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Budding chefs take over hotel kitchen for culinary battle

A team of student chefs staged a kitchen takeover at a local hotel and went head to head in a culinary battle. Samantha King reports

Six student chefs from Sunderland College took over the kitchen of the Washington Holiday Inn for a day, to creat their own three-course menus.

Splitting into teams of two, the culinary trainees went head to head under the watchful eye of the hotel’s head chef Mariusz Urbanczyk, and battled it out to see who would be crowned takeover champions.

The winning team, who created the dish that was most popular with guests, was made up of Eleanor Wilson, Morgan Brickle and Connor Mills.

The students made quite an impression on the hotel’s general manager Paul Mandeir, who said he was “delighted” with the way the day went.

He added: “It is clear from the delivery of service that the students will excel in the hospitality trade. All of the guests who attended enjoyed the food and left delighted with the event.”

The event wasn’t just to determine who the best chefs were however, with £160 raised on the day going to the Holiday Inn’s chosen charities, Grace House and Greenfingers.

Rob Stewart, Sunderland College’s curriculum leader for hospitality, tourism and engagement, said: “We were really pleased to help support local charities and give the learners an opportunity to see inside a different type of kitchen to any they’d seen or worked in before.

“They all put in a lot of effort to prepare for the event and so hearing such positive feedback from the diners made it all worthwhile.”

Last September, the college’s catering students were moved into brand new facilities, which included a bakery, a training kitchen, two learning kitchens, plus a new commercial restaurant, City Bistro.

“With the facilities our students are used to cooking in day in day out, they are gaining the knowledge and skills they need to become top chefs,” added Mr Stewart.

“We encourage them to do as many work placements as they can in restaurants while they are studying with us and along with the experience they gain in City Bistro – which is fast becoming one of the most popular restaurants in the city – they are getting a great head start in the industry.”

The takeover was arranged with the help of Reed NCFE, which joined forces with Sunderland College in 2014 to create a job zone offering work experience opportunities and careers guidance.

Katrina Blyth, employment broker for Reed NCFE, said: “The students have had the chance to create their own menus, cost their menu, prepare and, ultimately, take over the professional kitchen at the Holiday Inn, cooking for a restaurant of people.

“This has proved to be a real eye-opener for the students in terms of the hard work that goes in to running a real-life, working kitchen and they have all done a wonderful job.”

No Birmingham colleges make apprenticeships register

The nation’s second largest city may not have an FE college delivering apprenticeships when the levy launches in April, as none of its colleges has made it onto the new register of apprenticeship training providers.

Birmingham Metropolitan College, Bournville College, South and City College and Solihull College were all missing from the list published by the Skills Funding Agency on Tuesday – despite the four currently delivering almost £12 million worth of apprenticeships between them.

Several other major apprenticeship-delivering colleges have also failed to make the list, including Bournemouth and Poole College and Hartlepool College, both rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, and which have apprenticeship allocations of £5.6 million and £2.9 million respectively.

In all, FE Week estimates that at least 21 colleges that were eligible to apply, with a combined allocation of £44 million, did not make it onto the register.

David Hughes, AoC’s chief executive, said he was “concerned about the exclusion of some high-quality colleges from the register” and would be raising the issue with the SFA and the Department for Education “as a matter of urgency”.

BMet’s principal Andrew Cleaves told FE Week that “we are very surprised and disappointed by the outcome”.

He said that his college, which has the largest 2016/17 SFA allocation of all four, at almost £4.7m, had “put forward a solid proposal to the SFA” and had “grown significantly this past year”.

The college’s most recent Ofsted report was published Thursday (March 16) and gave the college a grade three overall, with a grade two for apprenticeship provision.

“We are now working with the SFA to see how we can address things and are confident that this will reach a positive conclusion over the coming weeks, for BMet and our many satisfied employers and apprentices,” he said.

Bournville College and South and City College, which are currently in federation ahead of a planned merger later this year, have a 2016/17 apprenticeships allocation of almost £5 million between them.

South and City College received a grade two overall, including its apprenticeship provision, when it was inspected by Ofsted in December 2015.

But Bournville received a grade four for its apprenticeship provision during its most recent Ofsted inspection in September – which meant it was ineligible to apply for the register, according to SFA rules.

A spokesperson for the two colleges confirmed that Bournville hadn’t applied.

“However, we were very shocked to discover that the South and City College application had been unsuccessful, given our grade two Ofsted report and excellent track record,” she said.

“We are keen to understand why this was the case and have already sought feedback. It is our intention to reapply at the next possible opportunity.”

A spokesperson for Solihull College said it was “very surprised” not to be on the new register.

The college, which has an allocation of £2.3 million, was rated ‘good’ overall and for its apprenticeship provision at its most recent Ofsted inspection in November.

The college is “in discussion” with the SFA about “next steps and are awaiting a response”.

All four colleges were part of the Birmingham and Solihull area review, along with three sixth form colleges – none of which are on the register.

One of the outcomes from the review, which finished in March last year, was to set up an apprenticeship company.

According to the review’s final report, which was published in November, the company would “provide the first collaborative college-owned company delivering a dedicated service to employers to increase the range, volume and quality of apprenticeships in the Birmingham and Solihull area” and would be “driven by employer demand”.

Movers and Shakers: Edition 203

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

There have been two new appointments at Askham Bryan College, which specialises in land-based courses.

Sandra Burnhill has been appointed executive director of the York college.

She joins Askham Bryan from her role as assistant principal at Kirklees College, which she has held since 2009.

Beginning her career as a police officer, she first started working in further education in 1989 as a sport and public services lecturer at Dewsbury College. She later became its head of department before moving on to the role of assistant principal.

In the new role at the college, Ms Burnhill says she is most “looking forward to returning to her North Yorkshire roots” and sees working in the land sector as going back to her “agricultural” beginnings, after growing up with the sheep her parents kept.

“For a while now I have wanted to work with students learning about the land-based sector,” she said.

“I am looking forward to working with the college’s curriculum team, particularly with the challenges and opportunities which government reforms to apprenticeships offer.”

She will begin in the role on March 20.

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A former Askham Bryan student, Josh Banks, has been meanwhile appointed as the college’s farm manager.

He will be responsible for running the three farms at the campus – totalling more than 600 hectares of land – as well as supporting student learning and assisting with public visits such as lambing Sunday, which often attracts 5,000 visitors.

He will oversee facilities such as the college’s milking parlour, which has the capacity for more than 240 cows, as well as crops currently being grown across the land.

Mr Banks, 30, graduated from the college four years ago, and has since gained experience across the industry, specialising in livestock. He said he was “delighted to be back at the college”.

“During my three years there as a student I thoroughly enjoyed my learning experience.

“My degree gave me the ability to progress quickly through the industry, culminating in my recent appointment as the college’s new farm manager.”

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Paul Riley has been appointed as the new principal at Worthing College.

The West Sussex college is spread across an 18 acre campus, and received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted in its latest inspection.

Mr Riley takes up the new role from his prior position as interim principal at the college, which he has held since September last year following the retirement of Peter Corrigan.

In response to the appointment, he said he was “thrilled to be given the opportunity to be the guardian of the Worthing College community”.

He hopes to lead the college to an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating within the next three years, adding: “I am relishing the prospect of leading the organisation and continuing with the innovative work we are already doing to create an exciting and dynamic college in the heart of our local community.”

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

How to get positive media coverage for FE

It can be a struggle to win media coverage, but there are ways to increase your chances of getting heard, says Ruth Sparkes

Could it be that vocational qualifications just aren’t sexy enough? Granted, they are getting recognition, but they’re not up there with the likes of GCSEs and A-levels just yet.

I mean, I don’t remember seeing female twin or triplet apprentices jumping up and down in strappy summer tops brandishing technical certificates on the front pages of national daily newspapers.

FE has suffered over recent times and the apprenticeship ‘brand’ has taken a bit of a beating. But (the levy and register aside) there is definitely a new positive buzz, and even awareness surrounding apprenticeships that I have certainly not experienced before.

Cybersecurity, law, marketing, veterinary nursing, journalism, software development and auctioneering are just some of the new and exciting industry areas for apprentices and we are seeing some fabulous marketing initiatives.

This buzz could quite feasibly be leveraged to give a boost to the FE sector as a whole in the public consciousness.

The apprenticeship brand has taken a bit of a beating

So, what is it about vocational qualifications that gives journalists (other than the fabulous staff at FE Week) that glazed look? Is it the way we’re ‘selling’ that puts them off ‘buying’?

Granted, not everything that happens in the world of FE is newsworthy, however with a hook, a good picture and careful timing you can very often leverage column inches.

I’m running a session at the Annual Apprenticeship Conference 2017 that will look at:

The ‘dull story’ hall of fame: What is and isn’t news.

Messages: For parents and apprentices, your message might be ‘employers are hungry for certain skills and this is the most cost effective route to a rewarding and well-paid career – debt free’, but the message for employers might be something different.

How to leverage current national stories: Topics to piggyback upon, such as; skills shortages, mindfulness, women in STEM, males in primary schools, aerospace and Brexit.

Using a personal or unusual angle: Looking for something unique. We’ve used ex-soldiers who’ve retrained in construction – Baghdad to Battersea — and a costume apprentice at the English National Opera.

Timing is everything: We’ll look at some real-life examples of how timing has ensured an improved take-up of apprenticeship-related press releases.

Have you got the tools for the job? We’ll look at some helpful (and not so helpful) online tools to help get your story in front of the right people.

If you’re not able to attend the workshop at AAC 2017 – here are my top tips for getting press coverage.

Timing

Can you create a local story by piggybacking on a national event?

Pictures

VERY important these days – stories are getting shorter, and newspapers and websites need images. A good picture is where you will gain the advantage.

Topicality

What’s new is news.

Write for the publication

Newspapers generally have a house style. Look at who you are writing for and copy their house style. A pitch idea for a national paper will look quite different.

Widen your net

If you have a story about, for example, a carpentry apprentice, don’t just think local – think niche, too. A search will reveal that there are 27 magazine contacts who are interested in writing about carpentry.

Don’t just think print

Look at broadcast, blogs and online news, too.

Key messages

If a story can’t include one of your key messages, ditch it.

Quotes

All PRs ought to have a quote. Often if you cannot see a way to include a key message, you can use a quote to ensure there is link back.

Comment pieces

Some national titles have comment sections on their online platforms. Examples include: The Independent, The Guardian, Huffington Post, TES andFE Week

Relationships

Build relationships with your local journalists, education journalists and citizen journalists/bloggers.

Ruth Sparkes will be running a workshop entitled ‘Top tips for positive media coverage’ at AAC2017

There are two levels of unfairness in FE

Mark Dawe made his maiden speech as chief executive of AELP at last year’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference. One year on, he tackles a familiar question: are FE institutions treated fairly?

My youngest of four children, the only girl, often retorts “What about me?” when I make the mistake of saying “come on, boys”. Given my own experience in the further education sector, I really should empathise more.

I come from a background of educational privilege and I have seen what is possible. I have also run an exam board working with nearly every school in the country, while in various roles in FE I worked closely with schools and universities. I have witnessed the political priorities in what was the original all-encompassing DfES. Here is what I’ve learned.

There is inequity in the education system

Despite positive noises about skills and extra money in last week’s budget, I don’t think anyone can deny that while all public services are suffering at the moment, further education gets a tougher deal compared with schools and universities.

The sector has every right to shout and scream on behalf of the young people and adults it tries to support

And this disparity has a direct knock-on effect for learners. FE has some of the most challenging learners and is the engine for social mobility and productivity.

While it’s increasingly recognised, resources don’t follow rhetoric – I am sure I don’t need to go into the funding per learner in HE or schools compared to FE – and the sector has every right to shout and scream on behalf of the young people and adults it tries to support.

In many ways the Brexit vote represented a proportion of the population who didn’t feel like they had a voice – something we have said in FE for decades. Maybe if ministers, secretaries of state and prime ministers paid a little more attention to the FE sector, they would have a better understanding of the mood – and challenges – of the nation.

There is inequity within FE

Some people accuse me of being anti-college, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Working in colleges for over 12 years, I have represented them regionally and nationally. I was principal of the first college to join what was then ALP – they understood how to engage with employers and I wanted to learn how. Moreover, many of the issues were common to all providers and I thought we should be campaigning side by side.

I am a cheerleader for the FE sector as a whole. I hate ‘Cinderella’, ‘second chance’, ‘safety net’ and the many other labels the sector has been given and still uses itself. With the apprenticeship policy and the technical and professional proposals, we can see a genuine light at the end of the reputation tunnel.

However, I also hate injustice, and as much as there is inequity of treatment between FE and HE and schools, inequity also exists within the sector.

Namely, independent training providers and colleges are treated differently.

In some cases, this may be justified – especially when their functions and purposes are different – but there are also cases I shall outline below, where the inequity feels like nothing more than bias.

Terminations

The government’s approach to colleges and ITPs is very different. Take the recent demise of First4Skills, closed down almost overnight primarily because of a grade four from Ofsted, resulting in an abrupt end to their Skills Funding Agency contract.

While I hold to my conviction that ‘inadequate’ provision does not deserve new starts, the owner of First4Skills is a grade three (previously grade four) college that continued to get funding for new starts despite a damning letter from the minister over four months ago. If ever there were a situation to open a wound and then rub handfuls of salt into it, this has to be it.

Bailouts

The government made clear in its apprenticeship register rules that a college with a grade four could continue to recruit apprentices if its apprenticeship provision was at a better grade, but gave no such leeway to the non-college sector.

Colleges didn’t have to demonstrate financial security; non-colleges did, despite the message that colleges would be allowed to go bust.

Capital funding

The ITP sector has never ever had capital funding or any kind of capital support yet colleges have. ITPs are not getting grants for consultancy to set up apprenticeship companies, joint ventures, etc – while colleges are. While this is not technically state aid (we checked), it is the closest yet.

Subcontracting

The news is nearly always about subcontractors going bust, or lack of control over the subcontractor, but it is those doing the subcontracting that need to be challenged. The prime contractor is responsible for monitoring the quality and financial stability of those they work with.

Bad subcontracting is a consequence of a clunky funding system, where the money is not going to the providers that can do the job and there is no willingness to redistribute funds once allocated – in many cases allowing large management fees for no management, which is totally unacceptable.

Good subcontracting and proper partnerships are great for the sector. Dishing out money while retaining a margin is simply bad practice.

Adult funding

Over 90 per cent of adult education is now grant-funded to colleges and local authority providers – with only £110 million put out to tender. To add insult to injury, colleges are able to compete with ITPs for their paltry slice of funds.

This isn’t going to remain static; we have the continued pressure of austerity and the looming implementation of devolution. Surely combined authorities will see that a greater proportion of the budget should be commissioned?

However, it seems this may be stymied in the name of financial stability for colleges; we are already hearing local authorities complain that the DfE readiness conditions include a requirement not to destabilise the college sector.

Let’s be honest about the biases

In short, there is an underlying bias in favour of colleges. If this is what the government wants, let’s at least be honest about it. Let’s have colleges as public assets and provide them the support they need to survive in their current form.

There is an underlying bias in favour of colleges

However if they are independent, let the many good colleges flourish, while those that fail can wither and die.

Fundamentally, some key decisions have to be made about what we want our colleges to be. My view is that large monolithic institutions delivering skills development away from the workplace doesn’t work.

Just listen to the voice of apprentices and employers articulating the benefits of being embedded in the workplace and supported while in a job. Large educational establishments scare many of the learners we are trying to reach.

We need to speak for those who don’t have a voice

When we argue for fair funding, it should be for FE and its students. Funding should follow the learner and be the same no matter who is delivering it.

I sometimes wonder (conspiracy theory warning) whether there is a deliberate plan to cause friction within the sector, so we forget the problems caused by government for the learners we are all striving to serve.

We all need to fight the elitist viewpoint that level two is low quality and doesn’t deserve to underpin an apprenticeship, fight the view that academic assessment is good therefore everything has to be externally examined, no matter what skills and competencies are being developed and tested.

The schools fairer funding campaign is getting lots of media attention, and HE fees almost brought down a government; but ripping out 16-18 apprenticeship funding and disadvantage funding, for example, was barely noticed outside the FE sector.

We have to speak up for those young people and adults with the quietest voices, and we need to purge the biases that lead to inefficiencies and poor delivery, and encourage everyone in the system to play to their strengths.

Colleges and ITPs have different strengths

Many colleges agree ITPs are far better at engaging with employers: colleges are not structured to respond in the flexible ways employers expect. They suffer from their own bureaucracy, which stifles their chances of proper employer engagement.

Colleges have incredible resources for full-time learning, but local niche organisations are often better at community work.

Some colleges are excellent at meeting the agenda, but generally the further the apprenticeship delivery unit is from the college systems, management, KPIs and processes and the more they are left alone, the more successful they are.

Each part of the FE sector has its own strengths – the sooner we recognise this, the sooner we will all be able to focus on those strengths and work collaboratively.

Timeline: Mark Dawe’s first year as chief executive of AELP

Ofsted boss commits to more ‘positive and purposeful’ approach to FE

Ofsted’s new chief inspector was vowed to “reset” the relationship between the education watchdog and colleges, in her first speech to the FE sector since taking over from Sir Michael Wilshaw in January.

Amanda Spielman struck a more conciliatory tone than her controversial predecessor at the AoC Ofsted conference this morning in London.

But while she acknowledged the pressures the sector was facing, she also made it clear she will not shy away from challenging the sector.

Ms Spielman said: “We need a much more positive and purposeful relationship between Ofsted and the FE sector. And so I want to use today to reset that relationship.”

She continued: “I will not be using my position at Ofsted to impose my personal views, or to make unevidenced claims about the sector.”

Instead, she said she was interested in “collecting inspection evidence, analysing it rigorously and reporting it objectively”.

“It is only when you have evidence on your side that you have the authority to make respected judgements which genuinely drive improvement,” she said.

Seven out of 10 colleges were good or better, Ms Spielman said, and she had seen some “excellent practice”.

“But while we must recognise the good practice, we can’t lose sight of the fact that inspection grades have been in decline for at least two years now,” she said.

“This is a worrying sign, and a trend that needs to be reversed: too many colleges are struggling to maintain quality, and too few that require improvement are demonstrating the capability to do so.”

Ms Spielman made it clear she would work with colleges to drive up standards.

“That challenge means that we, and I use we in the broadest sense, need to take a hard look in the mirror to ensure we are doing all we can to make sure that college education is the best it can be,” she said.

The Ofsted boss recognised that the government’s “well-intentioned” English and maths GCSE resit policy was “causing significant problems” to colleges.

She said the policy had a “disproportionate effect on different institutions”, with around three-quarters of students at FE colleges following vocational courses.

The large numbers of students failing to improve their grades following resits was “such a waste”, Ms Spielman said.

“We must ask ourselves whether expecting all students without a C grade to retake English and maths is the right way forward.”

She continued: “Our hope therefore, is that while maintaining this important policy objective, the government will reflect on feedback from Ofsted and the wider sector, to refine its approach to promoting these vital maths and English skills.”

Ms Spielman also spoke about the impact of funding pressures on colleges.

“What is undeniable is that while the other age ranges have been largely protected from funding pressures until recently, the same has not been true for education post-16,” she said.

“This has had real consequences,” she said.

“And while college funding is the domain of the SFA, and not Ofsted, we do know from our work that it is having an impact on the quality of education,” she acknowledged.

Ms Spielman continued: “My hope is that the announcements in the budget pave the way for a new approach to FE funding, where the benefits of investment are realised, and the temptation to keep paring back is resisted.”

Former Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw, who retired in January, caused huge controversy with his outspoken comments about the FE sector.

In March 2016, he laid into the sector during a parliamentary select committee, telling MPs that he believed all 16 to 19-year-olds should be educated in schools.

In July he was caught making up evidence about the standard of careers guidance in colleges, calling it “uniformly weak” without an identifiable source to back up his claims.

And in December he contradicted Ofsted’s own annual report by pointing the finger at colleges for the sharp increase in 16 to 18-year-olds failing English and maths GCSE resits.

Having heard Ms Spielman’s speech, David Hughes, AoC chief executive, said: “It was also pleasing that she has recognised the important role of colleges and proposed a “positive and purposeful conversation” with the sector.

“It is clear she is committed to Ofsted inspecting colleges based on evidence and wants to ensure that Ofsted truly is an agent for quality improvement, not just of quality measurement.

“We have been working hard to highlight the difficulties in making the current English and maths GCSE resits policy work effectively. It is a challenge for every college and we believe has enormous consequences for college inspection outcomes.

“It is therefore very welcome news to hear Amanda supporting the call for the Government to reconsider its approach to this policy as well as acknowledging the need for inspectors to recognise the scale of the English and maths challenge which colleges face.

“I look forward to working closely with Amanda and her team to further develop this new relationship for the benefit of colleges and students.”

Outrage at decision to widen admissions for small sixth form

The controversial decision to widen admissions at a struggling small-school sixth form has come in for fierce criticism, due to a rapid decline in the need for post-16 provision in the area.

Dyke House Community College (pictured), an academy in Hartlepool, opened a sixth form in 2014, offering A-level and BTEC courses.

This was on the condition that the school only took on students who had come up from its own year 11, after they finished their GCSEs, with maximum capacity set at 200.

But it has struggled to fill places since opening, with just 89 students studying at the sixth form in 2015/16, and only 65 on courses this academic year.

To increase numbers, the school applied to widen its admissions to allow students from other providers to join its sixth form from 2018/19, which was approved by the Department for Education in January.

However, other local providers, including the principals of Hartlepool’s FE and sixth form colleges, are in uproar about the decision along with council leaders, claiming that it represented a “wild west” approach to approval.

They complained to FE Week that the move will put unreasonable extra pressure on other local post-16 providers, in the face of a fast-declining 16-to-18 population that was found by the Tees Valley area review.

Darren Hankey, principal of Hartlepool College, said he was “really at a loss” as to why the government green-lit the admissions change.

“There is clearly no need for extra post-16 provision across the Tees Valley or in Hartlepool,” he told FE Week.

“I don’t blame the school; it is doing all it can to secure its future. However, there should be more of a joined-up approach from the powers that be because. At the moment, it appears to be rationalisation on the one hand and a wild-west approach on the other.”

Maureen Bunter, principal of Hartlepool SFC, said Dyke House’s low student numbers cast doubt on how financially sustainable it would be. The decision to expand its admissions, she claimed, “completely contradicts the purpose of the area reviews”.

A Hartlepool council spokesperson said the authority “does not support the revision of the admissions policy for the sixth form at Dyke House” and has contacted the Education Funding Agency to “try to understand their position on this matter”.

After FE Week put the concerns to him, Andrew Jordon, executive principal at Dyke House Community College, said the purpose of widening the sixth form’s admission policy was to offer “greater choice and opportunity for all children in Hartlepool who are contemplating their next step in FE”.

This is only the latest baffling decision involving small sixth forms, after the Association of Colleges took the DfE to court last November over its controversial decision to approve a new small school sixth form at Abbs Cross Academy and Arts College in Essex, even though it would have broken the government’s own rules.

The move prevented plans for the sixth form from going ahead, and the government was supposed to launch a review into the guidance on how small-school sixth forms are approved.

The report on Tees Valley area review of post-16 education, published last November, warned that by 2019/20 there would be about 2,000 fewer 16- to 18-year-olds in the area than there are now.

A raft of mergers were recommended to ensure FE providers in the area would continue to be financially viable, including joining Hartlepool College and Hartlepool SFC.

Julian Gravatt, the AOC’s assistant chief executive, told FE Week that the government must consider the “demand and growth of student numbers, before giving permission for any new institutions to open or expand their offer”.

When asked if AoC had contributed yet to the government review on small sixth forms, he said the association had submitted a letter with proposals for amended guidance on the approval process to civil servants in November.

It is unclear whether the government had taken the matter any further; the DfE refused to respond to FE Week’s request for an update on the review’s progress.

Sector in shock: Apprenticeship provider register winners and losers

The selection process for the new register of apprenticeship training providers has been branded an “omnishambles”, after providers with no delivery experience whatsoever have found their way onto it while numerous huge, established colleges have missed out.

The Skills Funding Agency this week published the full list of 1,708 providers which will be eligible to deliver apprenticeships from May, whittled down from 2,327 applications.

Many colleges with significant current apprenticeship allocations, including Bournemouth and Poole College, Hartlepool College, Birmingham Metropolitan College and Northbrook College, have expressed dismay after they didn’t make it onto the list.

To add insult to injury, FE Week analysis shows, for example, that one person operating from a rented office in Knutsford, Cheshire has succeeded in getting their three companies, Cranage Ltd, Obscurant Limited, and Tatton Solutions Ltd onto the approved ‘main route’ register – even though none of these companies has any experience of running government-funded apprenticeships.

The shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden told FE Week that the register was “looking like an omnishambles”.

He continued: “I fear that this reflects the concern I’ve been expressing for months that the SFA just doesn’t have the resources to carry out due diligence on this scale.

“The SFA should now give a clear indication of how thorough the checking process has been.”

Cranage, Obscurant, and Tatton Solutions were all incorporated between August and December 2015, and their first sets of annual accounts are due within months.

Another private training provider, the Hertfordshire-based Apple Training Academy, is on the RoATP despite having ceased trading, while the Essex-based Firm Training only launched in February 2017 – from a residential address (see below).

A DfE spokesperson told FE Week that “all providers were given a clear set of criteria they had to meet, in order to ensure they can receive public funds for apprenticeship training: due diligence, financial health, capacity and quality”.

He continued: “We will provide personalised feedback to all providers who do not make it onto the register to help them understand what they need to do to be successful in the future.”

The process was geared towards “ensuring excellence for apprenticeship provision”, and it “cannot compromise on our commitment” to rigorous quality tests.

The director of Cranage, Obscurant, and Tatton Solutions is Peter Sherry, the former chief executive of the National Skills Academy Logistics which went into liquidation in 2013 after the Skills Funding Agency pulled its financial support.

Obscurant is also on the old register of training organisations (Roto) – but Cranage and Tatton are not.

Mr Sherry confirmed that just 16 people work across all three companies, but added that with Cranage, which still has no official website, “we are still effectively looking at where we will run”.

“We are looking at senior management qualifications,” he added. “But in doing those we want to see whether we can work with a third party, maybe even a college or another prime.”

The SFA declined to comment on whether connected companies were supposed to apply for the register, though Mr Sherry said: “We are finding employers, now in control of apprenticeships funding, are often now looking to work with a number of different specialist smaller companies. That is the model we plan to follow.”

He added: “Some employers see it as a massive advantage that you have not offered apprenticeships previously. They like it if we come to them fresh and with a different approach.”

The inclusion of his firms on RoATP will surprise many in FE, who were led to believe that only providers with a firm track record in delivering apprenticeships would be allowed onto it, in order to maintain quality.

Peter Lauener, the head of the SFA and shadow chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships, told FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference a year ago that the new register was being introduced “to make sure any provider available for an employer to use meets the right standards”.

Small distance learning provider ‘delighted’

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

Firm Training says it delivers distance learning specialising in online access to higher education for courses including nursing and midwifery, according its website.

However there is no evidence of the provider having any experience of running government-funded apprenticeships training.

It is not on the SFA’s general register of training organisations and its website lists no address.

Firm Training is however registered on the UK register of learning providers to a residential property in Essex.

FE Week asked Firm Training if it had ever delivered government-funded apprenticeships, and what types of apprenticeships it would offer now it’s on the register.

A spokesperson would only say: “I would like to say that we are delighted to be added to the register and are now situated in an office (waiting for the registered address to be amended).”

Firm stops trading days before register success

A private training provider is on RoATP despite having ceased trading.

Hertfordshire-based Apple Training Academy is listed as a main provider on the register, but is understood to have gone out of business this month.

FE Week has been unable to contact Apple Training Academy directly, as the provider’s phone is no longer working and our emails have not been answered.

However, a spokesperson for the provider’s accountants, Lawrence and Company, confirmed it had ceased trading and was currently going through insolvency.

Apple Training Academy is not listed on the SFA’s current register of training organisations, nor does it appear on the SFA’s subcontractor list.

According to its website, which is still up and running, it had offered a range qualifications in health and social care, child care, business and management, and training.

A news story posted on February 27 indicated that it would be offering apprenticeships from May.

“New apprenticeship funding is available from 1st May. Don’t miss out!” it said.

The provider’s Facebook page is full of comments from angry customers who have lost money, having paid for training but not received it.

Exclusive: National College fails to make Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers

A high profile new government-backed national college has failed to make it onto the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, due to what it claims is a “technicality” in its application.

The Skills Funding Agency announced the full list of providers that will be eligible to deliver apprenticeships from May this week, but the submission from the National College Creative Industries was unsuccessful.

The new college, based in Purfleet, Essex, opened to students in September. It began with 35 apprentices and, according to a spokesperson, has a commitment to sub-contract a further 12.

A statement from the college, sent to FE Week today, said: “The National College Creative Industries will be re-applying to the Skills Funding Agency to be accepted on to the RoATP.

“The original application submitted in November did not meet the criteria, in section nine of the 14 main assessment areas, due to a technicality.”

It added the reapplication process will open again at the end of March, when the college expects to “be successful” in its reapplication.

“This delay will not have any impact for apprenticeships currently being delivered by the National College Creative Industries.

“We are working closely with employers and we intend to deliver apprenticeships to non-levied employers, including small and medium enterprises as planned.”

The release said the college “remains committed to delivering high quality apprenticeships”, and intends to “pioneer apprenticeships with industry specialist assessors who are dedicated to working with our apprentices and employers”.

In being excluded from the register, the National College Creative Industries is in the company of a number of major apprenticeship delivering colleges, which told FE Week they were “stunned”, “disappointed” and “frustrated” at not making the list.

Those left out in the cold include Bournemouth and Poole College, Hartlepool College, Birmingham Metropolitan College and Northbrook College.

In May 2016, the government announced details of nearly £80 million in funding to support the creation of five new National Colleges.

The sector skills council, Creative & Cultural Skills, and its employer partners provided the National College Creative Industries with a start-up grant which enabled it to be incorporated and employ industry practitioners.

Up to £5.5 million of matched funding has also been allocated to it by the government for a “capital project”, but this is still under tender and the college is currently operating out of The Backstage Centre, a theatre venue in High House Production Park.

So far only the National College for Digital Skills and National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries are up and running, since last September, but FE Week understands the National College for High Speed Rail and the National College for Nuclear are in development.

The National College for Onshore Oil and Gas was expected to open in 2016/17, but plans were understood to have stalled when Theresa May became prime minister, due to a need to assess what level of support her government intends to give to fracking in the future.