Issue 91 | January 2019

A belated happy and prosperous new year to you and yours from all at Click

ESFA CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S 2018 CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE TO THE FE SECTOR

In her Christmas and New Year message to the FE sector, Eileen Miller, the Chief Executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) said she ‘continued to be amazed by the dedication of our staff and our service providers to help improve the life chances of young people and adult learners’. She then went on to say that over the coming year the ESFA would:

• Allocate contract managers to the largest providers to ensure better oversight of their compliance with funding rules and data reporting requirements.
• Re-open the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP), but with a more demanding application process and with more rigorous monitoring for those providers accepted onto the register.
• Introduce a ‘earnings cap’ to prevent a provider’s overly rapid expansion.
• Continue with preparations for the introduction of the new college insolvency regime.
• Work with the sector to help identify where further efficiencies can be made.

It would perhaps be interesting to speculate on what the FE sector’s Christmas and New Year’s message to the ESFA might be. Ms Milner’s Christmas and New Year’s message can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eileen-milner-christmas-and-new-year-message

THE NEW COLLEGE INSOLVENCY REGIME

The recent area review process in England resulted in the government committing around £300 million in financial support for college mergers via restructuring funds (ironically enough to give every college more than £1 million each). The ESFA has now announced that from April this year, restructuring funds and other forms of exceptional financial support will be withdrawn and replaced with a new insolvency regime that will come into force on 31 January. The establishment of the insolvency regime was included in the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 to provide for an ‘orderly winding-up’ of a college that has been declared insolvent. Colleges thought to be most at risk of this are the 37 that are already subject to an ESFA notice to improve their financial health, although based on the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) own estimates, a further 63 colleges could also eventually find themselves facing insolvency. There are several forms of college financial control in already in place and insolvency is intended to be a last resort when other attempts at bringing a college’s finances under control have failed. These controls include:

• Governing body oversight. (Governing bodies/Corporations have a statutory duty to ensure the solvency and financial viability of their college).
• The issue of a notice to improve by the ESFA, which also has control of college funding allocations.
• Intervention by the FE Commissioner once an ESFA notice to improve has been issued, or if the Commissioner’s own diagnostics suggest that early intervention may be necessary.
• Conducting an ‘Independent Business Review’. This is a new pre-statutory process for colleges deemed to be in ‘severe financial distress’ to help establish if they in fact are insolvent. The review will usually be initiated by the FE Commissioner, but could be initiated by the ESFA or the governing body.

If, after these controls have been applied, a college is deemed to be insolvent, a formal legal insolvency process is triggered. However, before the insolvency procedure can begin, the Secretary of State for Education in England must be given 14 days’ notice. During this notice period, the Secretary of State will deliberate on whether ‘education administration’ should be initiated as an alternative to the insolvency. Only the Secretary of State can apply to the High Court for an education administration order. If an order is made, an education administrator will be appointed by the court from a group of approved licensed insolvency practitioners. A moratorium will follow, which will prevent creditors from seeking to enforce a liquidation of college assets to recover all or part of the debts owed by the college. Education administration has at its core the protection of college students. This is known as the ‘special objective’, the purpose of which is to ensure that students continue have access to education, regardless of the college’s financial position. This could be achieved in a number of ways, including:

• Allowing the college to be rescued as a going concern
• Transferring some or all of the college’s undertaking to another college
• Continuing to fund the college until current students have finished their studies, or arranging for students to finish their studies at another college.

Education administration, unlike regular administration, will end when the special objective has been achieved. One of the consequences of the introduction of the new insolvency arrangements has been a reduction in bank lending to colleges. Banks are also insisting on more security and charging higher interest rates for the loans that they do agree to. Further information can be found in the 2017 Technical and Further Education Act, a copy of which can be accessed at:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/19/contents

The ESFA has also issued guidance on the insolvency regime for governors. This can be accessed at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774096/FE_Insolvency_Governor_Guidance.pdf

ESFA PUBLISHES DETAILS ON HOW TO HANDLE OF ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD OR FINANCIAL IRREGULARITY

The ESFA has published a guide explaining how allegations of fraud or financial irregularity within an ESFA-funded organisation should be made. In addition to General Further Education Colleges (GFEs), Sixth Form Colleges (SFCs) and independent training providers (ITPs), the guide also applies to other organisations funded by the ESFA including academy trusts and the schools controlled by them, free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges (UTCs). The guide sets out how to report an allegation about suspected fraud or financial irregularity to ESFA, how the ESFA handles confidential and anonymous allegations and how whistle blowers are protected. The guide also lists the type of allegations and concerns the ESFA will not usually consider, which include:

• The quality of education or leadership (unless these concerns link to a suspected fraud or financial irregularity) which will normally be addressed through OFSTED inspections.
• Concerns relating to employment and/or contracts of employment which, should be directed to the individual’s employer. (In the case of a college this will be the Corporation/Governing Body).
• Contractual disputes between employees and employers, and complaints about managers, including bullying and harassment, which should also be directed to the employer.
• Discrimination, which should be raised with the Equality Advisory Support Service.
• Examination malpractice or maladministration, which should be raised with Ofqual.
• Safeguarding, which should be raised with the Local Authority Designated Officer and/or the Director of Children’s Services.

Further details and a copy of the ESFA guide can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-esfa-handles-allegations-of-suspected-fraud-or-financial-irregularity/how-esfa-handles-allegations-of-suspected-fraud-or-financial-irregularity

ESFA APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR OF FUNDING

Kate Josephs has been appointed as the new ESFA Director of Funding. She is currently Director of National Operations for Academies and Regional Delivery at the DfE and will take up her new post at the ESFA in April. In her new role Ms Joseph will control around £60 billion of government funding, covering academies, UTCs, studio schools, all post-16 funding (including apprenticeships and the roll-out of T-Levels), and the devolution of the Adult Education Budget (AEB). She will also oversee the creation of a new ESFA ‘single funding operations centre of excellence’. Apparently, this is being developed to ‘bring together existing functions to deliver an excellent and expert funding service’, although no one at either the ESFA or DfE seems to be able to explain exactly what this is or what it will involve. More information on Ms Joseph’s appointment can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/director-of-funding-appointment-and-new-single-funding-operations-centre-of-excellence

ESFA INTRODUCES NEW ‘TOUGHER’ APPLICATION PROCESS FOR ENTRY TO ROATP

There are currently 2,571 organisations listed on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). The ESFA has now introduced a new and more demanding application process for all providers wanting to be listed on the register (including those already listed). The main aspects of this are as follows:

• All institutions currently listed on the RoATP (including colleges and universities delivering apprenticeships) are required to re-apply to be listed. Those that do wish to re-apply are required to do so between 1 February and 28 February 2019.
• Providers that do not wish to apply for relisting on the RoATP will be removed from the register by 31 March 2019.
• Providersthat do re-apply will be divided into groups according to perceptions of level of risk and will be told by the ESFA when they will be required undergo assessment. Those that are not delivering any apprenticeship training (around 500) and other ‘at risk’ providers will amongst the first wave to be assessed. It is expected that around a third of these providers will not make it through the new process.
• If a provider’s application is unsuccessful, the ESFA will immediately remove them from the RoATP and they will be unable to take on any new apprentices. Applicants can appeal against their de-listing.
• Providers that are accepted on the RoATP, but do not deliver any apprenticeship training within a 12-month period of being listed will also be removed from the register. (Almost a third of providers on the current register did not deliver any apprenticeships in 2017/18).
• To be listed on the RoATP a provider will have to have traded for at least 12 months, provide a full set of accounts and judged to be ‘financially stable’.
• All subcontractors will now need to be listed on the register.This includes subcontractors delivering less than £100,000 of provision a year, which previously did not need to be listed. These will be limited to £100,000 of trade in the first year of listing, but his will rise to a limit £500,000 per year thereafter.

More information for on the new RoATP application process can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-of-apprenticeship-training-providers

ESFA INVITES EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST IN DELIVERING THE SECOND WAVE OF T-LEVELS

The ESFA has invited expressions of interest from providers that want to deliver the next wave of T-Levels in 2020/21. These are in the following subject areas: Health, Healthcare Science, Science, Onsite Construction, Building Services Engineering, Digital Support and Services, and Digital Business Services. At present it is unclear how many providers will be selected, but the ESFA says that it is looking for a ‘relatively small number of providers’ in order to ‘provide the right level of support in the early stages of roll-out’. The ESFA has also published the criteria for providers to be eligible to express an interest. This includes the following:

• Being judged by Ofsted as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.
• Having at least satisfactory financial health.
• Being willing to work with employers to offer a substantial industrial placement.
• Being willing to act as ‘champions of T-levels and to positively promote them’.
• Currently be delivering ESFA funded provision to a minimum of 10 qualifying students in each of the T-Level subject areas they are applying to deliver and to a minimum of 100 qualifying students across all pathways. (This is reduced to 50 for applicants that are National Colleges, UTCs, Studio and other schools).

A copy of the ESFA guidance for providers on how to submit an expression of interest can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/t-levels-how-to-express-an-interest-to-deliver-in-2021-to-2022-academic-year-including-the-transition-offer?utm_source=8ebd6c44-b50c-4541-a9d4-e45c6bb88bed&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

INSTITUTE FOR APPRENTICESHIPS (IFA) ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY FOR T-LEVELS

On 1 February the IfA assumes operational responsibility for T-Levels, including the content of T-Levels up to Level 5 (after which it becomes the responsibility of universities) and procurement for T-Level awarding organisations. However, the DfE will still retain ultimate authority for T-Levels. The IfA will also be re-named the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. To cater for the new staff required, the IfA’s budget has been increased from £8.6 million in 2017/18 to £15 million in 2018/19, and is expected to rise to around £20 million in 2019/20.

OFSTED LAUNCHES CONSULTATION ON PROPOSALS FOR NEW INSPECTION FRAMEWORK

Ofsted has launched a consultation on proposals for a new inspection framework along with a new FE and Skills inspection handbook. The new framework reduces the number of inspection categories from 6 to 3. The existing 6 categories are:

• 16-19 study programmes
• Adult learning programmes
• Apprenticeships
• Traineeships
• Provision for learners with high needs
• Full-time provision for14-16-year-olds.

The 3 proposed new categories are:

• Education programmes for young people
• Apprenticeships
• Adult learning programmes

There are also proposals for new inspection judgement categories. These include the following:

• The current ‘outcomes judgement’ will be replaced by a new ‘quality of education judgement’. Ofsted says that instead of ‘over reliance’ on performance data, the ‘quality of education judgement’ will assess how providers decide what to teach and why, and whether it is leading to strong outcomes for young people’. (Ofsted has recently criticised the FE sector for offering ‘popular’ courses in order to attract maximum student numbers and funding, rather than those that will lead to a job). It is, however, very unlikely that Ofsted will completely ignore success rate data in arriving at this judgement.
• The current ‘personal development, behaviour and welfare’ judgement will be split into two separate judgements, one for ‘behaviour and attitudes’, and the other for ‘personal development’.
• The ‘leadership and management’ judgement will remain, but will include an assessment of how well leaders develop their staff and pay due regard to their workload and wellbeing.
• High needs provision will be inspected within inspection categories, rather than separately as at present

In addition:

• Colleges awarded a grade 3 in their Ofsted report (‘requires improvement’) will be given longer to improve after the last inspection before their next one, from 12-24 months to 12-30 months.
• There will be no campus-level inspections in the new framework. This is blamed on a lack of DfE performance data for individual campuses.
• The Common Inspection Framework (CIF) will be renamed the Education Inspection Framework (EIF)

Points that are likely to need further clarification in Ofsted’s proposals include the following:

• Will colleges judged ‘outstanding’ continue to be exempted from inspection?
• How will the role of Ofsted be reconciled with the growing influence of the FE Commissioner, and the introduction of the college new insolvency regime?

The proposed new EIF and consultation document and the new draft FE and skills inspection handbook can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/education-inspection-framework-2019-inspecting-the-substance-of-education

Amanda Spielman’s speech outlining the reasons why Ofsted is introducing the new EIF can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/amanda-spielman-launches-eif-consultation-proposals

REVIEW OF PREVENT STRATEGY ANNOUNCED

The Home Office is to launch an independent review of its controversial anti-terrorism strategy ‘Prevent’, which aims to stop individuals from getting involved in or supporting terrorism or extremist activity. Security Minister, Ben Wallace, said the strategy had ‘diverted hundreds of people away from extremism’ but admitted that the programme ‘is not perfect and not everyone responds to it’. Figures released by the Home Office last December show that of the 7,318 people referred to the Prevent programme in 2017/18, a third were through education providers including colleges. 4,144 of those referred to the programme were aged 20 or younger. The review is of significance, because if a college is deemed by Ofsted to be taking an insufficiently robust approach to implementing the Prevent strategy (along with safeguarding, care for student physical and mental health and welfare), it can impact negatively on the college’s inspection result.

DFE PUBLISHES 2018 PERFORMANCE TABLES

The DfE has published 2018 secondary school performance data, which includes that for colleges in England offering provision for 16-18-year-olds. Performance data for individual institutions can be found at:
https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&geographic=all&region=0&phase=secondary

FALL IN PASS RATE FOR STUDENTS RESITTING GCSE ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS EXAMINATIONS IN NOVEMBER

Students under the age of 19 who are taking courses at GFEs and SFCs, and who did not manage to achieve a grade 4 or higher in GCSE English and/or mathematics on leaving school are required to re-sit the qualifications again until they achieve that grade, or reach the age of 19. This is a compulsory requirement under ESFA condition of funding rules Those with a grade 3 must re-sit their GCSEs. Those with a grade 2 or below can take an approved ‘stepping-stone’ qualification. For students affected by this, their first chance to re-sit the examinations occurs in November. Unlike the results of the summer series of GCSEs, no national figures are published for the November series examinations. However, the examination boards (AQA, Edexcel and OCR) publish their own November results the following January. An analysis of these shows that the pass rates for students aged 17+ re-sitting GCSE English and mathematics exams in November 2018 has fallen compared November 2017. Furthermore, for many of the candidates, their re-sit results were worse than their results on leaving school. This has led critics to argue that condition of funding rule is demoralising for students and their teachers and can unfairly penalise a college during Ofsted inspections. Further information on the condition of funding rule is at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-of-funding

NUMBERS TAKING OUT ADVANCED LEARNER LOANS CONTINUE TO CONTRACT

A recent report from the Student Loans Company (SLC) has revealed that the number of people taking out Advanced Learner Loans in the first quarter of the 2018/19 academic year has fallen for the third year running, with around 20% fewer loans being taken out compared with the same period in 2015/16. The contraction comes in spite of the SLC decision to lower the eligibility age for a loan from 24 to 19 and to include courses at Levels 5 and 6. Around 60% of Advanced Learner Loans funding (almost £1 billion) had not been spent since the loans were introduced in 2013/14.  A copy of the SLC report is available at:
https://www.slc.co.uk/media/10197/slcosp012019.pdf

APPRENTICESHIP STARTS INCREASE IN QUARTER 1 OF 2018/19 COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 2017/18

Recently released government data shows that:

• There were 132,000 apprenticeship starts in the period from August to October 2018 (quarter 1). This is an increase of 17,700 (15.4%) on the 2017/18 figure of 114,300 in the first quarter of 2017/18. But numbers are still down by 15.2% from the 155,700 starts in the first quarter of 2016/17, before the levy was introduced.
• Of the 132,000 starts in the first quarter of 2017/18, 23,100 were at higher level (Level 4 and above), an increase of almost 100% compared with 2017/18. 57,800 were at advanced level (Level 3) and 51,100 were at intermediate level (Level 2).
• Management standards continue to be the most popular apprenticeships, with the Level 4 ‘team leader/supervisor’ standard having the most starts (5,450), A further 2,670 apprentices started on the Level 5 ‘operations/ departmental manager’ standard, 1,300 began the Level 6 ‘chartered manager degree’ standard and 1,220 started the Level 7 ‘senior leader master’s degree’ standard. One critic made the point that having more skilled managers was pointless without having more skilled workers for them to manage.
• The number of Level 3 starts also increased, but there has been a decrease in starts at both Level 2 and for those aged 16-18, which both fell year-on-year by 2%. This is part of an ongoing trend which has seen starts among the youngest apprentices fall by 23% over the last four years.

A copy of the data can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-january-2019

Meanwhile, the government has launched a new campaign called ‘Fire it up’, along with a new website. The aim of the campaign is to increase recruitment to apprenticeship programmes and to raise awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships for individuals and employers. More information on the campaign can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-apprenticeship-campaign-fire-it-up-launches

GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES RESPONSE TO EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE’S LATEST REPORT ON APPRENTICESHIPS

In October last year, the House of Commons Education Select Committee published a report entitled ‘The Apprenticeships Ladder of Opportunity: Quality not Quantity’, which recommended that:

• Providers judged by Ofsted to be making ‘insufficient progress’ should be removed from the RoATP.
• The government should place a cap on the amount of training new providers can offer until they have been found to be making sufficient progress by Ofsted.
• All new apprenticeship training providers should receive at least one monitoring visit from Ofsted within a year of being listed on the RoATP.
• Ofqual should be given responsibility for the external quality assurance of all end-point assessments.
• The role of the IfA’s Apprentice Panel should be formalised and its recommendations to the IfA board and the board’s responses should be published.
• The government should conduct pilots with apprentices and businesses to explore the effect of introducing greater flexibility in the amount of apprentice off the job training required by each standard.
• Ofsted should conduct a review of subcontracted provision and produce a report of its findings.
• Ofsted should substantially increase the number of monitoring visits of subcontracted provision it undertakes. The largest subcontractors should be inspected separately so that they receive a rating based on all the training they offer, regardless of the performance of the lead provider.
• The government should cap the management fee a lead provider can charge a subcontractor and should consult on the level at which the cap should be set.
• Lead providers who subcontract provision should also deliver a significant amount training themselves.
• The government should introduce bursaries for disadvantaged groups modelled on the care leavers’ bursary and use money from the apprentice levy to create a ‘social justice fund’, to support organisations that help disadvantaged people become apprentices.
• The Social Mobility Commission should conduct an immediate study into how the benefits system helps or hinders apprentices and the government should act on its findings.
• The government should set out plans to reduce apprentice travel costs.
• The government should introduce a ‘UCAS-style’ portal for technical education to simplify the application process for apprenticeships and other vocational courses.
• The government should properly enforce the Baker clause (which gives apprenticeship and other post-16 providers access to schools) and impose penalties on schools that flout their legal obligations.
• The government should encourage the establishment of a kitemark for good apprentice employers.

Earlier this month (January) the government published its response to the report. The response says that:

• Proposals for discounted travel for apprentices will be considered at the forthcoming spending review. This means that it is likely to be 2020 at the earliest before apprentices will be eligible to receive discounted travel. Meanwhile, he Greater Manchester Combined Authority has unilaterally declared its intent to use its devolved funding to introduce a free travel pass, called the ‘Opportunity Pass’, for all 16-18 apprentices and full-time students, plus discounted travel passes for those aged 19+ who are apprentices or on full-time vocational courses.
• Despite the creation of a ‘UCAS-style’ portal being in the 2017 Conservative manifesto, the government claims that research ‘does not show that young people found the current application process challenging’. UCAS (the University and Colleges Admissions Service) said that it would like to help deliver a portal for apprenticeship and other technical and vocational course applications but, given its ‘limited budget’ (currently only £49 million) it says that it needs much more funding from the government to be able to do so. Again, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has unilaterally declared its intent to use its devolved funding to develop a ‘UCAS-style’ applications portal called the ‘Greater Manchester Careers Application Platform’ initially for applications from young people aged 16-18 for apprenticeships and places on full-time post-16 courses.
• With reference to subcontracting, the government has not announced a cap on management fees. Instead it says that its key priority is to ‘develop an approach which will increase the amount of funding that reaches front line delivery and increase transparency by ensuring that providers explain in detail the make-up of any fees or charges’. Meanwhile, the Greater London Authority has confirmed that when it takes over responsibility for its share of the devolved AEB, it intends to introduce a 20% cap on top-slices charged by prime providers to manage subcontractors.
• The government agreed that six-monthly updates from the IfA’s Apprentice Panel will be published on the IfA website, along with minutes from the IfA board meetings which panel members attend.
• Criteria is being developed for the award of a ‘good practice kitemark’ for employers of apprentices.
• The government says that it is exploring ways to ensure schools’ compliance with the Baker clause and have agreed to ‘test new ways of applying the legislation, including writing directly to parents and holding careers fairs’. In cases of serious non-compliance the DfE will use its legal powers to intervene.
• Contrary to the call for increased flexibility in respect of apprentice off-the-job training, the ESFA has recently warned employers that apprenticeships found to have less than the minimum 20% off-the-job training will be declared ‘ineligible’, in which case, says the ESFA, ‘all funding would be recovered’.

A copy of the Education Select Committee’s report can be found at:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmeduc/344/344.pdf

A copy of the government’s response can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/response-to-select-committee-report-on-apprenticeships

NEW FE TEACHING APPRENTICESHIPS SET TO GO AHEAD

The number of new apprenticeship standards approved for delivery has now risen to 400. Amongst these are three new FE teaching apprenticeship standards which have been agreed after four years development and a battle with the IfA over funding rates which sees the funding band for the Level 5 ‘learning and skills’ standard increase to £10,000, the Level 4 ‘assessor/coach standard’ increase to £7,000 and the funding band for the Level 3 learning mentor standard set at £5,000.

THE IFA TO RE-ADVERTISE CHIEF EXECUTIVE POST IN THE COMING MONTHS

The current chief executive of the IfA, Sir Gerry Berrigan, was appointed to his post in November 2017 on a two-year fixed term contract. Because he did not go through a formal recruitment process, under Cabinet rules, the post is required to be re-advertised later this year. Sir Gerry has refused to comment on whether he will be reapplying for the job.

THE CAREERS AND ENTERPRISE COMPANY (CEC) IS ‘UNABLE TO PROVIDE ADVICE ON APPRENTICESHIPS’

The DfE has advertised a contract worth up to £78,000 for suppliers that can provide apprenticeship advisers to attend between 35 and 50 UCAS HE exhibitions to be held between February and September this year at various locations around the country. The successful contractor will need to be able supply advisers who can ‘provide expert apprenticeship advice and support to potential apprentices, parents and influencers of apprenticeships’. Robert Halfon, Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, has asked why the CEC is not using its existing staff to do this work, particularly since its primary aim is stated as being to ‘transform the provision and advice for young people about the opportunities offered by the world of work’. The response from the CEC (which is thought to have received more than £70 million of government funding since its inception in 2015), was that none of its 125 enterprise coordinators and 2,000 enterprise advisers were ‘experts on apprenticeships’ and that in any event, the CEC’s funding agreement with the DfE did ‘not specifically mention apprenticeships’.

Meanwhile, the CEC has announced that it intends to allocate £1.7 million to organisations that bid for projects aimed at supporting young people with special educational needs and disabilities, looked-after young people and care leavers, and young people from gypsy, Roma and traveller backgrounds into work. A further £2.5million will be allocated to schools and colleges in 35 disadvantaged areas across England.

THE DFE SAYS IT WILL NO LONGER FUND THE CHARTERED INSTITUTION FOR FE (CIFE)

The CIFE has so far received £1.5 million in government funding since its inception in 2012, but after one final payment at the end of January, no more public funding will be made available. The CIFE says that it is confident that the shortfall can be made up through ‘an increase in membership and a re-modelling of our infrastructure’. However, the CIFE currently has only 16 members, which is far fewer than the target of 80. Providers interested in applying for CIFE membership are required to pay a £3,000 non-refundable fee to have their application assessed and, for those accepted for membership, an annual subscription of £5,000.

PAC PUBLISHES HIGHLY CRITICAL REPORT ON ACADEMY TRUSTS

Academy trusts are now responsible for educating nearly half of all children in state-funded schools in England. However, there has been a succession of high-profile academy failures that critics say have been ‘costly to the taxpayer and damaging to children’s education’. As a result, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has conducted an inquiry, which found that:

• Some academy trusts have failed to explain decisions that affect the schools they are responsible for, including how they are spending public money.
• Some academy trusts have ‘misused public money through related-party transactions’ (RTPs).
• It is not clear to whom parents can turn when they have concerns about the running of an academy.
• The ESFA has not been sufficiently transparent about the results of enquiries into concerns about the financial management and governance of academy trusts.
• Where there have been serious failings at academy trusts, the DfE and ESFA have not been sufficiently robust in sanctioning the academy trustees and leaders who were responsible.
• Some academy trusts have paid excessive salaries to senior managers without ensuring that decisions are ‘proportionate, justifiable and clearly documented’.
• The accounts of academy trusts have not always been accessible to users.

A copy of the PAC report, along with recommendations for further action by the DfE, can be found at:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmpubacc/1597/1597.pdf

IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RECRUITMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT WHITE PAPER ON IMMIGRATION

The government’s delayed White Paper on Immigration has now been published. As well as setting out plans to scrap the cap on the number of skilled workers from the EU and elsewhere, and for introducing new short-term visas for low-skilled workers, it also contains details of the government’s policy plans for international students. These include the following:

• There will be no cap on the numbers of international students that can be recruited, providing they satisfy the criteria required by the college/university and by the government.
• Master’s degree students, and bachelor’s degree students attending an institution with degree-awarding powers, who wish to stay on in the UK after completing their course will be allowed six months’post-study leave to do so. This will apply to universities, but very few FE colleges.
• Students studying at bachelor’s degree level or above will be able to apply to switch from the student visa route to the ‘skilled-workers’ visa route up to three months before the end of their course while in the UK. They can also apply to do this from outside of the UK for up to two years after their graduation.
• There appears little prospect of any changes being applied to lower-level courses offered by most FE colleges because of previous ‘unacceptably high levels of immigration abuse by non-genuine students’.

A copy of the Immigration White Paper can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uks-future-skills-based-immigration-system

Meanwhile, government data released this month shows that in 2016/17, Britain’s education sector generated almost £20 billion in export earnings for the UK economy. This is made up as follows:

• HE Higher education – £13.4 billion
• Transnational education – £1.9 billion
• Education products and services – £1.9 billion
• English language training courses – £1.6 billion
• Independent schools – £0.9 billion

There is no breakdown of earnings specifically relating to FE. Further information can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-revenue-from-education-related-exports-and-tne-activity

 HIGHER EDUCATION STATISTICS AGENCY (HESA) PUBLISHES ITS 2018 REPORT

The HESA report published earlier this month reveals that in 2017/18:

• The total number of students of all ages on all HE programmes was at a record high of 2,343,095.
• The total number of students of all ages on first degree courses stood at a record high of 1,776,550.
• The proportion of all female students on all HE courses was at its highest level of 57%. This rises to 63% for students on undergraduate courses.
• The proportion of all black and other minority ethnic (BAME) students on all HE courses was 39%.
• The proportion of BAME UK domiciled students (where ‘UK domiciled’ is defined as meaning that the UK was a person’s normal place of residence before starting their course) increased to a high of 25%, (which is a considerably higher proportion than in the population as a whole). Numbers vary by UK country. For England, 28% of all UK domiciled HE students were BAME, whereas the figures for other UK countries are 11% in Scotland, 13% in Wales and only 4% in Northern Ireland.
• While the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds continues to increase, the number of students who were privately educated and are from middle-class socio-economic backgrounds remain disproportionately high. Students from white working-class backgrounds continue to be the most under-represented group.

More information and the relevant statistical data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/higher-education-student-statistics-uk-2017-to-2018

MANY GRADUATES WILL NOT EARN ENOUGH TO PAY OFF STUDENT LOANS

The centre-right ‘Onward’ think tank has produced a report on undergraduates which says that:

• 25% are studying for degrees that will not deliver sufficient lifetime-earnings to pay off their student debt.
• 40% are on courses that led to median earnings still below the student-loan repayment threshold of £25,000, 5 years after graduation.
• 10% are on courses leading to median earnings below £25,000, 10 years after graduation.
• 20% will be no better off five years after graduating than if they had chosen not to go to university.
• Graduates with earnings below the loan repayment threshold will continue to incur interest (currently 6.3% compound) on their outstanding debt.

The report concludes that ‘too many young people are being sold a false promise’ and recommends that ministers should ‘cut places on HE courses offering little financial return and increase places in post-18 technical education’. The report also recommends that tax relief of up to 50p in every pound owed should be offered to those graduates who are repaying loans. A copy of the report is available at:
https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/J6493-ONW-A-Question-Of-Degree-190104.pdf

OFS INVESTIGATES THE INCREASE IN NUMBERS OF FIRST AND UPPER SECOND-CLASS HONOURS DEGREES AWARDED

The Office for Students (OfS) has conducted an investigation into the increase in the numbers of first and upper second-class honours degrees being awarded by English universities. The investigation covers the period between 2010/11 (immediately before the tripling of tuition fees) and 2016/17. An analysis of the data that over this period shows (amongst other things) that:

• The proportion offirst-class degrees awarded increased from 16% to 27%.
• The number of first and upper-second class honours degrees awarded increased from 67% to 78%.
• In 2016/17 alone, a total of 77 universities in England had a ‘statistically significant’ unexplained increase in first-class degree awards, both in relation to other universities and to the level of firsts awarded they awarded in 2010/11.
• Thirteen of these universities showed an unexplained rise in the numbers first-class honours degrees awarded of over 20%.
• The increase in the number of first and upper-second class honours degrees awarded cannot be ‘fully explained by the factors linked with graduate attainment, such as background, prior attainment and improved teaching’.

The Secretary of State for Education in England, Damian Hinds said ‘I have asked the OfS to deal firmly with any institution found to be unreasonably inflating grades’. The OfS analysis can be accessed at:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/analysis-of-degree-classifications-over-time-changes-in-graduate-attainment/

OFS CLAMPS DOWN ON RISE IN UNCONDITIONAL OFFERS

The OfS says that it intends to continue to monitor and assess the use of unconditional offers and that universities found to be using unconditional offers to pressurise students into accepting places could be fined or even lose their university status. The warning comes after a new research paper published by the OfS confirmed the steep rise in unconditional offers made, including ‘conditional’ unconditional offers, whereby a student is made an unconditional offer by a university on condition that they make the university their first choice. The paper highlights that:

• The number of offers with an unconditional component has risen markedly from 3,000 in 2013 to 117,000 in 2018. Students were more than 30 times more likely to receive at least one such offer in 2018 compared to 2013.
• There were no ‘conditional’ unconditional offers made in 2013, while over 66,000 were made in 2018.
• Applicants who accept an unconditional offer are more likely to miss their predicted A-level grades by two or more grades.
• Applicants from the areas with the lowest higher education participation rates are more likely to receive an unconditional offer because they are more likely to apply to the types of university that are making unconditional offers in greater numbers

A copy of the OfS research paper can be found at:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/7aa7b69b-f340-4e72-ac0f-a3486d4dc09a/insight-1-unconditionaloffers.pdf

ENGLISH UNIVERSITY COSTS LOWER FOR WEALTHIER STUDENTS

The Intergenerational Foundation think tank has published a report entitled ‘Escape of the wealthy: The unfairness of the English student finance system’, which argues that the wealthiest students are going to university for the lowest cost. This, says the report, is because they (or their parents) can afford to pay their tuition fees up front. The report also says that a disproportionate number of university students have been educated at public schools, where parents are used to paying annual fees that can be much higher than the £9,250 charged by most universities. An analysis of data for 2016/17 shows that around 10% of all students at English universities did not to have to take out tuition fee or maintenance loans. This rate rises in the case of students attending Russell Group universities. These figures exclude fees paid by overseas students and students who have their fees paid for by their employer or through scholarships. The Foundation says that this ‘makes a mockery of claims that the fees system is fair for poorer students, since they are the ones who are most likely to leave university with the highest loan debts’. A DfE spokesperson insisted that the current student loan system ‘was progressive because it gave students from all socio-economic backgrounds access to loan funding. The report is available at:
http://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Escape-of-the-Wealthy_Jan_2019_final.pdf

OFS SCRAPS REQUIREMENT FOR UNIVERSITIES TO ALLOCATE SPECIFIC SUMS FOR WIDENING PARTICIPATION

Previously, those universities that charged annual tuition fees of more than £6,000 were required to reach an agreement with the former Office for Fair Access (OFFA) to put aside an amount (typically between 15% and 30% of tuition fee income above £6,000) to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. OFFA has now been replaced by the OfS, which has said that from 2019/20 universities will no longer be required to set aside a specific amount of money from their tuition fee income for widening participation. In a recent report, the OfS says that the new focus ‘will now be on the outcomes that providers achieve and the level of ambition they set, rather than inputs in the form of investment’. A copy of the report can be found at:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/546d1a52-5ba7-4d70-8ce7-c7a936aa3997/ofs2018_53.pdf

TWO-YEAR DEGREES TO BE AVAILABLE IN ENGLAND FROM SEPTEMBER 2019

Legislation giving approval for HE institutions in England to offer two-year degree programmes from September 2019 has been passed by the House of Commons. The legislation will now go to the House of Lords for approval, although this is expected to be a formality. The DfE says that the new degrees will:

• Be quality-assured in the same way as a standard three-year degree.
• Condense 3-year degrees with 30 weeks’ teaching into 2 years with 45 weeks’ teaching.
• Save students around £5,500 on tuition fees, plus savings in maintenance costs, compared with three-year degree programmes. (However, the proposals allow HE institutions to charge up to £11,200 (or 20%) more per year for two-year degrees, in recognition of the cost of increased teaching time required over the summer, plus additional administrative staff costs and capital overheads, but the overall tuition fee cost to the student is at least 20 per cent less than the same degree over three years).
• Result in a lower cost to the taxpayer, because the upfront tuition loan outlay will be lower, and the number of students who repay their loans in full is expected to be higher.
• Help remove barriers to HE for mature students.
• Provide a faster route for students into work.

However, the University and Colleges Union (UCU) says the new two-year degrees were ‘more about allowing for-profit companies access to public money, than increasing choice for students’.

AND FINALLY…

Three students from a local FE college were chatting in the college canteen about how they had spent the Christmas break and what they had done. The first student said that on Christmas Eve he had been pulled over by police when he was driving home from the pub, but because he hadn’t been drinking, the car wasn’t stolen, was taxed and insured, had a valid MOT, and there were no drugs in the car, he had been fined £100 for wasting police time. The second student said that on Boxing Day, his dad had asked him if he could borrow a newspaper. The student told his dad that this was the 21^st century and that these days most people used technology to read news rather than newspapers. He then handed his Dad his iPad. ‘What happened next?’, asked the other students. ‘Well,’ said the student, ‘that fly never knew what hit him’. The third student said ‘I was shopping in Lidl on New Year’s Eve and there was a frail old lady in front of me in the checkout queue. Her bill amounted to £9.63, but when she looked in her shopping bag, she was embarrassed to find that she had lost her purse. As I looked down at her I thought how much she reminded me of my own nan, and I hoped that if she had been in a similar situation some kind soul would have helped her out. So, without any hesitation, I asked the old lady if I could help. She said that although she was very grateful for my offer, she couldn’t possibly accept. But I was very insistent and in no time at all I had all of her shopping back on the supermarket shelves’.

Alan Birks – January 2019

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