Blog Archives: March 2016

Having previously focused on the news for the education sector following the Budget 2016, here’s our update on the main outcomes for employers. It looked to be a positive Budget for employers and businesses, both big and small, as a number of tax cuts were announced.

We’ve recently celebrated National Apprenticeship Week and saw the Annual Apprenticeship Conference 2016 take place. Apprenticeships are still at the forefront of the education sector, but are perceptions of the programmes improving outside of the sector? Apprenticeships have long been perceived as a secondary route for young people to take in their education, particularly in comparison to A Levels or university. One of the key Ofsted Annual Report 2014-15 findings was that some schools and colleges weren’t promoting Apprenticeships equally, with many still pushing university as the default route. We’ve also seen anecdotal evidence to suggest that parents have been inclined to think the same way, and it’s often down to a lack of information on Apprenticeships.

The Further Education sector may have avoided additional cuts in the Budget 2016 announcements, but we’re not out of the woods yet. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) could end full funding for 524 qualifications – around 20% of the total qualifications currently fundable. The SFA held a consultation between 10 and 29 February on removing full funding from a number of qualifications for 19-23 year olds; this was met with criticism from the sector, including the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) because 5 of those working days fell during half term. FAB has complained directly to the SFA, as the timescale made it difficult to garner the required support from colleges and training providers. 

The need to focus on basic, work-ready skills has been in the spotlight again, with some in the Further Education sector arguing that the government should be focusing its efforts on improving basic skills rather than its heavy emphasis on Apprenticeships. As recently reported in FE Week, “the BIS Select Committee’s report on the Government’s productivity plan raised concerns about the lack of focus on a variety of policy areas, including Apprenticeships, but what has escaped most attention was the call to address the poor level of basic skills in the workforce”. 

This month saw the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) set out its qualification eligibility principles for the new Adult Education Budget (AEB), set to replace the Adult Skills Budget (ASB) from August 2016. This year, in line with the previously published Simplified Funding Rules for 2016-2017, the SFA is changing the way in which it creates an approved, publicly funded qualifications offer for learners. For 2016-2017 it’s introducing a new process that reflects both their policy to simplify the Further Education funding system and to place more of the decision making into the hands of learners, employers and localities.

Today colleagues from NCFE are volunteering as PIE’Oneers in 3 schools across the North East, as part of the Big Pie Friday Challenge. The Big Pie Friday Challenge is the largest ever Enterprise Education Challenge, part of the Primary Inspiration through Enterprise (PIE) project. Over 1000 pupils aged 9-11 from 250 schools across Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland are taking part and competing against each other. The project is aimed at educating young people on enterprise and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects, and inspiring them to pursue a career in these growing areas.

It’s been a busy week in the Further Education sector, as we celebrated National Apprenticeship Week 2016 and the FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference 2016 (AAC) took place. National Apprenticeship Week aims to raise awareness around Apprenticeships and celebrate the value they bring to learners, employers and the economy. The Government said the key theme this year is “An Apprenticeship can take you anywhere”, with a particular focus on higher skills to show how young people, entrepreneurs and businesses can “rise to the top” through Traineeships and Apprenticeships. This year, the week launched with an event at the London Shard and began with great news, as a number of prominent businesses announced their commitment to Apprenticeships, including Starbucks, Deloitte and Prezzo.

As promised in yesterday’s Budget announcement, the government has today released a white paper on schools, entitled ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere.’ Forget the 3 ‘R’s – it’s all about the 3 ‘E’s. The key headlines include a couple of new initiatives, and some further details on policies that have been emerging for some time:

Chancellor George Osborne today announced the Budget 2016. The key education headlines related mainly to schools, with the news that the government intends to turn all state schools into academies confirmed after being leaked last night. The Chancellor said that by 2020, all schools either will be an academy, or will be in the process of becoming an academy. This has been a key focus of the government’s time in parliament, including during its coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

2015 was a peculiar year for politics, and there were few areas impacted more than education and skills. There were two Budgets, and a combined Comprehensive Spending Review and Autumn Statement. Announcements included the Apprenticeship Levy, the extension of learners loans to those aged 19+, and the much maligned review of post-16 education and training institutions. It's a mark of how difficult times have been that the sector breathed a collective sigh of relief at funding cuts in the Autumn Statement, simply because we all expected much worse.