Blog posts for author:Esme Winch

The government’s Action Plan for the implementation of T-Level qualifications created as many, if not more, questions than it has answered. With deadlines looming, the information is still somewhat lacking. Considering the weight of expectation on T-levels in the education system, and the government’s desire to phase them in from 2020, the details on what the T-Levels comprise are sparse. We’ve taken a look at what we know so far and some of the more salient points that we’ve identified as potentially problematic.  

I’d like to open by thanking you for feeding into our recent research on end-point assessment (EPA) for apprenticeships. This has given us great insight into your thoughts, concerns and challenges around the delivery and assessment of apprenticeship standards. Unsurprisingly, chief amongst the findings was that virtually all providers responded that they expect qualifications to be part of the EPA for at least some of the apprenticeships that they deliver. This is a point we have raised several times in the past, as qualifications provide evidence and portability of learning across sectors and job roles.

Like most people, we can’t believe that it’s nearly November already. Not least due to a usual submission window from the Department for Education (DfE) passing us by without ever even opening. This has been a year unlike any other, where it’s been made abundantly clear that assumptions cannot be made  about the schools calendar. After a tentative wait, we’ve received the news that the 2020 performance tables will be opening this year for submissions. The technical guidance, we are told, will be released soon and we are still waiting for confirmation of when the first submission window will be opening.

One of the key announcements at the Conservative Party conference was the increase in the payment threshold for student loans. Although the policy only applies to graduates who took out student loans introduced in 2012, it was launched as part of a raft of policies which appear to be trying to appeal to the younger demographic. Although at time of writing the official guidance is yet to be updated, the Department for Education (DfE) has clarified that this new threshold will also apply to advanced learner loans. Will this help the struggling advanced learner loans policy? We’ve seen continuing reports of the low take-up of advanced learner loans, with over half the budgeted amount underspent since 2013. As a key source of funding for learners looking to upskill themselves, this is a cause for concern.

We welcome the announcement from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) indicating that they have issued letters to providers affected by the ongoing Adult Education Budget tender fallout. They state their new modified run-down extension contract value and the arrangements that will apply for the period 1 November 2017 to 31 July 2018. It’s our understating that the ESFA will now bring funding up to the value of 75% of last year’s amount. Whilst not the best outcome we could have hoped for, at least it provides some level of market continuation, as well as assurance for learners that their courses will go ahead as planned.

Following the latest announcement from the Department for Education (DfE), we’re delighted to have strengthened our offer for schools with 19 qualifications approved in the 2019 tables. This includes the extension of our creative provision with qualifications in Craft where the flexibility of this qualification allows for the ability to cover topics such as Materials Technology, Fashion and Textiles and Food and Cookery. Alongside CACHE qualifications in Childcare and Development and new NCFE Technical Awards in Graphic Design and Interactive Media, our qualifications for schools represent a broad and comprehensive introduction to technical learning. We are responding to feedback from the DfE on the qualifications which were not successful. Although, it must be said, we have fared somewhere in the middle when comparing ourselves to the variations in success seen by other Awarding Organisations (AOs).

Over the summer, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) set out how they would fund workplace learning. In an example of how a seemingly minor piece of wording can alter delivery throughout the sector, they initially set out how they wouldn’t fund any workplace learning, relevant to a learner’s job and/or their employers business. The Funding Rules for 16/17 stated that:

Once parliament returns on 9 October, we hope to see some visible process on the Post-16 Skills Plan. What is a positive revelation, is the inclusion of independent training providers being properly referenced. The initial release of the Post-16 Skills Plan appeared to only mention college-based programmes of learning. We have since learned that this was an oversight from the Department for Education where they were making a shorthand reference to all classroom-based learning.

The pace of apprenticeship reform continues steadily, with the recent relaunch of the non-levy apprenticeships tender. Following a stalled attempt earlier in the year, which was hugely oversubscribed, the Department for Education (DfE) has taken a breather, reset the clock and issued a new bidding round. The admission that the first round didn’t go to plan has been anticipated for a while, but it shows some acceptance from the DfE and ESFA that the first round was flawed. There are also some critical differences between the tenders which may have some bearing on who gets a contract or not.

Just over a year ago, the Post-16 Skills Plan was published, and the government committed to a hugely ambitious reform of the technical education system. The plan proposes a complete overhaul of the technical education system, and the timescales for implementation always appeared ambitious. It was therefore no surprise that Skills Minister Anne Milton announced a one year delay to implementation of the first T-Levels, which will now be phased in from 2020-22. The announcement was a welcome one. Department for Education (DfE) staff have been increasingly stretched in the past few years, with a vast array of changes to action and a string of new ministers. It is clear that staff are taking time to understand the complexities of the changes, and previous timescales would be impossible to meet.