PRIME MINISTER LAUNCHES ‘LIFETIME SKILLS GUARANTEE’
During his visit to Exeter College, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a keynote speech in which he announced a number of measures designed to help people to obtain the skills needed to ‘…retain jobs, retrain where jobs have been lost and to help the economy to recover more quickly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic’. These are listed below:
- Adults aged 24+ without a full Level 3 qualification will be able to study for one free of charge. Prior to 2013 the government funded half the cost of Level 3 qualifications for those aged 24 and over. Since 2013, adults aged under 24 have been fully funded for their first full Level 3 qualification, but those aged 24 and over have been required to take out an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for their course. From April 2021, adults aged 24 and over in England will be able to study for a first Level 3 qualification free of charge, on condition that the course is chosen from a list of subject areas that the government says will provide ‘…skills valued by employers’.
- The government will seek to end the academic/vocational divide and barriers between FE and HE. Mr Johnson said that we should not only ‘… end the pointless, nonsensical gulf between technical and more academic education’, we should also end the ‘… bogus distinction between HE and FE’.
- More modular FE and HE courses will be made available. He went on to say that the upcoming FE White paper proposes measures that will allow adults and young people to take further and higher education courses in ‘segments’ and ‘space out their study across their lifetimes’. A credit transfer between FE and HE will be established which, said Mr Johnson, will become a ‘…mainstream feature of our post-18 education system’.
- Modular provision will be funded through more flexible higher education loans. Mr Johnson said that everyone will be entitled to flexible loans for the equivalent of four years of post-18 education’. These loans could be used for shorter periods of study spread over longer periods. Students at FE colleges will be given access to these loans.
- There will be more investment in FE college buildings. Mr Johnson said that there will be ‘…a £1.5 billon of investment in FE college buildings and facilities’.
- Apprenticeships will be made more flexible. Mr Johnson also said, ‘Apprenticeships will be made more portable between employers’, and it will be made easier for smaller firms to take on apprentices and for unspent funds to be transferred between providers.
- More funding will be provided for developing digital skills. For example, a further £8 million will be made available for ‘digital skills boot camps’.
Funding for the ‘guarantee’ will be made available from the new National Skills Fund, which was first announced in the 2019 Conservative Election Manifesto and has since been allocated a budget of £3 billion spread over the next five years. The text of Mr Johnson’s speech can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-skills-speech-29-september-2020
NATIONAL RETRAINING SCHEME PILOT IS SUBSUMED INTO THE NATIONAL SKILLS FUND
The National Retraining Scheme was set up 2017 and was allocated an initial £100 million for the three years to 2020 to pilot a scheme called ‘Get Help to Retrain’. More than 3,600 people participated in the pilot in six areas of England. However, on 10 October, the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills for England, Gillian Keegan, announced that the National Retraining Scheme would be subsumed into the new National Skills Fund mentioned above. More information about the National Retraining Scheme can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-retraining-scheme
A copy of Ms Keegan’s ministerial statement can be found at the link below:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-10-13/hcws506
UNION LEANING FUND ALSO TO BE SUBSUMED INTO THE NATIONAL SKILLS FUND
On 7 October, the DfE announced that the government’s £11 million a year allocation to the Union Learning Fund, more commonly known as ‘UnionLearn’, will cease in March next year. The DfE says that the cash will be subsumed into the National Skills Fund and will be used to ‘…help more people learn new skills and prepare for the jobs of the future’. The Union Learning Fund was established in 1988 and is managed by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The fund has enabled around 250,000 workers a year to access a range of learning and training programmes, including schemes to improve workers’ basic skills delivered in the workplace, and training for union representatives on such things as Health and Safety legislation which is usually delivered in trades union study centres based in FE colleges. These programmes have been praised by both the DfE and Ofsted for their high standards. More information on UnionLearn and the provision it currently delivers can be found in a report published jointly by the DfE and UnionLearn in 2018/19, which is available at:
https://www.unionlearn.org.uk/sites/default/files/publication/ULF%20Prospectus%20Round%2019%20for%20Website.pdf
AUTUMN 2020 A-LEVEL AND GCSE EXAMS IN ENGLAND AND HOW STUDENTS WILL BE GRADED
The decision to use unstandardised teacher predicted grades to determine A-Level and GCSE exam results this summer resulted in A-Level grades being awarded that were on average 12% higher, and GCSE grades that were on average 9% higher, than they were in the summer of 2019. The higher grades awarded were particularly pronounced at the higher levels. For example, at A-Level the proportion of A* grades awarded almost doubled from 7.7% to 14.3% while at GCSE level, the proportion of awards at grade 9 (the highest grade) increased from 4.7% to 6.6%. In the period immediately before the government U-turn from using standardised grades to using teacher predicted grades, A-Level and GCSE candidates were given the option of attempting to improve their grades by retaking their exams in the autumn free of charge. Around 20,000 A-Level students have exercised this option, but how likely is it that they will be able to improve on the grades they received in the summer? If the autumn grades awarded are subject to standardisation, they will reflect the standardised grades awarded in autumn 2019 and are likely to be lower than the unstandardised teacher predicted grades awarded this August. No doubt worried by the prospect of another political furore, the Education Secretary for England, Gavin Williamson, has held meetings with exam boards, and it now seems that both A-Level and GCSE grades awarded this autumn will be standardised to reflect the grades awarded in the summer, rather than those awarded in the Autumn of 2019. This will also apply to the tens of thousands of candidates who will be compulsorily retaking GCSEs this autumn as a result of DfE condition of funding requirements. An interesting article on all this was recently published in the i Newspaper, which can be found at:
https://inews.co.uk/news/education/gcses-a-levels-grade-boundaries-2020-autumn-exams-lowered-727954
SUMMER 2021 EXAMS IN ENGLAND WILL GO AHEAD ‘IN SOME FORM’
Because so much teaching time has been lost due to Coronavirus plus the real risk of more disruption next year, teaching unions have called for the summer 2021 exams to be scrapped and for unstandardised teacher predicted grades to be used again. However, on 12 October, the DfE announced that next year’s examinations in England will go ahead ‘…in some form’. Dame Glenys Stacey, the interim Ofqual Chief Regulator, says Ofqual supports the DfE decision and says that schools and colleges ‘…can be confident that Ofqual and exam boards have the tools to make summer 2021 exams fair’. (See link below).
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-welcomes-dfe-announcement-on-2021-exams
The DfE has given some recognition to the disruption to teaching and has announced that exams will start three weeks later than normal. A-Level and GCSE exams in England will now start on 7 June and end on 2 July. The exception to this is that for reasons as yet unclear, students taking GCSE English and maths exams next year will be expected to do so in the week before the summer half term starting on 31 May. Results days are scheduled to be Tuesday 24 August for A-Levels and Friday 27 August for GCSEs. Also, some modifications have been made to the format of some exams, such as reducing course content (e.g. dropping fieldwork for geography). Further information on exam modifications can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/906173/Consultation_decisions_-_proposed_changes_to_the_assessment_of_GCSEs__AS_and_A_levels_in_2021.pdf
With reference to vocational and technical qualifications, awarding organisations say that they will align their 2021 exam timetables with the 2021 A-Level and GCSE exam timetables. They also say that students taking vocational and technical exams will receive their results no later than their peers who are taking A-Levels and GCSEs.
SAGE SAYS ALL COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY TEACHING SHOULD BE ONLINE UNLESS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL
Colleges have spent the summer preparing for the return of face-to-face classes, implementing social distancing measures, redesigning classroom spaces and carrying out additional Covid-19 risk assessments but, despite their best efforts, large number of students have been infected with the Coronavirus. Earlier this month, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, reported that the transmission of the Coronavirus amongst 17 and 18 year-olds was particularly ‘intense’ compared with the ‘very low’ rates of infection in other school-age children. Data as at 22 October relating to the rate of spread of infections in various age groups can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/weekly-national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-published
Following on from this, minutes of a meeting of the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) held on 21 September published earlier this month reveal that members made a number of recommendations to reduce the rate at which Covid-19 is spreading, one of which was that teaching at all colleges and universities should be online unless face-to-face teaching was ‘absolutely essential’. A copy of the SAGE meeting minutes can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925854/S0769_Summary_of_effectiveness_and_harms_of_NPIs.pdf
GOVERNMENT USES CARROT AND STICK APPROACH TO REMOTE LEARNING
The carrot. On 1 October the DfE announced that extra cash would be made available to support online teaching and other remote education provision. The DfE says that the package will fund 100,000 additional laptops and tablets for pupils and students most in need, should they be required to learn at home. The package also includes 80 grants of £1,000 each to be made available to colleges in England to pay for the services of specialist mentors and coaches to help college staff who are teaching students who are self-isolating. More information on this package of support can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-remote-education-support-for-schools-colleges-and-teachers
The DfE also announced extra funding for the expansion of the EdTech Demonstrator programme. EdTech Demonstrator schools and colleges are a network of providers that have shown that they can use technology effectively and have the capacity to help other schools and colleges to do the same. The extra funding will help them to support other schools and colleges that are most in need of support, including those that have recently adopted an online learning platform and/or that have high numbers of disadvantaged learners. The support that EdTech schools and colleges will provide includes advice, training, online tutorials, webinars, and recorded content designed to enhance at-home learning. More information on the EdTech Demonstrator programme can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/edtech-demonstrator-schools-and-colleges-successful-applicants/about-the-programme
The stick. On 1 October, the Government published a ‘Remote Education Temporary Continuity Direction on the provision of remote education in schools and colleges, under the Coronavirus Act 2020’. The Direction imposes a legal duty on schools and colleges to provide the same education entitlement to children and young people who are require to study at home, as they would if they were attending classes in person. Teaching unions have reacted angrily to the move, saying that ‘…government action should be focused on support, not sanction’. More information on this can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-temporary-continuity-direction-explanatory-note
NEW APP THAT FORECASTS THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 IN COLLEGES IS LAUNCHED
A new free app has been developed by the Exeter University, working in collaboration with Petroc College, the Association of Colleges (AoC) and City and Guilds. The app is intended to help forecast the likely spread of Covid-19 in colleges by analysing the college’s own student data, including such things as class sizes, the organisation of class and group ‘bubbles’, social distancing measures in place, the patterns of timetabling and levels of attendance on different days, along with data on local community infection rates. The results the app provides will help colleges to plan for how many students and staff may need to self-isolate and other steps to help them pre-empt or reduce the spread of infection, and to minimise disruption. The app is still in its beta edition but has been used successfully trialled in several colleges and is now being made available to every college in the country. More information about the app and how to access it can be found on the AoC website at:
https://www.aoc.co.uk/news/new-app-could-help-schools-and-colleges-stay-open-amidst-covid-19-infections
COLLEGES THAT APPLY FOR EMERGENCY FUNDING WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY BE PLACED IN FORMAL INTERVENTION
Because of the difficult circumstances colleges have found themselves in as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the DfE has amended its ‘College Oversight: Support and Intervention’ policy document so that colleges applying for emergency funding will not automatically be placed into formal intervention and their application for emergency funding would not be published online, as was the case previously. A spokesperson said that the DfE would provide maximum support for colleges during pandemic, including the provision of emergency funding if necessary. However, the DfE reserves the right to intervene if colleges were deemed to be at financial risk for other reasons and to take action appropriate to individual college circumstances. A copy of the updated document published earlier this month can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/929201/College_Oversight_document_Oct_20_updates_FINAL.pdf
ESFA NOW SAYS IT WILL RECOVER FUNDS FROM PROVIDERS THAT UNDER-DELIVERED THEIR CONTRACTS IN 2019/20
Meanwhile, guidance published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) in March said that the agency would not claw back of funds from providers in respect of any under delivery against contract. But in July the ESFA qualified this by saying that providers would be allowed retain their full 2019/20 allocation only if they attempted to continue delivering during the lockdown and they delivered 80% of their contracted activity over the whole year. Then, after a furious backlash from the sector, the ESFA withdrew this stipulation. And in what seems to be a second attempt to recover funds, the ESFA now says that providers that have delivered less than 68% of their 2019/20 contracted funding allocation will be required to repay unused funds for up to 68% of their contract (e.g. if they have only delivered 50% of their contracted provision in 2019/20 they will be subject to a claw back of 18% of their 2019/20 funding). The ESFA says that this will only apply to grant-funded providers such as colleges and local authorities who are paid in advance of delivery and does not apply to independent training providers who have to tender for funds. Presumably in an attempt to soften the blow, the ESFA has also said that providers that are currently below the 68% threshold can submit a business case to ameliorate the amount of clawback, such as exceptional challenges the provider has had to face or any adverse impact the clawback would have on vulnerable groups the provider delivers provision for. A copy of the updated ESFA policy on clawback is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-30-september-2020/esfa-update-further-education-30-september-2020
SECOND STAGE CONSULTATION ON THE FUTURE OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS IS LAUNCHED
On 23 October, the DfE launched the second stage of its consultation on the ‘Future of vocational and technical qualifications at Level 3 and below’. The DfE says that currently ‘…there are more than 12,000 courses at Level 3 and below, offering multiple qualifications in the same subject areas’, many of which are ‘…poor quality and offer little value to students or employers’. The consultation documents sets out proposals to remedy this, which include:
- Putting employers at the heart of designing and developing all Level 3 technical qualifications.
- Ensuring only qualifications that meet a high-quality bar and help students progress into work or further study are approved for funding.
- Removing funding for qualifications that overlap with A-Levels and T-Levels by the autumn of 2023. (This is thought likely to impact on virtually applied general qualifications, including BTECs).
The document also consults on making the new T-Levels available to adults from 2023. (T-Levels were initially intended just for 16-19-year-olds). A copy of the consultation document is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-second-stage
CHAIR OF DFE NEW SKILLS AND PRODUCTIVITY BOARD APPOINTED
In October 2019, the Education Secretary for England, Gavin Williamson, announced that a new Skills and Productivity Board would be established to provide the government with expert advice on how to ensure that vocational and technical courses and qualifications are ‘…high-quality, aligned to the skills that employers need for the future and will help increase productivity’. Five ‘…leading skills and labour market economists’ have been appointed to the new board and supported by senior DfE advisors, will play a ‘…central role in driving forward the government’s ambitious FE reform programme’. Earlier this month, Mr Williamson announced that Stephen van Rooyan had been appointed as the board chair. Mr van Rooyan is vice president of Sky Broadcasting and the chief executive officer for Sky UK, Sky Italy, Sky Germany, Sky Austria and Sky Switzerland. This almost guarantees that he will have a deep and personal understanding of the FE colleges and wider skills sector England. More information can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-chair-of-the-skills-and-productivity-board-confirmed
DFE ANNOUNCES THAT FROM 2024 ALL PROVIDERS OFFERING 16-19 STUDY PROGRAMMES CAN OFFER T-LEVELS
In June, the DfE announced that it was no longer necessary for providers to be judged by Ofsted as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in order to be allowed deliver T-Levels (although those judged as ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ were only allowed to offer the T Level routes introduced in 2020 and 2021). The DfE’s updated ‘T-Levels: next step for providers’ document published on 23 October now says that from 2024, T Levels can be delivered by ‘…all providers delivering 16 to 19 study programmes’. A copy can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/t-levels-next-steps-for-providers?utm_source=1bf997ca-4a5b-4184-9d9d-d10bc7439368&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate#selecting-providers-to-deliver-t-levels-from-september-2023
Meanwhile, the reality is that in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, schools and colleges offering the first T-Levels this September have found it difficult to recruit anywhere near the target number of students.
CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF T-LEVELS
Contracts awarded to awarding organisations for the development of T-Level accreditation thus far are:
- NCFE and Pearson, for the development and accreditation of the first wave of T-Levels, which students began studying this September. The three T-Levels in question are Education and Childcare (Education and Childcare Route), Digital Production, Design and Development (Digital Route), and Design, Surveying and Planning (Construction Route).
- NCFE and City and Guilds, for the development and accreditation of the second wave of T- Levels to be offered in September 2021. The seven T-Levels in question are Digital Business Services (Digital Route), Digital Support Services (Digital Route), Health (Health and Science Route), Healthcare Science (Health and Science Route), Science (Health and Science Route) and Onsite Construction (Construction Route) and Building Services Engineering (Construction Route).
- City and Guilds, in cooperation with awarding body EAL, for the development and accreditation of T-Levels in Design, Development and Control (Engineering and Manufacturing route), Manufacturing and Process (Engineering and Manufacturing route), Maintenance, Installation and Repair (Engineering and Manufacturing route) and Management and Administration (Business and Administration route) to be offered in 2022.
- Pearson, for the development and accreditation of T-Levels in Legal (Legal, Finance and Accounting route) and Accountancy (Legal, Finance and Accounting route), also to be offered in 2022.
APPRENTICESHIP DATA FOR 2019/20 SUGGESTS THAT STARTS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DOWN COMPARED TO 2018/19
Provisional data on apprenticeship starts were published by the DfE on 8 October. Final data will not be available until later in the year, so it is uncertain what the exact number of starts over the period is, or the extent to which the level of reporting of starts has been affected by lockdown and other Coronavirus restrictions. However, the provisional data on starts in 2019/20 strongly suggests a substantial contraction in numbers compared with 2018/19, with total apprenticeship starts predicted to be 46% lower and starts for under 19s predicted to be 68% lower. The 2019/20 data also shows that:
- Total apprenticeship starts reported to date are 319,000
- 75% of starts were on the new standards
- 69% of starts were supported by levy funds
The proportion of starts by level are:
- 31% at intermediate level
- 44% at advanced level
- 25% were at higher level
The proportion of starts by age group is:
- 23% were aged 16-18
- 30% were aged19-24
- 47% were aged 25 and over
More information and a commentary on the apprenticeship data is available at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924957/october_2020_release_main_text.pdf
And the full DfE provisional data tables on apprenticeship starts in 2019/20 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-october-2020?utm_source=5678413d-2ac5-407b-b1cb-906a11711084&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
CBI CALLS FOR APPRENTICESHIP LEVY TO BE SCRAPPED
In a report published on 19 October entitled ‘Learning for life: Funding a world-class adult education system’, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says that the apprenticeship levy is a ‘…failed experiment’ and should be scrapped. The report claims that firms required to pay the levy (i.e. those with an annual payroll of more than £3 million) are often unable to use levy funding because the rules for its expenditure are too restrictive to be used to meet their specific training needs. This was particularly the case for employees only needing shorter ‘top-up’ training programmes. The report goes on to say that in some cases, having to pay the levy had actually prevented them from investing in the training they needed. The CBI recommends that the government turns the apprenticeship levy into a ‘flexible skills and training levy’, which could be used for ‘…short modular courses, higher level professional courses, and other training programmes’ which could, if required be, regulated by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). The report also recommends that skills tax credits should be made available for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to spend on training. A copy of the report can be found at:
https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/5723/learning-for-life-report.pdf
OFSTED TO INSPECT LEVEL 6 AND 7 APPRENTICESHIPS FROM 1 APRIL 2021
Currently, Ofsted’s remit is to inspect apprenticeships at Level 5 and below, while the Office for Students (OfS) has the remit for inspecting apprenticeships at Level 6 and above. Following concerns at the level of robustness of OfS inspections of higher level apprenticeships, on 24 September Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary for England, wrote to Amanda Spielman, the Ofsted Chief Inspector for England, confirming that with effect from 1 April next year Ofsted will take over the responsibility for inspecting all apprenticeships. In his letter, Mr Williamson said that the change will ensure consistency and parity in quality standards across apprenticeships and urged Ofsted to build its capacity by recruiting additional inspectors with knowledge and experience of the higher education sector. Mr Williamson’s letter goes on to say that the ESFA will continue to regulate all apprenticeship providers via the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). Meanwhile, the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) has expressed ‘serious concerns’ about the move, and the ‘MillionPlus Group’, representing 24 ‘modern’ universities, has said that the change is both ‘worrying and unnecessary’. A copy of Mr Williamson’s letter can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/922000/L6_and_L7_Apprenticeships_Ofsted_20200924.pdf
OUTSTANDING’ SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND ITPS WILL NO LONGER BE EXEMPTED FROM OFSTED INSPECTIONS
The exemption from inspection for schools, colleges, and independent training providers (ITPs) judged outstanding by Ofsted that was first introduced in 2011 is to be ended. Following concerns that some providers had not been inspected for more than 10 years, earlier this year the DfE conducted a consultation on the arrangement. More than 90% of respondents thought that the exemption should be ended and, as a result, parliamentary approval will now be sought to change the current legislation. Assuming that this approval is forthcoming, Ofsted will resume inspections of schools, colleges and ITPs judged as outstanding in their last inspection from next January as part of the regular schedule of inspections (subject to the current pandemic being sufficiently under control to allow inspections to recommence). FE colleges and other providers inspected and judged outstanding before September 2015 will be amongst the first to receive a full inspection, while those last inspected after this date will receive an initial short inspection. Where an initial short inspection of these colleges indicates that outstanding performance has not been maintained, Ofsted can extend the inspection to a full inspection. Further details can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924997/Government_Response_to_removal_of_the_outstanding_exemption_consulation_071020.pdf
BIDS INVITED FOR THE NEXT WAVE OF INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY (IOTS)
IoTs are intended to bring together colleges, universities, and businesses to offer Level 4 and 5 technical education and training in sectors key to the UK economy, such as digital, construction, advanced manufacturing, and engineering. The government plans to invest a total of £290 million in a network of 20 employer-led IoTs, with at least one based in every area of England. The DfE has already committed £170 million for the first twelve IoTs and on 8 October issued an invitation to providers in all regions of England currently without an IoT (including the North West, Midlands, East of England and parts of the South East) to bid for a share of £120 million to open a further eight IoTs. Colleges involved in the first IoTs were required to be judged at least ‘good’ by Ofsted and have ‘good’ financial health, however additional and more demanding criteria has been set for the second round of IoT bids. These include evidence of effective prior collaboration between the organisations involved in the bid, more ambitious student recruitment targets (up from achieving 1,000 learners by the end of year 5 for Wave 1 IoTs, to 1,500 learners for Wave 2 IoTs), and for 85% of provision offered by each IoT to be at Level 4 and above (up from 80%). This is despite at least five of the existing IoTs said to be currently experiencing difficulties with meeting their student recruitment targets (which has been blamed on the pandemic) and negotiating an extension to the 31 March 2021 deadline for capital spending. Details of the bidding process for Wave 2 IoTs can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/institutes-of-technology-wave-2-competition-prospectus?utm_source=8d901c29-c8bc-472d-901f-258b7c6e4e15&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
ETF TO UNDERTAKE ‘CAPABILITY REVIEWS’ OF COLLEGE BOARDS IDENTIFIED AS ‘MOST IN NEED’ OF SUPPORT
On 1 October, the DfE announced that the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) had been funded to review the ‘capability’ of 30 college governing bodies identified by ESFA or the FE Commissioner as being most ‘in need of support’. More information on this can be found at:
https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/news/college-board-capability-review-service-now-available/
ETF LAUNCHES ‘NEW TO SENIOR LEADERSHIP’ PROGRAMME
The ETF has launched a new programme called ‘New to Senior Leadership’ intended for individuals who have become senior managers in the FE sector in the last 18 months. The ETF says that the programme will ‘…emphasise practical application to the real challenges faced by new senior leaders’, and will:
- Build self-awareness
- Develop reflective practice
- Nurture understanding of leadership
- Encourage the design of creative solutions to current problems
- Build leadership capability and confidence.
All applicants must obtain support from an organisational sponsor and have already identified a suitable work-based project. The programme is being delivered on behalf of the ETF by Birmingham University Institute for Leadership. More information about the programme, including how to apply can be found at:
https://leadershiphub.etfoundation.co.uk/new-senior-leadership-programme
ETF PUBLISHES GUIDE TO ‘PROMOTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR’
The ETF has published a new guide for FE professionals on how to ‘…promote a positive environment for staff and learners’ and lists the ‘…ten best behaviour intervention and de-escalation strategies’. The guide was produced by the ETF in partnership with the DFE, the Crisis Prevention Institute, Works 4U College and Pivotal education. A copy can be downloaded from the link below:
https://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/content/etf3271
TRADE UNIONS CLAIM SUBSTANTIAL PAY RISE AND BETTER CONDITIONS FOR FE STAFF
Pay in FE colleges has fallen considerably behind that of schools over the last 10 years and the average annual salary for a main grade lecturer in an FE college is now around £9,000 a year less than that of an equivalent teacher in a school. On 12 October, the University and College Union (UCU), the National Education Union (NEU), the GMB, UNISON, and Unite launched a joint claim for a substantial pay rise for college staff in 2020/21. The unions also want all FE colleges in England to become accredited living wage employers and for all contracted-out services to be brought back in-house, with terms and conditions for staff being equal to those of staff already directly employed by the college. A copy of the joint union pay claim can be found at:
https://www.ucu.org.uk/fepayengland
INQUIRY INTO THE EDUCATIONAL UNDERACHIEVEMENT OF WHITE PUPILS FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS
On 13 October, the House of Commons Education Select Committee held its first oral evidence session for its inquiry into the educational underachievement of white working-class pupils. The aim of the inquiry is to gain more information about the reasons for this and what can be done about it. As an example of the problem, the DfE’s 2018 GCSE performance statistics published on 22 August 2019 show that while the national average Attainment 8 score is 46.5, white boys who are eligible for free school meals score an average of just 28.5. Witnesses were asked for their views on the challenges faced by white working-class pupils and what the government should be doing to tackle the issue. Transcripts of the statements given by the witnesses can be found at:
https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1018/pdf/
A copy of the 2018 DfE Attainment 8 GCSE data by ethnicity and eligible for free school meals is at:
https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/11-to-16-years-old/gcse-results-attainment-8-for-children-aged-14-to-16-key-stage-4/latest#by-ethnicity-and-eligibility-for-free-school-meals
And an interesting article on the underachievement of white working-class children can be found on the BBC news website at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54278727
16-25-YEAR-OLDS ARE THE WORST AFFECTED BY COVID-19
Research carried out by the London School of Economics (LSE) says that young people, particularly those from deprived backgrounds, have had their earnings and job prospects hit hardest by the Coronavirus pandemic. Young people aged 16-25 are more than twice as likely as older workers to have lost their job, while six in ten have seen their earnings fall and unemployment amongst those under the age of 25 is expected to rise to above two million. Young people were also more likely to have suffered physical and mental health issues as a result of the pandemic. In addition, there is evidence that school closures have resulted in students from poorer backgrounds falling further behind their more privileged peers. The research found that around quarter of all pupils in England (around 2.5 million children) had no schooling or tutoring at all during the lockdown. Against this, nearly three quarters (74%) of private school pupils had full days of teaching, which in turn was almost twice that of state school pupils (38%). This has led to warnings that pupils and students from poorer backgrounds could suffer ‘permanent educational scarring’ in areas such as exam performance and securing a university place. The research findings were covered in a BBC Panorama programme called ‘Has Covid Stolen My Future?’ first televised on 26 October, but now available on BBC iPlayer at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000nx44/panorama-has-covid-stolen-my-future
NO AUTOMATIC FEE REDUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS WHOSE COURSES HAVE BEEN DISRUPTED BY COVID-19
At a meeting of the House of Commons Education Select Committee held on 6 October, Michelle Donelan, the universities minister for England, was asked about the impact of Covid-19 on university provision, and if the UK government intended to reduce or discount fees for those students whose courses have been disrupted. In reply to the latter question, she told committee members that although the government set a maximum annual tuition fee of £9,250 for universities in England, it was up to universities to decide the fees they charged up to that limit. She went on to say that it was also up to them to decide whether they should offer students a discount. However, she added that she expected the quality of courses offered by universities to stay high, even if they taught students online or through a mix of online and face-to-face tuition. She also said that since students were paying for their courses, they were consumers, and as such they had consumer rights. Ms Donelan said that if a student was dissatisfied with the quality of her/his course they should first of all complain to their university, and if they felt the university had not addressed the matter satisfactorily, to take their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. A transcript of the meeting can be found at the link below. Ms Donelan’s responses on the impact of Covid-19 on university provision in England can be found at Q1053 onwards. Her response to the question on a possible tuition fee reduction can be found at Q1064.
https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/993/pdf/
ANOTHER £1 MILLION FOR MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR HE STUDENTS
Following a pause to allow universities and colleges to organise their response to Covid-19, the OfS has relaunched its £1 million funding competition to ‘…explore innovative and intersectional approaches to mental health support for students’. The funding for the project has been provided by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Bids must show how support will be provided for students from the following groups:
- Students with characteristics identified as increasing the risk of poor mental health, such as ethnicity and socioeconomic background.
- Students who may experience barriers to accessing support due to their course, mode of study, or other characteristics, for example, commuter and mature students, part-time students, carers and care experienced students, postgraduates, international students and LGBTQ+ students.
The competition will prioritise projects that use technology to offer digital solutions that enable students to access mental health advice and care. More information, including how to bid for funds can be found at:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/funding-competition-to-target-mental-health-support-for-students/
The funding will complement the existing OfS £14.5 million Mental Health Challenge Competition, which has already funded 10 projects across the country. Details of these projects can be found at:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection/student-mental-health/what-we-re-doing/
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MAY BE WORKING IN AN ORGANISATION AFFECTED BY THIS, OR ARE JUST INTERESTED…
TIER SYSTEM OF COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS INTRODUCED IN ENGLAND
The UK government has established a system of local restrictions in regions of England based on three tiers linked to the level of Covid-19 risk. These are: Tier 1 ‘Medium’; Tier 2 ‘High’ and Tier 3 ‘Very high’. The tier determines the level of restrictions imposed on a region and the restrictions determine the level of support the government will provide to the region. The government says that normally, it will expect colleges and schools to remain open, no matter what tier region they are in. Details on the tier system and the restrictions imposed in each tier can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-covid-alert-levels-what-you-need-to-know
CHANCELLOR ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF JOB SUPPORT SCHEME
The current job support scheme comes to an end this month and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has announced that from 1 November, further funding support will be made available for businesses that are legally required to shut down to help stop the spread of the virus (Tier 3) and those that can stay open but cannot operate as normal and as a result are experiencing a considerable reduction in turnover (Tier 2). The new scheme will begin on 1 November and will run for six months, with a review point in January. As with current job support measures, the scheme is UK wide and the UK government will provide the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a proportionate increase in their 2020/21 devolved budget to enable them to implement equivalent job support measures. Details of the new scheme in England include the following:
Support for firms in Tier 3 regions required to close (announced on 9 October):
- If a firm is legally required to close for one week or more, the government will pay two thirds of their employees’ normal salary up to a maximum of £2,100 per month, although the employer is expected to pay their employees’ National Insurance and pension contributions.
- After a firm has been closed for two weeks, they will be entitled to cash grants, the level of which is determined by the rateable value of their premises. Firms operating from premises with a rateable value of up to £15,000 can claim £1,300 per month. Firms operating from premises with rateable values of between £15,000 and £51,000 can claim £2,000 per month. Firms operating from premises with a rateable value of over £51,000 can claim £3,000 a month. Grants will be payable every two weeks.
- Multi-million pound support packages will also be provided for local authorities, the amount of which is largely determined by the size of the population of the region and a proportion of which will be used to support businesses in the region.
More information on support for business in Tier 3 regions can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/job-support-scheme-expanded-to-firms-required-to-close-due-to-covid-restrictions
Support for firms in Tier 2 regions that can stay open but cannot operate as normal and as a result are experiencing a considerable reduction in turnover (announced on 22 October):
When it became apparent that firms in Tier 3 regions were actually financially better off than firms in Tier 2 regions, on 22 Oct the Chancellor announced further support for firms in Tier 2 regions. These include the following:
- Employers are required to pay their employees to work a minimum 20% of their normal hours per month.For every hour not worked, the employee will be paid up to two-thirds of their usual salary. The employer must pay 5% towards the cost of the hours not worked and the government will provide up to 62% of wages for the remaining hours not worked, up to £1541.75 per month. This means that, up to this limit, an employee would be paid 73% of their normal salary for one day’s work each week.
- Firms will be eligible for cash grants of up to £2,100 a month, a move which will particularly benefit the hospitality, accommodation, and leisure sectors. This is equivalent to 70% of the value of the grants being made available for closed businesses in Tier 3 areas. The grant funding will be given to local authorities to disburse.
Support for firms in all tiers:
- Firms in all tiers that can open but only have enough work for employees to return part-time, can get the same level of wage support as firms in Tier 2 (see above).
- Firms that retain staff returned from furlough and keep them on until February 2021 will be given a Job Retention Bonus of £1,000 for each employee retained.
- Firms will receive an additional £1,500 for every unemployed 16-18 year-old, £2,000 for every unemployed 19-25 year-old and £1,500 for each unemployed over-25 they take on as an apprentice.
- Firms with an annual turnover up to £45 million that have been adversely affected by coronavirus and which would continue to be viable if not for the pandemic can apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Support for the self-employed:
- Until the end of October self-employed people have been able to get grants from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Two grants were made available for the self-employed worth 80% of their monthly trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500.
- From 1 November, the government will provide two further SEISS grants for the self-employed who are continuing to trade but who are experiencing reduced demand, or temporarily cannot trade. Grants will be paid in two lump sum instalments each covering 3 months. The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November 2020 until the end of January 2021 and is based on 40% of three months’ average trading profits, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £3,750. The second grant will cover the three-month period from the start of February until the end of April 2021. The amount of the second grant will be reviewed and set by the government in in due course.
More information on the additional job support being provided from 1 November can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plan-for-jobs-chancellor-increases-financial-support-for-businesses-and-workers
AND FINALLY…
A man had been made redundant when his firm closed down as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Unable to find another job, he applied for a place on an adult apprenticeship at his local FE College. As part of his initial assessment, he was asked what type of job he was interested in. The man said that he was looking for a complete career change and, if possible, he would really like a job working with animals. So, he became an apprentice, and the college arranged a work placement for him at the local zoo. He was very excited at the prospect, but when he turned up for his first day’s work at the zoo, his supervisor said that the zoo’s gorilla had died the previous day. Because the gorilla was very popular with visitors, and it was important to the zoo’s finances that the fee paying socially distanced crowds be maintained, his first task as an apprentice would be to dress up in a gorilla outfit and pretend to be the deceased gorilla. He initially objected to this, but eventually, if only to show the zoo manager that he was a willing worker, he agreed to put on the outfit and went into the cage to pretend to be the gorilla. At first, he didn’t know what to do, but when the visitors saw him, they started to clap and cheer. He decided that he actually liked the attention, so he really started to put on a show, jumping around, grunting, and beating his chest. He also ate bananas and threw the skins at the visitors, whilst swinging on an old tyre attached to the ceiling of the cage by a rope. The visitors seemed to love this, but then he overdid his swing, lost his grip of the rope, crashed through the safety netting, and landed right in the middle of the adjacent lion pit! At first, he just lay there, half stunned and terrified. Then he saw the lion coming towards him and he began to scream at the top of his voice ‘Help, help me someone!’ On hearing the noise, the lion roared, bounded up to him, placed his huge paws on his chest and hissed in his ear, ‘Shut up you fool, or we’ll both lose our placements!’
Alan Birks – October 2020
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