IfA to charge assessment organisations for quality assurance

The Institute for Apprenticeships will charge apprenticeship assessment organisations for external quality assurance of new standards – despite Ofqual keeping the service free.

Speaking during a webinar on Monday (January 6), Peter Lauener, shadow chief executive of the IfA, said that it was acceptable for the Institute to charge for the service because “the principle of a regulator charging bodies in the industry for regulation is not uncommon at all”.

Currently, when employer Trailblazer groups submit their assessment plans for new apprenticeship standards, they must choose one external quality assurance organisation out of four options: Ofqual; the Quality Assurance Agency, which generally deals with higher education qualifications; a professional or sector body, which the Trailblazer group can create themselves if desired; or the Institute for Apprenticeships itself (see slide below).

Mr Lauener confirmed that if the Institute was chosen by employers to provide this service it would charge, but “any end point assessment the Institute provides itself would be provision of last resort”.

“I think we’re much more likely to seek to find someone to do that through procurement than we are to do it ourselves, because we need to be providing the quality,” he said.

FE Week understands the IfA will start procurement for external quality assurance services this month.

Mr Lauener added: “We’ve not got the resource to do the quality assurance role directly.

“It’s open to charge for the service – we want to hear views on this.”

Feedback on quality assurance and other functions of the IfA can be submitted via the Department for Education consultation on the draft operational plan for the IfA, which closes on February 27.

In contrast to the IfA’s approach to external quality assurance, a spokesperson for Ofqual, the government’s qualifications watchdog, told FE Week: “We don’t charge and do not intend to introduce charges for our external quality assurance role.”

So far Ofqual is the only organisation among the four options for external quality assurance to confirm that it definitely will not charge for this service.

FE Week spoke to People 1st, an employment and learning consultancy organisation which will manage external quality assurance for apprenticeship end point assessment in the retail, hospitality and travel industries.

In delivering this responsibility it will be accountable to employer boards for each of the three industries.

A spokesperson for People 1st said: “The retail, hospitality and travel industries have elected to use an employer process for external quality assurance of apprenticeship end point assessment.

“The cost of external quality assurance is currently being finalised, but we have advised organisations that are on, or aspiring to be on, the Register of Apprenticeship Assessment Organisations, that we do not envisage the price exceeding £40 per apprentice at end point assessment.”

Stephen Wright, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, told FE Week the challenges of running “an effective and efficient external quality assurance system” are often “underestimated”.

“We are hearing reports that some of these “employer groups” are controlled by other groups who see external quality assurance as a revenue stream and an opportunity to position themselves as a gatekeeper to the system,” he warned.

“This creates perverse results with over engineered audits, exaggerated fees and preferred providers.”

He added: “Ofqual are certainly not perfect, however they are 100 per cent focused on regulating high stakes assessment, have been doing the job for seven years with an annual budget of between £16 and £20 million per year.

“What resources, systems and experienced staff do employer groups and professional bodies possess? My concern is that these groups will “give it a go” and fail, bringing the whole apprenticeship system into disrepute.”

Mr Lauener, who is also chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency, also said during the webinar that he had not ruled out the SFA charging for certificating standards in future.

The webinar was hosted by Nick Linford and outlined the key features from the IfA strategic and operational plans. 

It was sponsored by the FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference.

Grimsby Institute wins top AoC Beacon award

The overall Leading Light winner from the prestigious national Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Awards has gone to the Grimsby Institute.

It was chosen by Baroness Sharp of Guildford, President of the AoC Charitable Trust from the 12 AoC Beacon Award 2016/17 winning colleges.

Grimsby Institute had initially won the Beacon Award for Widening Participation in Learning. It was recognised for making higher education “more accessible and tailored to the employment needs of the local community”.

The judges praised the college, for example for the 24-hour opening of the higher education building and its facilities.

An AoC spokesperson explained: “Students are offered the possibility of Skyping staff late in the evening, allowing them the flexibility to study when it is convenient for them.”

Debra Gray, principal of Grimsby Institute, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have won. It’s all down to the hard work of our staff and students. It proves that deprivation doesn’t have to be a barrier.

“Some colleges use deprivation as a reason for failure, but it’s our reason to succeed. Those students need more support because they don’t have the start that others may have had.”

The judges said that with the FE sector looking for different approaches to attract and retain hard-to-reach HE students, “this project offers many strategies that will be of interest to many colleges in the sector”.

Baroness Sharp said: “At a time when FE is being encouraged to diversify into higher education and to concentrate on providing higher level qualifications in technical areas, to work with local employers in doing so and to meet the need for adult training and retraining, it does strike me as an exemplary scheme.”

The college received its certificate from Dame Pat Bacon, chair of the AoC Beacon Awards, at an event in London.

The list of Beacon Award winners for 2016/17:

  • Bridgend College – AQA Award for Development of Transferable Skills
  • Calderdale College – AoC Award for College Engagement with Employers
  • Gateshead College – Careers and Enterprise Company Award for Careers Education and Guidance
  • Coleg Sir Gâr – City & Guilds Award for Staff Development
  • Activate Learning – Edge Award for Practical Teaching and Practical Learning
  • Truro and Penwith College – Education and Training Foundation Award for Leadership and Governance
  • Grimsby Institute – Gateway Qualifications Award for Widening Participation in Learning
  • Reading College – Jisc Award the Effective use of Technology in Further Education          
  • Chichester College – Microlink and AoC Charitable Trust Award for Inclusive Learning
  • Cardiff and Vale College – Pearson Award for the Promotion and Delivery of Successful Apprenticeships
  • Ashton Sixth Form College – Skills and Education Group Award for College/School Partnerships
  • Weymouth College – Vtct Award for Sport in the Curriculum.

Cap: Grimsby Institute Principal Debra Gray (red top, centre) and her team receive their AoC Beacon Awards Leading Light award at a ceremony in London

Greater Manchester UTC is seventh to announce closure

The Greater Manchester University Technical College (UTC) will close at the end of this academic year, becoming the seventh of the institutions to shut its doors as a result of recruitment problems.

Leaders at the UTC told students this afternoon that the college had been unable to recruit enough pupils in Oldham “and further afield” meaning it was “not financially viable”.

Government figures show it had 127 pupils on its roll last January, against a capacity of 600. It first opened its doors in 2014.

It becomes the seventh institution to close or announce its closure following problems with pupil numbers after Daventry UTC announced last month that it too would shut down in the summer.

Royal Greenwich UTC will become a school this year, and four UTCs have already closed.

The UTC’s principal, Lee Kilgour, said year 11 and 13 pupils would be able to complete their studies this academic year and that he would work with Oldham council and other providers to bring about a “smooth transition” for pupils in years 10 and 12.

Gordon Main, chair of the UTC’s trust, said the decision, made in consultation with the government, was “hugely disappointing for all those who have worked so hard to give students the opportunity to pursue a technical education”.

“The wellbeing and success of all our students remains our highest priority,” he said. “Every effort will be made to ensure students get the support they need to complete their studies successfully and appropriate guidance for transition to their new place of learning.”

Essex County Council learning branded ‘inadequate’

A major local authority which delivers adult education to more than 12,000 learners has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.

Essex County Council, which was inspected by the education watchdog between December 6 and 9 last year, was found to have serious problems with the teaching of English and maths, as well as having insufficient safeguarding arrangements.

The damning Ofsted report, which was released today, said as a result of poor performance, councillors had taken the decision to end the provider’s provision of 16 to 19 study programmes.

“In 2015/16, too many trainees on traineeships were not progressing to purposeful employment,” the report states.

“Consequently, leaders and county councillors have removed all poorly performing subcontractors.

“They now contract with the local authority’s youth provider, which continues to engage successfully young people with histories of poor educational experience and train the majority of them to find meaningful work.”

Essex County Council is a large provider which delivered courses to 12,227 learners last year. It commissions ‘ACL Essex’ to provide adult education across the whole county, with centres in 13 different towns.”

Inspectors found significant problems with the authority’s tutors who deliver English and maths, where for example, they “do not correct learners’ errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar sufficiently and often pay scant attention to ensuring that learners understand how to structure sentences and paragraphs”.

Other problems highlighted there include too few learners developing a good understanding of the “importance of British values” and how to protect themselves from “the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism”.

Learners are also not kept “safe”, according to the Ofsted inspectors.

“Too many learners, particularly those aged 16 to 18 and vulnerable learners, do not know to whom and how to report their concerns if they do not feel safe,” the report said.

“Managers have not ensured that vulnerable learners attending lessons with other learners at multiple sites across a large geographical area are safe.”

Today’s report is the latest in a downward spiral of adult education performance for Essex County Council over the last nine years, after it was once seen as an ‘outstanding’ place to learn.

Back in June 2008, Ofsted deemed the local authority to be of grade one calibre.

But five years later the authority was slapped down with a ‘requires improvement’ rating.

In order to improve, Ofsted said the provider needs to “urgently ensure that all safeguarding arrangements for all groups of learners are effective”.

It must also ensure that leaders’ self-assessment is “robust, appropriately self-critical and drives effective action planning that secures sustainable improvement”.

The report added: “Leaders should provide county councillors with accurate information on all aspects of performance in order for county councillors to challenge them effectively.”

Ray Gooding, cabinet member for education and lifelong learning at Essex council, said the Ofsted inspection “raises some areas where it is clear we need to improve”.

He told FE Week: “We have taken immediate action on the safeguarding issues identified and these are now in order.

“Some of the other improvements required are longer term, but we will be working with our councillors, service leaders, tutors and assessors to ensure that robust challenge is provided so that learners can develop and improve.”

Essex County Council is the third local authority to receive an inadequate rating since the introduction of the common inspection framework in September 2015.

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and West Sussex County Council were the previous local authorities to receive the grade four rating, who both were inspected in November 2015 with their reports published the following month.

Colleges rely on A&E to help students with serious mental health issues

Colleges are increasingly sending students who reach “crisis point” to accident and emergency, an FE Week investigation has heard.

Nikki Lane, head of student wellbeing and progression at Great Yarmouth College (pictured right), said a combination of cuts and a lack of other options had led the college to fall back on calls to A&E to prevent troubled students coming to serious harm.

She said: “Over the last few years we’ve seen an increase in students presenting with mental health problems and just within one year, 2014/15 to 2015/16, we saw an increase of 156 per cent.

“At the moment, just looking at the numbers, it is likely we will keep that same trend in growth.”

Ms Lane said she had witnessed students come to ask for help because they had plans to take their own lives – leaving the college faced with tough decisions about how to ensure their safety.

“We know we can’t let them leave the premises, but ultimately we can’t restrain them,” she said.

“Mostly they agree to go to A&E or to see a paramedic, and our approach is to try and put some control back with them about what they want to happen next.”

She added: “If somebody leaves the site we go down the police route, so either way it’s an emergency services crisis point. Ms Lane’s account illustrates the findings of a new survey by the Association of Colleges, which revealed that three quarters of English FE colleges have been forced to send learners experiencing mental health crises to A&E in the past academic year.

The figures, released today by the AoC, also indicated that 85 per cent of colleges that responded had seen an increase in students with disclosed mental health issues over the past three years.

The survey showed that almost all (97 per cent) are providing education on wellbeing as part of “extensive work to support students in maintaining mental wellness”. 

But while the majority, including Great Yarmouth College, have dedicated counselling and welfare staff to support and refer to specialists, an AoC spokesperson warned that “as a result of the substantial reductions in college funding in the previous five years, most colleges have had to make reductions in non-teaching services”.

Ms Lane agreed that funding was a problem. She said: “Going to A&E isn’t the right thing for our area, but actually we need some money to put support into colleges to deal with this.

“We are paying two full time safeguarding and wellbeing members of staff – that’s a lot of input.

“We have seen the positive impact of doing that, but actually to have some additional support would really help.”

AoC president Ian Ashman expressed alarm at the high rates of referral to A&E and urged local health services to help colleges struggling to cope with this.

He said: “A&E units are overloaded and overcrowded and it is not right that colleges are forced to refer so many students to these services, which are often not the most appropriate place for them.

“Colleges don’t want to add to the current problems A&E services are experiencing, but they are sometimes left with no choice because there is a lack of investment in joined up specialist support for young people and adults in the community,” Mr Ashman said.

He praised colleges for doing “excellent work” in supporting learners with mental ill health, but said better working relationships with local NHS mental health services “can avoid students developing more serious problems or getting to the point of a mental health crisis”.

Former Hackney Community College principal Mr Ashman announced in November that he would dedicate his term of office at the AoC to tackling what he described as a “massive increase” in the mental health support needs of college students.

The mental health survey was completed by 105 of the AoC’s 308 members, although not all colleges answered all the questions.

The survey results come after it was revealed that plans to roll out mental health first aid training to schools, announced by the prime minister Theresa May in January, would not cover colleges.

A government spokesperson said: “Clinical Commissioning Groups put in place local plans to set out how services can work together and we expect colleges to be engaged in drawing up these plans.

“Colleges play an important role in protecting the mental wellbeing of students. The government plans to invest around £7 billion into education or training for 16 to 19 year olds in 2016/17 and colleges have flexibility to determine what programmes and additional support they offer their students and can work together with other providers to combine resources.”

 

Great Yarmouth College’s approach

 Ms Lane told FE Week Great Yarmouth College has tried to find new ways to tackle mental health issues recently, after conversations with paramedics, A&E staff and the students themselves highlighted that new approaches were needed.

“We thought about what we could do as a college to try and intervene just that bit earlier and help to stop people getting to the crisis point as much as we possibly can,” she said.

“Students are beginning to talk about how they are feeling earlier – those people previously would have got to crisis without talking to us, but I think now we are able to almost normalise the conversation.”

She said the college’s safeguarding team is working to strengthen relationships in the local community, with the NHS wellbeing service, GPs, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and through a partnership with the charity Mind.  

“We regularly work with between 45 and 70 partners for different areas,” she said.

“This helps provide specialist support for students, depending on what they are dealing with – which could be anything from their sexuality, to rape or domestic abuse, or perhaps depression.”

Ms Lane added that personalising the approach can be really beneficial, and the happier students the more they tend to achieve.

“I would advise others to focus on the wellbeing of individuals, and actually look at putting into place those early stage interventions that can support someone,” she said.


The students’ perspective

Two Great Yarmouth College students gave their views on some of the challenges around dealing with mental health and some of the most effective ways to offer help.

A 20 year old learner studying level two in sport at the college (who did not want to be named) told FE Week about the experience of tackling a tough time with mental health.

“When I started at Great Yarmouth College I found at that my mum had cancer – I was the main carer for my mum and felt very isolated.
“I had problems with my behaviour and went off the rails, turning to drugs and getting involved in gang activity, which resulted in me trying to commit suicide and spending time in rehab.
“The college encouraged me to come back and listened to how I was feeling, helping to put support in place.
“I have been encouraged to join the student union as the LGBT Officer and the friendships I have made have really helped.
“I have got my mental health in check and reduced the amount I need to see a counsellor.
“I also won the Principal’s Award for Wellbeing, nominated by my tutors in 2016 and have returned to college this year to work towards joining the Army.”

Taila Wiltshire, the college’s 17-year-old student union president, explained some of the improvements that had been made in tackling mental health issues at the college.

She said: “College tutorials have helped raise awareness of mental health, so students know they are not alone, if they want to speak to someone they can.
“Posters are put up around college and we ran the ‘Time to Talk’ day, which we will carry on doing.
“Staff make time to listen and you can take your friends to speak to the wellbeing and safeguarding team if they need advice.
“The college is all about the students and represents them well.”

Ofsted watch: Outstanding rating highlight of positive week for FE

The new year’s first outstanding Ofsted verdict for an FE provider was handed out this week, with two independent learning providers also retaining their ‘good’ grades.

Birkenhead Sixth Form College was given the highest possible rating across the board from the education watchdog, in a glowing report published Monday (January 30).

It was just the second provider of its kind to have been rated grade one, since the introduction of the common inspection framework in September 2015.

Inspectors, who visited in December, praised leaders at Birkenhead for their “unrelenting focus in developing high expectations” of staff and students – with the latter becoming “young adults with a thirst for learning” as a result.

The 1,400-learner SFC’s performance on English and maths was found to be “exceptionally strong”, with “a very high proportion” of learners enrolled on GCSEs in these subjects “improving the grade they gained at school”.

Meanwhile, independent learning provider Business Management Resources (UK) Ltd kept its grade two following a full inspection early in January, but published Wednesday (February 1).

Inspectors found that “a high proportion” of apprentices at the Telford-based provider achieved their qualifications on time, with many of those sustaining employment or achieving promotion as a result.

“Apprentices benefit from high expectations and are motivated well to achieve,” the report noted.

Another independent provider, The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, also retained its ‘good’ grade, following a short inspection carried out in early January and published today.

No general FE college inspection reports came out this week, although the outcome of a monitoring visit to Stockport College – the first since its grade four in November – was published today.

It recognised that the leadership team had produced a post inspection action plan which relates “directly to the main areas of recommendation identified in the inspection report”.

However, it was still found that managers do not prioritise key action points “according to their urgency”, while improvement is needed to the accuracy and use of the college’s system for monitoring learners progress.

No adult and community learning, employer provider or other FE and skills provider inspection reports were published this week.

 

Sixth Form Colleges Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Birkenhead SFC 07/12/2016 30/01/2017 1 2

 

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Business Management Resources (UK) Ltd 10/01/2017 01/02/2017 2 2

 

Short inspections (remains grade 2) Inspected Published
The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre 11/01/2017 03/01/2017

FE Week victory: apprenticeship rules ban brokerage

Public funds cannot be used to pay brokers’ fees, the Skills Funding Agency has officially ruled.

In its final rules for apprenticeship funding published this week, the SFA has at last clamped down on the sorts of shady dealings which have seen private bodies and brokers cream off millions of pounds via commission fees.

The decision represents a big win for FE Week, after we exposed the dodgy way brokers have been charging up to five per cent of every deal to match subcontractors with government-funded providers.

The rules now state that “funds in an employer’s digital account or government-employer co-investment must not be used for… specific services not related to the delivery and administration of the apprenticeship”. Provisions explicitly cover the recruitment and continuing professional development of staff involved in apprenticeships, company inductions, managing agents and those providing a brokerage service to an employer”.

Our initial investigation back in April found numerous brokers advertising subcontracting opportunities through closed groups on LinkedIn.

In one of those most alarming examples, FE Week found an advert with Essex-based consultants EEVT Ltd, attributed to a company called The Funding Brokers Ltd.

It read “we have been providing this service for over three years, securing in excess of £100 million in the process for our clients” – meaning that at five per cent commission, the brokers could have earned up to £5 million.

The ad continued: “We work on a no-win no-fee basis, whereby we will provide our support free of charge to the point of contracting.”

In response to our investigation, in its first bid to “limit the use of brokers”, the SFA said last April that it would “review” funding agreements – but then it fell silent.

It wasn’t until FE Week deputy editor Paul Offord’s investigation went on to win the prestigious CIPR award for Outstanding Further and Vocational Education Journalism in November, that we heard anything new, after we pressed the SFA to explain what had officially been done to address the issue.

The agency eventually revealed it would be “strengthening” its rules so that government money could no longer be used to pay brokers’ fees from May 1 this year. It also warned it would “take action” against any provider found breaking these rules.

The government’s apprenticeship funding agreements originally said: “Funds in an employer’s digital account or government-employer co-investment cannot be used for specific services not related to the delivery and administration of the apprenticeship; including company induction, bespoke or additional training or assessment not needed to meet the apprenticeship requirements.”

The promise of tougher stance was warmly welcomed by sector leaders in November, shortly after FE Week first learned the change was going ahead.

Mark Dawe, the boss of the AELP, said: “With the levy’s arrival and the new subcontracting rules, no one should complain if brokerage fees become a thing of the past.”

David Hughes, his counterpart at the AoC, agreed, saying it was “good to see them delivering” on the initial pledge the SFA had made to FE Week 10 months ago.

Leave ESOL to the experts

We are morally compelled as a nation to do our absolute best to help immigrants who struggle with speaking English, to integrate smoothly into our rich melting pot of a society.

It’s such an important policy area, in terms of helping secure jobs and preventing significant numbers of people from feeling isolated.

That’s why I feel just as frustrated as Jenny Roden and Sue Pember that provision is being undermined by competing government departments.

DCLG seems to think it should be delivered by unpaid “small voluntary and community groups”.

I’m inclined to think they should leave it to the professionals at FE colleges, who have taught ESOL for decades. I hope and suspect ministers at the DfE agree with this.

Everything needs to be pulled together and made the sole responsibility of the department dedicated to education.

It’s hard to understand why there isn’t a national strategy already in place. Drawing one up and increasing funding should be a key priority.

Our new college principal is alienating staff. What should we do?

Once a month, Dr Sue, Holex’s director of policy and external relations, answers your questions, backed by the experience of almost a decade as principal of Canterbury College, in addition to time served in senior civil service posts at central government departments covering education and skills.

Question One: New principal

I am a new principal with little experience of governance. I have read the Code of Good Governance for English Colleges and talked to the clerk; what more do I need to do to facilitate a productive relationship?

Answer: First you need to go into this with the right frame of mind, which you seem to have. Governors will rely on you to be their lead advisor as well as the accountable officer.

Don’t spin as it will inevitably unwind

Second you need to put time into this side of the job. Good relationships are built on the ability to work openly and cooperatively with your governors from the beginning. Work with them on deciding what’s important to them, what type of paperwork is needed and how you can help them make sense of data and college performance information.

It’s a governor’s role to challenge, so don’t be defensive. Proactively pre-empt difficult questions by raising them yourself and assuring governors you have the right mitigating action in place. That way, they will gain confidence and can be supportive of your actions. Don’t spin because it will inevitably unwind, share the bad bits as well as the good.
And thirdly, go out and shadow other executives at their boards. See how others do it. It doesn’t have to be a college – it could be a university, a large health authority or housing association. The main attributes of good board and executive relationships are the same whatever the sector.

 

Question Two: Alienating staff

I took on the chair’s role of a failing college two years ago and my first task was to appoint a new principal. The transformation has been first class and our inspection report was full of praise. However, senior staff are showing signs of stress. I wouldn’t say the principal offends people, but he is not making friends or allowing staff to express their views. How do I tackle this?

Answer: Leadership and college ethos start with the governors. You brought in someone to turn round the college and they have done that.

Staff will use the success as a springboard to move on

It is not unusual when an organisation needs to be turned round quickly for a chief executive to take on an ‘I know best’ management style.

Having a centrally imposed framework and standards gives staff the clarity they need, especially after a period of uncertainly, but it only works for a short time.

It’s now time to modify behaviour and get your principal to move from an instructional leadership to one of shared collaborative ownership where he offers as much praise as criticism and shares the success with others around him. If you don’t do that the most able staff will use this newfound success of the college as a springboard to move on.

One way for your principal to consider new leadership styles is to attend one of the thought leadership sessions run by the leadership foundations.

 

Question Three: FE handbooks

I am a governor for a school as well as an FE college. the revised schools’ ‘Governance handbook and competency framework’, is 130+ pages, compared to 23 in the Code of Good Governance for English Colleges. Are we missing something in FE? 

Answer: No I don’t think so. The Code of Good Governance for English Colleges is similar in length and content to the Scottish and Welsh Codes and shares the same format with the University Sector Code.

I am taken by the section on principles and personal attributes

The schools’ guidance tries to cover all matters whereas, in FE, many of the issues are referred to in separate guidance, such as the financial memorandum.

The new criteria are interesting and I am taken by the section on principles and personal attributes. The principles and suggested behaviours and statements about time are similar to those in the College code. However, they have cleverly added an easy-to-remember section that encompasses the seven C’s.

“All those involved in governance should be: Committed, Confident, Curious, Challenging, Collaborative, Critical and Creative.”

These are all words that could be attributed to excellent governors in FE colleges.