New HE in FE checklist published
A new checklist has been published by the Mixed Economy Group (www.mixedeconomygroup.co.uk) of colleges which offer a significant amount of HE in FE, to help FE colleges developing new HE provision.
This checklist has been supported by LSIS and offers advice to support colleges’ strategic considerations as the implications of the government’s reform of higher education take effect over the next few years.
This is the first of a suite of resources that LSIS will be developing with partner organisations over the next few months to support providers in improving the quality and consistency of their HE offer and develop collaborative approaches to delivering HE.
Download the checklist from http://www.lsis.org.uk/Services/Publications/Documents/LSIS%20and%20MEG_FE%20HE%20Partnership%20Checklist_Feb_2012.pdf
New scheme to engage NEETs announced
£126million was made available yesterday for a new scheme aimed to get 16 and 17 year old NEETs back into learning or earning.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg unveiled the Youth Contract in December, and as part of that, the Coalition Government will now be targeting funding to this group of teenagers through tailored support on a payment-by-results system.
The press release tells us that help will focus on at least 55,000 young people with no GCSEs at A* – C at the highest risk of long term disengagement. Charities and businesses with expertise in supporting young people (but not colleges?) are being invited to bid for contracts worth up to £2,200 for every young person they help. Support will be tailored to suit individuals’ needs, and will include basic skills training and interview practice.
Payment will depend on results. Organisations will receive an initial payment for taking young people on, followed by subsequent payments when they show progress – including sticking with training programmes, undertaking apprenticeships, or holding down jobs. The scheme will give total freedom to those providing support – on the proviso that the end result is success for the young person.
More information is at http://www.dpm.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/radical-new-approach-defuse-ticking-time-bomb-neets, and read more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17104998 where you can also catch up with the latest on the “workfare” debate.
London regional meeting – data, digital, PR and TV stars
When I was told that there would be some filming taking place in the room next door during our meeting at City of Westminster College, I never imagined that meant the BBC and some well-known actors. But when we arrived for our first regional meeting of 2012, we were guided up through all the cameras, equipment and people involved in producing a major drama serial – and it was all we could do to stop ourselves being distracted by Maxine Peake, Phil Davies and others who were hard at work on the next series of Silk!
However, despite the temptations, we had an excellent meeting with delegates from as far afield as the Isle of Wight and Stockport as well as from closer to home across London.
Lee Parker from Bedford College opened the day with a discussion of the digital recruitment campaign developed to attract and engage young people last year – even involving the use of an online game that could be customised to Bedford College to keep people coming back to the website. Lee suggested lots of hints and ideas based on his wide-ranging expertise, and gave delegates lots of useful information including a comparison of the ROI value of all the media used in the campaign.
Greenwich Community College is involved in the high-profile PR campaign against cuts to ESOL funding which is affecting many of its students. Marketing Manager Alec Brand explained the background and reasons for the college’s stance, and talked through the ongoing PR campaign which the college is running. There was a lively discussion over the pros and cons of a college being part of a political campaign, which some delegates felt was a real risk, but Alec feels it has been a real boost for GCC’s profile.
Finally, Richard Boniface from the RCU introduced the new LSIS-commissioned research project on the use of data to support marketing. Again, there was lots of discussion about the kinds of data we use, the data we’d like to have and where to find it – as well as how we find out what data is available, and how to get it from those in our colleges who may have it but don’t make it readily available. The points raised by delegates were written up for the research and will contribute towards the final report and the good practice guide to be published at the end of the project.
Our thanks to City of Westminster College for hosting the meeting at what was clearly a very busy time for them, and for managing everything so efficiently.
FE Choices – what’s this new website saying about you?
Have you seen the recently-launched website from the Skills Funding Agency called FE Choices? – Find it at http://fechoices.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/Pages/home.aspx
The purpose of the website is to give learners (or consumers) the chance to rate and compare providers for education and training for 16-18 year-olds, adults and business. Published measures for each organisation (colleges, training providers, sixth form colleges) include success rates, learner destinations, learning and employment rates (progressions to F or HE or into employment), learner satisfaction and employer satisfaction rates. However, the comparisons are incomplete – for example, sixth form colleges are exempt from learner satisfaction surveys, and the search function is somewhat variable. A postcode search didn’t find the largest provider in that postcode and another search for a specific provider by name brought up 50+ possibles from across the country.
Have a look at your college and your competitors on the website to see what is being published: if people start using the site as part of their application process, you may need to develop a commentary on the figures they find there.
CMN/Guardian HE in FE seminar a success
The College Marketing Network joined forces with the Guardian last week to run a successful seminar on new challenges and opportunities in HE in FE.
An extension of the Guardian’s HE seminars, this was the first to look at the FE sector, and our speakers included colleagues from both areas. Donald McLeod, Head of Marketing Services at the University of Hertfordshire, started us off with an exploration of the current context, looking at key facts, the White Paper “Students at the Heart of the System” and the benefits of HE in FE. He then analysed some of the challenges and opportunities for FE providers, including fees, quality, the changing student experience, new entrants to the marketplace, validation, access and more.
Opportunities were identified as including degree and FD awarding powers, working with a private provider, advanced apprenticeships, the return of HNDs and HNCs, international and professional qualifications. Donald concluded by reminding us that HE in FE is big business – 171,000 students and £500million income per year. The challenges are many but there are opportunities to be exploited.
These themes were taken up by our other speakers: Emma Leech, Director of Marketing atNottinghamUniversity, gave a lively and informative overview of the important role marketing plays in HE and the opportunities for marketers to add value to their institutions by providing research, data and strategic support.
Kati Vardon of Colchester Institute and Jane Smith shared their experiences of marketing HE in FE in two very different colleges. Colchester is a mixed economy college with a predominance of FE, and as Kati showed in discussing the benefits and downsides of studying HE in FE, marketers will always have to balance promoting localism, small classes, good working relationships and strong support with a lack of social opportunities and an overall “FE atmosphere”. The question is, what are the priorities for your HE in FE students, and how far does this affect their choices?
Jane shared the experiences at University College Birmingham, an HE institution with 30% FE, where there’s a strong focus on promoting internal progression and schools liaison, as well as international recruitment.
Finally, John Dishman gave a round-up of many o the issues raised, and reiterated the morning’s overall view that there are definitely opportunities to be grasped by focussing on the strengths of FE colleges – their flexibility and responsiveness, their ability to move quickly in and out of new provision, and their links with local employers and communities. John represented one of the “new entrants” to the sector – he is Principal and CEO of the new Coventry University College, which will sit alongside Coventry University but as a separate provider, offering HE qualifications on a flexible, modular basis designed to fit closely with the demands of life and work.
Informal feedback showed that the seminar was very well received, and CMN would like to thank the Guardian for their support and for the venue – as a lifelong Guardian reader (starting at the age of 5 when I was taught how to make it into firelighters!), it was great to see their new building!
Back to work – AoC report released
Following the publication of the Building Engagement, Building Futures strategy published by the government in December, the AoC has released a report showing how colleges are working alongside Jobcentre Plus to develop some innovative programmes to help jobseekers into training and employment.
‘Back to Work: Colleges Supporting Sustainable Jobs’ was launched at the House of Commons on 24 January at an event hosted by Stephen Lloyd MP, who co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning and sits on the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
AoC surveyed member colleges to assess how they are helping unemployed people gain the skills essential to finding work. The survey found:
- 95% of colleges offer provision for the unemployed
- 64% of colleges have changed their provision to better meet the needs of jobseekers; this has been aided by the Government’s relaxation of a number of rules and regulations
- The average college provides training for 1,003 unemployed people a year – 12% of the survey respondents were helping more than 2,000 people annually
- This equates to 220,000 unemployed people gaining work-related education and skills at colleges acrossEngland
The report includes case studies and stories from the unemployed people that colleges have helped to find jobs. It also gives examples of – and offers some solutions to – the barriers both colleges and individuals face in getting people into employment. These include:
- The key barrier is the lack of job opportunities
- Tracking student progression due to data protection rules; JCP can access progression data but, to date, colleges are unable to do so (see West Cheshire College, pg 12)
- Skills Funding Agency restrictions on funding can hinder provision – for example, there is very little funding available to support unemployed people below level 1 (see Swindon College, pg 8)
- Limited knowledge among some JCP staff about college provision (see Hackney Community College, pg 15)
- JCP rules which can restrict the offer and its fit to the claimant – for example, job centres report vacancies for heavy goods vehicle drivers but the college can’t get funding to provide the HGV training needed to get a licence (see Hackney Community College case study as above)
For more information, follow the link to the AoC news release – http://www.aoc.co.uk/en/newsroom/aoc_news_releases.cfm/id/BF651485-DAA7-4603-96EB0702FF2EE56B/Back%20to%20Work%20-%20Colleges%20Supporting%20Sustainable%20Jobs
Government blueprint for the future of participation & skills
On 15 December 2011, the government published Building Engagement, Building Futures, its strategy to help 16-24 year-olds make a successful transition to adult life through education, training and work. It sets out the offer for young people, in which FE and skills providers play a pivotal role through:
- more apprenticeships and reforms to the programme
- more work experience and sector-basedWorkAcademyplaces and
- the continued commitment to prioritise skills funding for 19–24 year-olds.
The strategy sets out plans to strengthen local partnerships, for example between skills providers, Jobcentre Plus and Work Programme providers, to help young people least likely to find work because they lack the necessary skills.
The published 5 strategic priorities to increase participation are:
- Raising educational attainment in school and post-school
- Helping local partners to provide effective and coordinated services that support all young people
- Encouraging and incentivising employers to recruit young people by offering more high quality Apprenticeships and work experience places
- Ensuring that work pays and giving young people personalised support to find it
- The new Youth Contract over the next three years, aimed at helping young people into learning and earning.
Follow the link below for the full strategy, which is a clear statement of the government’s strategy to maximise participation for the next few years. It refers again to the raising of the participation age to 18 by 2015, and includes proposals for greater investment in Apprenticeships, reform of 16-19 programmes of study, the new National Careers Service, a requirement for universities to publish new Key Information Sets (KIS) and much more. The Executive Summary at least is worth a look to see all these government policy initiatives brought together.
First regional meeting of 2012 coming up – free to CMN members
A reminder that our first regional meeting of 2012 is coming soon – see below for details and how to get there. A booking form is on the website at www.m-network.org. This event is FREE to CMN members who can send as many delegates as can be spared. However, you must complete a booking form for each delegate attending, so that we can cater for the right numbers.
Location: please follow the link to the college’s website for directions: http://www.cwc.ac.uk/contactus/paddington/Pages/default.aspx
Programme: Thursday 9th February, City of Westminster College
10.15am Arrival, registration and coffee for a 10.45am start.
Programme to include:
Lee Parker, Bedford College, on the digital recruitment campaign which won an FE First Award in November 2011
Alec Brand, Greenwich Community College: running a successful, high profile PR campaign. GCC’s campaign in support of ESOL students hit the national headlines and won the Silver FE First Award for PR.
Richard Boniface, RCU, will introduce a new LSIS-commissioned research project looking at how providers can most effectively use data in the marketing process, and will ask for your input and ideas on data you use currently, and data you would find useful to have available.
The research will lead to the creation of an Effective Practice Guide with advice on sources of information, guidance and checklists for organisations on how to obtain and use data in the marketing process and to provide illustrative examples of emerging good practice from across the sector. The findings from the research will also be used to steer and influence national policy.
Discussion time for your topics
Lunch will be provided at 12.30pm and the day will end around 2.30pm.
NAS and SFA Chief Executives step down
The Chief Executives of the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) and the Skills Funding Agency have both announced their plans to step down later this year.
Simon Waugh of NAS will go in March, while Geoff Russell, who has been at the Skills Funding agency since its inception in April 2010, will go in August.
Simon Waugh said: “I have achieved all that I set out to do when I joined NAS, with tremendous support from the Government and personally from Minister Hayes in past three years.”
Geoff Russell is quoted as saying: “With my task complete to create an Agency structured and able to perform a new role promoting and funding FE colleges and other training organisations to meet the challenge of equipping England’s economy with the skills it needs to overcome economic challenges, it is time to move on.”
Skills Minister John Hayes paid tribute to them both, saying: “Apprenticeships are at the heart of our drive to equip people of all ages with the skills employers need to prosper and compete, which is why we are investing record amounts in increasing numbers and quality.
“More than 440,000 learners started an apprenticeship in academic year 2010/11, an increase of around 50% on the previous year. By the end of this Parliament we’ll have supported 250,000 more apprenticeships than would have been created under the previous Government’s plans and developed Apprenticeships as a route into higher learning.”
“Geoff has overseen the creation of the Skills Funding Agency and has shaped it into an organisation that is playing a key role in promoting and funding FE and giving young people and adults the skills they need to find well paid and rewarding employment.”
More at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16616570, which covers some of the background.
