Issue 109 | September 2020

From all of us at Click, we hope that you have managed to get a break over the summer and that as you go forward into the new term the many daunting challenges you will no doubt be facing will not be too stressful. This edition of the newsletter, which is the first of the new academic year, is basically in two parts. The first deals with Coronavirus related matters and the second covers other FE sector news.

DFE PUBLISHES ADVICE ON MINIMISING COVID-19 RISKS FOR COLLEGES AND PROVIDERS

Although perhaps a little late, on 10 September the Department for Education (DfE) published updated guidance for colleges and other providers in England to help them make their institutions more Covid-19 safe for their students at the start of the academic year. The guidance says that providers are expected to:

• Resume on-site delivery in full for students of all ages, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This can be supplemented by high quality remote delivery where appropriate.
• Assess gaps in students’ knowledge and skills early in the term and focus on addressing them.
• Put in place additional support for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people, including identifying whether they need support to access remote delivery, and to identify any safeguarding concerns.
• Develop a robust contingency plan for remote education provision for all students by the end of September should there be further lockdowns.
• Revisit and update college Covid-19 risk assessments and evaluate the effectiveness of the control measures put in place for managing confirmed cases.
• Develop a ‘student charter’ that sets out student responsibilities for staying safe and protecting others.
• Ensure that, as far as possible, students and staff maintain a two metre distance from each other. Groups should be kept apart in ‘bubbles’, with no large gatherings involving more than one bubble.
• Ensure buildings have good ventilation and maximise the use of sites and any other available spaces to help with social distancing. Colleges are not expected to make significant adaptations to their sites.

A copy of the updated DfE guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term

The DfE has also published a checklist on what colleges should to do if a student begins to display symptoms of Coronavirus. This can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916840/Symptomtic_children_action_list_FE_FINAL.pdf

In addition to this guidance, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published a ‘Covid-19 Contain Framework’, annexe 3 of which sets out the steps FE and sixth form colleges are expected to take to respond to different ‘tiers’ of local lockdown, should they be imposed. These are as follows:

• Tier 1 lockdown: Colleges to remain open to students but require that face coverings are worn in corridors and other communal areas where social distancing cannot take place.
• Tier 2 lockdown: Colleges to continue to maintain full-time attendance for vulnerable students and thechildren of key workers. All other learners to attend on a rota basis to reduce numbers in college at any one time. Managers can impose a rota model based on ‘…what works’ for their college.
• Tier 3 or 4 lockdown: Colleges to open only for vulnerable students and the children of key workers. All other students to be required to continue to learn at home with support provided by the college.

A copy of the DHSC Covid-19 Contain Framework can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/containing-and-managing-local-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreaks/covid-19-contain-framework-a-guide-for-local-decision-makers#annex-3-tiers-of-national-restriction

DFE PUBLISHES GUIDANCE ON HOW COLLEGES SHOULD ORGANISE FOR AUTUMN EXAMS

On 18 September, the DfE published guidance for schools and colleges on how to organise autumn exams. The main points include the following:

• Colleges should identify exam rooms that will allow for social distancing between group ‘bubbles’.
• There is no limit on the number of candidates in a room, as long as desks are correctly spaced Students within the same group ‘bubble’ should be seated a minimum of 1.25 metres apart. Others should be seated at least 2 metres apart. Good ventilation is important, and doors and windows should be left open if possible. Exam rooms must be thoroughly cleaned after each exam.
• There must be points in the exam room where the invigilator can stand at least 2 metres from the nearest desks and see all the candidates in the room. They should stand alongside candidates when interacting with them, rather than face to face.
• Colleges will need to collect and keep contact information on candidates and invigilators so that it can be shared with NHS Test and Trace if needed.
• Candidates and invigilators do not need to wear face coverings unless they choose to do so.

A copy of the guidance can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responsibility-for-autumn-gcse-as-and-a-level-exam-series/public-health-arrangements-for-autumn-exams

NEW HELPLINE SET UP TO PROVIDE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES WITH ADVICE ON HANDLING COVID-19 CASES

On 17 September, a new helpline was launched to provide advice to schools and colleges if they find that they have a student or staff member testing positive for Coronavirus. The helpline has been set up jointly by Public Health England (PHE), the DfE and the NHS Business Services Authority. The new service is intended to free up the capacity of local health protection teams to enable them deal with more complex cases, such as in special schools or boarding schools, or in cases where there are large outbreaks. The service can be accessed by calling DfE’s existing Coronavirus Helpline on 0800 046 8687 and selecting the option for reporting a positive Covid-19 case. A team of advisors will ‘triage’ the case and, if necessary, will escalate the action needed to be taken by the school or college, up to and including full closure.

MORE ON MANAGING COVID-19 RISKS IN COLLEGES

Although colleges have been provided with several sets of guidelines for mitigating the effects of the pandemic, it still falls on school and college managers to decide how and when they should take action if students and/or staff begin to display symptoms (defined as a high temperature, a new and continuous cough, or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste). Some symptoms, such as a sore throat or headache, do not necessarily mean that a person has contracted the virus, however managers still have to make the decision whether to close classes or whole centres to minimise the risk of spreading the virus and/or whether to send large numbers of staff and students to get Coronavirus tests. Many, if not most, of these tests could prove to be unnecessary, and it is understandable that managers should err on the side of caution. However, as schools, colleges and universities have reopened across the UK, the surge in the demand for tests for students and staff has been added to that from those returning to work or returning from holiday, and from the ‘worried well’ who may have not displayed any symptoms at all. This, in turn, has placed the current testing capacity in England under considerable pressure.

To try to avoid testing capacity being overwhelmed, all schools and colleges in England have received a joint letter from the Chief Executives of Public Health England and the NHS Test and Trace service, saying it was vital ‘… to avoid children, students and their families self-isolating unnecessarily’ and that ‘…students and staff should only be tested if they develop one or more of the main coronavirus symptoms’. The letter goes on to say that if students are unwell, for example with a sore throat, stomach upset or a headache, they don’t need to book a test, but may need to stay off college and seek medical advice through their GP or pharmacist. The letter also clarifies that students and staff who were previously shielding should go back to college, unless they are in a lockdown area, they have been advised to self-isolate, or have been advised to remain at home because they have another serious illness. The letter concludes with a request that principals and head teachers ‘…communicate this to the parents of the children at your school and the students at your college’. A copy of the letter can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/914391/Letter_from_PHE_and_NHS_Test_and_Trace_to_school_and_college_leaders.pdf

Because the demand for Coronavirus tests currently exceeds the supply, the Health Secretary for England, Matt Hancock, has set out an order of priority in which the available testing capacity will be allocated. School and college staff and students are fifth in line, leading to fears that an inability to get tested could lead to teacher shortages if staff unnecessarily self-isolate. The testing priority is listed below:

• Staff working in acute clinical care.
• Staff and residents in care homes.
• NHS staff, including GPs and pharmacists.
• Targeted testing for outbreak management and surveillance studies.
• Testing for teaching staff with symptoms.
• Members of the public with symptoms, prioritising areas with high infection rates.

TRACK AND TRACE APP LAUNCHED

On 24 September, the UK government launched its track and trace smartphone app for England and Wales and is encouraging as many people as possible to download it to their phones. Schools and colleges have been asked to relax their policies on students taking phones into the classroom to allow them to receive any notifications that they may have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for Coronavirus and to enable them to self-isolate as soon as possible. College leaders and staff are required to familiarise themselves with how the app fits in with their own arrangements for managing a positive case and/or an outbreak. They are also required to familiarise themselves with the six main features of the app, which are:

• Trace: Which alerts an individual if they have been in close contact with a confirmed case.
• Alert: Which provides the individual with the risk level associated with Coronavirus in their local area, based on the postcode district they entered in the app.
• Check: Which allows the individual to check in to locations via the app and official NHS QR codes.
• Symptoms: Which allows an individual to check their symptoms and to get advice.
• Test: Which allows the individual to order a free test and to receive results and advice via the app.
• Isolate: Which provides an isolation ‘companion’, counting down how many days a person may have left to self-isolate. It also provides links to useful advice for people who are self-isolating.

Government guidance on the use of the app in schools and FE colleges can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-the-nhs-covid-19-app-in-schools-and-further-education-colleges/use-of-the-nhs-covid-19-app-in-schools-and-further-education-colleges

More information on the app itself is available at:
https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/nhs-covid-19/

SELF-ISOLATION RULES FOR COLLEGE STAFF

What are the general rules on self-isolation?

NHS guidance says you must self-isolate immediately if you:

• Have any symptoms of coronavirus (a high temperature, a new and continuous cough or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste).
• Test positive for coronavirus.
• Live with someone who has symptoms or have someone in your ‘support bubble’ who has symptoms or has tested positive.
• Are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace.
• Arrive in the UK from a country with a high Coronavirus risk.

Are there special rules on self-isolation for staff in colleges?

The DfE guidance for colleges says that:

• If a student or member of staff is suspected of having Coronavirus, they should be sent home and arrange to be tested. If they test positive, they must remain at home for at least 10 days. If the test is negative, they can return to college, but only if everyone they live with (or who is in their support bubble) who has symptoms also tests negative.
• Any member of staff who has been in close contact with a person who has tested positive must self-isolate for 14 days. Close contact includes such things as face to face contact with an infected individual for any length of time, within 1m, including being coughed on, a face to face conversation, or unprotected physical contact (skin-to-skin), or travelling in a car with an infected person.
• If the child of a member of staff is told to self-isolate because they have symptoms, the member of staff (and any other children or adults in the same house) will also have to self-isolate and follow the government’s ‘stay at home’ guidance.

General guidance on self-isolation is available at:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/

And a copy of the government’s ‘Stay at home’ guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

UCU WILL ‘NAME AND SHAME’ COLLEGES THAT DO NOT DO ENOUGH TO PROTECT STAFF

A survey conducted by the TES prior to the start of the term has revealed that two-thirds of teaching staff do not feel safe in returning to college. Their concerns have been exacerbated by the recent publication of data which shows that the highest Coronavirus infection rate is among 17-24 year olds and is rising rapidly. In response, the University and Colleges Union (UCU) has said that it will ‘name and shame’ those colleges that are ‘…not doing enough’ to keep staff safe. UCU has encouraged members to complete questionnaires about their college’s plans for if someone is taken ill on campus and how their college would react in the event of a large outbreak. UCU says it will also be scrutinising testing systems in place in colleges and will demand to know what support there will be for staff who need to self-isolate. If UCU believes that a college is not doing enough to protect staff the union says that it will declare a dispute which, if not resolved, could result in industrial action.

‘KICKSTART’ SCHEME LAUNCHED TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE BACK INTO WORK OR TRAINING

Earlier this month (September) the government launched its £2 billion ‘Kickstart’ scheme. The scheme is designed to help the thousands of young people who have lost their jobs or places on apprenticeship programmes because of the Coronavirus crisis, and to support them to get back into work or training. Funding will be made available to employers to provide work placements for young people aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and are at risk of long-term unemployment. The government will cover 100% of the national minimum wage (NMW) for the age group for 25 hours a week for six months, plus the cost of national insurance and pension contributions. In addition, the Government will also pay employers £1,500 towards setting up the scheme, including training for supervisors and any other costs likely to be incurred by the employer. The scheme is being run across England, Scotland and Wales and is open to all employers who are:

• An existing business with a track record of fiscal competence.
• Prepared to create at least 30 new vacancies. These must not be a replacement of an existing job and should not cause current staff to have a reduced workload. If employers are unable to offer the 30 job placements, particularly smaller businesses who only want to offer one or two placements, they can partner with other organisations to reach the minimum placement requirement as a combined bid.
• Prepared to offer at least 25 hours a week work to participants for at least six months at the appropriate

NMW for their age group.

• Able to demonstrate that the placements they are offering meet specified quality standards.
• Able to demonstrate how they intend to monitor the progress of participants, ensure the participants’ safety at work, and help them to obtain full-time work at the end of the scheme.

More information on Kickstart can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/kickstart-scheme

In addition to the Kickstart scheme, for the period to 31 January 2021, employers will be offered £2,000 for each new apprentice aged under the age of 25, and £1,500 for each new apprentice aged 25 and over that they take on. More information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/incentive-payments-for-hiring-a-new-apprentice

CHANCELLOR UNVEILS HIS ‘WINTER ECONOMY PLAN’ TO PROTECT JOBS

Following the cancellation of the Autumn Budget, the imminent end of the furlough scheme at the end of October and the announcement of further Coronavirus restrictions that could last for another six months, on 24 September the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak announced a set of new measures designed to help protect jobs. These include the following:

• A new job support scheme will be established to replace the furlough scheme. The new scheme involves the government directly supporting the wages of people in ‘viable’ jobs who are working at least a third of their normal hours. The Government will pay for hours not worked up to a cap of £697.92 a month. This will ensure employees earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages. The scheme opens on 1 November and will run for 6 months. All small and medium-sized businesses are eligible for the scheme. Larger firms will have to prove their profits have been affected by the pandemic in order to utilise it. They will not be able to issue redundancy notices to employees taking part in the scheme.
• The self-employed grant will be extended on similar terms as the new support scheme.
• A new ‘pay as you grow’ scheme will be established to allow companies more time to repay ‘bounce back loans’ over a period of up to 10 years rather than the current six. Those firms struggling to pay the loans back will now be able to choose to make interest-only repayments and firms in real difficulty can suspend repayments altogether for up to six months. The deadline for taking out a Coronavirus business interruption loan will be extended until 30 November, with the government guarantee on them extended for up to 10 years.
• VAT will remain at 5% for hospitality and tourism until 31 March 2021.

‘CATCH UP’ FUNDING NOW AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE UP TO GRADE 4 GCSE ENGLISH AND MATHS

On 9 September, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) published updated guidance which confirmed that students aged 16-19 who have passed GCSE English and maths at grade 4 who were previously excluded from accessing support from the £96 million Covid-19 ‘catch up’ fund will now also be eligible for extra tuition. This means that only those students with GCSE grades 5-9 in English and maths are now excluded from accessing the funding. A copy of the updated ESFA guidance can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-16-to-19-tuition-fund

MORE MONEY ALLOCATED FOR SCHOOL AND COLLEGE TRANSPORT

The DfE has announced that from this month (September) local transport authorities will receive more than £40 million in extra funding to help them create extra capacity for school and college transport to help meet social distancing requirements. Local transport authorities will be allocated the funding to reflect the number of children and young people in their area and how far they have to travel. This includes students aged 16-19 travelling to colleges or training places, as well as anyone supervising or escorting pupils or students to education provision. Local authorities have been asked to take into account that students in further education often rely more on public transport. More information is at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multi-million-pound-funding-package-for-school-transport 

OFSTED PUBLISHES REVIEW OF EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE FE DELIVERY AND SUPPORT DURING THE LOCKDOWN

Ofsted has used its blog to publish the findings of a review into the effectiveness of the delivery, student support and management of remote learning in the FE sector during the lockdown. This can be found at:
https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2020/07/15/online-education-in-further-education-and-skills-learning-about-what-works/

OFSTED TO RECOMMENCE VISITS TO COLLEGES AND OTHER PROVIDERS

Ofsted will resume visits to colleges and other providers from 28 September. Visits will usually involve two inspectors and last for two days. Ofsted says that these will not be inspections and providers will not be graded, but has warned that depending on findings, a visit may lead to a full inspection. Visits will focus on providers previously judged ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ and on providers where new risks or concerns have been identified. Ofsted will also visit a sample of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers and newly merged colleges. Providers will normally be given two-day’s notice of a visit but this could be extended to four working days if the college is particularly large. An upsurge in Coronavirus cases at the provider’s premises or in the locality will automatically result in a visit being deferred. Ofsted says that during a visit inspectors will have a series of ‘professional conversations’ with leaders and, where appropriate, staff and learners to help identify the actions leaders are taking (including the provision of remote and online learning) to demonstrate that:

• They have adapted to the changed circumstances caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and are providing an appropriate curriculum that responds to the reasonable needs of learners.
• Learners are kept safe and well informed about potential risks, including from online sources.

Ofsted has confirmed that the visits will not:

• Be used to judge providers on their response to the pandemic in the spring and summer terms of 2020 or look for evidence of the impact of actions since September.
• Use the Education Inspection Framework (EIF) or the FE and Skills Inspection Handbook to make any graded or progress judgements.
• Involve lesson or workplace observations.
• Require managers to prepare for anything beyond what is part of the normal business of the provider.
• Require managers to supply documents or records in a certain format.
• Require staff to prepare any additional work.
• Be used to review self-assessment, quality improvement plans or achievement data.

However, Ofsted says that during the planning call prior to the visit, inspectors may ask for:

• Current learner numbers by learner type.
• The programmes and courses being run.
• Information about the institution’s organisation including staff names and responsibilities.
• Information on subcontracting arrangements.
• Locations where meetings will take place.
• Contact details for any employers and learners agreed during the planning call.

Ofsted says it will also carry out visits to new apprenticeship providers judged to have been making insufficient progress prior to lockdown, and those who would have been due a full inspection during the lockdown period. If inspectors conclude they are making sufficient progress, these providers will be able to recommence their recruitment of apprentices. Ofsted says that it will write to all providers visited within 18 working days of the end of the visit, setting out what inspectors found in the form of a draft report. The provider will have five working days to comment on the findings. Ofsted will normally publish the report on its website within 38 working days of the end of the visit. Ofsted says it may share the provisional findings, before a report is published, with the FE Commissioner, the ESFA, DfE, the Office for Students (OfS) or devolved authorities. These arrangements will remain in place until the end of December when a decision will be made on the resumption of full inspections (although the AoC has called for full inspections to be deferred until at least next April). Further information can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/interim-phase-further-education-and-skills-providers

OTHER FE SECTOR NEWS

OFSTED SET TO TAKE OVER THE INSPECTION OF DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS

Currently, Ofsted has the authority to inspect apprenticeships up to Level 5, with the OfS (the HE regulator) having responsibility for inspecting all apprenticeships at levels 6 and above, including degree apprenticeships. However, following concerns about the actual level of oversight being exercised by the OfS, it now seems likely that Ofsted will take over responsibility for inspecting all apprenticeships, including degree apprenticeships. The move is opposed by the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) and the MillionPlus Group, which represents 24 ‘modern’ universities, both of which have expressed concerns about the level of Ofsted’s expertise to inspect degree-level apprenticeships.

OFSTED COULD INSPECT ALL FE SUBCONTRACTORS DIRECTLY

Following an investigation into FE subcontracting, on 16 September Ofsted published its findings in a report entitled ‘Subcontracting in FE and Skills’. The report’s main conclusion is that most FE providers do not ‘exert enough influence to manage subcontracted provision well’. Ofsted is not currently funded to inspect subcontractors directly but instead gives a judgement on the college or provider who holds the main funding contract with the ESFA. However, Amanda Spielman, the Ofsted Chief Inspector for England, has said that if sufficient additional resource was provided Ofsted would be minded to inspect subcontractors directly. Meanwhile, Ofsted has said that it will take four steps to make inspection and reporting on subcontracted provision more comprehensive and transparent. These are:

• Working more closely with the ESFA to improve access to timely and accurate data on subcontractors.
• Prioritising Ofsted’s available resource, in order to scrutinise more subcontractors.
• Changing the way evidence is recorded to include information about all subcontractors visited.
• Highlighting more aspects of provision delivered by subcontractors in inspection reports.

A copy of the Ofsted report is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/subcontracting-in-further-education-and-skills

DAME GLENYS STACEY IS APPOINTED ACTING OFQUAL CHIEF REGULATOR

Following the resignation of Sally Collier, Dame Glynis Stacy has been appointed as acting Ofqual Chief Regulator for the period up to the end of December 2020. Dame Glynis previously served as Ofqual Chief Regulator between 2011 and 2016. She will be supported in in her work by a new committee of the Ofqual Board that will be chaired by Ofsted Chief Inspector for England, Amanda Spielman. Roger Taylor remains Chair of the Ofqual main board.

A-LEVELS AND GCSES GRADES TO BE DETERMINED BY EXTERNAL EXAMS, NOT CAGS, IN 2021

Following the grade inflation that occurred this year (with grades up around 12% for A-Levels and 9% for GCSEs compared with 2019), Ofqual appears to have ruled out the prospect of exam results being based on centre (and teacher) assessed grades (CAGs) in 2021 and that, if possible, external exams with standardised grades should resumed. Speaking to the House of Commons Education Select Committee on 2 September, Roger Taylor, the Chair of Ofqual said it was ‘…absolutely essential that students are able to take part in some kind of fair, comparative test’. When asked by committee members what would happen if there were to be a further national or local lockdowns, Mr Taylor responded by saying that there were workable alternatives available, such as online tests and pushing back start dates for GCSEs and A-Levels. However, many education leaders have expressed their doubts about this and have called for a clear contingency plan to be put in place during the autumn and spring terms which could be used to reliably inform grades in the event that students are unable to sit exams. If external exams are resumed next year, the students taking them will not only have received less teaching, they will also be unlikely to benefit from grades based just on unstandardised teacher assessments. More information is available at:
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/203/education-committee/news/117192/ofqual-questioned-on-summer-exam-results/

Mr Taylor’s written statement to the Education Select Committee on this year’s exams results is at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/written-statement-from-chair-of-ofqual-to-the-education-select-committee

OFQUAL PUBLISHES PROPOSED ARRANGEMENTS FOR VTQ ASSESSMENTS IN 2021

In August Ofqual launched a consultation on how vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) should be assessed and graded in 2021 should Covid-19 continue to disrupt normal arrangements. The outcome of the consultation was published on 7 September with a main recommendation that if VTQs cannot progress as normal, rather than using CAGs, awarding organisations should instead be ‘…given the freedom to adapt their assessment arrangements’. This could include ‘…widening assessment windows to provide greater flexibility’ or ‘…changing some assessment requirements to deal with the impact of any ongoing social distancing measures’. Ofqual said there was a high level of agreement to this in the consultation and it will now be incorporated Ofqual’s second draft of the Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework. These arrangements only apply to VTQs, and not GCSEs or A-levels. The outcomes of the consultation and accompanying recommendations can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-assessment-and-awarding-of-vocational-technical-and-other-general-qualifications-in-2020-to-2021

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES THAT FOLLOWED OFQUAL ADVICE TO MODERATE THEIR CAGS NOT ALLOWED TO APPEAL

Schools and colleges were advised by Ofqual that in order to avoid grade inflation, before submitting CAGs to exam boards, they should moderate them to ensure that they were broadly in line with the grades achieved by the centre in previous years. However, the U-turn decision to use just CAGs based on teacher assessed grades did result in the grade inflation Ofqual predicted. (A-Level grades overall were up by 12% and GCSE grades were up by 9% compared with 2019). Most of the schools and colleges that did follow the Ofqual advice now feel that their students have been disadvantaged relative to students at other schools and colleges that did not follow the Ofqual advice and who were awarded more ‘optimistic’ (i.e. ‘higher) grades by their teachers. This has resulted in appeals being lodged on the basis that without external standardisation, the government U-turn meant the higher grades awarded by other schools and colleges were allowed to stand. However, Ofqual has said that they will not be allowed to appeal. This is because, says Ofqual, they ‘…cannot raise concerns about Centre Assessed Grades on the basis that another institution took a different approach, or that different teachers came to a different judgement, or because the national process of standardisation did not operate as expected’. Ofqual says that to lodge a valid appeal, a school or college has to be able to show why the approach they took to awarding grades was not appropriate. De facto, a school or college that returned CAGs based on Ofqual advice to carefully compare this year’s student grades with those in previous years could not have been acting inappropriately.

RECORD NUMBERS OBTAIN UNIVERSITY PLACES THIS YEAR

Data published by the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) on 24 September shows that a record number of students have obtained a UK university place. As of 10 September, there were 515,650 students (around 95% of applicants) with a confirmed place. This is a 4% increase on last year. These figures include both UK and international students. Within the total there were 441,720 UK students, an increase of 4%. Numbers of international students accepted from outside the EU increased by 9% to 44,300, but students from within the EU fell by 2% to 29,630. With reference to UK students, 253,890 were aged 18, meaning that a record 34.6% of all school and college leavers will start a university course this year. All of this will probably come as a relief to university vice chancellors, many of whom were expecting a collapse in applications, along with a collapse in income. The UCAS data is available at:
https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/statistical-releases-daily-clearing-analysis-2020

FIRST T-LEVEL STUDENTS START THEIR COURSES

Students started on the first three T-Level courses (Construction, Digital and Education and Childcare) this month. Data provided by the 44 providers offering the courses show that collectively:

• 143 students enrolled on Construction courses.
• 127 students enrolled on Digital courses.
• 267 students enrolled on Education and Childcare courses.

The DfE had initially set a target of recruiting around 2,000 students onto the three courses in the first year and had launched a £3 million ‘NexT Level’ campaign. However, shortly after the Coronavirus lockdown the Cabinet Office ordered that the campaign should be put on hold in order to focus on updates about the pandemic. Meanwhile, although T-Levels have been assigned points by the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), it remains unclear whether all universities, and in particular Russel Group universities, will accept them as degree entry qualifications. For example, only Warwick University has said that they will definitely accept T-Levels for starts in 2022, whereas Cambridge University, Imperial College London and Queen Mary London have said that they definitely will not accept them. A further ten Russell Group universities say they are still undecided. Updated general information on T-Levels was published by the DfE on 4 September which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-t-levels/introduction-of-t-levels

ETF LAUNCHES T-LEVEL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Earlier this month the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) launched its new T-Level Professional Development programme. The programme is primarily intended for staff in providers that will be delivering T-levels for the first time in 2021. More information, including how to book places, can be found at:
https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/supporting/professional-development/technical-education/t-levels/

OFQUAL AND THE OFS ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE (EQA) OF APPRENTICESHIPS

Following a consultation held earlier this year, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has announced that the existing EQA system for apprenticeships, currently delivered by a wide range of different organisations, will be replaced by a new system in which EQA is carried out either by Ofqual or, for higher and degree apprenticeships, the Office for Students (OfS). IfATE has also announced that a directory of employer-led organisations will be created for Ofqual and the OfS to draw on ‘… to ensure that the employer’s voice remains central to apprenticeships’. The changes will be carried out over a two year transition period. Further information is available at:
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/reviews-and-consultations/consultations/eqa-consultation/

NAO PUBLISHES REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF COLLEGES IN ENGLAND

On 16 September, the National Audit Office (NAO) published its report on the ‘Financial sustainability of colleges in England’. The report begins by saying that ‘… a financially sustainable college sector is vital to delivering the education and training that the country needs’, that colleges are expected to play a ‘vital role’ in developing skills post Brexit and in delivering the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. The main conclusions listed in the report include the following:

• The DfE does not have an overall strategy for the college sector.
• Colleges have faced cost and competitive pressures that have hampered their financial sustainability.
• Between 2013/14 and 2018/19, the DfE’s funding per learner aged 16 to 19 fell by 7% in real terms (with the funding rate for 18-year-olds being cut in 2014/15 from £4,000 to £3,300) while spending on adult education (excluding apprenticeships) fell by 35% in real terms.
• Financial pressures have led to colleges narrowing their provision and reducing broader support for students, which have had detrimental effects on students and skills development.
• As of February 2020, the DfE was intervening for financial reasons in 48% of all colleges, with more than a tenth being in formal intervention. Two colleges were deemed to be insolvent.
• Area reviews are likely to have helped limit the financial deterioration of the sector, partly by providing substantial amounts to pay off colleges’ debts. Following the reviews, £431 million was provided to 45 colleges to assist with mergers and other structural changes.
• £253 million in loans and grants have been given to 36 colleges with serious cashflow problems. The ESFA appears to have given up on getting back almost half of the loan funding (around £100 million).
• As at August 2019, Ofsted had graded more than four in five colleges as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.

The NAO recommends that the DfE should:

• Set out a clear vision for the role, structure and funding of the college sector.
• Assess how far colleges are responding to financial pressures by narrowing their provision and reducing student support services.
• Reduce the complexity and uncertainty of the college funding arrangements.
• Evaluate, and take action to improve the effectiveness of the early and formal intervention regimes in improving colleges’ financial sustainability.
• Learn lessons from the first two college insolvency cases.

The Chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier, said the report ‘…paints a stark picture of the college sector’s plight’. The NAO report can be found at:
https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Financial-sustainability-of-colleges-in-England.pdf

NEW REPORT – UK SPENDS LESS ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION THAN OTHER OECD COUNTRIES

A report published on 8 September by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) called ‘Education at a glance’ says that most OECD countries spend more per student on vocational programmes than the UK does. The report also says that unlike in other OECD countries, despite the higher cost of equipment and the lower student-to-teacher ratios required by such programmes, vocational students in the UK are actually taught in groups with larger student-to-teacher ratios and receive less per head in public spending than students on general education courses. A copy of the report can be found at:
https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/

EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE DISCUSSES THE POSSIBLE TRANSFER OF FE COLLEGES INTO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

On 8 September, the House of Commons Education Select Committee discussed the upcoming FE White Paper and the likelihood that FE colleges in England will be brought back into public ownership.  Colleges were technically taken out of public ownership in 2011 when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) redefined them as private sector organisations. The change of status was consolidated by the Education Act 2011 which removed the need for colleges to seek consent before borrowing from banks but also limited government powers to intervene in their affairs. Witnesses called by the committee included David Hughes, the Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC); Kirstie Donnelly, Chief executive of the City and Guilds Group; and Bill Watkin, Chief Executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) who were asked their views on the matter. Mr Hughes told members that he was ‘agnostic’ about any change in legal status since colleges are ‘already public ethos institutions’ and that the most important thing was that colleges received ‘..the right investment’. Mr Watkins reminded members that sixth form colleges have had the option of converting to academy status (and therefore becoming publicly owned) since 2015, with many having positive experience of the change. More information on the meeting can be found at:
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/203/education-committee/news/117305/committee-to-hold-round-table-session-on-further-education/

And a video of the actual meeting can be found at:
https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/16e03bd1-e8de-4546-85bc-6bbec8741aa9

LOCAL FE DIRECTORS, NOT COLLEGES, SHOULD DECIDE WHAT COURSES ARE OFFERED

Earlier this month the think tank EDSK published a report entitled ‘Further consideration: Creating a new role, purpose and direction for the FE sector’. The report was commissioned and funded by the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL). The main recommendation in the report is that although colleges should retain responsibility for their day-to-day running, new local FE Directors should be appointed who would assume responsibility for deciding the courses colleges are allowed to run ‘…in line with local social and economic needs’. The FE directors would be based in Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) or in mayoral combined authorities, and would assume responsibility for other ‘…important strategic decisions’ such as college specialisation and how the devolved Adult Education Budget (AEB) was distributed between colleges in the area. The report also recommends that FE colleges should be split into three different types to accommodate three different groups of learners. These would be:

• Community colleges: Offering basic skills, community learning and other entry-level courses.
• Sixth-form colleges: Offering A-Levels and other classroom-based Level 2 and 3 courses.
• Technology colleges: Offering vocational courses, including apprenticeships up to Levels 4 and 5.

In a further recommendation, the report suggests that the government should introduce a new ‘lifetime loan’ with a limit of £75,000 that learners can use at any time to pay for tuition and maintenance support throughout their career. It would perhaps be amusing to observe the reaction of vice chancellors if, ‘in the interests of meeting local economic and social needs’ there were to be a similar proposal for determining what degree courses universities were allowed to run. A copy of the report can be found at:
https://feweek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/EDSK-Further-consideration.pdf

BIRMINGHAM UNIVERSITY TO TAKE ON THE NATIONAL COLLEGE FOR ADVANCED TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Problems with student number recruitment, severe financial pressure, and poor-quality provision, led to the FE Commissioner intervening in the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure (NCATI), formerly known as the National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR). At the end of a strategic options review, the college was placed into ‘supervised status’ and it was decided that bids should be invited from institutions who were both willing and sufficiently financially robust to take on the college. Following due process, the preferred bidder is Birmingham University. The university says that its aim is to turn NACTI into a ‘…successful and financially sustainable educational institution…’. At the same time, the university has warned that all parties need to be assured NCATI’s significant financial and educational difficulties can be overcome before the transfer can go ahead. NACTI, which opened in 2017 and is based in Birmingham and Doncaster, is not the only National College to have experienced problems. The National College for Creative Industries dissolved itself earlier this year after running into severe financial difficulties. More information on the NACTI takeover is at:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2020/08/University-of-Birmingham-selected-as-preferred-bidder-to-work-with-NCATI.aspx

WORLDSKILLS UK CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE TO BE ESTABLISHED

A new WorldSkills Centre of Excellence run by WorldSkills UK is to be established. The centre will be funded with £1.5 million provided by NCFE (which generates most of its income from charging colleges and other providers examination and assessment fees). The centre will provide such things as ‘…support to help train teachers in international best practices’ and will run ‘digital workshops’ featuring talks from educational professionals in other countries. General FE colleges in England, Scotland and Wales were invited to join the year 1 pilot scheme. 55 colleges applied and 20 were selected. Each of these colleges will have five staff members taught by WorldSkills UK training managers who are ‘…high performance skills coaches’. Training will include such things as how to use coaching techniques (including ‘psychological conditioning’) with those students at their college who will be potential WorldSkills and EuroSkills competitors. More information on the WorldSkills Centre of Excellence can be found at:
https://www.worldskillsuk.org/centreofexcellence

A list of the 20 colleges selected to be involved in the year 1 pilot can be found at:
https://www.worldskillsuk.org/accelerate/worldskills-uk-centre-of-excellence/meet-the-colleges-involved

AND FINALLY…

At the start of each academic year, it was the usual practice of the principal of the local FE college to speak to groups of students in order to welcome them to the college and set out the ground rules for being a student. As can occasionally be the case, the principal was not the brightest star in the FE firmament. He lacked public speaking skills and tended to mumble to the point where what he said was often incomprehensible. As a result, students often left his meetings with little or no idea of what he had actually said. This year, the principal found speaking to groups of students who were socially distanced, with some wearing masks, to be particularly challenging. At the end of one of the principal’s sessions, two students in the same group ‘bubble’ who had previously not met were sitting 2 metres apart in the college refectory having a socially distanced cup of coffee. The first student asked the second what he thought of the principal’s speech. The second student replied that he hadn’t a clue what the principal had been talking about and that apart from being ‘inarticulate’ and ‘incoherent’, the principal came across as ‘being stuck up, full of the sense of his own importance and generally a bit of a nerd’. ‘Do you know who I am?’ reacted the first student angrily. ‘No’, said the second, ‘Who are you?’ to which the first student replied, ‘I’m the principal’s daughter’. ‘Oh!’, said the second student anxiously. ‘And do you know who I am?’ ‘No, I don’t’, said the indignant girl, ‘Well’, said the other student, ‘thank goodness for that’.

Alan Birks – September 2020

As usual, the views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those held by Click.
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you by a colleague and, in the future, you would like to be notified directly, you can register at the bottom of this page.

You can also access back issues via the website.

If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here