Merseyside SEND college awarded first ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating

A specialist SEND provider in the North West has been handed top marks by Ofsted for the first time.

Activate Community and Education Services (Activate CES) offers provision for its 62 learners three days a week. Its cohort of learners are aged over 19 with a range of learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

In an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted report today, inspectors found the Merseyside-based provider supports learners with either a vocational skills-based pathway or a communications pathway through an “expertly” tailored curriculum. The college received a ‘good’ rating in 2017 and a grade three in its first inspection in 2015.

This time, inspectors noted that all students have a bespoke timetable of vocational learning in areas such as horticulture, animal care, drama and music, and support such as personal development, therapy and work-related sessions.

They praised learners for achieving “extremely well” and often exceeding their education, health and care (EHC) plan targets.

During the inspection, the watchdog saw learners treated as adults and taking more ownership of their learning. As a result, they developed confidence “significantly” and became more resilient to make the transition into adulthood.

Learner attendance is also “excellent”, inspectors found. The report said leaders maximised attendance by sensory and social development sessions with therapy dogs or sensory equipment at the start of each day, when learners chose activities to help them to regulate their behaviours and increase their alertness.

The report also commended learners’ engagement with the local community through their management of a successful online clothes shop, on-site café and small animal centre.

The watchdog also said teachers have a detailed understanding of learners needs before they start college due to examining their prior experiences, learning, achievements and parents’ views.

As a result, learners benefit from appropriate teaching strategies to ensure they are learning as independently as possible.

Learners also have access to a multidisciplinary therapist team, on-site speech and language therapists, neurophysiotherapy and behavioural experts. They also use an on-site hydrotherapy pool and specially designed sensory area to learn to regulate their behaviour.

Principal of Activate CES Jane Young told FE Week that the college has also invested in the upskilling of staff to achieve the standards found by inspectors.

“Activate implemented a ‘grow your own’ policy after the previous inspection as the specialism needed for both support and teaching roles for such complex young adults was not readily available neither locally nor nationally,” she said.

Half of the teaching staff began as support workers and are now fully qualified teachers. Some are in training and one support staff member has started a degree apprenticeship in physiotherapy.

The college was also praised for implementing augmentative and alternative communication devices and eye gaze/eye movement technology, which allows learners to make choices and make their opinions heard. Inspectors noted that this method developed more autonomy amongst learners.

Furthermore, Ofsted lauded Activate CES for providing comprehensive, tailored careers information, advice and guidance and having governors with relevant experience to support and hold leaders to account.

The report said: “[Governors] also recognise that a positive culture and open and transparent ways of working are key to the college’s success. As a result, governors are highly effective in their roles.”

Young said: “This achievement reflects the collective efforts of the entire college community from our students, staff and management team, their hard work and dedication has created an exceptional learning environment.

“It is their innovative teaching methods, strong leadership and effective governance that ensures the college will continue to excel and we are committed to maintaining an ‘outstanding’ environment.”

“Our bespoke approach ensures that each learner’s needs are met, enabling them to thrive and succeed.”

ESFA changes give us the keys to an inclusive future for apprenticeships

ESFA funding rule changes coming into force next academic year have created a landmark opportunity for improvement, putting additional learner support (ALS) at the forefront of every apprenticeship provider’s agenda.

Their potential impact is huge. Far more than just another set of regulations, they are an acknowledgement of the crucial role of learning support and a vital step towards personalised learning.

The new rules mandate cognitive and learning assessments for apprentices, quarterly reviews instead of monthly assessments, and the ability to screen apprentices at any stage.

Additionally, they introduce exemptions for English and maths thresholds based on clinically sound cognitive assessments, acknowledging the diverse challenges learners encounter with special educational needs. Compliance is essential not only for meeting standards but also for securing the necessary funding to offer critical specialist support.

Yet too many colleges and providers are not currently adopting appropriate solutions, perhaps in part because of confined budgets. So how can they now ensure compliance?

Learning technology holds the key

Reliable learning technology can ensure compliance with Ofsted requirements and aid tutors in providing essential support and evidence to unlock ALS funding.

Screening technology can help identify learners with additional needs and track and monitor their progress. Personalised learning strategies also mean learners can access intuitive and accessible resources that meet their individual needs and course curriculum.

Many providers can already attest that learning technology drives engagement, increases attainment and supports learners from end to end, resulting in increased retention.

Facing the challenge

Many more recognise the urgent need to meet the challenge but feel they don’t have the budget to roll out new technologies. The reverse is true.

In the majority of cases, this isn’t an additional cost but a way of creating savings while innovating. It can even help providers identify new revenue opportunities if they can break with their normal processes and implement learning technologies where they haven’t before.

There will of course be occasions when staff push back, but the sector really does require a shift if it is to continue giving learners the best chance of success in their learning and beyond, not least those with additional needs.

We have found that around 35 per cent of all screened learners qualify for additional learning support. Without the power of learning technology, we would never have identified them all. This ensures every learner gets the support they need and providers save a shed load of paperwork and costs, allowing staff to focus on supporting learners.

The proof is in the pudding

One large apprenticeship provider in the Midlands was struggling to identify learners with additional needs, track and monitor their progress and find a mechanism to help fund the support they needed. Investing in learning technology and implementing a robust screening tool changed that.

They saw strong initial results and went on to fully embed the platform in their learner journey and learner support process. Every new learner now takes the assessment during their induction, and a comprehensive training program supports them to better understand how they learn and how to access support available.

More than that, learners now also have access to personalised resources that meet their individual needs and course curriculum.

The college has assessed over 1,600 learners to date and currently boasts a 93 per cent engagement rate.

There’s a lesson to be learnt for all

So it is not a question of budget; the ROI is clear. Effective screening tools and training can ensure all students have access to the support they need to excel.

The new ESFA funding rules coming into effect in August 2024 mean providers will be able to screen their learners at any part of their apprenticeship, not just at the start. This means providers will be able to access support for every apprentice, no matter what stage of their journey they are at.

The sector now has an opportunity to create a brighter and more inclusive future for apprenticeship education. Learning technology has a crucial role to play, and we must prepare now.

There is still time for Labour to protect student choice

“It’s not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand”.

These words from John Cleese (playing the role of headteacher Brian Stimson in the 1986 film, Clockwise) could very easily be applied to the ongoing saga of qualification reform.

There was no shortage of despair under the previous government, but at least you knew where you stood. Some qualifications were good (A Levels, T Levels) and others were bad (applied general qualifications such as BTECs). Evidence was routinely ignored and concerns addressed with a heavy dose of mindless optimism.

Qualification reform (at least before the end-of-administration fever dream that was the Advanced British Standard) was sharply focused on increasing the number of T Level enrolments.

AGQs had to go because they were regarded as a barrier to T Level growth. The former were regarded as an inferior version of the latter, rather than a different type of qualification that plays an invaluable role helping young people (particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds) to progress to higher education and/or skilled employment.

If scrapping AGQs meant students (at least 155,000 by our estimate) were left without a suitable qualification, they could always do another Level 2 qualification or enrol on the T Level foundation year (from which just 8 per cent of students actually progress to a T Level).

But in June last year, hope appeared on the horizon. Then-shadow secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson agreed to the Protect Student Choice campaign’s request to ‘pause and review’ the plan to defund AGQs if the Labour party formed the next government.

“Should the minister not now pause and review the defunding of alternative qualifications, as Labour would?” demanded then-shadow skills minister Seema Malhotra of Robert Halfon in December.

Labour would “pause and review the proposed removal of courses” parliament was told in February, a commitment repeated at the SFCA winter conference and other events across the country.

These are qualifications that one-third of students fail to complete

There was clear blue water between the two main parties on qualification reform. The sector dared to hope that the feared qualification gap that would appear in a world dominated by A Levels and T Levels might not materialise, and the inevitable increase in NEETs and students being forced onto inappropriate courses could be avoided.

Then Wednesday happened. It started so well: “I am pleased to announce that the department will undertake a short pause and review of post-16 qualification reform,” Bridget Phillipson told the House of Commons. Pandemonium, relief, hope. Then the kicker: “This means that the defunding scheduled for next week will be paused”. 

Next week. The all-important pause would only apply to the small number of technical qualifications due to be defunded this year, but not the applied general qualifications due to be defunded in 2025 and 2026 (which are studied by eight times as many students).

Good news for the NVQ Diploma in Wood Occupations (0 enrolments in 23/24), which gets a one-year reprieve. Bad news for the Extended Certificate in Business (24,580 enrolments in 23/24), which gets none.

The proposed review will report by the end of the year. That means colleges and schools will not know what AGQs they can offer in September 2025 until December 2024 at the earliest. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this wildly unrealistic timescale is designed – you’ve guessed it – to encourage institutions to drop AGQs and pick up T Levels.

The written ministerial statement published yesterday was built around T Levels, which were described as “high-quality qualifications which provide young people with a firm foundation for their future”.

These are qualifications that one-third of students fail to complete and for which no comparable performance data is published. They need careful reform, not over-inflated praise. 

The Conservatives became so focused on one output (increasing the number of T Level enrolments) that they lost sight of the much more important outcome (ensuring that all students are pursuing high quality qualifications that lead to positive destinations). The new government must not make the same mistake.

We are determined not to journey back from hope to despair. The Protect Student Choice campaign has written to Bridget Phillipson urging her to reconsider the decision not to pause the defunding of AGQs. We believe students should be able to enrol on all 134 AGQs up to and including the 2026/27 academic year.

It is hard to believe that a secretary of state committed to prioritising the education of working-class and disadvantaged students would abandon qualifications that are transformational for working-class and disadvantaged students (and many others besides).

A positive response to our letter would provide the sector with renewed hope and an assurance that no young person will be left behind as a result of the reforms set out this week. It’s time to review the pause.

OfS independent reviewer becomes regulator’s chair

Sir David Behan has been appointed interim chair of a “refocused” Office for Students (OfS), following publication of his review that found the regulator’s focus and priorities had become “diluted”.

His appointment comes shortly after the resignation of previous chair, Lord James Wharton, who faced criticism for a perceived lack of independence from the government.

Labour has also halted controversial new powers over freedom of speech in HE that the OfS was due to begin enforcing next week.

Behan’s review, launched in December 2023, has said the “overstretched” OfS needs to evolve as the higher education sector faces “unprecedented” financial challenges.

Four focused priorities

The arm’s length regulator’s four priorities for higher and further education sector should be quality, financial stability, student interest and management of public money, the review recommended.

Behan’s report said: “It can do so by focusing on a more transparent, dynamic approach, built on mature, trusting relationships with the sector.”

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson accepted the review’s “core analysis”, adding that the Labour government recognises the need for “strong regulation”.

Behan will work with the current executive team at the OfS to “implement” his recommendations until a permanent chair is appointed “next year”, Phillipson said.

Behan said it was a “privilege” to lead the review and that he looked forward to “delivering the changes the review recommends”.

The new OfS chair is a former social worker with extensive experience as a regulator, having worked as chief inspector for the former Commission for Social Care Inspection and later held the chief executive post at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) from 2012 to 2018.

His salary, set by the Department for Education, will be £29,500 a year, with one day each week devoted to the role. Lord Wharton’s salary was £59,000 for two days a week.

Free speech powers on hold

The education secretary also revealed the government has put the Conservatives’ freedom of speech legislation on hold, pending a review into whether it should be repealed.

Phillipson said: “For too long, universities have been a political battlefield and treated with contempt, rather than as a public good, distracting people from the core issues they face.

“The steps announced today will sharpen the focus of the Office for Students, with greater emphasis on ensuring the financial stability of the sector. 

“We are absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom, but the Free Speech Act introduced last year is not fit for purpose and risked imposing serious burdens on our world class universities.   

“This legislation could expose students to harm and appalling hate speech on campuses. That is why I have quickly ordered this legislation to be stopped so that we can take a view on next steps and protect everyone’s best interests, working closely with a refocused Office for Students.” 

Doing the government’s bidding?

Behan’s review was launched in December 2023 following a House of Lords committee, that echoed widely-held concerns in the education sector that the OfS “simply does the government of the day’s bidding”.

However, Behan’s independent review ‘Fit for the Future: Higher Education Regulation Towards 2025′ found “no evidence” of the government exerting undue influence over the OfS’ operational decisions and judgements.

Despite rejecting these concerns – shared by 68 per cent of providers the review surveyed – as “perceptions only”, Behan recommends the regulator adopt a “more transparent style of communications” to show the sector it is not used “as a vehicle to manage the sector and deliver policy”.

A key contributor to these concerns was the fact that Lord James Wharton, who resigned as OfS chair earlier this month, continued to take the whip of the governing Conservative party in the House of Lords, while simultaneously claiming that the organisation, as a regulator, is independent of the government.

But Behan noted that other previously ennobled chairs of prominent regulators, such as Ofsted, had kept the whip “without reducing the perceived effectiveness of their respective public bodies”.

Behan’s review

The new interim chair found the OfS’ priorities have been “diluted” by a growth in responsibilities, despite the Department for Education recognising that it struggles to deliver.

He recommends that the government should “clearly articulate its strategy” for the future of higher education so the regulator can focus on four priorities: monitoring financial sustainability, ensuring quality, protecting public money, and regulating in the interests of students.

The government should consider handing it more powers to regulate against those priorities alongside consumer enforcement powers to protect the interests of students, he said.

Behan said the OfS should be more “proactive” in anticipating emerging risks, try to reduce regulatory burden, and seek to improve itself through independent evaluation of its work.

The arm’s length body’s sponsorship team the Department of Education, should be the “central point” of contact, with stronger information sharing protocols so the OfS can better assess the “financial health of the sector”.

On governance, the OfS should ensure it provides “strong leadership” at board level, including by letting the chief executive appoint their full executive team.

A black hole of communications

Alex Proudfoot, chief executive of Independent Higher Education (IHE), said: “[Behan’s] leadership as the new interim chair of OfS is a clear message from government that they expect the regulator to change, a mandate we wholeheartedly support.  

“Many of Behan’s findings will chime with the experiences of IHE’s members, such as the ‘black hole’ of communications receiving no response and the seemingly endless delays in taking action on any number of issues. “We agree that the OfS of the future should be a more focused regulator which sets high expectations for the leadership and governance of providers, and sets a high bar for when it intervenes directly on an issue itself.”

BTECs pause and review: Everything you need to know

The Department for Education has confirmed a “short review” of controversial plans to defund BTECs and other level 3 technical courses, but there will be no long-term pause of the reforms.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson today released a written ministerial statement outlining how the government will proceed with the review following yesterday’s announcement in the House of Commons.

The review will begin “immediately” and decisions will be communicated “before the turn of the year”.

However, the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), whose Protect Student Choice campaign secured a pause and review pledge from Labour in opposition, accused Phillipson of “betrayal” because today’s announcement does not commit to a multi-year pause of the defunding plans.

It means colleges and schools will not know until December 2024 what qualifications they can offer in September 2025.

Here’s your FE Week roundup of everything you need to know…

What will be paused and reviewed?

The DfE was planning to defund 134 qualifications, which attract around 40,000 annual enrolments, whose content “overlaps” with the first 10 T Levels introduced in 2020 and 2021 from August 1, 2024.

This part of the reform has now been paused, meaning alternative courses in construction, digital, early years and health can be delivered in 2024/25. 

However, most colleges would have already removed these qualifications from their offering as they plan their curriculums 12 to 24 months in advance.

A further 85 qualifications that compete with the six T Levels introduced in 2022 were then put in line for the chop in August 2025, while another 71 courses that clashed with five more T Levels introduced over the past two years were also going to be defunded from 2025.

More than half of the popular 134 applied general qualifications (AGQs) which are included in the DfE’s performance tables, in areas like health and social care, science and law, are also set to lose their funding through a separate process.

These courses attract around 300,000 starts a year and will be defunded in 2025 and 2026 under current plans.

DfE has refused to pause this part of the reform, but it will be reviewed by the end of December 2024.

Planning nightmare

Phillipson said the review will begin “immediately” because the DfE “understand that the sector needs certainty so that it can plan its future delivery”. 

“We will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this review into qualification reforms at level 3 and below before the turn of the year.”

However, the SFCA said the decision to not pause the 2025 and 2026 defunding schedule puts schools and colleges “in an impossible position, as the hasty review proposed by the government means that institutions will not know what AGQs they can offer in September 2025 until December 2024 at the earliest”.

Who will conduct the review?

Good question. In short, it looks like the DfE officials who set out the reforms under the old government could lead this review.

Phillipson only said: “We will undertake a focused review of the post-16 qualification reforms at level 3 and below to assess how best to improve the quality of the overall qualifications landscape, support the growth of T Levels, and ensure that all young people and adults have high-quality options that meet their needs.”

FE Week has asked DfE for more details on which officials will conduct the review. The department has so far only provided background information to say that civil servants work for the government of the day and adhere to core values of impartiality, honesty and integrity.

Defunding decisions from this review will be reflected in the new government’s separate “curriculum and assessment review” being led by Professor Becky Francis.

Francis’s review does include 16 to 19 education and will recommend changes in this area, but it will have no say in the level 3 and below review.

A ‘betrayal’

Multiple sector leaders welcomed Phillipson’s announcement yesterday that the new government will review the level 3 and below reforms.

But after today’s written ministerial statement, the SFCA hit out at Labour’s refusal to pause all of the reforms for at least two years.

Chief executive Bill Watkin said the Protect Student Choice campaign “secured a commitment from the Labour party to ‘pause and review’ the defunding of applied general qualifications such as BTECs if they formed the next government”. 

“The statement published today confirms the party has reneged on that commitment.”

He said the proposed pause “only applies to a small number of technical qualifications that were due to be scrapped next month”. 

“It is now clear that there are no plans to pause the scrapping of applied general qualifications that the Conservative government had set in train.

“This is a betrayal of the commitment made in opposition, but much more importantly, it is a betrayal of the young people that rely on applied general qualifications to progress to higher education or skilled employment.”

Eight reforms to fix ‘broken’ SEND system from councils-backed report

The government must launch a national regulator and ban profits from state-funded private placements to fix the “broken” SEND system, a report commissioned by the country’s councils has said.

The findings come in a report, released today, funded by the County Councils Network and the Local Government Association.

CCN chairman Tim Oliver said the system “does not work for councils, schools and parents alike” and that the “case for reform is unquestionable”.

“The SEND system is broken,” he added.

“Parents often feel they struggle to access schools’ services, lack the capacity to support pupils, and councils have seen a doubling in needs over the last ten years, and have amassed deficits that threaten their financial solvency.”

According to the research, led by the Isos Partnership, there are “more children and young people than ever” with SEND, with the number of students with education, health and care plans leaping 140 per cent between 2014-15 and 2023-24.

The high cost pressures of safety valve deals

Despite this, there haven’t been “better outcomes for children and young people”, as results for key stages 2 and 4 have “flatlined” since 2019.

Plus, researchers say the extension of the age range of the SEND statutory system to 25 has put pressure on the volume and demand within the SEND system. The report said the feedback from young people and leaders implied the extension “merely postponed” rather than removed or smoothed the cliff edge between education and adulthood.

Meanwhile, half of councils told the researchers they would be insolvent within three years if high needs deficits were added to their overall balances.

Here are the report’s recommendations to fix the system…

1. A ‘National Institute for Inclusive Education‘

The report said a national framework should be drawn up describing “types and levels of needs”. It will also provide clarity about the levels of need to be met in mainstream education and expectations of ordinarily available provision.

Such a framework would have to be “accompanied by evidence-based best practice guidance” and be overseen by a new body dubbed the National Institute of Inclusive Education.

Its role would be to act as “independent custodian” of expectations and best practice.

2. Clarify what ‘additional needs’ means

At the same time, the government should set out a “national ambition” centred around the principles of inclusion.

It argued that all aspects of policy related to education, young people’s services and support for additional needs should be “recalibrated” to support this aim.

A “prerequisite” would be to clarify what the term “additional needs” means and how they should be met, while offering clear and consistent expectations of inclusive practice in mainstream education and specialist provision.

3. Prohibit profits from state placements

The document called for independent providers to be involved in strategic planning in local areas. They could be used for highly specialist provision and expertise that “complements, rather than replaces” local state-funded provision.

But there should also be “equivalence of regulatory standards and funding” between the state-funded and independent sectors and proposed a ban on independent providers on making profits for shareholders from state-funded placements of young people with SEND.

4. A ‘core offer’ and ‘wide reaching’ post-16 reform

To promote inclusion in mainstream settings, the study proposed the development of a new “core offer” of targeted, multi-disciplinary support, including therapists and educational psychologists.

All post-16 education providers would be able to access the provision without children requiring a statutory plan.

It also proposed funding reforms in post-16 education so that a “much higher” proportion of SEND funding comes from core budgets to allow “maximum flexibility” in how it’s used.

“This is not simply about asking schools, colleges and settings to do more, but fundamentally redesigning the systems of support, training, funding, curriculum and accountability to enable, support and incentivise inclusion,” the report said.

5. Reform SEND statutory framework

The report warned the SEND system is “more adversarial” than it was when the government implemented reforms 10 years ago.

The number of tribunal appeals rose by 334 per cent between 2014-15 and 2022-23, while the rate of appeal increased from 1.2 to 2.3 per cent.

The report proposed reforms to parts of the SEND statutory framework so that the state can set out “a clear, consistent, equitable and sustainable offer of support for young people” with additional needs.

It should “maintain a role for parental preference in admissions” so parents and carers can “exercise equivalent choices” to those of young people without additional needs.

But to remain equitable and sustainable, they said the state must clarify “where the limits of individual choice and entitlement lie”.

The framework should also include “independent, non-judicial mechanisms for dealing with disagreements” about access to provision. Instead of using tribunals, the report envisages “a role for the National Institute”.

To aid transition into other education settings, researchers suggested a new learner record for SEND learners that sets out what they can do and what support they need.

6. Track progress after school and college

The report argued for each local authority area to have a “destinations and progression service”.

This service would provide oversight of all children and young people “as they approached the transition from children’s to adult services and in the years after that age of transition”.

It would be charged with providing additional support to young people who needed it for two years after the age of transition and tracking their outcomes and destinations.

The proposed the age of transition should be standardised across education, health and care.

The report said the service should also co-ordinate work to help them achieve “their aspirations as they move into adulthood”.

7. Local inclusion partnerships

New local inclusion partnerships – which would include council, health service, education and parent carer forum representatives – could be formed to handle strategic planning.

Among other things, they would be able to “commission and open their own state-funded provision to reflect local needs”.

8. Revamped workforce strategy

The National Institute of Inclusive Education would lead on developing a cross-government, multi-disciplinary workforce strategy for inclusive education, additional needs and preparation for adulthood.

For example, it would outline the skills and practitioners needed to deliver “the core wraparound targeted offer”.

The body would also advise on the content of training and CPD across the SEND workforce.

The government must launch a national regulator and ban profits from state-funded private placements to fix the “broken” SEND system, a report commissioned by the country’s councils has said.

The success of Labour’s skills reforms hinges on employer engagement

Employers will be looking to the new Skills England body to help them overcome ongoing skills and labour shortages – and the stakes are high. Our own research suggests continued failure to tackle these could cost the economy up to £39 billion every year (just short of building two whole Elizabeth Lines) in lower GDP and productivity.

Report on Jobs is our regular monthly tracker of activity in the jobs market. Organisations like the Bank of England use it as a lead indicator on labour market performance.

In July’s report, recruiters highlighted skills shortages in accounting, blue collar, construction, engineering, executive/professional, hotels/catering, IT/computing, nursing/medical/care, retail and secretarial, among others.

In this labour market, it is right for the new government to act quickly. We have long said the apprenticeship levy is not fit for purpose.

Apprenticeship numbers are in decline, and equally importantly, the funds are only available to those who have the same employer for at least one year – the time it takes to complete an apprenticeship.

That excludes 960,000 of the one million temporary workers on assignment in the UK every day, a waste that leaves employers caught short on accessing talent.

Employers need more of a say in how the new growth and skills levy is allocated if we are to learn the lessons from the apprenticeship levy. The prompt announcement of Skills England will also need significant input from business leaders and labour market experts if it is to tackle the root causes of the problems we see.

Employers are demanding not so much a stick or twist from the new government on skills policies, but a complete reshuffle of the pack.

We need a skills system that is more responsive to local labour markets and job creation opportunities, one that reflects a world where people’s work and wants are different. This is achievable by local and national governments giving business leaders a fixed seat at the table and ensuring the voice of SMEs is regularly heard.

Employers don’t want a stick or twist but a complete reshuffle

Recruiters’ involvement in further education, employability and career development programmes and in Local Skills Improvement has paid dividends. Continuing this work so local leaders determine regional skills priorities in partnership is a great way forward.

The message from business leaders to Labour is that they want involvement in the education system. However, just as employers need to recognise the priorities and duties of training providers and colleges, so too must policy makers recognise how a business runs and sets its priorities.

Key to much of this is making sure people are ready to take up employment when they leave education. A step forward would be to build on the Gatsby Benchmarks to ensure every young person gets effective careers advice.

There must also be an emphasis on the ‘soft skills’ employers value. Surveys of employers often report that they are hesitant to recruit 16- to 18-year-olds due to concerns that they lack skills such as problem solving, communication or teamwork.

Sometimes, it is just about how they articulate their abilities in the hiring process. More emphasis on real-life work placements will help, something which the education system can work with employers and recruiters to achieve.

We need to replicate the great employer-education partnerships that already exist. After all, one-third of productivity improvement over the past two decades is explained by improvements to skills levels. This includes using schemes such as Restart to promote the uptake of digital and green skills training.

Our own Restart scheme with Maximus has placed more than 2,000 non-working people into jobs. Good labour market activation schemes are proven to enable people to ‘try’ different types of work in different sectors, picking up new skills and experience quickly.

Helping domestic talent to shine takes time, but it is time we in the business community are willing to give. In the interim and in parallel with the development of a more-responsive skills system, we need a fair and flexible immigration system.

Survey after survey shows people support the immigration of those who are here to work, pay tax and build a life.

To maximise economic growth, we need a combined skills and immigration policy that coordinates responses, and truly meets the needs of everyone.

NEET support programme extended with £2.5m boost

A pilot programme that provides targeted careers support has been given a £2.5 million boost and aims to help 1,500 more disadvantaged young people find a post-16 destination.

The trial, delivered by national careers education body The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and funded by JPMorganChase, aimed to break down barriers faced by disadvantaged young people and prevent them becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).

The investment bank initially funded the programme with £2 million and will now pump an extra £2.5 million into it after the initial pilot found more than nine in ten participants (94 per cent) successfully moved on to college or training courses after leaving school at 16.

More than 1,000 young people who faced barriers such as living in high deprivation areas, on free school meals, had poor mental health, low school attendance or were at risk of exclusion were given careers support through 10 of CEC’s 44 careers hubs across the country.

The initial funding gave schools access to careers coaches and mentors from the Careers & Enterprise Company’s careers hub. Each hub launched projects to provide bespoke guidance to the young people in each area.

Each project included activities that aimed to show students the variety of education and employment routes in their area. These included visits to FE colleges, parental engagement, one-to-one coaching, and talks from employers to give insights into the world of work.

For example, in Leeds, local businesses in growth sectors visited a group of girls on free school meals who had high absenteeism and were identified by their school as having low social capital, confidence and self-esteem. The pilot found 100 per cent of them went on to college or training and were still there after six months.

Labour’s early efforts to tackle youth unemployment are encouraging

Elsewhere, young Black men in London who were outside mainstream education in alternative provision or school exclusion units received intensive one-to-one coaching and business mentoring with aspirational role models they could relate to. The pilot found 93 per cent of the group were still in education or training after six months and 95 per cent believed they now had a trusted adult they could talk to about their future plans.

The careers education body said the pilot shows success of prevent young people from becoming NEET as national data shows 83 per cent of all young people are still on their post-16 courses after six months.

Phase 2 of the programme will target 1,500 more young people in London, Liverpool, West of England, East Sussex and Leicester.

“It’s fantastic to see the power and purpose of this programme – helping disadvantaged young people facing significant barriers find and stick with the education or training that’s right for them once,” said Oli de Botton, CEO of the CEC.

He added: “This programme shows how high impact careers support can transform the prospects of some of our most disadvantaged young people. It demonstrates how every young person can and should be supported to take their best next step – to be ready for work and life beyond school.” 

Hang Ho, head of international philanthropy at JPMorganChase said: “The results from the Effective Transitions Fund pilot phase show impressive impact, and we now have data-driven insights about how to best support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access quality career pathways.

“We are proud to have been part of the pilot phase and have already committed to scale the work across England to support an additional 1,500 young people through the second phase of the programme.”

DfE pauses post-16 qualifications reform and BTEC defunding

The new government has partially paused reforms to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below, halting this year’s planned defunding of some BTECs and other alternatives to T Levels.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, pledged to pause and review the reforms last year, as revealed by FE Week.

Today, she told the House of Commons she was “pleased to announce that the department will undertake a short pause and review of post 16 qualification reform at level 3 and below, concluding before the end of the year”. 

“This means that the defunding scheduled for next week will be paused.”

She added that the coming year “will also see further developments in the rollout of new T Levels, which will ensure that young people continue to benefit from high quality technical qualifications that help them to thrive”. 

“And I will update the house shortly with more detail tomorrow.”

While all BTEC and other level 3 vocational qualifications in line for the chop will now be reviewed, FE Week understands the pause only applies to courses set to be defunded from August 1, 2024.

The schedule to scrap applied general qualifications (AGQs) in 2025 and 2026 is still on the table pending the Department for Education’s review.

‘What government has announced today is no pause’

The Sixth Form Colleges Association, which co-ordinates the Protect Student Choice campaign, accused Phillipson of reneging on the party’s promise made in opposition after today’s announcement.

An SFCA spokesperson said: “We understand the short review planned between now and the end of the year will include AGQs and may or may not reverse some defunding decisions made by the previous government. Colleges and schools will not know until December this year what qualifications they can offer in September 2025, which is far too late. 

“The Protect Student Choice campaign set out a clear plan that showed why a two-year pause was required. What the government has announced today is no pause.”

The news follows growing concern in the FE sector over whether Labour would follow through with its pledge, which was not mentioned in its manifesto or after the party’s election victory.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown and T Levels architect Lord David Sainsbury waded into the debate last week to publicly urge Phillipson to “ignore” calls from those with “vested interests” to pause the reforms.

But others, such as former education secretary Lord David Blunkett who backed the Protect Student Choice campaign, warned that cutting courses would lead to the “collapse” of a pipeline of trainees to key sectors such as health and social care.

What is actually being paused and reviewed?

Under the previous government’s plans, the DfE was to defund 134 qualifications, which attract around 40,000 annual enrolments, whose content “overlaps” with the first 10 T Levels introduced in 2020 and 2021 from August 1, 2024.

This part of the reform has now been paused.

A further 85 qualifications that compete with the six T Levels introduced in 2022 were then put in line for the chop in August 2025, while another 71 courses that clashed with five more T Levels introduced over the past two years were also going to be defunded from 2025.

On top of this, a new DfE approvals process for retaining funding for other level 3 alternatives proposes to exclude other popular AGQs in health and social care, engineering, science and law.

FE Week understands both of these parts of the reform, which attract around 300,000 starts a year, have so far not been paused, but will be reviewed by the end of December 2024.

Analysis by the SFCA previously warned that at least 155,000 young people will be left without a suitable post-16 course from 2026 as a result of the government’s plans.

College leaders need certainty 

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, urged Phillipson to pause the reforms until 2027.

He said: “It is hugely welcome that the new government has listened to the concerns of the profession and announced this pause and review. Applied general qualifications, such as BTECs, are a really important qualification for so many young people, and help them progress to further study or employment.

“However, while the confirmation that the review will be concluded by the end of the year is very encouraging, there is not yet detail on how long the pause will be in place. School and college leaders, and their students, need certainty about the courses that can be run for the next two years. We therefore urge the government to extend the pause until 2027 for all of the current applied general qualifications.”

Simon Ashworth, deputy chief executive and director of policy of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “There is a degree of urgency over this – concluding this review by the end of the year is ambitious but necessary so that learners and providers understand where they stand.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said he is pleased Phillipson has been “listening and carefully examining the evidence”.

He added: “Pausing defunding and undertaking a rapid review of the implementation will come as a great relief to college staff up and down the country. It means that students wanting to attain qualifications in, for instance, social care and electrical will be able to do that and help meet the enormous skills shortages in those two sectors, and there are other subjects like that which will need to be carefully examined in the coming weeks.”