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UTCs should be allowed to recruit at 11

To circumvent the problem of recruitment at 14, LSEC is setting up a vocational free school – a UTC in all but name. Sam Parrett argues that UTCs should be allowed to start at 11

Another week, another story about a failing UTC.

Seven of them have now closed their doors and 60 per cent are rated as ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, so many young people are missing out on the pioneering education they deserve.

The former prime minister David Cameron famously called for “a UTC in every single major town”, and the concept of employer-sponsored, specialist and technical education for young people is indisputably a good one.

With the country’s ever growing skills gap likely to be impacted further by Brexit, the need for high-quality technical education has never been as great.

So why, despite pumping millions of pounds into buildings, marketing and excellent headteachers, are many UTCs failing to recruit?

One barrier is that, in a country where the age of transfer has mostly been 11, it is a challenge getting parents, students and teachers to opt for a move in Year 10. Such transfers will usually happen only if the child is not getting on at school, as opposed to a conscious decision for a well performing student to move.

We at LSEC have first-hand experience of this challenge. We established our own direct entry 14-16 technical academy in 2014, offering 14-year-olds a real alternative to a traditional school route. Students were able to choose a vocational specialism (engineering, hospitality, childcare) to study alongside rigorous GCSEs in academic subjects.

We reached out to headteachers, explaining who we were and what we could offer. We had hoped schools would then offer impartial advice to their students about the options and act in the best interest of each individual.

We have been seen as the place for schools to offload students

Sadly, the reality is that we were viewed as alternative provision. Instead of attracting children with a real passion for vocational learning, in the main we have been seen as the ideal place for schools to offload students unlikely to pass their GCSEs who would ultimately pull their original schools down the league tables.

This meant we were unable to recruit with integrity and realise our key vision: to offer local 14- to 16-year-olds a high-quality vocational alternative.

Despite this, we absolutely maintain our belief in career-led pathways, working closely with employers to provide young people with industry experience.

In 2014 we were approved by the Baker Dearing Trust to develop a health and wellbeing UTC in partnership with a major local employer and university partners. After some detailed scoping work, and with the benefit of our experience, we approached BDT with the suggestion of allowing us to pilot a new 11-19 model of UTC. We were confident this approach would turn what is a great concept, into a viable and successful school model.

Our proposal was duly turned down by BDT, on the basis that UTCs are strictly 14-18. This was despite our plan to keep all the key elements of the UTC concept, including the employer/university sponsorship and a curriculum offer with the post-14 specialism.

We also embraced the innovative teaching methods and pedagogy showcased by the UTC movement, via employer-led projects and the extended day incorporating enrichment and homework time.

Yet despite our obvious passion, our proposal was rejected. I feel this was extremely short-sighted and would question why BDT hasn’t been put under more official scrutiny in relation to recruitment challenges at 14 and the sustainability of UTCs.

We remain undeterred and are now instead setting up a specialist vocational free school in Bromley, which we expect to open in 2020.

This will be a high-performing school for 11- to 18-year-olds specialising in the science, health and wellbeing industry. It is supported by key employers and will help address the shortage of secondary school places in the area as well as skills gaps within this expanding industry. In other words, a UTC in all but name.

In the majority of cases, our education system is simply not set up to allow transfer at 14 to succeed.

If only BDT would accept this, I have no doubt UTCs would be thriving – offering young people the real technical alternative employers are crying out for.

Sam Parrett is CEO of London South East Colleges

How to improve apprenticeship completion rates

Apprentices need to understand why completion is so important, and this needs to be led from the top, says Alan Woods

The phrase ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’ might be commonly associated with University Challenge presenters, but it also articulates a mental resolve that should be adopted by young apprentices.

When it comes to the national apprenticeship agenda, the spotlight has firmly focused on the number of new starts the government will commit to.

The recent Association of Employment and Learning Providers manifesto, for example, suggested an increase from three to four million in the next parliament.

While getting young people into apprenticeships is crucial in terms of securing employment and creating a skilled workforce, these outcomes are dependent upon one critical factor: the completion of apprenticeship programmes.

The real measure of success in apprenticeship reforms is not in the number of new starts but in the number of completed programmes, and as such, it is vital that the next government commits to improving this.

Deliberate manipulation of the apprenticeship system needs to stop

The most recent figures show that in 2015/2016, only 67 per cent of apprenticeships were completed. To increase this rate, learners need to be shown that apprenticeships can be engaging, worthwhile, and ultimately rewarding.

If we are to achieve this, the learner perspective must be at the heart of initiatives, rather than allowing the national narrative to be too employer-led, or economy-driven.

Apprentices’ voices have been somewhat drowned out in all the industry noise. We hear so much about skills gaps identified by employers – particularly in the STEM sector – which are perceived to be the answer to improving the UK economy.

But learners pursuing other types of apprenticeship have to see the value of completion. We need a top-down recognition of all apprenticeship routes, rather than a STEM-centric approach. If a learner is made to feel that their skills aren’t appreciated, that their chosen career path isn’t important, or that they won’t meaningfully contribute to the economy, it can beg the ultimate question: what is the point?

Incentivising a learner to complete an apprenticeship needs to hinge on more than just conceptual support, however. There needs to be a real, tangible end-goal: in short, an apprenticeship needs to represent a direct line of sight to a job.

This clear pathway sometimes gets lost in tactical employer positioning. An individual can often be encouraged to undertake the next level apprenticeship immediately after completing their current one, effectively establishing a type of permanent apprenticeship position.

In many cases, this is not about providing the apprentice with a substantive job at the end, but so employers can be seen to be doing apprenticeships.

This deliberate manipulation of the apprenticeship system needs to stop, or else we risk entire cohorts of disillusioned apprentices who see no apparent end in sight. We need to make sure that employers and training providers are wholeheartedly committed not just to ensuring the learner passes the course, but actually gets a job at the end of it.

With that in mind, we need to raise the collective ambitions of everyone involved in apprenticeships. Employers should be encouraged to see apprenticeships as an opportunity to retain the very talent they have nurtured; providers should in turn deliver a programme of excellent teaching that meets employer set standards; awarding organisations need to make sure quality is upheld and duly recognised. The commitment of all these individual players will ensure that leaners are reassured that they are at the centre of a process which is primarily about helping them.

Getting young people into apprenticeships should be celebrated, but we need to remember that crossing the finish line is just as important as starting the race. The way to facilitate this is by ensuring that all routes are valued, and that all routes lead to job opportunities with market rates of pay.

The number of completed programmes will serve as the only meaningful indicator of the success of government reforms.

Alan Woods OBE is CEO of awarding organisation VTCT

What now for colleges that tried and failed to merge?

When they were launched in July 2015, the area reviews were expected to result in a huge number of college mergers.

The former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills made it clear that the aim of this mass rethink of nationwide post-16 education and training was to create “fewer, larger and more resilient” colleges.

Early predictions from the then-FE commissioner Sir David Collins were that the number of colleges could drop by a third once the process was over, with up to 80 mergers taking place.

But by March this year the prognosis from his successor Richard Atkins was for “50-ish” mergers.

The aim of this mass rethink of post-16 education and training was to create fewer, larger and more resilient colleges

And published reports into the first three waves of the reviews, which involved 138 colleges and 70 sixth form colleges, revealed firm recommendations for just 37 mergers – a number that is likely to fall even further.

FE Week analysis has revealed that more than a quarter of these proposed mergers – 11 of the 37 – have either fallen through or changed since the reviews ended.

It’s not always clear why these unions aren’t working out, and in many cases, the colleges involved simply won’t say.

But when a college partnership falls apart, the weaker party is often left needing to find another merger partner just to secure its future.

This could be because of poor finances, a bad Ofsted rating or because the college is too small to survive in the longer term.

We’ve outlined the 11, and highlighted the party that could find itself in this position – as well as any further plans the college might have.

* Not all of these providers are struggling – but as we move into a world in which colleges will be allowed to go bust, there could be trouble ahead for any one of them.

Stockport College

Ofsted score: Grade 4
FE Commissioner: Administered status
Notice of concern: Financial health, inspection minimum standards
Revenue (2014/15): £22.8 million

A link-up involving Stockport, Oldham and Tameside colleges was one of two mergers to come out of the Greater Manchester review – but this was scrapped following intervention by the FE commissioner at grade four Stockport in December.

The college, which has been in administered status since 2013 and is in precarious financial health, is now planning to join forces with grade two

Trafford College, with a merger date set for December 31.

Transition principal Dr Mike Potter told FE Week that Trafford was its “preferred partner” for a number of reasons including location and “meeting the skills needs and specialisms” of the area.

South Staffordshire College

Ofsted score: Grade 3
FE Commissioner: No intervention
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £25 million

A merger between grade three South Staffordshire College and grade one Walsall College would mean the latter’s financial strength would “impact positively” on South Staffs, according to the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire area review report.

But earlier this month, the college told FE Week the merger was off as the costs “outweighed the benefits to the learners and the wider communities we serve”.

It subsequently announced plans to close one its campuses, in Cannock, as a cost-saving measure. But when FE Week asked if it was planning to seek another merger partner the college declined to comment, citing “political sensitivities”.

Mid-Cheshire College

Ofsted score: Grade 4
FE Commissioner: Administered status
Notice of concern: Financial health, inspection, minimum standards
Revenue (2014/15): £12.7 million

The Cheshire and Warrington area review recommended a four-way merger that has since unravelled.

Grade two South Cheshire College and grade three West Cheshire College merged at the end of March.

But grade four Mid Cheshire College and grade three Warrington Collegiate opted to pair up separately – even though both have financial notices of concern, and the FE commissioner recommended last year that Mid Cheshire should “seek a merger with a strong partner while there is time to do so”.

We asked Mid Cheshire why it chose Warrington as a merger partner, but did not receive a response.

Bury College

Ofsted score: Grade 3
FE Commissioner: No intervention
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £33.4 million

Grade three-rated Bury College was set for an innovative merger with the University of Bolton and Bolton College, as recommended by the Greater Manchester area review.

But, as reported by FE Week, the college was recently dropped from those plans, with the sticking point being that it would not be able to merge on the terms originally agreed.

Principal Charlie Deane confirmed that the college – which recently lost the ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating it held for nearly a decade – was still financially “very strong” and planning to “remain standalone for the foreseeable future”.

Hartlepool Sixth Form College

Ofsted score: Grade 2
SFC Commissioner: In intervention
Notice of concern: Financial
Revenue (2014/15): £5.9 million

A merger between grade two Hartlepool Sixth Form College and grade two Hartlepool College of FE was recommended through the Tees Valley area review. But in March the SFC announced it was planning to join forces with Sunderland College instead – but refused to say why its plans had changed.

At the same time, it was hit with a financial notice to improve from the ESFA, and was subsequently visited by the SFC commissioner.

His report deemed the SFC “unviable on a standalone basis” and he pressed for it to merge with Sunderland “as a matter of urgency”.

Lakes College West Cumbria

Ofsted score: Grade 3
FE Commissioner: No intervention
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £13.4 million

The Cumbria area review ended with a recommendation for grade two Carlisle College and grade three Lakes College to merge to create a “large, financially sustainable and resilient” institution that would “benefit from economies of scale”.

But Carlisle – which was handed a notice of concern from the ESFA in November – rejected this in favour of joining Newcastle-based NCG in April.

FE Week asked Lakes College if it was seeking another merger partner, or planning to go it alone, but it declined to comment.

However, at the time the proposed merger was called off, the college said it had “full confidence” it was “sustainable”.

Guildford College

Ofsted score: Grade 3
FE Commissioner: 2014 – out of intervention 2015
Notice of concern: Financial health, minimum standards
Revenue (2014/15): £35.3 million

Grade three Guildford College and grade one Farnborough College emerged from the area review process with plans to merge, after taking part in separate reviews.

The Surrey review report made it clear that remaining standalone “would not be in the best interests of students” at Guildford, which currently has notices of concern for both financial health and minimum standards.

Despite this, plans for the link-up have reportedly been put on hold. A spokesperson for the college told FE Week that the merger would be discussed at its corporation meeting this week.

Stanmore College

Ofsted score: Grade 2
FE Commissioner: Taken out of administered status April 2017
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £11 million

Previously troubled Stanmore College, which bounced back from a grade four to a grade two in 18 months, emerged from the west London area review with a recommendation to link up with three other nearby colleges – Harrow, Uxbridge and West Thames.

But the college turned this down in favour of a merger with grade one West Hertfordshire, which had been the college’s preferred option following an FE commissioner-led structure and prospects appraisal.

However, as reported by FE Week, this partnership was dropped just three months after it was announced. We asked if the college had any plans to seek a new merger partner, but did not get a response.

Waltham Forest College

Ofsted score: Grade 3
FE Commissioner: No intervention
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £21.3 million

FE Week reported in April that a planned link-up between grade two Barnet and Southgate College and grade three Waltham Forest College – recommended through the east and west London reviews – had been called off.

Penny Wycherley, Waltham Forest’s principal, told FE Week that the college was seeking a new partner.

She explained the college did not have to merge but “in the light of the area review process and long-term sustainability we believe we ought to”.

A call for expressions of interest had generated “quite a degree of interest” and she was confident the college would decide on a future partner in June.

Doncaster College

Ofsted score: Grade 2
FE Commissioner: No intervention
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £30.1 million

The Sheffield area review ended with a proposal for grade two Doncaster College to merge with grade one Barnsley College – but this was swiftly rejected by governors at Doncaster.

The college has since announced plans to join grade two North Lindsey College, having had “informal discussions” about a possible merger since last year, according to a college spokesperson. Among the benefits of the new merger was the ability to “establish a skills infrastructure that supports the economic connections across an east-west corridor from the Sheffield City region to the Humber”, she said.

West Thames College

Ofsted score: Grade 2
FE Commissioner: No intervention
Notice of concern: None
Revenue (2014/15): £22.5 million

A proposed merger between grade three Harrow College, grade one Uxbridge College and grade two West Thames College – as recommended through the West London area review – went out for consultation in October.

According to the consultation document the merged organisation would “provide a strong financial profile that ensures its sustainability and growth”.

But that three-way merger subsequently became a two-way, as West Thames dropped out of the proposal. It’s not clear why, or what its plans are now, as the college declined to comment when FE Week asked.

Confusion for new providers on RoATP over compulsory training

Hundreds of training providers don’t know when they can start apprenticeship programmes, because the government has failed to inform them of the mandatory training they need to complete first.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has added over 500 companies to the register of apprenticeship training providers, but FE Week has found that none were told they would need the mandatory ESFA training that was first revealed in March at FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference.

Over 800 providers attended the training in April, but the ESFA has never actually published details of this requirement, leaving many to wonder whether it had been scrapped.

Despite this, a Department for Education spokesperson confirmed to FE Week that the mandatory training was still necessary, and admitted the government would be writing to the new providers about it shortly.

Many organisations which classify as new apprenticeship providers on the RoATP have told FE Week that they are “confused” by this as they were unaware of the requirement.

The only communication any of them have had from the ESFA is the notification of their successful applications to the register on May 17 via the government’s tendering portal Bravo, but there was no mention of mandatory training nor the date they could recruit funded apprentices.

The ESFA’s updated RoATP web page notes May 17 as the date for delivery for new entrants – implying starts are acceptable from then, an undertaking impossible for new providers as they haven’t yet completed the mandatory training.

An ESFA spokesperson told FE Week that “all providers” were “notified of the steps they need to take to set up with our systems and sign their provider agreement”.

They continued: “Further communication will be issued shortly, including information about mandatory training and details of their provider manager who will be their point of contact in the ESFA.”

In March, the agency’s director of funding and programmes Keith Smith told delegates at FE Week’s event that “any new provider will be required to attend mandatory training”, something that’s “going to happen before any apprenticeship activity starts”.

New providers would all “be case-loaded with an account manager in the agency” for “one-to-one sessions”.

He said the agency would then take a “snapshot” of the new provider’s delivery three to six months into their training, at which point they could potentially be taken off the register following a “pass-or-fail judgment”.

FE Week understands that the training sessions for providers included in the first round of the RoATP was comprised of one-day sessions which included videos on how they can claim funding.

The mandatory training is only for those providers who have never had an agency allocation contract before.

As revealed by FE Week in March, the first round of the RoATP included many new providers who had no delivery experience whatsoever.

One person operating from a rented office in Knutsford, Cheshire had succeeded in getting their three companies, Cranage Ltd, Obscurant Limited, and Tatton Solutions Ltd onto the approved ‘main route’ register – even though none of them had run government-funded apprenticeships.

An Essex-based private provider was also accepted onto the RoATP despite only being incorporated in February last year, apparently from a residential property.

Young farmers get a lesson in farm safety

A farming charity has paid a visit to Abingdon and Witney College agriculture students to warn them about the hazards faced by farmers.

Over 70 students attended the talk, which included practical demonstrations on hazards such as being crushed by livestock, falling from ladders (demonstrated above), unsafe practice with a chainsaw and limb entrapment in a tractor.

The talk was given by the Farm Safety Foundation after figures from the Health and Safety Executive revealed that 15-20 per cent of worker fatalities happen in agriculture.

“The agriculture industry has high accident rates,” said Petra Martin from NFU Mutual. “In fact it is six times higher than construction. By teaching students’ good practice we hope to produce a trickle-up effect where new entrants to the industry teach the older workers best practice.”

“I found each of the four safety sessions very informative and interesting,” said Antony Davis, who is studying the level two agriculture course.

“Especially the tractor power take-off, as it highlighted how a split-second mistake can be life-changing. It’s highlighted to me the importance of listening during these training sessions.”

Student florists to represent British Florist Association at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

A team of floristry students has been chosen to represent the British Florist Association at the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The seven Moreton Morrell College students won a national competition to mark the BFA’s 100th anniversary with their design for a floral feature, which they will display in the show’s floristry zone.

The design will be made up of 6,000 fresh-cut flowers, used to create a 2.5-metre-tall ‘100’, with portraits of British florists incorporated into the piece.

The students, studying a level four higher diploma in floristry, are now preparing to begin the build at Chelsea ready for the official press day on May 22.

Emily Deacon, who submitted the final design on behalf of the team, said: “Although it was my drawing that was chosen, it was definitely collaborative as we were all putting in our ideas.

“When we heard we that it was our design that was selected we were ecstatic as Chelsea is so prestigious.”

Brian Wills-Pope, chair of the BFA said: “We are thrilled that Moreton Morrell College are helping us celebrate the 100th anniversary. Their installation for Chelsea looks set to be an absolute showstopper!”

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs between May 23 and 27.

Team of welding students make steel memorial tree for local primary school

Fabrication and welding students have created a memorial tree to help a local special needs primary school commemorate pupils who have passed away.

The team of students from North Lindsey College created an eight-foot tree structure out of steel after being approached by St Luke’s Special Primary School in north Lincolnshire, who wanted a way to remember former pupils.

It took four months for the students to build the structure, which has individual leaves on which the school can engrave names.

The students completed the tree in their own time, with material donated from local steel and welding firms.

Alistair Sutherland, the headteacher at St Luke’s, said: “I think the tree looks absolutely brilliant and the students have done a fantastic job; it’s far better than I could expect and I can’t wait to see it on the school grounds.”

Fabrication and welding students Callum Barstow-Lewis (pictured above right) and Rhys Day both (left) helped work on the tree.

“It has been challenging but nice working as a team and for a real cause,” they said. “We just hope everyone else likes it as much as we do.”

Students with Alistair Sutherland, right, and a friend of St Lukes Primary, far right

Conservatives are lying about 3m apprenticeships for young people

The Conservative manifesto has repeated the pledge from 2015 to “deliver our commitment to create 3 million apprenticeships for young people by 2020.”

This target description remains at best grossly misleading, and now they’re repeating it two years later, I think it’s fair to call this a lie.

Why? Because in reality they are aren’t only counting “young people”.

Last year just one in four apprentice starts (26 per cent) were under 19, compared to nearly half (44 per cent) aged 25 or over.

In fact, last year nearly a quarter (23.8 per cent) of apprenticeship starts were aged 35 and over, of which 3,560 of them were aged 60 and over.

All these adults (the majority of apprentices and likely not new in jobs) are being counted towards the 3 million target, despite maintaining a manifesto commitment to 3 million apprentice starts for “young people”.

And as reported months ago in FE Week, the evidence is building that it’s employer demand for young apprentices that will suffer, under a new ‘employer-led’ levy funding regime in which the employer must financially contribute.

Take a look at the standards pilot before May.

Latest figures for the already popular level two customer service standard show 560 starts between August and January.

How many of them are going to those under the age of 19?

Ten. Ten out of 560 is less than 2 percent!

The government won’t be able to claim they weren’t warned about the worsening position for young apprentices.

But the least they could do is stop peddling this manifesto lie.

Chaplain hosts monthly animal café in college coffee shop

A college chaplain has initiated a monthly animal café as a way of making connections with students and staff, as well as helping them to relieve stress, reports Samantha King

Halesowen College’s multi-faith chaplain, Hazel Charlton, wanted to find a way to make herself more accessible, so she came up with the idea of hosting a monthly animal café.

Snakes, rabbits, guinea pigs, lizards and dogs are just some of the guests who now frequent the campus coffee shop at the West Midlands college, and students can enjoy the animals’ company while also having a platform to talk about what’s going on in their lives both in and out of college.

Hazel, left, with some of the furry guests

“The idea is that animals are a good stress release, and it also makes me more accessible,” said Rev Charlton.

“It’s a chance for people to come in, say hello to the animals and de-stress a bit. I can approach them and say ‘Are you ok?’, ‘How’s the course going?’ or ‘Anything you’re worried about?’. The idea isn’t to offload at that particular time, but it’s just to make contact and inform students and staff there is a chaplain around for them.”

Beginning in January this year, the sessions take place on the second Tuesday of every month and have already received glowing feedback.

“Somebody said they had been waiting for it all day, and another said they’d been waiting for it all their life,” Rev Charlton said. “I thought that was quite interesting really, that they’re coming, seeing the animals and just completely relaxing and being themselves.

“They’re just in the moment, and sharing that moment with an animal, which is lovely. The animals are not interested in exam results. It’s a delight to see people’s reactions.”

While the majority of animals involved reside in the college’s animal care unit, a number of lecturers have been bringing along their pet dogs, who have proven to be among the most popular attendees.

Mark Dugmore, the manager of the animal care unit and a lecturer at the college, said “Everyone loves a dog.

“With the snakes we weren’t sure how the wider student population would take them, but there was a mixture of fear and fascination, and a lot of curious people coming in not sure if they wanted to meet them and handle them, but they warmed up to them and people got over long-standing fears as well.”

In order to keep the animals safe, animal care technicians are on hand at the café, looking out for any animal that may be beginning to show signs of distress.

“If we feel like they’ve had enough we take them out straight away,” added Mr Dugmore. “It’s no good for the users of the café if the animals are freaking out. They’ve got their own private spaces to go into as well, whether it’s a carrier or a tray from an enclosure so they could hop around in there and approach people only if they wanted to. We take their welfare very seriously.”

“We don’t want to put the students’ stress onto the animals. That would defeat the object really,” joked Rev Charlton.