Don’t prioritise vocational over academic routes

Conservative manifesto pledge: To replace vocational qualifications with T-levels that have 50% more teaching time

James Kewin argues AGAINST

The Conservative party’s plans to introduce T-levels could eventually amount to an annual increase in funding of £500 million per year.

While there is unquestionably a need to strengthen technical education in England, this should not be instead of (or potentially at the expense of) what the government’s Skills Plan defines as ‘the academic option’. Increasing investment in technical, but not academic, education is based on a flawed analysis of the country’s productivity challenge. The high-skill economy envisaged in the government’s Industrial Strategy will be driven by leaders, scientists, technicians, engineers and others that in most cases will have followed the academic path during their sixth-form studies.

READ MORE: FOR the Conservatives’ T-levels pledge

The £500 million pledged for technical education was underpinned by research conducted for SFCA by the Institute of Education that concluded sixth-form education in England was “uniquely narrow and short” compared to the high-performing education systems in Shanghai, Singapore, Canada and elsewhere. Unfortunately, this investment will have no impact on the vast majority of students in sixth form colleges as they are primarily studying academic qualifications such as A-levels. Our members provide the sort of academic education that the government variously describes as ‘world class’, ‘high quality’ and ‘well regarded’. Yet in short, it is not considered a priority for further investment. This is a mistake.

While it is true that sixth form colleges and other providers have continued to deliver excellent academic exam results in the face of funding pressures, the development and progress of young people cannot simply be measured through annual performance tables. The funding that institutions now receive to educate sixth formers covers the cost of delivering three A-level or equivalent qualifications, and little more. As a result, the wider support offer to students has greatly diminished. For example, it is increasingly difficult to address the concerns expressed by employers that young people lack the skills to flourish in the workplace and many institutions do not have the resources to address the sharp increase in students reporting mental health problems.

The wider support offer to students has greatly diminished

SFCA’s election manifesto and associated Support Our Sixth-formers (SOS) campaign calls for an immediate increase in funding of £200 per student to help schools and colleges to begin reassembling the range of support activities required to meet the individual needs of young people. The government was right to identify that students studying technical courses require additional support to succeed, but the same is true of young people studying A-levels and applied general qualifications – particularly disadvantaged students.

We are pleased that the Conservative party has adopted the second recommendation in our election manifesto and committed to undertaking a major review of funding across tertiary education. After ducking the challenge of including schools in area reviews, and focusing too narrowly on technical education with the cash injection for T-levels, it is important that an incoming Conservative government gets the scope of this review right.

It must include academic, as well as technical education and can begin by asking some pretty fundamental questions. For example, can we justify providing 21 per cent less funding for sixth formers than younger students? Is it good for our international competitiveness for sixth formers in England to receive half the tuition time as sixth formers in Shanghai? And most importantly of all – what does a rounded, high quality, sixth-form education actually cost to deliver? The proposed review is a golden opportunity to move away from funding sixth formers based on a notional number of annual hours and an arbitrary funding rate, and provide our young people with the sort of world class educational experience they deserve.     

James Kewin is deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association

Merger of two London colleges agreed

Two London colleges have finally agreed to merge, more than 18 months after the link between them was first proposed.

The College of North West London and City of Westminster College will join forces this summer to become United Colleges Group.

The decision was taken at their individual corporation meetings on May 17 and 24 respectively, after independent due diligence reports and responses from the consultation period were approved.

The colleges are expected to finalise the legal merger on August 1, 2017, though this is currently subject to final approval from education secretary Justine Greening.

In 2016, City of Westminster College took part in the central London area review, while the College of North West London was in the west London review. The merger was recommended through both reviews.

City of Westminster College and the College of North West London were both rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

As part of the merger plans, a shadow board, led by chair designate Tony Johnston, has also been approved, and arrangements to appoint members are in progress.

Mr Johnston served on the College of North West London Corporation for two years, including as chair for the past four months. Outside the college, he is managing director of Engage Media Training.

He said: “Both college corporations are satisfied that the merger is the best strategic approach to securing a successful future.

“The formation of the new group places us in the best position to deliver outstanding technical, academic and vocational education, and serve the needs of employers and the communities of Westminster, Brent and the wider region.”

The college corporations jointly appointed Keith Cowell, who has served as principal and chief executive of City of Westminster College for nine years, as chief executive officer designate of the new institution.

Andy Cole, principal and chief executive of The College of North West London since January 2014 and the Association of Colleges WorldSkills champion for London, will take up the role of group principal designate.

Mr Cowell and Mr Cole will continue in their existing roles alongside their additional responsibilities until the proposed merger in August 2017, when they will take up their new positions in full.

Speaking of his new appointment, Mr Cowell said: “I believe the future of both colleges are better together and we have worked hard to ensure that as a combined organisation we have a vision to deliver the highest quality education and training opportunities for students and employers across west and central London, and beyond.”

Mr Cole added: “With growing recognition of the importance of vocational skills and apprenticeships to the future of our economy, this is an exciting time for the colleges to be coming together.

“Our mutual strengths and quality of provision mean the new merged college will present an excellent training proposition to employers and be a first-choice destination for individual students.”

A full response from the consultation process has been produced and is available from the College of North West London website and on the City of Westminster College website.

Individuals who submitted a written response during the consultation process will also receive a personal reply.

Tendering for external quality assurance finally launched

Tendering for the external quality assurance of apprenticeships has finally been launched by the Institute for Apprenticeships – three months after it was originally supposed to go live.

The opportunity to apply to deliver EQA services on behalf of the IfA was posted on the gov.uk contracts finder website last night, with a closing date of 2pm on June 20.

The contract will run from August 1, 2017, until March 31, 2018, at a value of £160,000.

This ends the significant delay to starting the procurement process, which the IfA had scheduled for February this year, in a draft operational plan published in January.

The long-awaited advert promises a pre-tender briefing session for the week commencing June 5, in London, with a shortlist for the job finalised by June 28.

Shortlisted applicants will then meet with representatives from the Institute on July 4, and the final contract will be awards on July 14.

The contract will cover EQA for any apprenticeship standards where the IfA is the named EQA provider and the end-point assessment starts before March 31, 2018.

The Institute will also have an option of extending the contract “for up to a further six months” to cover standards where EPA starts before September 31, 2018.

According to the specification, the IfA predicts that across the timeframe of the contract “between 1,500 and 2,500 apprentices will undertake EPA across up to 36 standards which have nominated the Institute to provide EQA”.

The successful applicant must “provide monthly progress reports to the Institute highlighting progress the agreed project plan, any risks and issues identified”, as well as delivering a “comprehensive EQA service”.

This will include ensuring “standards and assessment plans are fit for purpose and delivering high quality outcomes”, “apprenticeship assessment organisations are interpreting assessment plans effectively and consistently across the standard”, and assessment instruments are “fit-for-purpose”.

Other responsibilities will be guaranteeing “processes and procedures are in place to manage the delivery and marking of assessment and that these are systematic and rigorous” and “individual AAOs are operating effectively and have robust internal quality assurance processes in place”.

In March this year, FE Week reported that the Institute for Apprenticeships was proving the most popular choice for EQA for apprenticeship standards – even though it was only set up as a “last resort” option for the task.

Employer groups must choose from four options for the EQA of the apprenticeship standard they have developed: an employer group, a professional body, Ofqual, or the Institute for Apprenticeships.

An Ofqual spokesperson previously told FE Week that in the new apprenticeship landscape it was “inevitable” for trailblazers to reach “different conclusions regarding their preferred EQA provider”.

However, he defended Ofqual’s credentials, saying: “We start from a base of having renowned assessment expertise, regulatory tools and a tried and tested framework.”

Speaking during a webinar on January 6, Peter Lauener, the shadow chief executive of the IfA, told FE Week’s editor Nick Linford that the IfA did not have “the resource to do the quality assurance role directly”.

He also insisted it would be acceptable for the Institute to charge for EQA because “the principle of a regulator charging bodies in the industry for regulation is not uncommon at all”.

In contrast, an Ofqual spokesperson told FE Week: “We don’t charge and do not intend to introduce charges for our external quality assurance role.”

Ofsted watch: Three providers drop to ‘requires improvement’

It’s been a largely disappointing week, as all three published full FE and skills inspection reports resulted in a drop from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’.

“Significant weaknesses” in its 16 to 19 study programmes and apprenticeships, were among the factors contributing to Northampton College’s slide to grade three, in a report published May 23 but based on an inspection April.

Quality of these programmes was found to be “not yet good enough” as “actions taken by leaders and managers” had “not yet had sufficient impact”, the report said.

Inspectors noted that “many teaching, learning and assessment activities” on study programmes “do not challenge and motivate learners to make good progress” and that these learners “develop their knowledge and understanding too slowly”.

But provision for both adult learners and those with high needs was found to be good.

Adult learners “develop their knowledge, personal and employability skills well” while learners with high needs “develop good skills for independent living and employment”, the report said.

Independent training provider Focus Training Limited was given grade three across the board in a report published May 22, and based on an inspection in late April.

The proportion of learner completing their courses on time at the Bolton-based provider was found to be “low”, and “too many learners do not achieve their full potential”, the report said.

A lack of reliable information about learners’ progress and the quality of provision meant that “board members have not supported and challenged senior managers sufficiently”.

Marson Garages (Wolstanton) Limited, an independent learning provider, was also graded as ‘requires improvement’ in all areas, in a report published May 22 and based on an inspection in April.

Leaders and managers at the Newcastle-under-Lyme-based provider were criticised for having “not secured sufficient improvements in the quality of the study programme”, while governors were unable to “challenge managers effectively” due to a lack of “sufficiently detailed reports on the study programme”.

Learners were found to be “not achieving enough of their learning aims or making sufficient progress in English and mathematics”, and “too few learners” were doing work experience.

Two monitoring visit reports were published this week, for Epping Forest College and Hereward College.

Epping Forest College was found to have been making reasonable progress in three areas, significant progress in one area – but insignificant progress in two areas, in the second monitoring visit report since it was rated ‘inadequate’ in January.

Meanwhile, Hereward College was deemed to have made reasonable progress in four areas but insufficient progress in two areas, in its second monitoring visit since it was given a grade four in November.

Just one provider, adult and community learning service Basingstoke ITEC, held onto its ‘good’ rating following a short inspection this week.

 

GFE Colleges Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Epping Forest College 25/04/2017 26/05/2017 Monitoring
Hereward College 26/04/2017 24/05/2017 Monitoring
Northampton College 24/04/2017 23/05/2017 3 2

 

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Marson Garages (Wolstanton) Limited 25/04/2017 22/05/2017 3 2
Focus Training Limited 20/04/2017 22/05/2017 3 2

 

Short inspections (remains grade 2) Inspected Published
Basingstoke ITEC 04/05/2017 22/05/2017

NOCN expanding through new acquisition

Expansion is on the cards this summer for awarding organisation NOCN, with a new acquisition from the Construction Industry Training Board, which it claims will transform it into one of the biggest AOs in the UK.

Cskills Awards, currently a division of the CITB, will officially move to NOCN on August 1 and will bring with it around 4,000 apprenticeships a year.

The construction focused AO is the second largest in its sector after City and Guilds, holding a 25 per cent share of the market and providing 271 regulated construction qualifications from entry level to level seven.

Norfolk-based Cskills Awards had 97,500 learner registrations and 69,000 qualification achievements in 2015/16.

The acquisition will broaden the range of NOCN’s offer to include construction qualifications such as ‘license to practice’ and professional development, as well as English and maths, functional skills and the new T-Level technical qualifications from autumn 2019.

The new combined operation will provide apprenticeships, qualifications and assessments across the construction industry.

NOCN told FE Week that CITB sold Cskills in order to focus on its primary function as an industry sector skills council and to remove any conflict of interest as it develops skills standards for the sector.

Graham Hasting-Evans, managing director of NOCN said: “As someone who started out as an apprentice first time around and who has worked in the building and construction sector for many years, I find this new opportunity very exciting.

“I am looking forward to working with Cskills Awards personnel to incorporate their product expertise and their technological distinctiveness to NOCN.”

He added: “NOCN has a wide range of qualifications that will meet the future skills needs of our combined customer base, new employers, and accredited centres operating in the construction sector.”

The collaboration would aim to “create new opportunities, re-address the skill gaps, re-balance gender inequality and support a strong growth for the construction industry in the UK”, he said. 

Sarah Beale, chief executive of CITB, said: “The sale of Cskills Awards is the right decision for the construction industry.

“NOCN has a commitment to continuing to service the breadth of products and services and maintain quality levels.”

She added: “In addition NOCN will be able to greatly expand the range of qualifications on offer to customers, beyond construction occupations, as they are not subject to the same restrictions as CITB.

“Our thanks and good wishes go with our colleagues who have not only served CITB well, but I am sure will continue to deliver excellent support to the industry through NOCN.”

General Election 2017 | a closer look at election pledges

When I wrote my last general election supplement in 2015, I never thought I’d be doing another over two years. But that’s the world we live in now, so here we go again.

Click here to download the supplement

Education is once again a key issue on the campaign trail and in these 20 pages, we aim to bring you all the pledges from the three main English political parties, along with stacks of news, analysis and reaction.

On page three, we take a look at what the party leaders have been up to during school and college visits across England. Pages four and five set out Labour’s plans for schools and skills, and include an article from Angela Rayner, the woman who would be education secretary in a Jeremy Corbyn government.

On page six, we present FE Week’s analysis of Labour’s policies and the outcome of a readers’ survey on the manifesto, while page seven has the FE sector’s reaction to Corbyn’s plan for skills.

Pages eight and nine have all the details of the Conservatives’ education manifesto, but we’re afraid we can’t bring you an article from Justine Greening, the education secretary because our repeated requests were ignored.

On pages 12 and 13, you can read the analysis of the schools and FE components of the Tory manifesto, then pages 14 and 15 set out what the Liberal Democrats would do in the unlikely event that they win power on June 8.

Pages 16 and 17 are where you can read the results of FE Week’s survey of its readers on both manifestos and hear from the paper’s editor Nick Linford. There’s also details of what the sector organisations want for education.

And finally, on pages 18 and 19, you can read more expert reaction and analysis from the schools sector, including a little something from FE Week editor Laura McInerney.

Enjoy.

Freddie Whittaker, Political Reporter | FE Week

Call to convert UTCs to 16 to 19 colleges

Ailing university technical colleges should be converted into 16-19 colleges, with all studio schools joining multi-academy trusts to stave off closure, says a new report.

A major study by the Institute for Public Policy Research has uncovered concerns over the 14-19 schools.

The report found that while UTCs attracted a comprehensive year 10 intake similar to the national average, their league table performance was “significantly below average”.

Two-thirds also ranked in the bottom 10 per cent of schools nationally for Progress 8.

Meanwhile, studio schools appear to be “leading to the ‘tracking’ of disadvantaged and low-attaining pupils”, the report said.

Craig Thorley (pictured above), senior research fellow at IPPR, said despite the government championing both school types, the institutions were not “working for pupils, and face too many barriers to being successful”.

The findings follow several investigations by FE Week, the most recent of which showed that established UTCs were still more than half empty.

The IPPR wants a ban on any new UTCs or studio schools, instead calling for them to become “high-quality providers of technical education” for 16 to 19-year-olds.

The report says any new UTC should have this “revised remit” with existing UTCs converting unless they had a “record of high performance”.

The IPPR said existing studio schools should be required to join a local multi-academy trust with a more “readily available” pool of pupils “to safeguard their future viability”.

Thorley said: “The next parliament will see a greater commitment to technical and vocational education to form part of a modern industrial strategy post-Brexit.

“To save the UTCs programme, these schools should be converted to post-16 providers able to deliver high-quality technical education in line with the needs of young people and the economy.”

The report said this could help to “plug the gap” in specialist technical 16-19 provision needed to deliver the government’s new T-levels – a technical alternative to A-levels where students can study a course in 15 sector areas.

The IPPR found that the pupil intake at UTCs – based on deprivation, disadvantage and prior attainment – “broadly matched” the national average.

Despite this, in 2015/16 an average of 35 per cent of UTC pupils achieved five A* to C grades, including English and maths, compared with a national average of 54 per cent.

Just 10 per cent of UTC pupils were entered for the EBacc in the same year, with 3 per cent achieving it – compared with a national average of 37 and 23 per cent respectively.

Charles Parker, the chief executive of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, said students were educated elsewhere at key stage 3, and “have often made little progress when they join a UTC”.

Parker said the trust, set up to promote the concept of UTCs, was proud of the progress pupils made during key stages 4 and 5. “The evidence for this is the outstanding destinations of UTC leavers.”

On studio schools, the report found the number of pupils achieving five A* to C grades, including English and maths, was 26 per cent in 2015/16. Just 6 per cent entered the EBacc, with 3 per cent achieving it.

The Conservative manifesto made no commitment to expanding UTCs, a stark contrast to the 2015 manifesto.

College leader expects no commercial benefit after paying “immaterial” £8,000 to join Charted Institute for FE

There is no commercial benefit to joining the Chartered Institute for FE, the principal of a college which has just become a member told FE Week today.

Dudley College of Technology is the seventh member of CIFE and the fourth college to pay the £8,000 fee to join up, a cost which principal Lowell Williams (pictured above) described as “immaterial”.

Mr Williams told FE Week shortly after the announcement that the college’s decision to apply for chartered status was not made in pursuit of “commercial investment” or a “business return”, but because “it’s the right thing to do”.

“I don’t think there’s a commercial benefit per se for the college – if we ended up investing in helping to make the chartered institute work, then that’s an investment we’re happy to make,” he said.

“We are trying by our application to support the concept of the institute as a charter mark for our sector.”

Mr Williams added that he sees “an over-reliance on the Ofsted framework” as the sector’s “gold standard” for performance, whereas the CIFE’s criteria have “a wider remit”.

“It has a greater recognition of the contribution colleges make to the skills agenda in their communities, there’s a greater recognition of your strategic planning and the way you manage your business and your finances and that’s the direction I think the sector needs to be going,” he said.

Mr Williams described his hope that bringing together a range of FE providers under the umbrella of the institution might “grow a voice for the sector”, allowing for a “more profound influence” on how FE is developed, managed, recognised, and inspected.

He said: “We’re pleased to be an early adopter in that, and if that doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen, but we are doing it more from the point of view of trying to be at the forefront of an initiative for the sector than because there is a commercial gain for us.”

Mr Williams said focusing on the cost would be “a very narrow view” of what the CIFE and its members hope to achieve. 

“In terms of affordability for Dudley College, it’s immaterial really,” he said.

“I know different colleges are in different places financially, but maybe the fact that a number of high performing institutions who can clear the bar in terms of their financial commitment can get this thing going and then help drive the policy which will help to bring investment back in our sector.”

The CIFE, which charges a non-refundable £3,000 to process applications and £5,000 per year for membership, gained two additional members last week as well, when independent training providers Steadfast Training and Skills Group passed the entrance process.

But the institution’s three recent additions still only bring its membership to a total of seven in the 18 months since it opened for applications.

Other existing members are Hawk Training, Blackpool and the Fylde College, Bridgwater College, and Furness College.

In an exclusive interview last week, CIFE chief executive Dan Wright told FE Week of his plans to dramatically boost the body’s intake, with the aim of at least 80 members overall in the next two years.

National provider enters redundancy consultation with staff

Staff at the nation’s largest FE provider are on tenterhooks, as they wait to find out whether they will still have a job at the end of a 30 day consultancy period enforced this week.

Learndirect informed employees that they were being placed in the month-long consultancy period via a “script” delivered in a conference call on Monday, FE Week has learned.

A concerned staff member contacted FE Week on May 23 to say they and their colleagues were “expecting to lose our jobs in the next month or two”.

The provider subsequently confirmed the imminent job losses to us, stating that “some colleagues will leave Learndirect”.

Explaining the need for these cuts, a spokesperson said: “As a business we have offered GCSEs as part of our early years offer.   

“There has been a significant lobby to have mandatory GCSE requirements removed from the level three apprenticeship framework, with employers favouring the acceptance of functional skills qualifications. 

“As a result we have decided to remove the GCSE offer from the Learndirect portfolio, whilst looking at our customers’ ongoing requirements for functional skills.”

She added: “Sadly this may mean some colleagues will leave Learndirect. 

“Given we are in a consultation process it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.”

The staff member who contacted FE Week said a range of roles could be affected, including GCSE tutors, regional functional skills tutors, maths and English specialists and line managers, but Learndirect declined to comment further on these details.

The employee added: ““The way things are going not many of us are happy at Learndirect anyway.”

Concerns about the provider – which is a giant in the sector, with almost 200,000 learners logged in its latest available Ofsted report from 2013 – were raised just last month.

FE Week learned that although Learndirect had actually been inspected again by the education watchdog at the end of March this year, details of its new report would not be published for a further six weeks – with the “silence period” before the election given as the reason for the delay.

A government spokesperson said: “Ofsted, like other government departments, is subject to certain limitations on activity during election silence periods under guidance set out by the Cabinet Office.

“In line with the guidance, we will not publish the inspection report at this time because of the provider’s significance as a national provider of FE training.”

He confirmed Ofsted had “inspected this learning provider in late March 2017” and planned “to publish the inspection report after the general election on June 8”.

Meanwhile a Learndirect spokesperson told FE Week at the time: “We have recently been inspected and due to the scope of Learndirect’s provision we are still providing Ofsted with data.

“While this process continues, we have received notification from Ofsted that our report will not be published for at least the next six weeks.”

Learndirect Was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in April 2013. The provider employed 1,685 operations employees and 444 administration employees in 2015, according to its most recently published financial statements from July of that year, while wages and salaries for 2015 came to £50,844,000.