FE sector addresses criticisms of Apprenticeships
The Further Education sector rallied to support the value of Apprenticeships, in response to a BBC1 Panorama television programme last week that criticised their delivery from some providers in the UK.
Graham Hoyle, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), said: “No young person or adult should experience poor provision under the apprenticeship programme and AELP has always fostered a culture of good quality among its member providers. This explains why we have always been so keen to work closely with Ofsted and quality improvement services such as LSIS, as well as with the NAS and SFA who are responsible for the flagship skills programme.
“None of the sub-contractors featured in the Panorama programme are AELP members, but we believe that while it is a legitimate business practice, sub-contracting is an issue which requires action now. The AELP position is that lead contractors, whether they are colleges or independent providers, should not only be fully responsible for the quality of their own directly-delivered apprenticeship provision but they should also be strongly accountable for the provision of their sub-contractors. After all, they are sometimes taking significant ‘management fees’ in the process which is public money. We welcome the new SFA pilot which may encourage those that wish it to become directly contracted with the agency so that the lines of accountability are more clearly drawn.
“Panorama concentrated understandably on young apprentices but it needs to be clearly understood that apprenticeships, when relaunched in 1994, were not designed to be exclusively a form of job creation for young people. They are an employer-owned programme principally aimed at improving the skills of the British workforce. Nevertheless official data continues to show that despite a flat-lining economy which is proving to be very challenging in terms of employer recruitment, apprenticeship provision for young people is not suffering at the expense of the growth in adult apprenticeships. In fact, the figures show double-digit percentage growth in starts and jobs for young apprentices and we believe that there are now approximately 750,000 young people and adults on the programme in proper jobs.
“76.4% of apprentices inEnglandsuccessfully complete their programmes, which is a success rate that compares very well with the best inEurope. Therefore while it is right to focus on improving the quality of training still further, a proportionate and measured response is required from policymakers to the recent media coverage on apprenticeships.”
More at www.fenews.co.uk/news
See the original programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fm01r
College to be run on a for-profit basis?
Barnfield College has set out its plans to become the first college in the country to run itself as a profit-making business. It already runs a chain for four academy schools, and plans to put the proposal for the college to its board before Easter. Surplus cash from the college could eventually be paid as dividends to shareholders.
The Barnfield Federation, which runs four schools inLuton, wants to be the first academy backer to take advantage of a provision in the Education Act 2011 that allows further education colleges to run on a for-profit basis. Academy schools are not at the moment run for profit. But the federation is exploring doing so in future if the law is changed to allow it.
Barnfield’s chief executive, Pete Birkett, is looking at creating a new business model for schools by establishing a private company that would raise funds from private equity and pay dividends to shareholders.
For more detail, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/mar/25/academy-federation-run-college-profit?INTCMP=SRCH
Next FREE regional meeting, 19th April
Our next FREE TO MEMBERS regional meeting of 2012 will be at Bournville College on Thursday 19th April.
Starting at 10.30, with coffee available from 10am, our programme includes Alma Aganovic, Assistant Principal for Marketing & Business Planning, Bournville College, on events management, including lessons learned from the opening of the new college site; Stephanie Stephenson, Director of Customer Services at Wiltshire College on running a successful apprenticeships campaign; Alex Swann and Lottie Grice from Lesniak Swann with an update on the latest in online enrolments; and Richard Boniface with an interim report on our research with RCU into the uses of data in marketing.
Lunch will be provided at 12.30pm and the day will end around 3pm. Please complete a booking form, downloadable from the website at www.m-network.org , to confirm your place.
Make good use of your membership with this free member benefit. Open to non-members at a fee of £75 per person, places MUST be booked with cheque or PO number before the event.
Next FREE regional meeting – 29 March, City College Plymouth
Our next FREE (to CMN members) regional meeting is at City College Plymouth on Thursday 29 March. The programme includes Alex Hughes of Net Natives on what’s new in mobile marketing, City College Plymouth on student intranets and Richard Boniface of RCU on data in marketing. Book your place NOW! Download a booking form from www.m-network.org or write to office@m-network.org
Non-members welcome at a fee of £75 per person including lunch and refreshments.
10.15am Arrival, registration and coffee for a 10.30am start.
Programme:
Peer feedback session: City College Plymouth will give an overview of their student intranet and invite feedback from delegates.
Alex Hughes, Lead Trainer, Net Natives: The latest on mobile marketing.
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.
Lunch will be provided at 12.30pm and the day will end around 3pm.
Regional meeting at Bishop Auckland College
One of the main highlights of our visit to Bishop Auckalnd College last week was the tour of the new building – it took a while to work out what the difference was from other colleges I’ve visited but I realised it was the carpets throughout. The whole atmosphere of the college was quiet and calm, and Marketing Manager Kevin Burns told us that there had been long debates about whether to go for this option but it has really worked well.
We also saw a fabulous new resource centre, a sixth form centre for vocational students which seemed well used and respected, and overall an interesting design based on a long narrow footprint, forced on the college by the site and the need to build behind the old college before it was knocked down.
The programme was equally interesting, offering the chance to discuss KirkleesCollege’s partnership with Huddersfield Town FC, an initiative that has brought huge benefits to both parties and given Kirklees worldwide publicity as the club has climbed up the league table.
Kevin led a discussion about HE in FE and Richard Boniface of RCU took us through the research project into the use of data in marketing. Feedback from delegates was good and we are very grateful to Bishop Auckland for hosting us and providing lunch. Delegates also appreciated the welcome from principal Anne Isherwood, and her warm words in support of marketing as a vital activity in the current difficult times.
New campaign urges investment in career guidance
Press release from Institute of Career Guidance:
Action on Careers: making a difference is a UK-wide campaign being launched today (Thursday 8 March) by the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG). The aim of the campaign is to urge government and employers to invest in career guidance at a time of rising unemployment and economic uncertainties.
A key campaign objective is to ensure that everyone who needs access to expert career guidance should receive it – where they want it, when they want it and how they want it. The picture across the UK in terms of the availability of career guidance is varied, with people in some areas struggling to get access to guidance. The Institute of Career Guidance is urging individuals, government and employers to invest in career guidance to help the UK return to growth and support those people who are struggling to find a job or direction in their lives.
Action on Careers shows how career guidance makes a difference – to the wellbeing of individuals, theUK economy and society at large.
It shows how career guidance
- helps to maximise UK’s talent for a strong economy
- helps people to understand what’s out there, both learning and work -– now and in the future
- helps people to aim high and achieve their potential
- helps build communities where individuals understand how they can contribute.
Sarah Finnegan-Dehn, President of the Institute of Career Guidance, says:
“We are urging government and employers to invest in career guidance to help theUKreturn to growth and support those people who are struggling to find a job or seeking a new direction in their lives The UK job market is complicated. So it is vital that people whatever their age and level of achievement can access guidance when they need it. We are particularly concerned that face-to-face career guidance, delivered by professionally qualified impartial careers professionald will simply not be on offer to many people. Career guidance is about supporting, challenging and empowering individuals and this cannot always be done via a website or talking to an adviser on the phone.”
She adds: “We support the Government’s creation of a National Careers Service in England. But in an era of austerity, rising unemployment and economic uncertainty, we must continue to invest in career guidance.”
The launch of the campaign will take place on 8 March during National Careers Week at the National Career Guidance Show (7-8 March) in Wembley.
A postcard for campaign supporters to send to their MP or elected representative can be downloaded from the website www.icg-uk.org
A copy of the campaign logo is also available for download from the website. www.icg-uk.org
Employer ownership of skills – prospectus published
As you’ll have noticed, the current government is looking to the private sector to lead the economy out of the downturn, and one means to that end is encouraging employers to take control of supplying their own skills needs. In Skills for Sustainable Growth, the government set out its core belief in a skills system that responds to employer and individual needs, securing value for money but with minimal central planning and regulation.
This has now been taken further in the Employer ownership of skills pilot, announced and led by the UK Commission for employment and Skills. More information can be found at http://www.ukces.org.uk/employerownership where it is explained that the government wants employers to come forward with suggestions for ways of “[improving] skills to drive up productivity and growth.”
The prospectus says: “ For employers, the pilot offers greater flexibility to improve programme design, to deliver training and employment opportunities that have real value in the labour market, and to demonstrate how accountability for public funds can be made as simple as possible.” The emphasis throughout the prospectus is on this “light-touch regulation”.
Employers are told they may work with partners, including colleges, but this is not required, and the training is seen as including apprenticeships, training and skills development to help people into work as well as workforce training and development.
The initiative may well lead to innovative developments, but it’s also another reminder of the increasingly competitive environment in which colleges are finding themselves as they seek to support the skills agenda.
Salford City College regional meeting takes us to Media City
Last week’s regional meeting at Salford City College was held at the new centre in Salford Quays, just round the corner from the amazing new Media City development. The college building is an administrative and business training centre, where all the college services are being centralised in a new model for managing multi-site institutions: and Principal Martin Sim came to welcome us and challenge us to let him know what we thought of the reorganisation.
The programme included the RCU data workshop which led to lots of discussion which will feed back into the research project we are working on, and we also heard from Mark Whittaker on developing relationships with the employer-related team. Mark is marketing manager at South Cheshire College, which recently decided to change its strategic relationship with employers and to develop a new service for them. This meant a new area of the website and a new range of publications, which were so successful that they won one of the FE First Awards last November.
Finally, Becky Wilkins of Salford City College gave us an honest and fascinating description of how she and her team manage to promote and market a multi-site college while still maintaining separate identities and brands for each centre. Her presentation is available to any CMN members who may be in a similar position and would like to find out how Salford approaches the challenge.
Thanks to Salford City College for hosting the day in a very impressive venue and for providing an excellent buffet lunch.
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.
