Blog Archives: May 2018

4 years ago, I left my second high school with no qualifications, a lack of direction and no ambition. Fast track 4 years later to May 2018, I’m now the Founding Investor and Director of Weeduu.co and YourCode Recruitment Group. The last few years have been interesting for me, and now understanding the various routes within education and how some students in the mainstream system can be neglected, I realise how lucky I was to not get caught up in the net. In September 2014 I decided that I needed to pursue a different route within education and scoured the market for alternative options to a 9-3 secondary school which really wasn’t working for me. After a couple of weeks of submitting application forms for educational institutes across the country, I found out about the ‘Apprenticeship Academy 14+’ at Leeds City College, an alternative vocational learning environment for students who would usually be in Years 10 and 11.

Rob Halfon is a busy man. It’s been less than a year since his nomination and election as Chair of the Education Select Committee, and during this time year he’s launched 12 separate inquiries into various aspects of the Department for Education’s workload. The latest call for evidence is looking at Schools and college funding. This an opportunity for the sector to feedback your experience of the introduction of the national funding formula for schools, as well as the current spending review process, the mechanism by which government currently sets funding levels for schools.

At NCFE, we believe that lifelong learning is hugely important and we encourage our customers to make the most of their adult education budget (AEB) funding. There was a £63m underspend in the AEB in the last academic year and we’d like to see this reduce considerably this year. One way you can utilise AEB funding is by supporting your staff’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Investing and upskilling staff is of huge benefit to your workforce but also your learners and customers. CPD qualifications can help people working in education develop their career, improve understanding in key sector areas and substantiate knowledge against Ofsted related themes. Learners can study at a time and place convenient for them and are supported through the qualification by an industry expert assessor. More and more providers are using these as ways to further advance relationships with adult learners and employers while fully utilising their AEB allocation.

We’re delighted to announce that our Level 1 / 2 Technical Award in Engineering has received endorsement from the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE). SOE is a professional membership organisation representing and supporting around 14,000 individuals and companies within the transport, plant and engineer surveying industries. Alongside their engineering operations, they encourage best practice and Continuing Professional Development among their membership. Their reputation and credibility within the industry adds further weight to the endorsement of our qualification.

The recent publication of the results of Ofqual’s annual survey, ‘Perceptions of qualifications in England: wave 16’, has found that Applied Generals are thought to better prepare learners for the workplace when compared to GCSE and A-Level qualifications.  The document sets out the results of Ofqual's annual survey, which looks at head teachers’, teachers’, students’, parents’, the general public’s, employers’ and Higher Education Institutions’ (HEIs) perceptions and confidence in qualifications in England. For the first time, this included Applied Generals, alongside A levels and GCSEs.

Tom Rhatigan discusses his experience of delivering V Certs, including the Level 1 and Level 2 certificates in Health and Fitness, and how the qualification has allowed his pupils to find their strengths and excel. River Tees High is an Alternative Provision Academy and part of the River Tees Multi Academy Trust. As an AP Academy, our pupils have often faced difficulties and challenges, which have meant that they can no longer attend mainstream school. It’s important that all children get access to education and schools like ours are able to adapt our environment to suit the needs of pupils who come to us. For example: smaller class sizes of 10 – 12 and specialist support, where appropriate, for SEND pupils.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve joined the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), a membership body which comprises the eight, now nine, largest providers of qualifications in the UK. JCQ undertakes a wide range of activities on behalf of its members including consulting with stakeholders, government departments, teacher unions, professional associations, and further and higher education. JCQ publishes advice, guidance and regulations for delivering examinations assessments.

In the run up to Mental Health Awareness Week we have been running our 12 Days of Exam Wellbeing campaign to encourage students, parents and teachers to prioritise mental wellbeing during exam periods. The anxieties of exam pressure can mean that this time of year is incredibly stressful for young people. It’s increasingly important that we support students develop coping strategies to help them tackle their exam stress and equip them with better life long skills to look after their mental health.  Focusing on achieving a better balance during exam preparations, this infographic illustrates a series of tips we have designed to help students improve their mental wellbeing during exams. 

One of the reasons that FE policy making in England is in such a mess may be the repeated failure of those in power to clearly define terms.  I’ve written in a previous NCFE blog (June 2017) about the lack of any shared understanding, still less a clear definition, of what is meant by technical education. A similar charge can be laid against the so-called “Review of Post-18 Education and Funding”; despite its title it’s really only about higher education and misses out whole chunks of post-18 FE and adult provision both in and outside colleges. This faulty labelling may explain why there is no apparent connection between the review and the ongoing discussions on how best to devolve much of the adult FE budget to eight city regions – a decision apparently taken some time ago in a parallel universe.  One might have thought that some of the problems that the post-18 review tries to wrestle with – how to make provision more accessible to all, for example, or how to develop more of the skills that employers need – could be addressed through seriously ambitious devolution.  The devolution ship has already sailed however and it’s clear that local government is not allowed anywhere near higher education (the ‘wide range’ of interested parties to be consulted in the post-18 review is defined as ‘students, employers and institutions’!)

The ongoing slump in apprenticeship starts since the apprenticeship levy was introduced has emboldened the lobbyists, and those with vested interests. They know that as the manifesto commitment to three million starts by 2020 creeps further out of reach, the government may listen to calls for policy changes that would remove “barriers”.