excellence really does recognise the hard work we put in,” said Stephen Otty, the curriculum coordinator at L20 hotel school.

“The school was launched to address the hospitality skills gap of the ever-growing visitor economy of the Liverpool City Region and we continue to do this in spectacular style year on year,” added Yana Williams, the college’s principal and CEO.

The college’s L20 restaurant currently has a five-star rating on trip advisor.

Nationwide competition seeks the most social-media savvy people in FE

A UK-wide competition is seeking the most social media-savvy people working in further education.

The FE Social Media Superstars 2018, run by Jisc, is looking for anyone from marketing staff to college principals who are making a positive difference to the sector using social media.

Applicants will be judged on how they use social media to address specific needs and challenges, the impact their social media prowess has had on their institution or the wider community, and how they have used social media in an innovative way.

Ten winners will be named, and each will win a visit for their college or institution from Jisc’s Digi Lab, featuring a robot, a brain reader, and augmented reality software.

Previous winners include Bedford College CEO Ian Pryce, for upbeat tweets which draw national media attention, and Hull College Group’s Amanda Reeve, a theatrical make-up tutor who uses Instagram to show off her students’ work and secure them work placements.

Entries should be submitted before midnight on March 29. To apply, click here.

Strike action escalates on a second day of college walkouts

More than 1,500 staff from colleges are expected to take part in a second day of strike action, and more walkouts are planned up to the end of April.

The dispute is over what a spokesperson for the University and Colleges Union described as “a disappointing” pay offer of one per cent, made last September by the Association of Colleges, which represents the colleges on pay.

The first walkouts took place yesterday, and UCU’s head of further education Andrew Harden has looked ahead to more industrial action.

“Strong action was reported from all the colleges on strike yesterday, with many members in London joining the thousands marching through the capital to a rally in Westminster,” he said.

“We’ve already notified the bulk of those colleges that there will be three further days of action between now and the end of April. The ballot paper was explicit that what members were being balloted on was escalating strike action.”

The union said it was expecting more than 1,500 staff from colleges across the country to take part in strike action today.

They did not elaborate on what degree heavy snow across the country had undermined picket lines, and efforts to disrupt college life – considering how the icy conditions would have negatively affected many lectures and decisions to attend anyway.

But a spokesperson for New City College in London claimed the strike had made very little impact there.

“The strike action – and snow – have caused very little disruption,” they said. “All NCC campuses are fully open and students are attending timetabled classes.”

The union announced last month that staff at more than a dozen colleges had voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay.

The UCU said staff at all the London colleges that voted and Sandwell would strike today.

The AoC expressed “regret” that it was unable to offer more last September.

The National Joint Forum, made up of the unions representing college staff, had submitted a claim for an across-the-board rise of around six per cent in April.

But the final offer was just one per cent, or the sum of £250 “where this is more beneficial”.

“When we made the recommendation of one per cent, or a minimum of £250, we were clear that this was the maximum we believed was affordable by colleges, given the severe funding cuts which they have been subject to in recent years,” said AoC boss David Hughes.

But the mood will have darkened further among general FE college staff, after it was announced yesterday that teachers in sixth-form colleges in England will get a pay rise of up to two per cent, backdated to September 2017.

The agreement will give those on points one to six of the national pay scale an extra two per cent, while those above point six will get one per cent from the same date.

“Sixth-form college teachers will be pleased that their pay will increase in line with school teachers for another year,” said Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union.

Movers and Shakers: Edition 236

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

Michael Finn, Joint headteacher, Sir Simon Milton Westminster UTC

Start date: February 2018
Previous job: Vice-principal, Sir Simon Milton Westminster UTC
Interesting fact: Michael is a keen singer, and in his youth performed in choirs at both the Albert and Festival Halls.

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Aaron Jeffries, Apprenticeship levy lead, Covéa Insurance

Start date: January 2018
Previous job: Learning and development partner, Covéa Insurance
Interesting fact: Aaron’s a keen artist and has painted a number of canvasses for friends and family.

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Andy Cole, Principal, Kensington and Chelsea College

Start date: February 2018
Previous job: Principal, College of North West London
Interesting fact: Andy used to curate art exhibitions and, in the 1980s and 1990s, ran a gallery around the corner from Kensington and Chelsea College’s Chelsea Centre.

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Nazir Afzal OBE, Chairman of the corporation board, Hopwood Hall College

Start date: September 2018
Previous job: Pro-chancellor, University of West London
Interesting fact: Nazir is known in greater Manchester for his role in prosecuting the “Rochdale grooming gangs”, as chief crown prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service for north-west England.

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Colin Peaks, Principal, Wilberforce College

Start date: September 2018
Previous job: Vice-principal, Wilberforce College
Interesting fact: Colin was a pupil himself at Wilberforce College between 1991 and 1993.

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