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Key amendments secured in Skills Bill debate in House Of Lords

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Key amendments secured in Skills Bill debate in House Of Lords

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As the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill reached the report stage in the House of Lords, the first of two debates on amendents to the Bill were discussed on Tuesday 12 October.

Responding to the outcome of the first debate, Chief Executive of Association of Colleges, David Hughes said:

The amendements debated and voted on were:

The second debate on the remaining amendments will take place on 18 October.

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Key amendments secured in Skills Bill debate in House Of Lords

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As the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill reached the report stage in the House of Lords, the first of two debates on amendents to the Bill were discussed on Tuesday 12 October.

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Local control over the AEB will help people improve their skills to progress in work, stay in work or get back to work. The local skills system can be transformed to focus on the needs of South Yorkshire’s local businesses and the industries that are predicted to grow in the coming years.

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Local control over the AEB will help people improve their skills to progress in work, stay in work or get back to work. The local skills system can be transformed to focus on the needs of South Yorkshire’s local businesses and the industries that are predicted to grow in the coming years.

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Local control over the AEB will help people improve their skills to progress in work, stay in work or get back to work. The local skills system can be transformed to focus on the needs of South Yorkshire's local businesses and the industries that are predicted to grow in the coming years.

Dan Jarvis MP, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said:

"This marks another step in South Yorkshire taking control of its future and shaping its destiny. Skills and adult education are critical to building a bigger and better economy for our region - giving people the opportunity they need to prosper and helping businesses grow.

Our wider skills strategy plans mean there will be 30,000 more people with higher levels skills by 2041. This is the power of devolution and we're using it to meet the needs of South Yorkshire's people and local businesses as we renew our region."

The adult education budget funds provision in Further Education colleges, local authority training providers, independent training providers and voluntary, third sector and community organisations and supports both employed and unemployed residents, helping them to acquire the skills they need to move into or progress in a job, a traineeship, an apprenticeship or further learning.

Transforming adult skills provision is part of the Mayoral Combined Authority's Renewal Action Plan (PDF, 10Mb) promise to give a hand up for people to improve their skills, get back to work, remain and progress in work. Supporting people to find and get on in work and backing businesses to grow is critical to South Yorkshire's recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic.

As part of its Devolution Deal, the Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority will take responsibility for devolved Adult Education Budget (AEB) from 1 August 2021 and will commission adult skills provision for the residents of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield.

Update on Adult Education Budget Commissioning for South Yorkshire

The following providers will receive a Grant for AEB Delivery for 2021/22.

Barnsley College

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

DN College Group

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Longley Park Sixth Form College

RNN Group

The Northern College for Residential Adult Education

The Sheffield College

Sheffield City Council

The following providers have been offered contracts to deliver procured provision: -

Supporting residents into employment

Providing support to South Yorkshire residents who will need support to enter/re-enter the workforce.

Skills Training UK

Free to Learn

Momentum

Standguide

Construction Skills

Provision for adults in employment, self-employed or at risk of redundancy

Providing support to South Yorkshire residents looking to reskill or upskill by gaining qualifications at higher levels.

Skills Training UK

Construction Skills

Profound Services

Waltham College

Bright Direction Training

Eden Training

No young person left behind

Providing support to young people aged 19-24 in South Yorkshire who are Not in Employment Education or Training (NEET) or hidden NEETs.

Skills Training UK

Back 2 Work Complete Training

Learning Curve Group

PET XI Training

Test and Learn Adult Key Worker Model

Providing support to residents who face complex and/or multiple barriers and living in homes where there is intergenerational/family worklessness in our most deprived communities.

Big Ambitions CIC

ACIS Group

The Employers Forum

South Yorkshire Housing Association

Headstart Health & Training Limited

Please note this list of providers is subject to agreement of contracts.
The Authority will provide further information including contact details and an overview of each of the procured provider's delivery footprint in due course.

Further information

If you would like to sign up to the mailing list to get the latest AEB updates or have any questions about the AEB, you can contact aeb@sheffieldcityregion.org.uk.

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Local control over the AEB will help people improve their skills to progress in work, stay in work or get back to work. The local skills system can be transformed to focus on the needs of South Yorkshire's local businesses and the industries that are predicted to grow in the coming years.

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Nadhim Zahawi: Education is a crucial part of our levelling up agenda so it's an honour to be back at the Department for Education as Secretary of State

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Nadhim Zahawi: Education is a crucial part of our levelling up agenda so it's an honour to be back at the Department for Education as Secretary of State

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Nadhim Zahawi has been confirmed as the new Education Secretary in today's (15 Sept) cabinet reshuffle.

Nadhim will be taking over from Gavin Williamson who has moved in today's reshuffle. Nadhim is Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon, and was previously Minister for Business & Industry and COVID Vaccine Deployment. He was also appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on 28 November 2020.

He was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from 9 January 2018 to 26 July 2019.

Nadhim was elected as Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon in May 2010.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said:
"Education is a crucial part of our levelling up agenda so it's an honour to be back at the Department for Education as Secretary of State.

"Children and young people have had a tough time during this pandemic and I'll be listening to them and their families as we accelerate our work to build back better and fairer.

"From my own experience, I know what a beacon of opportunity this country can be and I want all children, young people and adults to have access to a brilliant education, the right qualifications and opportunities to secure good jobs. That's both vital for them and also our economy and is more important now than ever before.

"I can't wait to get started, working with the amazing teachers and staff in our nurseries, schools, colleges and universities as well as employers and businesses."

Zahawi was privately educated at Ibstock Place School and then at King's College School, an independent school in Wimbledon, London, followed by University College London, where he studied Chemical Engineering.
Clarifying his ambitions for his new role, in an open letter to education and care professionals, Nadhim has promised:
"With Your Help, We Are Going To Transform The Lives Of The Most Vulnerable And Disadvantaged."

Sector Reaction to Nadhim Zahawi's appointment as Education Secretary
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT said:
"We welcome Nadim Zahawi to the post of Secretary of State for Education.

"Earlier this year, the Prime Minister declared that education was his biggest priority in the wake of the pandemic. The crucial task of translating the government's rhetoric on education into reality now sits with the new Secretary of State.

"Alongside taking proactive measures to minimise disruption to education this winter, one of the most pressing tasks facing Mr Zahawi will be to ensure that the government now fulfils its promise to deliver a properly funded recovery package so that every pupil in the country receives the support they need and deserve. With the comprehensive spending review only weeks away, there really is no time to waste.

"As always, NAHT stands ready to work with the new Secretary of State and his department to ensure that every child receives the very best education possible."
Discussing priorities for new Education Secretary and his team, Paul Whiteman, said:
"There is a long list of pressing matters for the new Secretary of State to attend to but none is more important than making sure schools are able to deliver a successful recovery for all pupils, following so many months out of the classroom.

"The Prime Minister's promise that no child would be left behind due to learning-lost during the pandemic now needs to be delivered. Schools will need a radically more ambitious package of investment from the Treasury in order to get the job done.

"Convincing the Chancellor is the key. And whilst there will be a many different conflicting priorities at the Treasury this autumn, the case must be made that funding educational recovery is an investment in this country's future, not simply another drain on the nation's finances.

"The best investment the government can make right now is in the country's future citizens and workforce. The Education Secretary must quickly turn rhetoric into investment and into action. With the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for next month, there is absolutely no time to waste."

In response to today's cabinet reshuffle, Chief Executive of Association of Colleges, David Hughes said:

"As the Secretary of State for Education during the most disrupted time in teaching and learning since the Second World War, it was always going to be a bumpy ride for Gavin Williamson. Despite that, he helped convince the Prime Minister and Chancellor that post-16 education and skills should be a priority. Colleges have a vital role in covid recovery, the new economy, levelling up and business success for the future.

"I have worked before with Nadhim Zahawi on apprenticeships and SEND and I congratulate him on becoming Education Secretary. I'm confident that he will continue the focus and commitment to further education and skills that has had a profound impact on policy-making in FE and begun to reshape the narrative around colleges, and those who study and work in them.

"Nadhim Zahawi knows the college sector well and I absolutely expect that he will pick up the baton and continue to champion colleges and their role in recovering from the pandemic and the levelling up agenda. With the Spending Review imminent, it's imperative the new Education Secretary appreciates the need for investment in colleges to be able to deliver on the government's agenda. Beyond that, the ongoing Skills and Post-16 Education Bill will also provide a key opportunity to help colleges deliver even better learning opportunities across the country."
Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work said:
"Congratulations to Nadhim Zahawi on being appointed Education Secretary. With a long list of issues and a spending review just a few weeks away, he'll need to hit the ground running. I hope that he'll work closely with the DWP and other Departments to implement an Opportunity Guarantee so all young people are offered a job, training place or apprenticeship.

"I hope too that he'll be focused on promoting lifelong learning, after the catastrophic declines of the last decade. To do that he'll need to succeed in negotiations with the Treasury, but also think creatively about how we reform the apprenticeship levy, engage adults in learning, support career change, and so much more. I think his commitment to opportunity and apprenticeships is clear from his previous work, he's in a great job to make a real difference and we wish him well."
Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Jane Hickie said
"Nadhim Zahawi has a strong reputation for competence and delivery which is just what we need in the DfE when skills are so important to driving the economic recovery. We expect him to be in lockstep with the Chancellor in continuing the progress made under the Plan for Jobs where apprenticeships and traineeships play a vital role.

"In his previous roles as apprenticeship adviser and early years minister, the new Secretary of State demonstrated a clear appreciation of the importance of skills training and he will know that the current post-16 education reforms can only be properly delivered by the DfE using all types of providers to engage with employers and learners across the country in line with the levelling up agenda."
Kirstie Donnelly, Chief Executive of City & Guilds group said:
"We welcome the appointment of Nadhim Zahawi as education secretary as it's refreshing to have a Secretary of State who has got previous pedigree on skills and apprenticeships and we look forward to him bringing this experience into the role.

"We hope to see the consultative approach that Zahawi is known for shine through as he works with all of us across the sector to successfully implement the skills bill and put the best interests of the learners first."
David Gallagher, Chief Executive of NCFE said:
"I'd like to congratulate Nadhim Zahawi on his new position. This appointment brings fresh opportunities and with his background as children's minister and apprenticeship advisor, I know that he will have an acute understanding of the importance and impact of education, skills and lifelong learning on individuals, communities and the economy. To empower a fairer society and ensure no learner is left behind, we need to ensure young people and adults from all walks of life have the opportunity to reach their full potential and we need to facilitate these journeys - empowering people to make informed decisions about their futures."
The Black FE Leadership Group (BFELG) Welcomes the appointment of Nadim Zahawi as Education Secretary:
" The BFELG welcomes the appointment of Nadhim Zahawi as Education. Mr Zahawi's appointment comes at a crucial time for all phases of education which have a pivotal role to play in the levelling up agenda - none more so than the FE sector.

"It's clearly critical for the post-pandemic recovery that the country is able and willing to maximise the entire talent pool at its disposal - both in terms of young people and adults in skills, education and training, as well as a workforce that is representative of the rich ethnic diversity of the country. To do so it will be necessary to address the attainment disparities that currently blight the careers and prospects of a significant proportion of the population, and to that end the BFELG will seek to work with the Secretary of State, the DfE and other stakeholders to ensure the future prosperity and social cohesion of the whole country."

Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

"The NEU congratulates the new Secretary of State for Education on being appointed to the most important position in the Cabinet. We hope that Nadhim Zahawi shows a passion and an interest in education and realises the power that valued education professionals have to transform the lives of young people.

"The Comprehensive Spending Review is in a matter of weeks. The new Secretary of State must be a strong advocate in Government for schools and colleges to be given the resources and funding they need to support education recovery for all children and young people. There can be no more important priority for the future of our nation. The money promised to schools to date is a small fraction of the amount judged to be needed by the Government's former education recovery tsar. This must be rectified in the Spending Review if we are to make sure that no child is left behind after the pandemic."
Commenting on the appointment of Nadhim Zahawi, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
"Gavin Williamson was the most incompetent Education Secretary in living memory, but with children having missed millions of school days, their futures hang in the balance.

"This reshuffle won't stop the rot to our education system caused by years of Conservative incompetence and neglect.

"Nadhim Zahawi has already shown he is completely out of touch with families after misleadingly claiming that parents would prefer to pay for free school meals. The new Minister could do with meeting Marcus Rashford to understand the harsh reality facing the most disadvantaged children."
NASBTT Executive Director Emma Hollis welcomes the appointment of Mr Zahawi:
"It potentially represents a new chapter for the Department for Education and brings an opportunity to address the most pressing challenges facing the schools' sector," she explained. "It is clear that supporting schools and children through a properly funded post-Covid recovery strategy should be top of the list."

"From the perspective of ITT, we do, course, face a number of uncertainties over the coming months as a result of the ITT Market Review and we are aware that many voices share our concerns over the future of our sector,"

Hollis continued. "Mr Zahawi will need to decide quickly whether fundamental change in the ITT sector, and the likely immediate impact on teacher supply, is really a priority at this time. We also call for transparency of reporting of the ITT Market Review consultation responses: it is imperative that the Minister responds to what the sector has said. We are here to support Mr Zahawi, however we can, in that decision-making process. We would welcome the opportunity to continue working closely with the Department to ensure continued excellence in ITT provision; once confirmed, the same applies to the new Minister of State for Schools."
Mark Dawe, CEO at The Skills Network comments on what the Further Education sector needs to see from the new Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi following his appointment this week.
"It's always good to get a refresh in the industry during times of change, so I welcome Nadhim Zahawi and congratulate him on his new position. I know he's passionate about apprenticeships, ensuring the government supports businesses in getting staff with the right skills and helping upskilling existing employees as part of his levelling up agenda, so I'm keen to see how he implements these passions, which are vital to the industry and development of the UK workforce.

"In particular, I believe there are three key asks that the industry needs to see from Zahawi and this government reshuffle:

Drive forwards the apprentice agenda - The apprenticeships agenda certainly could do with some tweaks here and there to allow it to evolve in an ever-changing market but changing too much will cause a destabilisation and ultimately, more negative than positive. People are starting to understand apprenticeships as a valuable alternative to the traditional academic route, if not better for many, so it's vital we continue down that path and not do anything that de-roads that progress.

Boosting adult skills - We need more support behind boosting skills amongst adults and supporting the idea of providing people with the knowledge to level up and advance their careers. The current funding is nowhere near what's required to make a difference.

Increase skills funding - It's essential the government changes its approach from funding organisations to deliver and instead, put the power in the hands of the learner and employer through the creation of skills accounts for every adult. Most of the population needs skills to make their first step into an industry, shift to sustainable jobs or progress in their careers. This approach will help prevent underspends and ineffective procurement processes and support provision that genuinely adds value to the economy.

"Over the last 18 months, the way we work and learn has dramatically changed, so introducing a fresh pair of eyes and a new passion to the industry is essential. Navigating through Covid-19 was a task no one was prepared for, but now that we are starting to step out into a new normal, we should welcome the new beginning for the industry and start to think about how we can take the learnings of the last 18-months to help shape a better workforce. I'm looking forward to seeing if Zahawi is up to the challenge."

The education background of Boris Johnson's new cabinet

The Sutton Trust has analysed the education background of Boris Johnson's new cabinet. It finds that:

60% attended independent schools, a small decrease from Johnson's previous cabinet (65%). This compares to 29% of MPs in the House of Commons.

There has been a slight increase in the proportion educated at comprehensives, from 27% in 2020, to 33% today.

Of the 30 ministers attending Boris Johnson's new cabinet, almost half (46%) went to Oxford or Cambridge universities. This compares with 27% of all Conservative MPs, 18% of Labour MPs and 24% of all MPs.

Just over a quarter of cabinet ministers attended both independent schools and Oxbridge.

How representative is the educational background of the new cabinet?

60% of the new Cabinet post reshuffle attended a private school, compared to ~7% of the UK population. Boris Johnson's new Cabinet are over 8x more likely to have attended private school than the population overall, with 27% attending both an independent school and Oxbridge.

While 60% of the new Cabinet attended an independent school, only 29% of all MPs did the same.

The educational backgrounds of the cabinet over time:

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nadhim zahawi confirmed as new education secretary - sector reaction

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FE News: The Future of Education News Channel

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Nadhim Zahawi: Education is a crucial part of our levelling up agenda so it's an honour to be back at the Department for Education as Secretary of State

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Nadhim Zahawi has been confirmed as the new Education Secretary in today's (15 Sept) cabinet reshuffle. Nadhim will be taking over from Gavin Williamson who has moved in today's reshuffle. Nadhim is Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon, and was previously Minister for Business & Industry and COVID Vaccine Deployment. He...

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Focus on results: How a greater focus on outcomes could contribute to England’s learning and skills systems

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Focus on results: How a greater focus on outcomes could contribute to England’s learning and skills systems

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Our survey series, which began in 1996, provides a unique overview of how many adults take part in learning, their reasons for doing so or not doing so, and how this varies by group and area.

Explore more

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Focus on results: How a greater focus on outcomes could contribute to England's learning and skills systems - Learning and Work Institute

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Our survey series, which began in 1996, provides a unique overview of how many adults take part in learning, their reasons for doing so or not doing so, and how this varies by group and area. Explore more

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How can digital technology support colleges with lost learning?

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How can digital technology support colleges with lost learning?

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As the use of innovative digital technology spreads throughout further education colleges, helping students and teachers prepare for the future of work, the AoC and Ufi are keen to explore how it can be best used to tackle the UK's growing skills gaps and support students catching-up on lost vocational learning.

Both vocational learning catch-up and tackling skills gaps are key to the UK's economic recovery, and digital technology will be a vital tool for colleges. In this event we will hear from sector leaders and expert practitioners on how they think innovative technology can support colleges.

Speakers include:

Further speakers and details to follow.

Association of Colleges is the national voice for further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England. They are are a not-for-profit membership organisation established in 1996 by colleges, for colleges. Their members make up almost 95% of the sector - transforming 2.2 million lives each year.
www.aoc.co.uk

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How can digital technology support colleges with lost learning?

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As the use of innovative digital technology spreads throughout further education colleges, helping students and teachers prepare for the future of work, the AoC and Ufi are keen to explore how it can be best used to tackle the UK's growing skills gaps and support students catching-up on lost vocational learning.

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Nadhim Zahawi appointed as new Education Secretary in cabinet reshuffle - AoC responds

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Nadhim Zahawi appointed as new Education Secretary in cabinet reshuffle - AoC responds

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Nadhim Zahawi appointed as new Education Secretary in cabinet reshuffle - AoC responds

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Nadhim Zahawi knows the college sector well and I absolutely expect that he will pick up the baton and continue to champion colleges and their role in recovering from the pandemic and the levelling up agenda. With the Spending Review imminent, it's imperative the new Education Secretary appreciates the need for investment in colleges to be able to deliver on the government's agenda.

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THE SKILLS BILL AND LIFELONG LEARNING – WHERE ARE WE, AND WHAT DO WE NEED?

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THE SKILLS BILL AND LIFELONG LEARNING – WHERE ARE WE, AND WHAT DO WE NEED?

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With the UK parliament returning this week, it's a good time to reflect on the Skills Bill - to ask where we got to ahead of summer recess, and what key themes need to be addressed in the next stages of the Bill's progress.

There are three key areas which require particular attention if the Bill is to deliver on its stated ambitions - and those of the Right2Learn campaign - of better enabling people to train and study right throughout their lives. First is how the Bill can ensure that all people, regardless of age, background and circumstance, have access to the education and training they need, at the level they need it. Second is how the Bill can develop a joined-up, collaborative local ecosystem. And third is how the Bill is used to drive a cross-departmental, long-term national strategy for education and skills. All of these have happily been discussed in quite some detail by peers in the Skills Bill debates so far - and could be the matter of considerable debate as peers push for amendments in the Report Stage.
Lifelong learning opportunities for all
The Lords debates so far have gone into some detail on the extent to which the Bill in fact opens up lifelong learning opportunities for all. There is the matter of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, which entitles everyone to a first, funded level 3 qualification for a set of eligible courses - a commitment which notably isn't present in the legislation itself, as many had anticipated it would be. Lord Clark very reasonably asked, if it is indeed a guarantee, why it is not on the face of the Bill itself. And peers noted that many people will require studying for a subsequent level 3 qualification, given changes in the world of work - with Baroness Wyld arguing that many people 'could, in effect, be frozen out because they have an existing qualification.'

A large number of peers raised the need to give greater attention to lower-level provision within the Bill, and have argued that the Lifetime Skills Guarantee (L3) and Lifelong Loan Entitlement (L4+) need to be developed as part of a clear continuum. And the historic poor alignment between welfare and skills policy has been a matter of considerable debate, including noting in the words of the Bishop of Durham, that 'the current welfare rules pose a major barrier to upskilling or retraining for many people out of work.'

On the much-anticipated detail on the Lifelong Loan Entitlement, peers have been clear that this new entitlement is insufficient if it does not also include access to maintenance support. Here Lord Flight proposed an amendment which would establish a maintenance support system that would enable 'everyone to live reasonably while studying or training at colleges of both FE and HE' - echoing an amendment proposed by Lord Watson, which similarly received cross-party support.
Local education and skills ecosystems
The second key theme relates to the local ecosystem, and the extent to which the reforms will empower colleges, universities and other providers to collaborate locally, with employers and the other key actors - including crucially local government, students' unions, trade unions and other relevant community organisations and agencies. As Baroness Wilcox argued, making these new local ecosystems work will mean establishing 'the right balance of autonomy, authority and accountabilities that will enable schools, colleges and universities to focus on the complementary roles they can play together and with other partners over the long term' which 'must involve a genuine partnership, with providers empowered to stimulate and challenge articulated demand, rather than act as passive policy recipients.'

The worry for many peers is that this dynamic risks being one-sided, as it currently stands, with the voice of employers, important as it is, heard to the exclusion of other equally important partners. Baroness Morris called for 'assurance that they [colleges and other providers] will be listened to and will have the ability to influence what is going on', with 'some powers to put a brake on something if they do not like it.' And peers were clear on wanting clarity on the accountabilities on employer representatives bodies designated as leading Local Skills Improvement Plans, too.

Peers were also wary of the lack of alignment to local government and Mayoral Combined Authorities. Lord Adonis warned that it is a 'fat lot of good' if the role of MCAs involves simply being consulted on the local plans, while Lord Bradley argued that one of the best ways of ensuring that LSIPs reflect 'a holistic and objective overview of the whole education, skills and employment system' is to give a formal role to MCAs, where they exist.
A cohesive and collaborative national strategy
The third theme is how this all comes together as part of a cohesive national strategy, which many across education and skills are calling for. Speaking to this, Lord Aberdare called for a 'joining the dots' between Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) and national strategies, which Baroness Wilcox argued will require long-term planning, across Whitehall - calling on government 'to prepare and publish a cross-departmental 10-year national strategy for education and skills to deliver on a wide policy agenda' - aligning for example to decarbonisation and biodiversity, welfare and levelling up strategies.

And there was clear agreement of the need to resist creating new siloes or forms of competition across the education and skills system. Lord Bradley here said that 'the funding system, along with the regulatory system, across further and higher education needs to promote collaboration and co-operation, not competition', Baroness Garden argued for the need to affirm 'complementary roles and look for a whole-education collaboration style' and Lord Willetts argued for the need to ensure the reforms do not 'create conflict between higher and further education when both have an important role to play.' Lord Johnson argued that ultimately this will require a return to the matter of regulation - saying 'the time is surely coming... for us to move to a joined-up system of regulation and funding for all post-16 education.'

Where does this leave those of us sitting outside parliament? Peers have certainly raised a set of important challenges and will now have to decide which themes to push to a vote at report stage. So, there is a key task as a sector in galvanising support for amendments and pushing government to go further where we feel that's required, while also engaging MPs ahead of the Bill's progress through the House of Commons.

Beyond the Bill itself, there are a number of issues raised which will have to be picked up elsewhere - in the decarbonisation agenda, the anticipated SEND Green Paper and Levelling Up White Paper, and of course the upcoming spending review. A significant number of peers have come forward as clear advocates on these issues (including no less than four former Education Secretaries, four former education ministers and one former Chancellor), so there is a lot of scope for working closely with them to influence those wider agendas, embedding skills in public policy and spending priorities better than ever before.

And there's a lot too that we can get on with as a sector, to drive these necessary changes at a local level too. Colleges and employer representative bodies in the recently-announced successful LSIP trailblazers and Strategic Development Fund (SDF) pilots will be thinking hard about how they want to work together in partnership, and how they can work with other key partners - and those not successful in the trailblazers and pilots are already reflecting on how they want things to work locally when the model is rolled out nationally. So, there's huge scope for the sector to lead the way in building new linkages between colleges, universities, schools and other providers, strengthening relationships with mayoral combined authorities and local government, and embedding the voice of students, staff and the wider community in all of this - and in so doing demonstrating and strengthening the new environment that they want to operate in.

The case for building a cohesive, sustainably funded system of lifelong learning in England is inescapable, redressing years of neglect. Achieving it will require close engagement and campaigning over coming months. It continues to be a key time for everyone who supports the aims of the Right2Learn campaign - and an important autumn ahead.
Lewis Cooper is Director of the Independent Commission on the College of the Future (www.collegecommission.co.uk).

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The Skills Bill and lifelong learning - where are we, and what do we need? - right2learn.co.uk

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With the UK parliament returning this week, it's a good time to reflect on the Skills Bill - to ask where we got to ahead of summer recess, and what key themes need to be addressed in the next stages of the Bill's progress.

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( Part of a series on Covid-19, Learning Technology and Lost Learning)

This series explores the reactions of different countries to the Covid-19 education emergency and suggests that policy makers must now aggregate the best practice that emerged during lockdowns into a collective change programme and a robust plan to deal with future school closures.

According to the UNESCO Global Education Coalition, 58 out of 84 surveyed countries postponed or rescheduled exams during the 2020 summer session, only 23 (27%) introduced alternative assessment methods such as online or home-based testing, and only 22 maintained public exams, while in 11 countries they were completely cancelled.

The pandemic exposed both the weaknesses of conventional continuity planning practices, traditional assessment methods and the limits of regulatory oversight, but it also challenged the idea that learning technology is being effectively integrated into state schooling systems or that it has had a 'game changing' effect.

In recent years, learning technologies have helped to engage marginalised young people in the UK and in some of the world's poorest communities. Innovative technologies, practices and ideas abound across the educational landscape. Learning technology provides the tantalising capability to 'jailbreak' the existing architecture of the way schools teach and test, which is currently based almost exclusively around standardisation.

Student-centric technologies enable modular customisation, which is ideal for supporting learners who are forced to work away from the physical school setting. Over the past decade the learning technology market has exploded at a dizzying pace. The value of the E-Learning Market, which is just one component of the virtual learning eco-system, had surpassed $200 billion USD in 2019 and was anticipated to grow at over 8% annually between 2020 and 2026. A post pandemic surge in demand for learning technology spending is now likely.

Despite the swell in learning technology and the concomitant promise to transcend geographies, progressive technology-based pedagogy has remained largely experimental and fragmented in the public education mainstream. Spreading and codifying learning has not occurred at the level needed to provide seamless learning experiences through a major crisis. Going into the pandemic, access to technology and hardware remained concentrated in rich Western countries, but even in these locations access is still subject to a 'digital divide' between economies. The OECD average for children having access to a computer and home internet connection is 89%, but this falls to 60% in Japan and as low as 23.5% in Indonesia.

Why schools and colleges struggle with adopting learning technology

There are two key barriers to the adoption of learning technology in the college setting. Firstly, there is the macro-level 'heavyweight organisational design' of the school system, which is geared against customised, individual learning.

Overall, the school system does not teach to mastery levels or multiple levels of intelligence and acquisition, but to timescales, processing batches of students in a system where everything from the layout of buildings to the streaming of students is designed around standardisation.

Secondly, and at the same time, there is a micro-level functional problem of 'lightweight teams', that is, a low level of co-ordination between different departments and actors within a school or college. Changes to the way that faculty members set, deliver, and assess routine coursework are usually controlled within sub-school departments. In the UK this was shown to be the case during COVID-19, when many parents and children had to grapple with different digital learning platforms being beamed-out from the same school. Combined, these macro and micro level preconditions create a sclerotic and chaotic environment, disenabling progressive change.

Different levels of tutor confidence in using online platforms also accounted for disparities in learning quality and engagement. This wasn't just an issue in UK schools and colleges, across the developed world, a capacity and skills deficit was quickly exposed, which points to a lack of government ambition in providing the right structure for all schools to innovate at the same pace and in the same direction.

Funding is only a small part of the equation, cramming classrooms with computers or pushing laptops through letterboxes is of no use in an emergency. While some governments have dished-out free digital equipment to students, many schools were unable to adapt to new teaching practices despite the easy availability of the latest tools.

Disruptive change is occurring heroically and tangentially rather than systematically, largely because the short-term nature of political administrations is not equipped to steward the long-term radical changes needed to confront the demand for standardisation, high-stakes assessment events, and the regulatory and funding disincentives to change - such as national league tables.

Going into COVID-19 lockdowns, insufficient tutor training, low integration of technologies at a macro (system) and micro (sub-school) level, and little preparation resulted in a lottery of learning experiences.

What can government do to avert more learning catastrophes?

Reform is partly about widespread incorporation of new technologies, but technology is only part of the equation.

More broadly, reforms must be guided by a genuine long-range political process which embraces a multitude of changes. The extent to which innovation occurs and the extent to which it is amplified is subject to political choices, but there is a growing problem of 'asymmetric information' wherein policy makers are disconnected from the realities of education delivery or the pace of learning technology. There is also a problem of 'policy amnesia' wherein new administrations rehash old ideas under the banner of 'reform', only to repeat the failures of previous ministries ad infinitum, compounding the dominant logic that chokes the life out of real reform programmes.

If the Department for Education can take any lessons from Covid-19, the main one should be a reflection on the yawning chasm that now exists between policy and practice.

The ability to innovate in a school setting has been decentralised, and that has produced some promising initiatives, but now officials must re-aggregate these gains into a collective change programme, and an operational plan to deal with future national school closures. The ability to execute and scale-up change depends both on the quality and technical knowledge of the civil service and the courage and commitment of elected officials. The responses of governments in performing a co-ordinating role has varied considerably across countries. COVID-19 exposed a lack of bureaucratic quality and capacity across many different countries and contexts, but most surprisingly perhaps in major developed economies. As a result, these governments and regulatory watchdogs now face a credibility deficit. In re-imagining the structure of education and assessment, and developing bold public policy choices, supra-national institutions, think-tanks, schools, trusts, colleges, universities, and NGOs must be invited to perform a path-finding role, with best practice diffused with the help of government agencies. The work, vision and reach of the sector itself transcends the myopic political priorities and timescales of government and is the only mechanism for producing real change.
Follow this series only in FE News Rob May, CEO ABE Global, Examination Body

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Association of Business Executives (ABE)

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(Part of a series on Covid-19, Learning Technology and Lost Learning) This series explores the reactions of different countries to the Covid-19 education emergency and suggests that policy makers must now aggregate the best practice that emerged during lockdowns into a collective change programme and a robust plan to deal...

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ESFA accused of ‘hidden agenda’ as AEB providers reveal ‘horrendous’ bid rejections

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ESFA accused of ‘hidden agenda’ as AEB providers reveal ‘horrendous’ bid rejections

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The government has been accused of using the adult education budget tender process to "manoeuvre its hidden agenda" of shrinking the private provider market - as leaders spoke out about "horrendous" bid rejections.

Several long-running providers told FE Week they were left "infuriated" after their applications were denied owing to "missing" documents that were in fact attached. Others were rejected for using abbreviated words that are typically used in procurements.

Another was rejected because one of the many documents requested was corrupted, others cross-referenced near-identical bids which received completely different outcomes, and many were denied full marks despite receiving "ridiculously" positive feedback.

The providers, some of which are now being forced to close, believe this was the Education and Skills Funding Agency's (ESFA's) first step in slashing the independent training provider market, which was described as "crowded" in this year's FE white paper.

A few providers considered launching legal challenges but decided against the action owing to costs.

Results for the heavily delayed national adult education budget (AEB) procurement were finally communicated to the sector in mid-June - just two weeks before contracts commenced.

In total £74 million was allocated, which was down by a fifth on the £92 million in the last AEB tender from 2017.

FE Week analysis shows the number of private providers with a direct ESFA AEB contract has now shrunk by almost 60 per cent, from 208 to 88. In total, 581 providers submitted bids.

Half (44) of the 88 winners did not previously hold a procured AEB contract with the ESFA. Of these, 14 did not hold any contract with the agency last year and have never been inspected by Ofsted.

ESFA claims bid marking was 'fair'

After being shown the provider complaints by FE Week, the ESFA said the procurement was a "fair and open competition" and maintained that all bids were "assessed in line with the published evaluation criteria and methodology".

It added that the agency had "communicated our intention" to have "fewer, larger direct ESFA-funded AEB contracts at market engagement events in January 2021 and as part of the invitation to tender".

The ESFA claims that by having fewer, larger contracts, providers will be "better able to support the quality of the learning, dedicating funding to the front line, rather than management costs and maximising the opportunity that AEB offers learners as they progress to higher-level qualifications and employment".

Despite the agency's desire for there to be substantially less subcontracting in FE, most training providers who spoke to FE Week and previously held direct contracts said the ESFA's own officials were now encouraging them to start subcontracting instead.

Although most wished not to go on the record for fear that the ESFA would make it harder for them to win contracts in future, a few were able to discuss their tender experience anonymously.

"We dropped very few marks and all the feedback was ridiculously positive on what we submitted, however we didn't get any funding," one said.

"We hit a brick wall when trying to get further feedback on how we dropped marks or getting a re-mark. Basically, there was no real rationale or consistency and no consistent approach across the country.

"It is well known we do a lot of subcontracting with incredible achievement, amazing learner and employer satisfaction, and really positive partner feedback. Surely this was the chance for the ESFA to help a shift to direct delivery."

'The feedback we got was infuriating'

One long-running training provider told FE Week it was denied a contract because it abbreviated some words to combat the "crazy" low character count - 3,500 - it could use for each question. For example, it wrote "vs" rather than "versus".

The ESFA also told the provider that the bid was "missing" some documents, which were actually attached to the bid when the provider challenged this.

"The feedback we got was pretty horrendous and infuriating," the provider's chief executive told FE Week.

"I was quite animated with the agency because they were saying there were bits not in there which were. And our team always abbreviates words in tender bids and we have never had a problem with that before."

In its appeal to the ESFA, the provider also cross-referenced its AEB bid with its one for traineeships, which was successful. Despite some of the answers being "almost the same" and the provider spending "more time" on the AEB bid, the agency refused to remark its bid.

As a result of the contract rejection, the provider had to make its AEB team redundant just days before they were meant to start the academic year.

The chief executive said there was a "hidden agenda" to shrink the independent training provider base in AEB.

"The agency has allocated billions out to the FE college sector and only £73 million to the ITPs. They made a conscious decision to shrink the allocation at a time when the country needs more adult provision. I think they have tried to use the bid process to manoeuvre this.

"Even with providers that have got great track records in delivering AEB, they found reasons - not valid reasons, but reasons for kicking them out."

Another provider which has delivered government-funded adult education courses for 15 years told FE Week its bid was rejected because one of its files was "corrupted".

"The agency never tried to contact us to ask for it to be re-sent," the provider's chief executive said.

He appealed against the process after being informed that this was the reason it was rejected, rather than because of the quality of the bid.

The chief executive explained: "There's no 'woe is me' here. I appealed on the basis that you would expect a provider of 15 years with a good track record, if they have miss-submitted a file, to receive a phone call to say, 'hey, you have not submitted that right' and ask for another.

"I would have no problem with being turned down after that. Just give me a chance to have the same process as everyone else."

The chief executive said he "understood" the drive by government to push the AEB towards colleges, but it would be "nice if that was an overt policy so that everybody knew where they stood. We could stop wasting our time bidding for these things."

High Court challenge was debated by provider

One provider that has been running for more than 20 years told FE Week its bid was rejected due to insufficient detail in the volumes of delivery it proposed. However, there was a spreadsheet on volumes attached to the bid that the ESFA asked to be submitted separately.

"Why would I use my 3,500 characters for this question by repeating what I've put in the volume spreadsheet?" a spokesperson for the provider said.

On top of this, the chief executive of this provider reviewed a near-identical bid and found disparities in the ESFA's assessment.

"The bids received different outcomes from each of the questions. We had the same statement in both bids. One of them said, 'the bidder has demonstrated how they will deliver this' and the other said it 'lacked detail'."

The provider's spokesperson said it felt as though the agency had an "agenda from the start and they've done what they can to make it fit their purpose. It's not a fair process. The only way that I can possibly fight it is to employ a barrister and take it to the High Court, which we can't do."

A small Nottinghamshire-based training provider called CEATA, which delivers both engineering apprenticeships and adult education courses to the unemployed, has had to close after the ESFA rejected its bid.

Seven staff have lost their jobs and 35 apprentices are trying to find alternative providers to complete their training.

The provider's general manager, Karen Hodgson, told FE Week that the ESFA's feedback was "nit-picky" as she believes they failed on "word-search checks".

She explained: "There was a question about remote and part-time learning. I explained that our health and safety resources are all available on a remote platform on demand and described our delivery model as flexible. But, because I didn't use the word they wanted - part-time- they claimed our answer was not clear."

Hodgson added: "Being denied an AEB contract has impacted the business' capacity to carry on. So our really good apprenticeships, with above 90 per cent achievement rates, are also gone."

She believes the ESFA was "just out to reduce the number of ITPs that were getting direct funding, and they have succeeded".

Bid writers disagree about the agency's alleged 'hidden agenda'

David Kitchen, managing director of consultancy firm The Leadership Team, which was used by several providers in this tender to write bids, told FE Week that the feedback structure from the ESFA varied "significantly from provider to provider seemingly marked very differently in each region". It was "inconsistent", he added.

He said his company's view was that there is a "drive to reduce the number of ITPs and this procurement process is evidence of that".

But Jim Carley, managing director of Carley Consult Ltd which also helped many applicants to write their bids, disagreed.

"I've not seen anything that would suggest that the design of the ESFA's AEB procurement this time around put bidders at a disadvantage compared to previous competitions, or that the ESFA may have had some form of hidden agenda to reduce the ITP market," he said.

He added: "With a high volume of bids, the ESFA probably had a large team of evaluators, and a resultant very challenging moderation task.

"This very likely resulted in some instances of inconsistency in the scoring process between different evaluators. Bidders could, of course, appeal their original scores, which some successfully did. It is therefore very hard to say whether or not any isolated scoring inconsistencies had a material impact on the competition as a whole."

In fact, the ESFA used more staff in this procurement than the last AEB and non-levy tender debacles despite receiving fewer bids, according to data supplied by the agency to FE Week via a freedom of information request (see table).

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Jane Hickie described the "deliberate reduction" in the number of ITPs delivering AEB as a "bad case of misguided dogma when employers and adult learners need a good spread of provision across sectors and the country as part of the pandemic retraining and recovery effort".

Asked if it was concerned that 14 of the 88 winning bidders had never been inspected by Ofsted, the DfE reiterated its policy that new providers will normally have an early monitoring visit from the inspectorate, but that these could take two years to be conducted.

The DfE added that, as the government transitions to the reforms set out in the Skills for Jobs white paper, ITPs will "continue to have an important role to play in delivering adult training and skills".

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ESFA accused of 'hidden agenda' in AEB tender

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The government has been accused of using the adult education budget tender process to "manoeuvre its hidden agenda" of shrinking the private provider market - as leaders spoke out about "horrendous" bid rejections. Several long-running providers told FE Week they were left "infuriated" after their applications were denied owing to "missing" documents that were in fact attached.

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Want sensible education policy? It is all about balance

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Want sensible education policy? It is all about balance

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The best public policy solutions rarely emerge from a polarised debate, writes David Hughes

"Post-18 (or 'tertiary') education in England is a story of both care and neglect, depending on whether students are amongst the 50 per cent of young people who participate in higher education (HE) or the rest." Foreword by Philip Augar from Independent Panel Report: Review of post-18 education and funding, May 2019.

I keep coming back to these opening lines written by Philip Augar after the first properly comprehensive review of all post-18 education. The echo is strong with the opening lines of Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, and particularly the line "....it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity..." because that probably best summarises how the report was received.

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For those of us working in the college and further education sectors, the report was full of hope and there was (and still is) belief that it would lead to profound and positive changes. On the other hand, there truly was incredulity amongst those in universities who saw it as an attack on all that they held true. That polarisation was stark, and I remember speaking to a largely university audience shortly after publication challenging them to admit that most had not even read the chapters of the report which were about FE and skills, because it was not relevant to them.

It's a deep shame that the report was received that way, but not surprising. So much of the debate in post-16 education is undermined by polarised views and understanding or by differences and territorialism. So much so that it is sometimes difficult to criticise the whole system without being accused of attacking one particular part of it. Perhaps it is simply a sign of the times we have been living in, where simplistic populism has driven so much so-called public debate? Or perhaps it is simply because we have spent so much time focusing on higher education at the expense of everything else and we are in the early stages of an unhelpful backlash? Whatever the reasons, we need to move on, it is not good enough. There is a lot to be proud of across every part of post-16 education which needs to continue even if we can all agree that we need to do better overall.

The best public policy solutions rarely emerge from a polarised debate. Social and economic problems and challenges are mostly not about deciding what is good or bad, desired or unwanted. There are so many examples of this in education though, in which discussions and debate seem to end in an either/or dead-end when the answer is more nuanced and joined-up.

Where better to start than the classic "stand-off" between academic and technical education in which a false tension is set up as an enormous problem. It really is a simple one, this. We. Need. Both. The pandemic showed us that while we need highly trained and skilled researchers to design vaccines, we also need people to nurse and care, deliver food and keep the IT working. A nice easy starter.

While we're on some easy wins, it's also worth condemning to the naughty step any discussion that sets up a fight between colleges and universities for primacy. We will all do worse if this is a zero-sum game of win and lose. It has to be about both flourishing to deliver their unique, different and slightly overlapping vital and complimentary roles. A truly lifelong learning society will need the very best colleges and universities working together along with schools, adult education providers and independents as well.

So far, so easy, so let's move on to some trickier areas. Our education system seems to have been designed around an escalator taking people through compulsory schooling, onto A levels, through three year residential degrees and into decent jobs. It still works that way for many, and nothing wrong with that in itself.

There are shortcomings though, in a rapidly changing world, with technology transforming jobs and with people living and working much longer. There is also the issue of fairness and equity, because the system we have got simply does not deliver for many people who get a raw deal. The populist answer is to attack the bit that is working and the institutions involved, particularly recently the universities, but that is too simplistic and is part of the polarised debate we can do without.

I want young people to have routes to success which include the current routes, as well as new ones. But I also want a system of lifelong learning, training, CPD and re-skilling which work for adults of all ages. We just need to describe it, design it and then secure the investment to make it work. Not more adult funding at the expense of young people, but both for the benefit of an inclusive society and successful economy.

There are plenty of other false tensions we need to debunk. National or local; exams or continuous assessment; economic or social; jobs or wider learning outcomes. All benefit from a balanced discussion and all suffer from simple polarised positioning. In each case I hear people digging their heels in absolutely in one camp or another, and I find myself thinking that the answer is simply "both".

So, I do want a national post-16 strategy, but I also want local partnerships to agree coherent strategies that work in every unique place. Likewise, I want education and training to help people get good jobs and earn decent wages, but I also want them to be empowered to be good citizens, contributing to their families and communities, engaging in our participative democracy and being happier and healthier. Exams are a good way to assess, but surely it is better to have a mixture of assessments which help different people shine and reduce the high stakes nature of exams?

It might be unexciting, it might not grab media headlines, but I really hope that we can start to agree that most policy solutions need a balance of ingredients and solutions. I love colleges and will die in a ditch to help them be successful, but universities, schools and other education providers are equally loveable and certainly just as vital. All ages, all stages, a mixture of institutions and a basket of outcomes; national and local, a variety of assessments. Horses for courses, diversity and inclusion. Let's embrace them all in education.

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Want sensible education policy? It is all about balance

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The best public policy solutions rarely emerge from a polarised debate, writes David Hughes "Post-18 (or 'tertiary') education in England is a story of both care and neglect, depending on whether students are amongst the 50 per cent of young people who participate in higher education (HE) or the rest."

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Colleges to partner with NHS and Office for Students to improve mental health in HE students

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Colleges to partner with NHS and Office for Students to improve mental health in HE students

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The City of Liverpool College along with nine other colleges in the North West will utilise funding from the Office for Students to support students' mental health. The collaboration between the Merseyside Colleges, Lancashire Colleges, four NHS trusts and AoC will develop and implement a highly innovative Social Prescribing (SP) approach to improve mental health outcomes for HE students.

It will help provide a stronger focus on mental wellbeing not illness, with an emphasis on the importance of personal choice and control in achieving and maintaining mental and physical wellbeing. With over 137,000 HE students studying in a college, of which over 50% are aged 25+, Higher Education Social Prescribing (HESP) will establish a network of HE SP link workers, in partnership with local health agencies developing preventative strategies for students that may be at a higher risk of poor mental health or face barriers to accessing support - for example international students, part-time students, or those with caring responsibilities.

HESP will have a clear focus on addressing issues around the lack of integration and connectivity between health agencies, community support services and higher education. HESP will transform access to a range of wellbeing (non-clinical) services for HE students within their college and beyond in order to support a range of health and wellbeing needs.

This project supports part of NHS England's commitment to deliver a more integrated approach across health, social care, education and the voluntary sector.

Kirsti Lord, Deputy Chief Executive of Association of Colleges said:

"We know mental health is a big issue for colleges across the country and they strive to support every student who needs help. Students on higher education courses can have different circumstances and face varying barriers when accessing learning and crucially if they need mental health support while in education. This tailored project will be vital when reaching students with complex needs or who might have never accessed mental health and wellbeing support before and transform access to services and support."

Chris Millward, Director for fair access and participation at the Office for Students, said:

"Having a mental health condition should not be a barrier to success in higher education, but for many students this is still the case. Data shows that students reporting a mental health condition are more likely to drop out, less likely to graduate with a first or 2:1, and progress into skilled work or further study - compared to students without a declared condition. We also know that students come to university or college from a range of backgrounds and that their individual journey, and the kind of support they require, is likely to be influenced by their specific circumstances.

That's why this funding of targeted interventions for student mental health is so important. By paying attention to the diverse needs of students; universities and colleges can fine-tune the support they offer and ensure that all students, regardless of where they are from, have the best chance possible to succeed.

Working with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education, we are pleased to be able to fund projects across a range universities and colleges targeting a number of priority groups. We look forward to working with these projects to develop and evaluate innovative and collaborative approaches to targeted support for student mental health, and to support the take-up of this learning for the benefit of students in all parts of the sector."

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Colleges to partner with NHS and Office for Students to improve mental health in HE students

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The City of Liverpool College along with nine other colleges in the North West will utilise funding from the Office for Students to support students' mental health. The collaboration between the Merseyside Colleges, Lancashire Colleges, four NHS trusts and AoC will develop and implement a highly innovative Social Prescribing (SP) approach to improve mental health outcomes for HE students.

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Prime Minister's 'levelling up' speech and skills packages - AoC responds

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Prime Minister's 'levelling up' speech and skills packages - AoC responds

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Responding to the Prime Minister's speech on his plans for 'levelling up' the country and the skills announcements including the Skills Accelerator, Skills Bootcamps expansion, National Skills Fund Consultation and Funding and Accountability Consultation, Deputy Chief Executive of AoC, Julian Gravatt said:

"We have long called for colleges to get the recognition they deserve for their role in uplifting people and communities, so we welcome the positive comments from the Prime Minister today about the role of education in giving opportunities to people and communities but more specifically we are pleased that is getting on with the white paper implementation.

DfE announced the results of its Skills accelerator competition today. We know that there were lots of high quality bids but we are pleased that the 19 selected build on strong college partnerships and cover a good mix of urban, rural and coastal locations. They will work with selected Chambers of Commerce to develop the Local Skills Plan and college business centre models.

DfE has also published a funding and accountability consultation which develops the ideas in the FE white paper for a government approach which is less focused on processes and checking transactions and getting the best value from available funds for the adult learners, employers and communities involved in further education. DfE has worked with colleges and AoC on these plans which are a first step towards a more effective way of organising the system.

The third DfE announcement is a consultation on the National Skills Fund which is already being used by colleges to improve the skills of adult learners and via bootcamps where they have been selected in the recent tender. We welcome the opportunity to discuss some of the barriers to participation in learning - including current universal credit rules and qualification assessment regimes - but we will also encourage DfE and Treasury to keep a focus on how to make skills funding simple and easy to understand. The National Skills Fund is currently managed separately from other funding lines. It will be worth looking at how to integrate them.

The country faces big challenges in the next few years. Let's hope the government matches its bold and ambitious plans with the investment to make up for a decade of neglect for this to be the turning point for opportunities that the government wants it to be."

Further detail on the announcements can be found here.

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Prime Minister's 'levelling up' speech and skills packages - AoC responds

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Responding to the Prime Minister's speech on his plans for 'levelling up' the country and the skills announcements including the Skills Accelerator, Skills Bootcamps expansion, National Skills Fund Consultation and Funding and Accountability Consultation, Deputy Chief Executive of AoC, Julian Gravatt said: "We have long called for colleges to get the recognition they deserve for their role in uplifting people and communities, so we welcome the positive comments from the Prime Minister today about the role of education in giving opportunities to people and communities but more specifically we are pleased that is getting on with the white paper implementation.

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ESFA U-turns and allows AEB clawback business cases

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ESFA U-turns and allows AEB clawback business cases

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The Education and Skills Funding Agency has announced colleges will be allowed to submit business cases to avoid adult education funding being clawed back.

An update published this afternoon said the agency is developing a process for grant-funded providers to plead as to why they should be given leniency for missing their allocation by more than 10 per cent in 2020/21.

The ESFA had ruled out such a process when they announced the controversial threshold in March.

Grant-funded providers will be allowed to apply for a business case where "local circumstances made it impossible for the provider to deliver at or close to the 90 per cent level and recovery of funds based on the 90 per cent threshold would lead to the provider's costs of AEB delivery not being covered," today's update reads.

Or, if "applying the full amount of AEB clawback would cause significant financial difficulties for the provider".

ESFA chief executive Eileen Milner said they had "recognised that there is a risk that some colleges will face financial difficulty so we will continue to monitor them, offer early support, and intervene when necessary.

"As part of the support offer, after extensive talks and listening to the sector, we are developing a process to consider business cases through which providers apply for support.

"The process will consider whether local circumstances made it impossible for the provider to deliver at or close to the 90 per cent level and whether recovery of funds based on the 90 per cent threshold would lead to the provider's costs of AEB delivery not being covered. It will then determine how much (if any) help should be provided."

AEB reconciliation arrangements will return to the normal clawback threshold of 97 per cent in 2020-21, she added.

Adult education network HOLEX's policy director Sue Pember, who previously worked on the DfE's post-19 education policy as a civil servant, said about today's announcement: "Although we would have liked the DfE to have accepted that grant providers needed assurance about their funding last year, we welcome this clarity and decision to accept a business cases.

"We hope the process is not over complex and doesn't put further administrative burden on providers who are now working hard to get learners through assessments and progress on to further learning."

The Association of Colleges' deputy chief executive Julian Gravatt said they were "pleased" colleges will be able to submit business cases, as: "The hardline 10 per cent tolerance was never going to be fair in a year disrupted by the pandemic from the outset and now more than ever, colleges need to stabilise their finances.

"The timing will be tight, with colleges given just a few weeks to return financial information, but ESFA's flexibility is better late than never."

It is expected the process will be set out in early September 2021.

Milner also said the government will still fund delivery up to 103 per cent of providers' nationally-funded AEB grant allocation.

They have also increased the threshold from 110 per cent to 130 per cent for 16-18 and 19-24 traineeships in 2020-21.

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ESFA caves in on AEB threshold business cases

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The Education and Skills Funding Agency has announced colleges will be allowed to submit business cases to avoid adult education funding being clawed back. An update published this afternoon said the agency is developing a process for grant-funded providers to plead as to why they should be given leniency for missing their allocation by more than 10 per cent in 2020/21.

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The Missing Middle addresses the mismatch between qualifications and workforce requirements. Currently, the UK has an undersupply of graduates with skills-focused technical qualifications at level 4 and 5 where most opportunities exist in the digital sector. Further Education can deliver these skills now with the right qualification and content partnership.

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Further Education Delivering The

The Missing Middle addresses the mismatch between qualifications and workforce requirements. Currently, the UK has an undersupply of graduates with skills-focused technical qualifications at level 4 and 5 where most opportunities exist in the digital sector. Further Education can deliver these skills now with the right qualification and content partnership.

Understanding the Missing Middle

The White Paper, Delivering the Missing Middle, a collaboration between Code Institute, City of Bristol Further Education College, Gateway Qualifications and West Yorkshire Combined Authority. It examines the implications of the government's Skills for Jobs White Paper and addresses the following challenges:

A ratio of 80:1 indicates the oversupply of graduates at 6+ compared to those gaining level 4 and 5 qualifications. This results in vastly over-educated but under-qualified graduates lacking the skills that employers need.

Digital skills are critical for the modern economy and tech jobs are sustainable, well paid and available in all sectors.

A technical qualification that can be completed in one-year and get grads into employment is critical.

Further Education colleges need to deliver these skills quickly - Code Institute and Gateway Qualifications provide the qualification, content and support to do that immediately.

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The Missing Middle addresses the mismatch between qualifications and workforce requirements. Currently, the UK has an undersupply of graduates with skills-focused technical qualifications at level 4 and 5 where most opportunities exist in the digital sector. Further Education can deliver these skills now with the right qualification and content partnership.

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After a year of homeschooling and exam disruption
It’s time to ask some big questions about education

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After a year of homeschooling and exam disruption
It’s time to ask some big questions about education

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Drag the emoji to tell us what you think education should really be for.

Here's what others think education should really be for:

#BigEdConvo

Wherever and whoever you are, why not take time to have a chat about the big changes to education that you and your friends, family, colleagues, or students, want to see.

In case you need a help to get started, we've create a simple guide with a menu of questions you can choose from. Use them to spark a conversation about the future of education and get curious about what others think.

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Thank you! Your submission has been received! Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form. Drag the emoji to tell us what you think education should really be for. Here's what others think education should really be for: #BigEdConvo Wherever and whoever you are, why not take time to have a chat about the big changes to education that you and your friends, family, colleagues, or students, want to see.

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The confusing, unhelpful and burdensome regulations in further education are ripe for reform - and the peers in the House of Lords know it, writes David Hughes

The answer might surprise some of you who have not had the time to listen to or read through the speeches from the 53 peers who spoke at the second reading of the (England-only) Skills and Post-16 Education Bill last week.

That answers part of my question, but the fact that it was uttered by Lord Johnson, previously minister for higher education, is in part why it is so notable. He was the architect of, or at the very least the midwife for, the Office for Students (OfS), which was set up only a few years ago, so he knows a bit about the "bewildering array of regulatory and funding bodies out there in the landscape".

More by David Hughes: Why we need more than just more money

The skills bill: What the House of Lords had to say

Need to know: The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill

Lord Curry also warned of the risk " that the new roles envisaged would create a two-tier and rather cumbersome regulatory approval system". The fact is, though, that many of the other contributions about what is needed were also crying out for a simpler regulatory landscape, even if the people making them didn't allude to it.

Other peers, including Lord Bichard and Lord Shipley, echoed the need for more joining-up by arguing that the lifelong loan entitlement should not be bolted on to current systems but be part of a single, reformed and simple funding system for all. Without a single regulator, that is difficult to achieve, and without consistent and appropriate accountability, it could be very unfair.

In Scotland there are reforms being discussed to build on the success of the single FE and HE regulatory and funding regime; in Wales, the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Billwill create one single tertiary regulator; and, in Northern Ireland, they are developing a single post-16 strategy. So, why not in England?

Regulation in FE: ripe for reform

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Why we need a single regulatory body in FE

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The confusing, unhelpful and burdensome regulations in further education are ripe for reform - and the peers in the House of Lords know it, writes David Hughes The answer might surprise some of you who have not had the time to listen to or read through the speeches from the 53 peers who spoke at the second reading of the (England-only) Skills and Post-16 Education Bill last week.

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Skills bill: Why we need more than just more money

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Skills bill: Why we need more than just more money

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After a decade of neglect, the prospect of rebalancing funding between FE and HE is exciting, says David Hughes

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This week, the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords. It's an exciting time for those of us in the further education sector, who rarely get so much time in the spotlight, and we've been speaking with plenty of peers who are keen to use the bill to make progress in lifelong learning.

The bill has three major themes: developing a new lifelong learning system, engaging more employers and ensuring their needs are being met, and resetting the relationship the government has with colleges and providers. Those themes have to be viewed in the context of the parallel ongoing work and forthcoming consultations that are emerging from the Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January of this year, and the spending review later this year, which the government promises will include a full response to the Post-18 Review (aka the Augar Review). We are expecting consultations on the new lifelong loan entitlement and on funding and accountability.

Those three themes are good ones to be discussing but after a decade of neglect and painful funding cuts, the promise from the education secretary that he is serious about rebalancing the funding between higher and further education is an enticing one. "Just give us more money and let us get on with meeting the needs of more learners and employers" is probably what most college leaders would say. And quickly. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, it doesn't really work like that.

The government commitment, though, is not far off, with the promise of more autonomy to meet local and national needs alongside the tantalising promise of "rebalancing" that featured so strongly in the Augar Review. Delivering on both is easier said than done, but if it is ever to happen, it will be this year. It will require bold, clear and decisive action from the education secretary and the very best negotiation with the chancellor to get the investment that is sorely needed. And we have to hope that it will not damage universities in the process.

Need to know: The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill
Kate Green: Post-16 plans 'close the door on millions'
Boris Johnson: FE and adult education laws 'are rocket fuel'

Here are my headline thoughts on how to deliver those three major themes:

Lifelong learning needs a guarantee of funding for all levels of learning, not just higher levels.

Giving employers "what they want" needs balancing with what people and communities need and want.

And giving more autonomy to colleges will require a much more grown-up and trusting approach than Whitehall usually manages.

Central to the skills bill is the introduction of the new lifetime loan entitlement, in which adults will be eligible for four years' tuition funding through opening up the higher education loans to modular courses. The aim is to support more people to learn standalone level 4 and level 5 courses, diverting some young people who might have gone for a three-year degree programme and encouraging adults already in the workforce back into learning. It's a good plan, but it needs filling out a bit.

On the plus side, offering funding to pay for more modular, locally delivered qualifications that help people to get good jobs and promotions has to be welcomed. Loans, rather than grants, might be an issue for many, limiting take-up, but the biggest barrier is probably that there are not enough people already in the workforce with level 3 qualifications ready, confident and wanting to study at higher levels. So the entitlement needs the new Lifetime Skills Guarantee for funding at level 3 to truly be a guarantee.

Currently, it is limited to some specified qualifications, to only the first level 3 and by funding caps. The result will be that it doesn't support retraining for people who find themselves with skills and qualifications that are out of date, for jobs that don't exist any more. Neither does it ensure that adults with lower-level qualifications can find the education and training they need to get ready to study at level 3. Both of those need to change.

Adult education: A funding guarantee

The lack of a guarantee of funding for adults to find the learning they want and need at all levels up to and including level 3 is a major hurdle. The 50 per cent cut in adult funding over the past decade means that colleges simply cannot offer sufficient learning opportunities in numeracy, literacy, ESOL, digital skills and at entry, level 1 and level 2, which are all needed for a true guarantee to work. It's no guarantee if you cannot find a course and lots of people will need that lower-level learning before they get anywhere near a level 4 or 5 qualification. Ironically, of course, recruitment on to level 6 (degree) courses has no cap, but at level 3 and below the cap is very tight, limiting the capacity of colleges to reach out to adults who really could benefit from learning at any level.

So, there is some work to do on the lifelong learning parts of the bill, and that's before we start to unpack the risk of the second theme; putting employers into the driving seat on skills. It's right and proper to engage more employers in education and skills. The average college has around 1,000 employer relationships, but the average employer doesn't invest enough in their workforce skills, so the majority never engage. Overall, employers in England invest far less than their counterparts in other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Giving them more say and more engagement with colleges might help, but the experience of the apprenticeship levy shows that the likely outcome is that they will focus very much on higher-level skills of people already in the workforce. Many will also focus on the immediate skills needs at the expense of the longer term. Green skills, for instance, might not be high on the agenda for many employers, but we need them to be part of the mix.

It is dangerous to put the whole post-16 skills and education system "in their hands". Colleges already plan their learning offer to meet the subtle mix of labour market intelligence, what their employer partners say they want and what learners are demanding. Subtle, because people need help to decide what to study, and influencing those decisions is critical. Better advice and guidance, clearer signals from employers, stronger partnerships between colleges and employers will all help, but in the end the college has to put on courses that people will enrol on.

Then there is the new relationship, with stronger powers of intervention for the education secretary, hopefully balanced with more autonomy and clearer accountability for colleges. The bill says little about the autonomy side of the equation but is clear on the powers. That's understandable but we all wait with bated breath to see how the consultation on funding and accountability delivers on the commitment to more autonomy, a simpler system and the more nurturing relationship that Dame Mary Ney recommended in her review last year.
David Hughes is chief executive of the Association of Colleges
As the bill is debated in the Lords, I'm hoping that peers use the opportunity to underpin the commitment to lifelong learning with a guarantee of funding for all levels, not just higher; balance the employer voice with what people and communities need and want; and, deliver the autonomy and trust to colleges that will unleash their true potential. That all of this is possible truly is exciting.

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Skills bill: Why we need more than just more money

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This week, the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords. It's an exciting time for those of us in the further education sector, who rarely get so much time in the spotlight, and we've been speaking with plenty of peers who are keen to use the bill to make progress in lifelong learning.

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AoC signs Fair Education Alliance Letter on Education Recovery plans

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AoC signs Fair Education Alliance Letter on Education Recovery plans

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AoC has signed a letter alongside of a cross-sector coalition of over 200 businesses, educationalists, charities, and young people, calling on the government to reconsider its education recovery plans.

The Fair Education Alliance letter proposes a recovery plan to commit to the £13.5bn to:

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AoC signs Fair Education Alliance Letter on Education Recovery plans

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AoC has signed a letter alongside of a cross-sector coalition of over 200 businesses, educationalists, charities, and young people, calling on the government to reconsider its education recovery plans. The Fair Education Alliance letter proposes a recovery plan to commit to the £13.5bn to:

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Let Them Learn: FE support for the unemployed

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Let Them Learn: FE support for the unemployed

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Let Them Learn: FE support for the unemployed

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Let Them Learn: Further education colleges' support for the unemployed' argues that further education colleges are "supporting unemployed people in partnerships with their local Jobcentre Plus (JCP), despite the education and welfare system, not because of it." It highlights how disconnected the education and welfare systems are.

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GCSEs: 'Reforms won't stop us failing 35% of students'

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GCSEs: 'Reforms won't stop us failing 35% of students'

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Planned reforms might help adults to retrain but not the teenagers who fail to get grade 4 GCSEs, says David Hughes

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Details of the free courses and qualifications for adults (19+) available through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee including eligibility criteria and how to apply.

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Explains how to apply for a free level 3 qualification. These courses could help you improve your wage outcomes and job prospects, and gain skills that employers value.

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David Hughes looks at how close FE is to achieving its aims on funding, engagement, profile, understanding and respect

When I started at the Association of Colleges in 2016, there were three things that college leaders wanted more than anything else: one was funding, and I suspect that will always be top of the list, because, without adequate and fair resources and investment, running a thriving college is tough work. The other two were more interesting and significant, even if they were not as clearly articulated as the simple one of wanting more money. Both were ambitions I was more than happy to work on, knowing that to achieve them takes many years and concerted efforts.

At the heart of what college leaders were saying was that they wanted more engagement with government and for colleges to have a more high-profile role both in the education system and in local economic, community and wider developments. Running through all three "wants" were two more desires - wanting to be both better understood and properly respected.

Our approach at the AoC over the past four years has been firmly targeted on all five of those - funding, engagement, profile, understanding and respect. Three hashtags describe how we've designed our campaigning and public affairs work - #LoveOurColleges, #CollegesWeek, #andcolleges - and they mark the increasing confidence of college leaders to work collectively on simple, positive and forward-looking messaging about the role and impact of colleges.
Need to know: The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill
FE funding: College funding increases set to be 'eroded' by Covid

Skills: Replace the apprenticeship levy with Learning for Life guarantee, says the CBI

Very early on, we were clear that we needed to talk more about the positive impact that colleges have, rather than focusing on negatives in the sector. Too often, campaigns paint a picture of deficit, and doing that with colleges would have been to deny the incredible life-transforming role that colleges have for over 2 million people and the roles they play as good community-focused institutions. We do talk about the decade of neglect that colleges suffered because that was an important baseline, but we couched that in terms of helping people to think about how much more colleges could do with the right levels of investment. The pandemic may have helped because of the agile student- and community-focused way colleges adapted and got on with things. That is testament to the amazing people who work in colleges and to their commitment to their students' wellbeing, learning and progression.

Funding and respect: Key priorities for FE colleges

There are lots of signs that this collective action by colleges, with their students, employer partners and other advocates, has worked. The past fortnight was perhaps the pinnacle so far, with the Queen announcing a new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill. I say "so far", because the real peak will be when (or if) we see a marked increase in investment; reforms that really do deliver greater autonomy, less bureaucracy and the culture shift in government to a more trusting and appropriate regulatory relationship.

The new bill firmly puts colleges in the political spotlight, backed up by the prime minister's commitment to helping give people the skills they need throughout their lives via a new Lifetime Skills Guarantee. It is a strong affirmation of colleges' central role in economic and social recovery from the pandemic, and efforts to build a fairer, healthier, more sustainable society.

It's very early days in terms of the bill and the complementary Skills for Jobs White Paper reforms, which are equally as significant as the prospective legislative changes, particularly on funding and accountability. The bill will make its passage through Parliament over the next six months or perhaps more and we expect to see key consultations this summer from the Department for Education on funding and accountability, as well as on the lifelong loan entitlement. The reforms proposed look promising, even if we have concerns about some of the new powers and how they might be triggered.

That all brings me to my own personal tally of how far we have got as a sector in meeting those five key "wants":

1. Profile - good progress. I'm not sure I can remember a Queen's speech and associated comments from the prime minister in which post-16 skills and colleges have been so prominent.
My score: 4 out of 5.

2. Engagement - I have never seen better engagement with AoC and college leaders from the DfE. We have ministers and senior officials who clearly want to work with us and recognise that the complexities of reform require co-design and honest discussions. Long may it last.
My score: 4.5 out of 5.

3. Funding - We have a long way to go after a 30 per cent overall funding cut in the past decade of neglect. The IPPR estimates that £5 billion more funding is needed to bring it back to 2010 levels, and that looks unlikely in a tight spending review. Recent announcements show we have turned a corner, and may suggest a rosier future.
My score: 2 out of 5 (but I'm hoping that moves to 3 or 4 at least when the spending review is announced).

4. Understanding - Colleges are complex institutions, delivering to all ages, all levels and all stages of learning and life. They are not easy to understand without seeing them in action. Each college has a unique personality, so there is great diversity across the sector and many hide their jewels behind a modesty that is heartening but ultimately self-defeating. We need to do more to be understood, but in Whitehall there are now more people who do understand and who have become advocates after having their eyes opened.
My score: 3 out of 5.

5. Respect - Not easy to measure, but it was lovely to hear the prime minister and education secretary talk about the need to end decades of snobbery in our education system in favour of universities and degree-level studies. Strong words are required as first steps, but respect needs more than that. Trust, regulation, rules, support and intervention will be my key tests.
My score: 2 out of 5 (but with some optimism that will increase by the end of the year).

David Hughes is chief executive of the Association of Colleges.
That makes a total of 15.5 out of 25. I suspect that in 2016, I would have put it closer to about 5 out of 25, so the progress is significant. Do you agree? Which "wants" would be your top five? What would your scores be?

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5 goals for colleges - but is progress being made?

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David Hughes looks at how close FE is to achieving its aims on funding, engagement, profile, understanding and respect When I started at the Association of Colleges in 2016, there were three things that college leaders wanted more than anything else: one was funding, and I suspect that will always be top of the list, because, without adequate and fair resources and investment, running a thriving college is tough work.

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Skills and Post-16 Education Bill presented in Parliament - AoC responds

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Skills and Post-16 Education Bill presented in Parliament - AoC responds

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Responding to the government's new Skills and Post-16 Education legislation being introduced to Parliament, to underpin the 'skills and training revolution', Chief Executive of AoC, representing over 90% of England's colleges, David Hughes said:

"Today's legislation is confirmation that colleges will be central to the country's economic recovery. For too long the snobbery towards further education has meant it's been neglected and the Skills and Post 16 Education Bill is a chance to put that right. I hope the government continues to step up and throws its full support behind the college sector as we approach the spending review later this year. The only way to bring ambitious and wide-reaching legislation to life is with fair and long-term funding from the Chancellor to back it up.

It's good to see the announcement of the Capacity Fund, with growing numbers of 16 to 18-year-olds enrolling, colleges will be considering how their buildings and facilities can meet the needs of future larger student numbers. We are asking that funds are usable in summer 2022 and not just for one year.

We look forward to working with the government to help deliver the skills and lifelong learning to build a stronger economy, redress long standing regional inequalities and make the transition to a net zero carbon economy."

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Skills and Post-16 Education Bill presented in Parliament - AoC responds

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Responding to the government's new Skills and Post-16 Education legislation being introduced to Parliament, to underpin the 'skills and training revolution', Chief Executive of AoC, representing over 90% of England's colleges, David Hughes said: "Today's legislation is confirmation that colleges will be central to the country's economic recovery.

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In January 2021 the government launched its 'Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunities and Growth' White Paper, with a clear focus on the pivotal role that further and technical education has in helping people get skills for good jobs now and in the future.

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Avoiding a 'lost generation' must be a top priority for the city's next Mayor, say leaders of every further education college in London in an open letter sent to the Mayoral candidates. As campaigning steps up in the last weeks before election day, London's colleges insist that whoever wins must improve the education and training of the city's workers of the future to protect the poorest communities from being shut out of jobs and the chance to better their lives.

Elections take place on 6 May and colleges in the city have set out how the incoming Mayor of London must 'fix the funding' and 'get London learning' to ensure a strong recovery from the economic impact of the pandemic. With adult education at a record low and young Londoners more likely to be out of education, employment or training than the national average, without direct action London risks a 'lost generation' and a slower recovery from the pandemic.

London has experienced a severe economic contraction and when the furlough scheme ends, 2021 could see a significantly stronger impact of the crisis on jobs and livelihoods. 'An Open Letter to the next Mayor of London' cites access to lifelong learning, career support and the ability to re-train where labour market shifts require new skills as some of the most important issues for adults and young people in the capital.London has experienced a severe economic contraction and when the furlough scheme ends, 2021 could see a significantly stronger impact of the crisis on jobs and livelihoods.

Gerry McDonald, CEO & Group Principal New City College, Skills for Londoners Board Member and AoC Board Member

Devolution of funding has been positive, and we have a strong platform to work from. We trust that London's next mayor will recognise the true value of colleges by pledging increased funding and working with us to continue to shape policy and keep skills high on the agenda for London."

Dr Sam Parrett OBE, CEO & Group Principal London & South East Education Group and AoC Board Member - London said:

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London's colleges call on Mayor hopefuls to prioritise the city's skills for the future

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Avoiding a 'lost generation' must be a top priority for the city's next Mayor, say leaders of every further education college in London in an open letter sent to the Mayoral candidates.

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Queen's Speech sets legislation for skills and training reforms - AoC responds

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Queen's Speech sets legislation for skills and training reforms - AoC responds

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Queen's Speech sets legislation for skills and training reforms - AoC responds

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Responding to the legislative measures set out for post-16 and adult education

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Queen’s Speech: Major focus on FE and lifelong learning

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Queen’s Speech: Major focus on FE and lifelong learning

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Government source says ‘massive investment’ in further education is planned so people can upskill locally

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Government source says 'massive investment' in further education is planned so people can upskill locally

The government is expected to introduce a new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill on Wednesday as part of a push to provide more lifelong learning opportunities through universities and colleges across the country.

The planned announcement will be a centrepiece of Tuesday's Queen's speech, with a "massive investment" in further education being touted by government sources, according to The Sunday Times.
News: Opinion: What would I tell the prime minister about FE? Well... Skills Accelerator launched by education secretary
The plans include getting local employers to join forces with FE colleges to deliver a "skills accelerator programme", and making universities and colleges accessible to people who want to study part-time while they are working.

Prime minister Boris Johnson will make the vow as a way to bring jobs and skills to so-called "red wall" areas, so people can thrive where they grew up, as a gesture to the voters who helped his party to election victory over the weekend.

A senior government source told the paper: "There is going to be a massive investment in further education and lifelong 'upskilling' so people can take on better-paid jobs in their local area. Some people will want to move for work but this is investment in communities so people can thrive where they live."

The Queen's Speech, on Tuesday 11 May, is when the monarch sets out the government's legislative agenda.

Tuesday's speech is also expected to outline plans to tackle the big backlog of delayed NHS operations and cancer treatments caused by the coronavirus.

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Queen's Speech: Major focus on FE and lifelong learning

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Government source says 'massive investment' in further education is planned so people can upskill locally The government is expected to introduce a new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill on Wednesday as part of a push to provide more lifelong learning opportunities through universities and colleges across the country.

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ASK THE EXPERT: HOW DO BUSINESSES ADAPT AND GROW IN A POST-COVID ENVIRONMENT?

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ASK THE EXPERT: HOW DO BUSINESSES ADAPT AND GROW IN A POST-COVID ENVIRONMENT?

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Alexa Greaves, small business champion for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, talks about supporting SMEs across South Yorkshire, helping them to navigate what has been an uncertain landscape and accelerating their post-COVID growth.
As Small Business Champion for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, I'm focused on supporting SMEs across South Yorkshire, helping them to navigate what has been an uncertain landscape and accelerating their growth. In South Yorkshire we of course have some fantastic big names, but we also have an incredible community of small businesses who are working hard to adapt and evolve in what has been an unquestionably challenging period.

We've invested heavily in the support available to businesses through the Renewal Action Plan, working with the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub and public and private sectors across the region to deliver support through one front door. The Growth Hub acts as a 'gateway' so businesses can access support when it is needed the most and within the shortest timeframe, providing expertise and guidance to deliver bespoke solutions, be it financial, digital or upskilling, facilitating recovery and stimulating growth.
What are the challenges businesses face in the future?
Business leaders wear a number of different hats, particularly in SMEs, and as a business founder myself I understand the pressure to spin plates and navigate different company functions. A key message for businesses in the Sheffield City Region is that you do not have to be an expert in every area, it's not possible and it's not sustainable. Leaders and owners need to focus on their skills and bring in support for the rest, and we are ready and waiting to provide that specialist support.

Marketing, for example, is essential to growth in the online world we're operating in, but it's not often a skill a business owner has. That is natural, nobody can do everything, and I've found that in my own company, but it's imperative to reach out for support in those areas to draw on the expertise of others.
How do businesses need to diversify?
As we look to strengthen South Yorkshire's business offering, the key areas I believe businesses need to focus on are digital, marketing and leadership training.

The digital sector is the future and businesses must adapt. We've seen a huge increase in the support needed in this area over the past year due to the growth of remote working and the need for businesses to strengthen their offering in an online marketplace. We won't go back to working in the way we did before, so technology and marketing is not a cost, it's an investment for the future.

It's fantastic to see so many businesses diversify, looking at what their clients and audience are doing, thinking of new ways to work or markets to enter, and using that information to evolve. This has been a learning experience for us all and we should embrace new ways of working and new technologies moving forward.
What support is available to businesses?
When experiencing a period of adversity, it can feel natural to become introverted but that is when it is most important to look outwards. Through the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub, we're working with organisations across the region to listen to our businesses, look at their challenges through a fresh pair of eyes, and develop a specialist framework of support for them.

We've recently supported more than 20,000 businesses across South Yorkshire with over £30m of grants through the Additional Restrictions Grant secured to help companies through the challenges of Covid. We've also bolstered our team of Growth Hub Advisors to diversify the expertise we are offering in business development, innovation, growth, logistics, trade and exporting, and access to finance or training, and developed a supply chain focus of our Renewal Action Plan to help companies access opportunities within the supply chain. We are committed to our region's recovery, renewal and growth in the coming years, and our business community is integral to that.

Visit https://www.scrgrowthhub.co.uk/ for more information on the support available.

About the author

Alexa started and grew AAG into a £5 million IT managed services provider. She was National Business Woman of the Year at the 2015 Forward Ladies Business Awards. Prior to AAG, Alexa was Vice President of Corporate Foreign Exchange at JP Morgan Chase Bank. Alexa is the Small Business Champion for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

Contact the Author

Alexa Greaves
Private Sector Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board Member
Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Board

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Ask the expert: How do businesses adapt and grow in a post-COVID environment?

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Alexa Greaves, small business champion for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, talks about supporting SMEs across South Yorkshire, helping them to navigate what has been an uncertain landscape and accelerating their post-COVID growth.

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The mayors elected this week have the chance to join up local initiatives to build back better, says David Hughes

The announcement, in the same week as local and mayoral elections in England, of a levelling up White Paper later this year raises all sorts of questions about whether England will ever be able to get the right balance between the national, regional and local in politics, public administration, economic development and wealth. On all counts, England is highly centralised, with Whitehall dominating so much of our lives and work. Any move away from that will take years, but change really does need to happen soon to reflect the diversity of places and people across England.

It's not as if attempts haven't been made before to decentralise and, as the elections attest, we have seen devolution in play for several cities in England alongside the more substantive powers and resources controlled in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A lot of this began in the final years of the last millennium with the establishment of eight regional assemblies across England in 1998, with London having an elected mayor, to work alongside regional development agencies. The aim was to provide a democratic as well as wider employer and social sector voice on regional issues and to use spatial planning powers, as well as varying degrees of influence over other organisations. The assemblies were a recognition that decisions made more locally were needed to address enormous regional inequalities.

London mayoral election: Why lifelong learning matters

David Hughes: Five minutes with Boris Johnson - what would you say?

Scottish election: What will it mean for colleges?

The Levelling Up White Paper: How colleges can be part of taking devolution forward

The aim was to allow London to get the post-16 skills it needed, with Ken chairing a board mainly of employers, until Boris Johnson was elected mayor and took over. Quite a change in leadership, but little change in thinking about the challenges and opportunities nor in the frustration about the national policy stranglehold on proper empowerment for London. Like a lot of devolution efforts over the years, the LSEB never quite delivered considering the effort, ambition and importance of what it wanted to achieve. Nevertheless, the LSEB was a forerunner for other similar bodies across England's cities, for the local enterprise partnerships that cover the country and for the powers granted to elected mayors.

That's not to say that there have not been gains. The elected mayors have started to show, through their control of the adult education budget (AEB), suitable local flexibilities and funding rule changes that have helped colleges to deliver for local people and employers. But those gains are modest because of the limit of the devolution - AEB has been devolved, but not apprenticeships budgets, employment programmes and definitely nothing for 16 to 19 education, where many elected mayors would really love to see new powers.
David Hughes is chief executive of the Association of Colleges

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Levelling Up White Paper: Why the elections matter

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The mayors elected this week have the chance to join up local initiatives to build back better, says David Hughes The announcement, in the same week as local and mayoral elections in England, of a levelling up White Paper later this year raises all sorts of questions about whether England will ever be able to get the right balance between the national, regional and local in politics, public administration, economic development and wealth.

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Continual learning - supporting access and progression for all

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Continual learning - supporting access and progression for all

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Learning new skills and knowledge to progress and grow in your career has always been important, and this is even more crucial as we emerge into a post COVID world. I know from my own experience that continual learning both formally and informally has been an enabler for me in my career, helping me transition into different sectors and roles - in my case starting off in finance, moving into the entertainment and media industry, then into the sector and more recently at Pearson, a global learning company. A key element of my learning has always been on the job from peers, colleagues and mentors - people being generous with their time and expertise, creating an environment of learning as we go through collaboration and sharing of ideas and the application of formal learning to a real-life environment.

A focus on continual learning is now more important than ever as the pandemic has accelerated changes already underway in the careers and skills landscapes. The make-up of the workforce is going to continue to change and evolve in the coming months and years with greater automation, a shift to digital enabled roles and growth, contraction and transformation happening across many business sectors. All of this has a knock-on impact on the demand for skills and education - the need to adapt and be flexible so we can support people to make progress in their lives.

So, it is welcome that the government has recognised this with the recent Lifetime Skills Guarantee, and a renewed focus on adult education, recognising the importance of lifelong learning and career-focused education. We are pleased that 80 Pearson qualifications, covering a range of the identified sectors, are eligible for this new funding through the National Skills Fund - opening upskilling and reskilling opportunities for adult learners, from Engineering, ICT to Childcare or Transportation.
Recent polling shows that employers see lifelong learning as a priority for their workforces
Employers know how important this is too - we recently polled 1,000 UK employers, showing that almost 9 in 10 (89%) of those surveyed agree that their employees will have to continue learning new things throughout their jobs to keep up-to-date with new skills or retrain in a new area. This suggests employers are anticipating an ever-changing jobs market within industries that will continue to evolve. Transferable skills are also considered key, with over three-quarters (76%) feeling that broader courses that provide a grounding in industry prepare learners better than role-specific training given the changing job market. Employees that are willing to reskill and upskill are also sought after - nearly half of employers polled (49%) rank enthusiasm for the role and a willingness to learn as a key driver when hiring, followed by a quarter (24%) listing knowledge, practical, technical skills, and 6% favouring academic performance.

My priority at Pearson is to continue to support access and progression for all, through the courses and qualifications that we offer. Learning does not stop after you leave school, college or university - it continues throughout our working lives and needs to be available in relevant and accessible formats for those who are in the workforce or looking to learn new skills or knowledge alongside other commitments that adult life brings. The key to this is developing career focused education and learning which is relevant, accessible, and flexible for these learners, meeting their needs. Bitesize courses, which are stackable/modular and available in high quality digital formats, allow people to take personal ownership for their learning. Access to online learning has never been more important and that's why we've launched two new online platforms, the Pearson Learning Hub and UK Learns in the past year.

Maintaining flexibility and a broad range of options to support access to learning and reskilling is critical to skills reform. With government, educators and employers all recognising the need to support continual learning, we have a unique opportunity to develop a skills programme that delivers for everyone. It is crucial to get this right to ensure people can access and gain from continual learning to retrain, update their skills and move into growth sectors, and stand a chance of adjusting to future labour markets. Continual learning is fundamental to empowering individuals and building strong communities, businesses and economies.

Cindy Rampersaud is the Senior Vice President for BTEC and Apprenticeships at Pearson

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Continual learning - supporting access and progression for all

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Learning new skills and knowledge to progress and grow in your career has always been important, and this is even more crucial as we emerge into a post COVID world.

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How Colleges have a key role to play in upskilling people for the green jobs of the future

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How Colleges have a key role to play in upskilling people for the green jobs of the future

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Green jobs are essential to the low carbon transition and colleges have a key role to play in upskilling the workforce, says NIBE Energy System's Phil Hurley

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Green jobs are essential to the low carbon transition and colleges have a key role to play in upskilling the workforce, says NIBE Energy System's Phil Hurley

Meeting the UK's legislated net zero target by 2050 requires green jobs, and lots of them; however, we must first provide workers with the low carbon skills they need to fulfil them. Eventually all jobs...

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How Colleges have a key role to play in upskilling people for the green jobs of the future

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Green jobs are essential to the low carbon transition and colleges have a key role to play in upskilling the workforce, says NIBE Energy System's Phil Hurley Meeting the UK's legislated net zero target by 2050 requires green jobs, and lots of them; however, we must first provide workers with the low carbon skills they need to fulfil them.

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APPG on Further and Lifelong Education met to discuss Lost Learning

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APPG on Further and Lifelong Education met to discuss Lost Learning

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Earlier this week the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Further Education and Lifelong Learning met to discuss the issue of lost learning. This followed the publication of our recent  report  on this issue which found that a staggering three quarters (77%) of 16 to 18-year-olds are performing below normal expectations.

All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG's) are informal groups of parliamentarians from all parties established by backbench MPs. They help these parliamentarians to become better informed about particular policy issues. They have no statutory or formal role but are able to exert some influence on Government. The Association of Colleges provides the Secretariat to the APPG on Further Education and Lifelong Learning.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the impact of lost learning on colleges and the 2.2 million students who study in them and to also discuss what the APPG can do to ensure the government acts swiftly to support existing college students and those leaving college and entering the labour market. We were delighted to be joined by the APPG Chair, Peter Aldous MP, one of our Officers Baroness Garden, the Shadow Minister for Apprenticeships and Lifelong Learning, Toby Perkins MP, and Lord Blunkett.

Sally Dicketts CBE, AoC President and CEO of Activate Learning and Alastair Da Costa, Chair of Capital City College Group and Commissioner to the UK Government's Social Mobility Commission presented to the parliamentarians gathered about the impact and potential consequences of lost learning. The discussion focused on the need to address the AEB claw back decision which will impact college's ability to deliver catch-up in the months ahead, to give students leaving college a fully funded extra year of study if they need it, and for colleges to be able to access the 16 - 19 Student Pupil Premium.

APPG members were keen to know how they could show support on this issue, and there was cross-party support from parliamentarians in attendance for writing a letter to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor on what actions are needed to mitigate the impact of this lost learning. . We'll post this letter and the minutes of the meeting soon.

This is an important time with more and more parliamentarians recognising the important role colleges play in meeting the challenges of the future. The APPG has an important role to play in that and we're always looking to build the membership of the Group so that we have more parliamentarians speaking up for colleges in Parliament. Please do encourage your local MP to join the Group when you're in contact with them.

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APPG on Further and Lifelong Education met to discuss Lost Learning

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Earlier this week the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Further Education and Lifelong Learning met to discuss the issue of lost learning. This followed the publication of our recent  report  on this issue which found that a staggering three quarters (77%) of 16 to 18-year-olds are performing below normal expectations.

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Local Skills Improvement Plans and the Strategic Development Fund Presentation

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Skills Accelerator Bidders Event_27 April 2021

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Why the Skills Accelerator needs long-term funding

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Why the Skills Accelerator needs long-term funding

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Why the Skills Accelerator needs long-term funding

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When it comes to implementing the FE White Paper, the unifying concern is lack of long-term funding, writes David Hughes The launch by the Department for Education of its Skills Accelerator prospectus last week was the first step in implementing its major reform programme announced in the Skills for Jobs White Paper in January.

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Petitions - UK Government and Parliament

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Support colleges by preventing the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) from clawing back any Adult Education funding. The Government should introduce greater flexibility on this decision since autumn 2020 to reflect the impact of disruption caused by the pandemic this academic year.

More details

Adult education has been impacted very significantly across England over 2020/21. The combination of local restrictions in autumn 2020, national lockdown and reduced hours at Job Centres has had a particular impact on courses for those with lower skill levels or who are unemployed and has disrupted college ability to meet this year's targets. Colleges have been advised to not use the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) for non-commercial staff, which could have reduced costs.

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Petition: Do not allow ESFA to clawback any funding for Adult Education budget

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Support colleges by preventing the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) from clawing back any Adult Education funding. The Government should introduce greater flexibility on this decision since autumn 2020 to reflect the impact of disruption caused by the pandemic this academic year.

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Younger furloughed workers are the most willing to retrain in another sector

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Younger furloughed workers are the most willing to retrain in another sector

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Younger furloughed workers are the most willing to retrain in another sector

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced when delivering the 2021 Budget that the furlough scheme will end on 30 September - a year and a half after it started.

New YouGov data shows that most furloughed workers (57%) worry about the prospect of redundancy. Those aged 25 to 44 are most prone to fretting about losing their job, at 63%, while furloughed workers aged 55 and over are the least nervous at 50%.

Furloughed employees aged 18 to 24 are the most likely age group to feel anxious about how the pandemic will impact their career progression (60%) and professional development (55%).

The older workers get, the less worried they are about the impact of the pandemic on these aspects of their working life, with only a quarter of the oldest workers (those aged 55+) concerned about their career progression, and just one in five worried about their professional development.

While most furloughed workers have contemplated the prospect of getting laid off, only 11% actually believe they're unlikely to get their job back. This includes one in twenty (5%) who say it's "very" unlikely.

If these instincts are right, it could amount to around 517,000 redundancies in the coming months, as 4.7 million workers were furloughed as of January. This is in line with predictions from the ONS and the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Most furloughed workers feel confident that they'll get to stay in their job, with just over a third (36%) saying it's very likely, while another 42% feel fairly certain.

The research also shows that around one in ten furloughed workers (10%) have not had any communication from their employer since being sent home, while 37% say it has been scarce.

Around half have either had a fair amount of communication (34%) or a lot (18%).

Some furloughed workers have started job hunting, others want to retrain

Rishi Sunak has previously suggested that people 'in all walks of life' should look to find new opportunities. Three in ten furloughed workers (30%) have already started looking for other work, rising to almost half (47%) of those aged 18 to 24.

A fifth (19%) say they would like to apply for new jobs but there are none in their sector. Around two fifths (44%) are not looking for other work - rising to two thirds (64%) of those aged 55 and older.

The Chancellor has similarly encouraged workers to retrain, saying they should 'find ways to adapt and adjust to the new reality'. Around three in ten furloughed workers (28%) say they're likely to retrain in another sector. This prospect is most popular among younger workers aged 18 to 24 (47%). It drops significantly among those aged 45 to 54 (14%) and 55+ (15%).
See the full results here

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Most young furloughed workers fear impact on career and worry about redundancy | YouGov

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The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced when delivering the 2021 Budget that the furlough scheme will end on 30 September - a year and a half after it started. New YouGov data shows that most furloughed workers (57%) worry about the prospect of redundancy.

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Access to lifelong learning and colleges is key to skills-led recovery – Robert Halfon

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Access to lifelong learning and colleges is key to skills-led recovery – Robert Halfon

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THERE are overwhelming benefits to lifelong learning - benefits for productivity and the economy, for health and wellbeing and for social justice and our communities.

Our nation faces significant skills challenges from the fourth industrial revolution, automation, an ageing workforce and the devastating impact of Covid-19.

The Government is rising to those major challenges by providing some new funding for adult education, and I welcome the recent increases in finances that the Government has announced.

The Further Education White Paper marks a sea change in Government thinking about skills. The flagship £2.5bn National Skills Fund offers a significant opportunity to transform adult skills and lifelong learning.

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What more can be done to encourage apprenticeships and lifelong learning?

However, despite the recent increases in funding, the welcome White Paper, the Kickstart fund and other programmes, participation in adult skills and lifelong learning is in a dire state; it is at its lowest level in 23 years.

It is the case that 38 per cent of adults have not participated in any learning since leaving full-time education. Participation rates in adult education have almost halved since 2004.

Even worse, lifelong learning is an affluent person's game; those who might benefit most from adult learning and training, low-skilled adults in low-income work or the unemployed, are by far the least likely to be doing it.

Robert Halfon (right) is chair of Parliament's Education Committee and a former Education Minister.

It is the case that 49 per cent of adults from the lowest socio-economic group have received no training since leaving school.

It is the already well-educated and the well-off who are far more likely to participate.

In 2016, 92 per cent of adults with a degree-level qualification undertook adult learning, compared with 53 per cent of adults with no qualifications.

I would argue that poor access to lifelong learning is one of the great social injustices of our time.

We must reverse the decline in participation and offer a way forward for those left-behind adults. There are haves and have-nots in terms of adult education in our country.

There is a significant problem with low basic skills.

It is hard to believe the fifth largest economy in the world has nine million working-age adults with poor literacy or numeracy skills or both.

Nine million adults also lack the basic digital skills that nowadays are essential for getting on in modern life, and six million adults do not even have a qualification at level two, which is equivalent to GCSE.

In the past 10 years, just 17 per cent of low-paid workers moved permanently out of low pay.

Unequal access to lifelong learning is a social injustice that traps millions of workers in below-average earnings. Even before Covid kicked in, our nation faced significant skills gaps.

By 2024, there will be a shortfall of four million highly skilled workers. Colleges up and down the country will be central to the skills-led recovery, and we have to do all we can to support them.

Support for colleges is especially important now. An Association of Colleges report found that three quarters of college students are between one and four months behind where they would normally be expected to be at this stage of the academic year.

Part-time higher education has fallen into disrepair. Part-time student numbers collapsed by 53 per cent between 2008-09 and 2017-18, resulting in over one million lost learners.

When I think of potential part-time higher education students, I think of a single parent in my constituency who will not take that part-time opportunity because they are worried about the loan that they may have to take on.

Adult community learning is vital to social justice.

It gives a helping hand to the hardest to reach adults, including those with no qualifications, learners in the most deprived communities, and those furthest from the job market.

Just 40 or 50 years ago, Britain had an adult education system that was world-leading.

Despite well-intentioned reforms over recent years, adult education policy making has too often suffered from initiative-itis, lurching from one policy priority to the next.

We can rebuild this by pursuing an ambitious long-term strategy for adult skills and lifelong learning.

Robert Halfon is chair of Parliament's Education Committee and a Tory MP. He spoke in a debate on lifelong learning - this is an edited version.

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Access to lifelong learning and colleges is key to skills-led recovery - Robert Halfon

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Our nation faces significant skills challenges from the fourth industrial revolution, automation, an ageing workforce and the devastating impact of Covid-19. The Government is rising to those major challenges by providing some new funding for adult education, and I welcome the recent increases in finances that the Government has announced.

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Apply to become a Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer or Strategic Development Fund pilot as part of the Skills Accelerator.

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Apply to become a Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer or Strategic Development Fund pilot as part of the Skills Accelerator.

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We are currently taking expressions of interest in:

Overview

The Skills for Jobs white paper set out the government's blueprint for reshaping the technical skills system to better support the needs of the local labour market and the wider economy.

Skills Accelerator is a core part of delivering this vision. It incorporates the:

Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazers

Strategic Development Fund pilots

What Skills Accelerator is

Skills Accelerator will help:

deliver an evidence-based assessment of priority skills needs aligned to local strategies

providers to strengthen relationships and partnerships with employers

transform the responsiveness of local skills systems in meeting the changing skills needs of employers

employers give providers a clearer indication of the skills needed in the local area

empower providers to develop the infrastructure to deliver the right skills when and where they are needed

create a policy framework of incentives and accountability

For more information about Skills Accelerator, our approach or the policy context, see the .

Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazers

Local Skills Improvement Plans will be piloted in a group of trailblazer areas in 2021 to 2022. They will be led by established employer representative bodies.

Local Skills Improvement Plans will help:

bring employers, colleges and other providers, and local stakeholders together

set out the key changes needed to make technical skills training more responsive to employers' skills need

tailor provision to the challenges and opportunities most relevant to the local area

Who can apply

We want to start by piloting Local Skills Improvement Plans in 6 to 8 trailblazer local areas.

To be considered for selection as a Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer, applications must be led by an established employer representative body.

Lead applicants will need to confirm that:

the majority of their memberships are businesses

the employer representative body is accountable to its members

We do not consider Mayoral Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Skills Advisory Panels to be business representative organisations so they are not eligible.

Funding

£4 million revenue funding is available to support Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazers in 2021 to 2022.

Successful trailblazer employer representative bodies will be able to apply for a share of the fund to:

build their capacity to deliver Local Skills Improvement Plans

support the development of Local Skills Improvement Plans

An application form and full guidance will be issued to successful trailblazers.

Become a Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer

1. Register to use our e-tendering portal Jaggaer to submit any questions.

2. Join the online event where prospective bidders can find out more about the Skills Accelerator on Tuesday 27 April.

3. Complete your expression of interest using the Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer application form (MS Word Document, 80.3KB).

4. Email your expression of interest to Skills.Accelerator@education.gov.uk by midday on 25 May 2021.

Expressions of interest may be submitted:

aligned to a Strategic Development Fund pilot application

as a standalone trailblazer application

Successful applicants will then be invited to submit an application for Local Skills Improvement Plan development funding.

Strategic Development Fund pilots

The Strategic Development Fund will explore how providers can work together more effectively, alongside employers and other partners, to respond to local skills and innovation priorities. This includes those identified by Local Skills Improvement Plans.

The pilots will run in a number of areas of the country, including areas that do not have a Local Skills Improvement Plan trailblazer.

In trailblazer areas, the Strategic Development Fund pilot will run alongside the development of the Local Skills Improvement Plan.

The pilots will help:

support the development of a high-value curriculum offer in support of longer-term skills priorities

enable better and more efficient use of the existing facilities and investment in further education (FE)

strengthen the relationship with employers

us to understand how development funding can help prioritise change in local planning

Who can apply

We are looking for 12 to 16 areas to pilot the fund.

Applications may be made by groups of colleges and providers. It must be submitted by a lead applicant.

Eligible providers include:

general FE colleges (including specialist colleges, for example, land-based)

institutions that have been designated as being part of the FE sector

Institutes of Technology

sixth form colleges

independent training providers (including employer independent training providers and group training associations)

higher education providers delivering level 4 and 5 provision and higher-level apprenticeships

local authority providers

schools with sixth forms

university technology colleges

Funding

£65 million grant funding is being made available through the Strategic Development Fund. This consists of:

£38 million capital

£27 million revenue

We expect the Strategic Development Fund to fund a range of activities that:

have immediate benefit, for example, new and innovative provision or new services to employers and learners that:

are delivered before the end of March 2022

encourage further development in subsequent years

build capacity to respond to local priorities through provision and services, including through investment in new or upgraded facilities and equipment

Further details of what the fund can support are in the .

Apply to become a Strategic Development Fund pilot

1. Register to use our e-tendering portal Jaggaer to submit any questions.

2. Join the online event where prospective bidders can find out more about the Skills Accelerator on Tuesday 27 April.

3. Complete your expression of interest using the Strategic Development Fund application form (MS Word Document, 108KB).

4. Email your expression of interest to Skills.Accelerator@education.gov.uk by midday on 25 May 2021.

All lead applicants will receive an email informing them of the outcome of their application.

Those selected as Strategic Development Fund pilots will need to submit more detailed information on the specifications and costs of the projects contained in their proposal. Further information about this will be provided to the lead applicant of the successful pilot areas.

Questions relating to an application must be submitted through Jaggaer.

For general enquiries about either pilot email Skills.Accelerator@education.gov.uk.

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We are currently taking expressions of interest in: The Skills for Jobs white paper set out the government's blueprint for reshaping the technical skills system to better support the needs of the local labour market and the wider economy. Skills Accelerator is a core part of delivering this vision.

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A peer-support programme to help FE colleges share good practice and develop quality improvement priorities.

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Apply

The Department for Education ( DfE) will let you know the outcome of your application after 22 July 2021. If you are unsuccessful, you can ask for feedback.

Before you apply, you may want to review the projects and resources that have been developed by previous successful applicants at College Collaboration Fund (CCF) projects.

Overview

The College Collaboration Fund ( CCF) is a national programme of competitive grant funding for all statutory further education ( FE) providers.

CCF enables colleges to collaborate and share good practice and expertise to address common quality improvement priorities. The fund builds on the previous CCF round in 2020 to 2021 and its predecessor, the Strategic College Improvement Fund ( SCIF).

Aims of the programme

Timescales

CCF will run for the financial year 2021 to 2022 and there is one application round. You must complete all grant-funded activity by 31 March 2022. If you are successful, you will receive your grant on or around 18 August 2021.

You can begin delivery of CCF grant-funded activity from when you are first notified that you have been successful but this will be at your own risk.

Eligibility

Institution type

Only statutory FE providers can apply as defined in section 91 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

These are:

general FE colleges

sixth-form colleges (except those in the process of converting to an academy in the 2021 to 2022 financial year)

designated institutions

You cannot apply if you're a school or academy, local authority, independent learning provider, special post-16 institution, non-maintained special school.

Deputies or advisers who work as a contractor for the FE Commissioner are not eligible to receive CCF funds.

Number of colleges

Each application will need a lead applicant college and a minimum of one other improvement partner college.

You will need to select the colleges you want to work with before you apply.

You cannot apply as an individual college if you operate as part of college group structure (any application must be in the name of your college group).

Ofsted grade

To lead a bid, you must have either Ofsted grade 1 (outstanding) or grade 2 (good) for overall effectiveness.

Colleges who have recently merged or are planning conversion

You can still apply if you do not have an Ofsted rating because you are a college that's recently merged. In this case, if one of the 2 previous colleges meets the criteria, you can still apply.

Sixth-form colleges that are currently in the process or planning conversion to an academy in the 2021 to 2022 financial year are excluded and are not eligible to apply.

Previous CCF and SCIF applicants

You can still apply if you have previously received CCF or SCIF funding.

Quality improvement themes

Your programme of work must address at least one of the fund's 3 quality improvement themes identified by DfE. These are listed below:

A: Quality of education

Programmes of work may focus on delivering improvements and effectiveness of:

increasing progression to level 3 and beyond (including both technical and higher technical)

student engagement and experience

teaching, learning and assessment

workforce development

apprenticeships

maths and English

high needs provision

safeguarding

specific vocational areas

B: Financial and resource management

Programmes of work may focus on delivering improvements and effectiveness of:

costed curriculum planning

financial management controls and processes

recruitment and value for money

estates optimisation

workforce planning

efficient curriculum delivery

risk management

C: Leadership and governance

Programmes of work may focus on delivering improvements and effectiveness of:

business strategy development

use of management information and data

mentoring and coaching

recruitment, development and retention pathway for potential new leaders

understanding and responding to local and national skills priorities

In your application you are not restricted to a predetermined list of activities.

We are particularly interested in receiving applications that address the following specific quality improvement needs:

development of digital content and resources to support remote and blended delivery

supporting learner resilience, wellbeing and mental health to enable learners to stay engaged in their education

developing support for learners to address lost learning and enable catch up

Further information on these specific quality improvement needs can be found in annex A.

Responsibilities

The lead applicant college will be responsible for:

submitting the application

managing the funding allocated

accounting for progress on the programme of work

submitting monitoring and self-evaluation reports

completing a case study

contributing to DfE dissemination activity to promote learning

The lead applicant college and improvement partner college or colleges must work together to:

understand the challenges you face

develop a costed programme of work

plan how you'll use your combined experience and knowledge

deliver the programme of work

complete an end of programme evaluation

contribute to DfE material to support the promotion of learning

Support from third parties

You can get support from a third party, for example:

college outside your group submitting the application

school outside your group submitting the application

not-for-profit or private provider

If you get support, you will need to:

get agreement from all the improvement partner colleges in your group

provide the names of any third parties you will use on your application

provide evidence about the capacity and capability of any third parties you will use

complete any due diligence processes that you feel is relevant or proportionate for subcontracting

Funding

You can apply for up to £500,000. The expected minimum application is for £100,000. The total fund is £5.4 million.

College match funding contribution

Your group is expected to contribute total match funding equal to a minimum of 25% of the total cost of your programme of work. For example, if the total cost of your programme of work is £400,000, we would expect to see a matched funding contribution of £100,000. The proportion of match funding contribution made by each individual college improvement partner involved in your application is to be determined by your group.

The total cost of your programme of work must include your match funding.

DfE may waive a proportionate amount of match funding contribution where a college is in formal intervention with the Education and Skills Funding Agency ( ESFA) and:

asking for a contribution would undermine a college's financial viability

where value for money can still be obtained

Any other college in the group that does not meet these criteria will still need to contribute their proportion of match funding.

Decisions:

will be based on ESFA's most recent assessment of a college's financial health

are at DfE's sole discretion

Match funding eligibility

Your matched funding must meet any true additional costs, for example, third party fees or additional time-limited internal staffing.

In-kind costs are not eligible as match funding, for example, salary payments for staff redeployed to the programme of works.

Your matched funding can include temporary costs, for example, replacing staff who are working on the program of works.

VAT

Total eligible programme costs may include irrecoverable VAT, but you will not be able to claim for additional funding above the amount you have been awarded to cover any additional VAT liability.

Conditions of funding

Your application must:

target your proposed programme of work and activities at addressing specific quality improvement needs shared by your group

demonstrate how you have used evidence to identify the specific quality improvement needs

identify the products, learning and good practice that will be derived from your programme of work and how this will be shared with the wider FE sector

What's excluded from CCF funding

You cannot use CCF funding for capital expenditures on assets valued cumulatively over £2,500. Capital assets are those which are expected to be used for a period of at least 12 months such as:

Also excluded are any:

staff restructuring

independent business reviews

marketing or public relations activities

activities that are predominantly focused on a college's higher education provision

activities or services you would normally get free of charge

payments you will make for subsidised activities or services at a higher 'market' rate

There is no limit on the amount of spend on capital items using partner college match funding contributions.

Reporting

During your programme of work, you will need to:

provide ESFA with a monitoring return on your use of grant funds at each quarter and the endpoint of your programme of work

identify risks and issues that are or could have an impact on your programme of work

account for progress against the agreed work programme by identifying key performance indicators, milestones and measures of success at the beginning of the programme

produce and keep a spending profile - there needs to be clarity within your internal accounting systems to provide assurance on the use of funds

When your programme of work is completed, you'll need to provide:

All timescales for submitting completed monitoring forms will be confirmed in your grant award letter.

Evaluation

You will be required to complete a DfE evaluation form to evaluate and measure your programme of work. DfE may generate data based on this evaluation which may be published in an anonymised way so that individuals and colleges cannot be identified.

For further guidance on approach to CCF project evaluation, see

Payment and repayment of funding

The lead applicant college will receive payment from ESFA under a funding schedule.

ESFA will enter into a contract with the lead applicant college. Any arrangements between the college improvement partners involved in your application are to be determined by your group.

CCF funding will become repayable through a future reduction in ESFA funding if:

CCF funding is not spent by 31 March 2022

CCF funding is not spent on the eligible activities you have detailed in your programme of work (unless any change has been agreed with the ESFA)

reports on expenditures and outcomes are not submitted

If you have any questions about the programme or developing an application, email college.collaborationfund@education.gov.uk.

Annex A: specific quality improvement needs

Development of digital content and resources to support remote and blended delivery

Objective

To develop high-quality digital content and resources to support the delivery of the FE curriculum.

Overview

The FE sector has made strides in remote and blended delivery in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the Colleges and COVID-19 - summer survey 2020 conducted by the Association of Colleges found many colleges reported challenges in accessing high-quality engaging digital content and resources for some areas of the FE curriculum.

The project will bring together a group of FE colleges with proven subject and remote and blended learning expertise to develop high-quality digital content and resources for use across the FE sector.

Proposals should take account of areas of the FE curriculum where there are insufficient digital content and resources, and should not duplicate digital content and resources recently funded by DfE including:

digital curriculum content produced through the first round of CCF set out in Digital resources mapping (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 20.1KB) and accessible on the Remote Education Service

digital resources for 5 FE subject areas available through Jisc

specialist and English and maths resources provided by the digital lessons and resources relating to Oak National Academy

Outputs

Outputs would cover quality digital content and resources for a subject area or areas for national publication and use by all FE teaching staff.

Supporting learner resilience, wellbeing and mental health to enable learners to stay engaged in their education

Objective

To develop initiatives that will ensure learners stay engaged in their learning and are supported to maintain good wellbeing and mental health.

Overview

The project will bring together a group of colleges with proven expertise in providing support to learners, including around wellbeing and mental health, to maintain engagement in learning. This could include developing:

innovative approaches to supporting learner mental health or engaging with external providers

producing good practice guides or new content for colleges in supporting learner wellbeing and mental health

initiatives to develop learner confidence and resilience or provide preventative support

anti-bullying interventions for learners who have been the victim of bullying, especially for high-risk groups such as LGBT+ and SEND

Learner focused proposals would be encouraged, with colleges developing projects that empower learners to take responsibility for their own mental health and wellbeing.

Outputs

Outputs might cover:

reduction in drop out and young people becoming NEET

increase in learners reporting improved mental health and wellbeing

production of resources to support learner mental health and wellbeing

improved workforce training in learner mental health, wellbeing and responding to bullying

Developing support for learners to address lost learning and enable catch up

Objective

To develop practical solutions that can support 16 to 19 year old learners to address catch up where necessary, build learner resilience and mitigate against further learning loss.

Overview

The project will bring together a group of colleges and other relevant partners with the aim of developing approaches for catch up support and mitigation against further learning loss.

The project will focus on:

identifying and drawing on best practice activity to help keep learners engaged in their learning

develop new support and build on existing practice that will help a learner minimise the impact of further learning loss

develop solutions that can support learners to catch up on any time which has been lost from their learning

Proposals should:

be learner focused, practical to the learner and provide a tangible and measurable benefit

strengthen learner awareness of the personal impact of lost learning and promote a recognition of the need for and the benefits of catch up activity

encourage learners to take ownership of their learning, develop individual ambition to remain engaged and promote a renewed personal focus on their learning

Outputs

Outputs might cover:

reduction in learner drop out

evidence that catch up is over and above the planned curriculum and provider driven modes of learning during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and beyond

production of an online toolkit of successful catch up methods and strategies that can be shared across the sector

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The Department for Education ( DfE) will let you know the outcome of your application after 22 July 2021. If you are unsuccessful, you can ask for feedback. Before you apply, you may want to review the projects and resources that have been developed by previous successful applicants at College Collaboration Fund (CCF) projects.

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5 minutes with Boris Johnson - what would you say?

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Here's the scenario: you've got five minutes with the How do you convey the passion, focus, frustrations, barriers and challenges that colleges embody? How can you communicate the opportunities, hopes, ambitions and empowerment that colleges unleash in their students? How do you get across the prime minister, the vital roles that colleges play?

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Further education and skills inspection handbook

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Further education and skills inspection handbook

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Updated 19 April 2021

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Further education and skills inspection handbook

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Guidance for inspectors on inspecting further education and skills providers under the education inspection framework.

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Colleges take adult education clawback battle to Downing Street

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Colleges take adult education clawback battle to Downing Street

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Colleges have called on the prime minister to intervene in the government's "devastating" adult education clawback plans that risk courses being scrapped and redundancies.

In a letter today, Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes tells Boris Johnson that his "ambitious" lifelong learning agenda will be damaged by the Department for Education's and Treasury's "dysfunctional" regulation and accountability regime for colleges.

He warns that the "confidence" of college leaders that positive change is coming has been hit by the decision being taken "so late in the year and which simply does not appreciate the overall position, challenges and potential of colleges".

Separately, Hughes has written to education secretary Gavin Williamson today to warn the clawback will "reduce the financial strength of colleges, move a large number into financial intervention, and force colleges to reduce capacity for adult education, just as demand will be increasing".

He has included three case studies that show how individual colleges will have to repay millions of pounds under the plans, explaining the reasons why they have not been able to deliver against their targets and the real impacts the "uniform approach" risks having.

Furness College, for example, expects to deliver only half of its £1.3 million allocation as the vast majority of its adult provision is in technical training, such as welding, electrical engineering and construction skills, which was "impossible to deliver" during lockdown.

The college now faces having to pay back £640,000 which would result in a budget deficit at the end of July. Principal Andrew Wren says this will inevitably necessitate a review for "operational efficiencies" over the summer and the college will "not be able to offer the same volume of training in future years".

He added that the decision will cause colleges across England to "reduce capacity for adult skills which is entirely at odds with the country's longer-term needs".

Around £50 million of college funding is at risk nationally, the AoC estimates.

The letters have been published ahead of a Westminster Hall debate this afternoon where MPs will discuss the future of adult education.

'I cannot stress enough how devastating this decision will be'

Announced last month, the clawback decision means that any college that delivers less than 90 per cent of their national adult education allocation must repay the difference between that threshold and their actual delivery.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency claimed this threshold, much higher than the 68 per cent set for last year, is a "fair representation of grant funded providers' average delivery" in 2020/21.

But as FE Week previously exclusively revealed, the threshold was demanded by the Treasury after officials successfully argued colleges had enough time to reorientate provision and run courses online, where needed, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On top of this, the ESFA has ruled out a business case process whereby colleges could put forward reasons as to why they should cling on to the money if they did not reach the threshold.

Hughes says business cases would be a "simple solution" for fairness in his letter to Williamson and pleads for the ESFA to allow them.

Leicester College is highlighted as one example where a business case would help explain how full delivery has not been possible.

The college has been in continuous lockdown with the rest of the city since March 2020 and is among the top 20 per cent most deprived areas of the country.

The extended lockdown has only exacerbated this problem, the college said, particularly within the city's black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, who were "specifically advised that there were at higher risk from Covid-19 and to stay at home, as well as lower-income households".

Leicester College now forecasts using just 53 per cent of its £11 million allocation this year - and would lose more than £4 million to the clawback.

Principal Verity Hancock previously told FE Week the college has already suffered consequences, having had to back out of a £6.6 million capital funding bid for T Levels as it would have involved match funding £3.8 million which "we can no longer afford".

'It hampers colleges from delivering what is needed'

Meanwhile Gateshead College, which had been battling with deep financial issues before the pandemic, expects to only deliver 59 per cent of its £5.6 million allocation, meaning they face a £1.75 million clawback.

The college said its inability to provide face-to-face training for its adult education programmes, which focus on hands-on sectors like manufacturing and health, has scuppered their delivery plans.

Similarly, teaching of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses has not been possible remotely.

Hughes said it is "clear" from the AEB problem that the FE system as it stands is "overly complex, lacks trust, drives significant inefficiencies, is focussed on process rather than outcomes and presents far too many obstacles to colleges".

"In short it hampers colleges from delivering what is needed and drives compliance with arcane funding and audit rules and regulations," he added.

Hughes has requested meetings with Johnson and Williamson to discuss a way forward.

A DfE spokesperson said: "We acknowledge the situation is still difficult but many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face-to-face learning should enhance further providers' ability to deliver."

Number 10 has been approached for comment.

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Colleges take adult education clawback battle to Downing Street

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Colleges have called on the prime minister to intervene in the government's "devastating" adult education clawback plans that risk courses being scrapped and redundancies. In a letter today, Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes tells Boris Johnson that his "ambitious" lifelong learning agenda will be damaged by the Department for Education's and Treasury's "dysfunctional" regulation and accountability regime for colleges.

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Chamber urges Government to stop clawback of adult education funding

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Chamber urges Government to stop clawback of adult education funding

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The North East England Chamber of Commerce and five regional Further Education colleges have urged Government to urgently revoke their adult education funding clawback for missed delivery targets for 2021/2021. The Chamber believes the clawback threatens to cause a reduction in capacity for adult education provision at a time when investment in lifelong learning has never been more important.

Chamber Chief Executive, James Ramsbotham said: "This year has been tremendously challenging for Further Education colleges across our region. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, colleges in the North East have faced considerable disruption to their everyday operations throughout this academic year, including the implementation of local restrictions in the Autumn and the recent national lockdown. As a result, colleges have lost a term of face to face programme delivery...[and] many colleges across the North East have fallen short of their adult education delivery targets for this academic year."

"The proposed clawback of adult education funding threatens to undermine the progress made by colleges on financial stability. Colleges have worked extremely hard to become more financially stable and to support their communities throughout the pandemic. The revocation of this funding could threaten this progress and destabilise colleges up and down the country."

The letter states that the current plans contradict the Government's stated commitment to prioritise Further Education and place it at the heart of the country's recovery from Covid-19. The clawback will likely cause colleges to reduce their capacity for adult skills delivery at a time when upskilling and retraining provision has never been more important.

James Ramsbotham said: "The North East's unemployment rate is currently 6.2% which is likely to bring unprecedented demand for retraining and career change as individuals seek work, the impact on cashflow of the clawback may significantly reduce Further Education's ability to service that demand. Adult education is integral to supporting people back into employment and upskilling the region's workforce so it can continue to fulfil the needs of a rapidly changing economy."

The letter calls on the Government to reconsider the decision to set the threshold rate for adult education 'under delivery' at 90 per cent and instead offer a significantly lower threshold reflecting the difficult context of the Covid-19 pandemic as well an exceptional circumstances route noting differing local contexts.

The Chamber letter was co-signed by its members, Nadine Hudspeth of Gateshead College, Darren Hankey of Hartlepool College, Chris Todd of Derwentside College, Andrew Broadbent of New College Durham and Kate Roe of Darlington College.

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Chamber urges Government to stop clawback of adult education funding

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The North East England Chamber of Commerce and five regional Further Education colleges have urged Government to urgently revoke their adult education funding clawback for missed delivery targets for 2021/2021. The Chamber believes the clawback threatens to cause a reduction in capacity for adult education provision at a time when investment in lifelong learning has never been more important.

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MPs call on ESFA to reverse decision on adult education funding during Westminster Hall debate

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MPs call on ESFA to reverse decision on adult education funding during Westminster Hall debate

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FE funding clawback could lead to staff and course cuts

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The government decision to set a 90 per cent delivery target on adult education budget funding is 'ridiculous and damaging' for colleges, warns shadow minister Toby Perkins

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FE White Paper In-Depth | Webcast recordings

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FE White Paper In-Depth | Webcast recordings

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Access all the recordings of our FE White Paper In-depth series.

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A free webcast update series from FE Week, in partnership with NOCN, to provide an overview of the Government's FE White Paper (Skills for jobs) and what it means for the FE & Skills sector.
RECORDINGS
2 March - Need for an FE White Paper - an overview
Special guest: Keith Smith, Director for post-16 strategy at the Department for Education ( SLIDES)

9 March - Chapter 1: Putting employers at the heart of post-16 skills
Special guests: Jennifer Coupland, CEO, IfATE, Emma Roberts, Head of Research, WorldSkills UK, Paul Allman, Director, Flannery Plant Hire ( SLIDES)

16 March - Chapter 2: Providing advanced technical and higher technical skills
Special guests: Tom Bewick, CEO, Federation of Awarding Bodies, Prof Lorna Unwin, Professor Emerita, UCL Institute of Education and Graham Hasting-Evans, CEO, NOCN. ( SLIDES)

23 March - Chapter 3: A flexible Lifetime Skills Guarantee
Special guests: Dr Sue Pember CBE, Policy Director, HOLEX, Sally Dicketts CBE, President, AoC and Simon Ashworth, Chief Policy Officer, AELP ( SLIDES)
30 March - Chapter 4: More responsive and accountable providers
Special guests: Fiona Chalk, National Head of Governance Development at The Education and Training Foundation, Kurt Hall, Governance Advisor at the Association of Colleges and Mark Taylor, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland ( SLIDES)
6 April - Chapter 5: Supporting 'outstanding' teaching
Special guest: David Russell, CEO, The Education & Training Foundation ( SLIDES)

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FE White Paper In-Depth | Webcast recordings| FE Week

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A free webcast update series from FE Week, in partnership with NOCN, to provide an overview of the Government's FE White Paper (Skills for jobs) and what it means for the FE & Skills sector.

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10 quick ways to support adult learning and maximise your AEB budget

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10 quick ways to support adult learning and maximise your AEB budget

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10 quick ways to support adult learning and maximise your AEB budget | Gateway Qualifications

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Adult Education Budget (AEB) spend under 90% will be reclaimed, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has announced. The reduction of the reconciliation threshold to 90% applies to grant funded colleges and local authorities with an allocation for adult education budget (AEB) for adult skills,19 to 24 traineeships, advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB).

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Why the adult education funding decision is a mistake

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The government has made many promises for the FE sector but the decision over adult education budget funding undermines the belief that things have changed, writes David Hughes

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UNFINISHED BUSINESS: BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES AND FURTHER EDUCATION

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Government's recent white paper, Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth, sets out an ambition for College Business Centres to work with employers to drive innovation and productivity. In late 2020, Gatsby supported the Think consultancy to review the scope, scale, and impact of some existing business support services, and consider how colleges can contribute to this landscape. The project engaged LEPs, growth hubs, further education (FE) institutions and local and national government officials. The work explored existing collaborations and what might be done to further strengthen the connection between business support and post-16 institutions.

In this guest article the report's author, James Farr, introduces findings from the work, which are described in more detail in the full report.

Unfinished business

The White Paper's plan to create College Business Centres is a positive step, but a close working relationship with business support services is required if colleges are to best enable local employers to innovate and grow, says James Farr.

The announcement within the Skills for Jobs White Paper that colleges will be encouraged to develop pathfinder College Business Centres is a welcome sign of ambition for further education (FE). With employer leadership now a long-established priority and the need for post-16 delivery to better connect learners with good jobs clear within the White Paper, the plan for College Business Centres clearly signals DfE's belief in a broader role for FE in accelerating growth and productivity within local economies. Such activity will bring FE increasingly into contact with existing business support services, which are delivered to employers via a range of national and local providers. Supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, we undertook research in late 2020 to consider how colleges can contribute to this landscape.

With the White Paper describing increasing productivity as a core mission for post-16 skills, then it would be reasonable to argue that further education - as the key provider of post-16 education and training - should have a close relationship with other services whose mission is to drive up productivity and growth. Whilst access to skilled labour will not in isolation drive improvements in productivity, it is a critical ingredient for any business seeking to grow.

Our report found a good level of interest from within FE and the business support community for developing the relationship between the services. However, in policy and delivery terms, both at a national and local level, we found a degree of disconnect between the two. National policy fault lines are being repeated by LEPs, but this disconnect is nothing new. Arguably the last time business support and post-16 skills saw integration (not counting the Train 2 Gain skills brokerage via Business Link) was under some Training and Enterprise Councils which developed business support offers, even merging with local Chambers to create hybrid organisations.

We found very few examples of colleges working with business support services in an integrated fashion, building training and education into the packages of support provided to businesses within a locality, usually via growth hubs. There are several probable reasons for this. Firstly, the system incentives for growth hubs and further education do not encourage the integration of services across functional silos. For example, the key success measures for which college leaders are held accountable - such as achievement rates, Ofsted grading, financial sustainability - can lead to a low priority status for strategic and operational collaborations that support growth. Examples of good practice were often described as happening in spite of system incentives, rather than because of them. Plans announced in the White Paper for a more balanced set of further education provider accountability measures represent an opportunity to put local productivity and growth more squarely on the agenda for colleges leaders and governors.

A similar picture of misaligned system incentives also emerged within business support, where respondents readily stated that further education is something of a blind spot to them, none regarding further education as an 'animator' of the local economy. There is also extreme variability in the type and availability of business support services in a locality (the smallest growth hub we engaged with employed three staff; the largest had over 200 staff), as well as a variable picture in terms of the capacity and capability of post-16 providers to engage with businesses.

Despite this, we found solid grounds for optimism. Both further education (via the new White Paper) and business support (via a major BEIS review focused on reducing the complexity, improving consistency and impact) are entering a period of significant change, creating an opportunity to rethink how each service works with the other to benefit learners and employers within localities.

Unlike higher education institutions, which growth hubs often partner with on innovation and research programmes particularly with support from European structural funds, FE providers have a much better reach into what IPPR North term the 'everyday economy', which is dominated by SMEs. Improving the performance of the 'everyday economy' is critical to raising overall productivity and breaking the low skills equilibrium, which economists describe as dominating many local economies. For SMEs, improvements in productivity are not usually achieved via high end, cutting edge research and development activity - instead, such improvements can be developed via the knowledge transfer of well-evidenced good practice. Colleges have a role to play in enabling this transfer.

Therefore it is heartening to see plans within the White Paper to seek proposals for sector-based College Business Centres, supported by DfE's Strategic Development Fund. Our report calls for such an arrangement, via which activities can be delivered through start-up support, knowledge sharing within and across sectors, provision of business growth spaces, the sharing of industry-standard equipment within colleges, and the use of the college as a networking hub. We characterise these activities not as examples of FE colleges moving into the market for BEIS-funded business support, but rather as activities that colleges can deliver as a by-product of their core function - to develop the skills required in the workplace.

A second strand of our report highlights the practical steps required to better integrate the work of FE colleges with growth hubs (or any other providers of business support). Our contention is that the current delivery models of business support and post-16 education and training are fundamentally misaligned, and that there is much that LEPs, colleges and business support providers can do to join up in the service offer to employers. This might include:

The creation of shared local economy datasets between colleges and growth hubs, which can be used to underpin joint growth hub/FE responses to key opportunities - such as offers shaped for particular technical education routes, sector offers for inward investors, and addressing market failures.

Transparent sharing of business support and FE delivery data, which can help each party understand existing activity, build common understanding of routes and occupations, and develop shared product offers to employers.

The use of shared events, websites and consistent vocabulary when engaging with business, all to build a cohesive dialogue with employers - FE and growth hubs 'talking the same language'.

Refresh the boards of growth hubs, LEPs and colleges to cross-pollinate people, knowledge and ideas.

The involvement by LEPs of growth hubs in shaping investment priorities - such as via skills capital - to ensure that there is consistent alignment on skills and growth priorities.

The sharing of employer leads and demand - whereby colleges stimulate and aggregate demand for growth hub services, and vice-versa.

The White Paper's invitation to colleges to submit bids for College Business Centres offers an opportunity for stable and capable FE colleges to maximise their impact on the local economy by working more closely with similarly stable and capable providers of local business support services. Doing so would not only benefit local employers and residents by supporting economic resilience and growth. It would also strengthen the evidence of the vital contribution that post-16 provision makes to productivity. It would be good to see such arrangements succeed.

Our report, reviewing the relationship between business support services and further education, is available here.

James Farr is a director of THINK, offering policy, strategy, research and management support to FE, HE, employers and local and regional government.

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Unfinished business: business support services and further education

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Government's recent white paper, Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth, sets out an ambition for College Business Centres to work with employers to drive innovation and productivity. In late 2020, Gatsby supported the Think consultancy to review the scope, scale, and impact of some existing business support services, and consider how colleges can contribute to this landscape.

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Employers and educators must work together if we are to ‘build back better’

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Employers and educators must work together if we are to ‘build back better’

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Further Education News

The FE News Channel gives you the latest education news and updates on emerging education strategies and the #FutureofEducation and the #FutureofWork.

Providing trustworthy and positive Further Education news and views since 2003, we are a digital news channel with a mixture of written word articles, podcasts and videos. Our specialisation is providing you with a mixture of the latest education news, our stance is always positive, sector building and sharing different perspectives and views from thought leaders, to provide you with a think tank of new ideas and solutions to bring the education sector together and come up with new innovative solutions and ideas.

FE News publish exclusive peer to peer thought leadership articles from our feature writers, as well as user generated content across our network of over 3000 Newsrooms, offering multiple sources of the latest education news across the Education and Employability sectors.

FE News also broadcast live events, podcasts with leading experts and thought leaders, webinars, video interviews and Further Education news bulletins so you receive the latest developments in Skills News and across the Apprenticeship, Further Education and Employability sectors.

Every week FE News has over 200 articles and new pieces of content per week. We are a news channel providing the latest Further Education News, giving insight from multiple sources on the latest education policy developments, latest strategies, through to our thought leaders who provide blue sky thinking strategy, best practice and innovation to help look into the future developments for education and the future of work.

In May 2020, FE News had over 120,000 unique visitors according to Google Analytics and over 200 new pieces of news content every week, from thought leadership articles, to the latest education news via written word, podcasts, video to press releases from across the sector.

We thought it would be helpful to explain how we tier our latest education news content and how you can get involved and understand how you can read the latest daily Further Education news and how we structure our FE Week of content:

Main Features

Our main features are exclusive and are thought leadership articles and blue sky thinking with experts writing peer to peer news articles about the future of education and the future of work. The focus is solution led thought leadership, sharing best practice, innovation and emerging strategy. These are often articles about the future of education and the future of work, they often then create future education news articles. We limit our main features to a maximum of 20 per week, as they are often about new concepts and new thought processes. Our main features are also exclusive articles responding to the latest education news, maybe an insight from an expert into a policy announcement or response to an education think tank report or a white paper.

FE Voices

FE Voices was originally set up as a section on FE News to give a voice back to the sector. As we now have over 3,000 newsrooms and contributors, FE Voices are usually thought leadership articles, they don't necessarily have to be exclusive, but usually are, they are slightly shorter than Main Features. FE Voices can include more mixed media with the Further Education News articles, such as embedded podcasts and videos. Our sector response articles asking for different comments and opinions to education policy announcements or responding to a report of white paper are usually held in the FE Voices section. If we have a live podcast in an evening or a radio show such as SkillsWorldLive radio show, the next morning we place the FE podcast recording in the FE Voices section.

Sector News

In sector news we have a blend of content from Press Releases, education resources, reports, education research, white papers from a range of contributors. We have a lot of positive education news articles from colleges, awarding organisations and Apprenticeship Training Providers, press releases from DfE to Think Tanks giving the overview of a report, through to helpful resources to help you with delivering education strategies to your learners and students.

Podcasts

We have a range of education podcasts on FE News, from hour long full production FE podcasts such as SkillsWorldLive in conjunction with the Federation of Awarding Bodies, to weekly podcasts from experts and thought leaders, providing advice and guidance to leaders. FE News also record podcasts at conferences and events, giving you one on one podcasts with education and skills experts on the latest strategies and developments.

We have over 150 education podcasts on FE News, ranging from EdTech podcasts with experts discussing Education 4.0 and how technology is complimenting and transforming education, to podcasts with experts discussing education research, the future of work, how to develop skills systems for jobs of the future to interviews with the Apprenticeship and Skills Minister.

We record our own exclusive FE News podcasts, work in conjunction with sector partners such as FAB to create weekly podcasts and daily education podcasts, through to working with sector leaders creating exclusive education news podcasts.

Education Video Interviews

FE News have over 700 FE Video interviews and have been recording education video interviews with experts for over 12 years. These are usually vox pop video interviews with experts across education and work, discussing blue sky thinking ideas and views about the future of education and work.

Events

FE News has a free events calendar to check out the latest conferences, webinars and events to keep up to date with the latest education news and strategies.

FE Newsrooms

The FE Newsroom is home to your content if you are a FE News contributor. It also help the audience develop relationship with either you as an individual or your organisation as they can click through and 'box set' consume all of your previous thought leadership articles, latest education news press releases, videos and education podcasts.

Do you want to contribute, share your ideas or vision or share a press release?

If you want to write a thought leadership article, share your ideas and vision for the future of education or the future of work, write a press release sharing the latest education news or contribute to a podcast, first of all you need to set up a FE Newsroom login (which is free): once the team have approved your newsroom (all content, newsrooms are all approved by a member of the FE News team- no robots are used in this process!), you can then start adding content (again all articles, videos and podcasts are all approved by the FE News editorial team before they go live on FE News). As all newsrooms and content are approved by the FE News team, there will be a slight delay on the team being able to review and approve content.

RSS Feed Selection Page

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west suffolk college group and suffolk academies trust

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employers and educators must work together if we are to ‘build back better’

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Employers and educators must work together if we are to 'build back better'

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As we start to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, thoughts are turning to the re-building of the economy. Many businesses have suffered while other industries have met with growing demand. Logistics is one of those expanding sectors. While the entire population was told to stay at home, transportation of goods...

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Why the DfE funding clawback plan has left many raging

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Why the DfE funding clawback plan has left many raging

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It started with the snap decision about whether to go ahead with BTEC exams in the week of a national lockdown. It ends with more tests: lateral flow, functional skill, internally assessed but virtually moderated. You name it, someone at college will be working to make it happen.

In these circumstances, the government plan to cut around £50 million from college budgets is a destructive and self-defeating move. We won't know the exact size of the clawback until autumn and it will not be taken back until December, but we know from the mid-year forecasts on AEB delivery that the average performance on this target will be 80 per cent at best and, in some cases, as low as 50 per cent.
Background: 15% rise in positive College Covid tests
Need to know: Assessed content in VTQs can be reduced

Gillian Keegan: FE White Paper to simplify adult education funding

The clawback in December 2021 is particularly self-defeating because it undermines the plans that the government has for colleges. The agency's adult funding machine is the one the department plans to overhaul, as it is (to summarise the White Paper), a machine that is "complex", "focused on process" and "an obstacle to strategic planning". Uncertainty about budgets creates incentives to chase enrolments.

Scramble for enrolments
Julian Gravatt is deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges
The clawback in December will cut funds available next year. Just at the point where government wants colleges to collaborate, to work with employers and to invest in the sectors of the future, too many will be making short-term cuts to stay afloat. This is why there is such anger over a technicality like a reconciliation threshold. It's the fear of hope taken away just when there's more hope around.

To end on a positive note, there are constructive solutions to this issue. They're quite dull but dull is often what works best in finance. The department and agency should look again at the data it collected and perhaps update the February data with June numbers (R10 rather than R06 to use the appropriate jargon).

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Why the DfE funding clawback plan has left many raging

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It started with the snap decision about whether to go ahead with BTEC exams in the week of a national lockdown. It ends with more tests: lateral flow, functional skill, internally assessed but virtually moderated. You name it, someone at college will be working to make it happen.

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FE White Paper In-Depth | Webcast recordings

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FE White Paper In-Depth | Webcast recordings

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Further Education News

The FE News Channel gives you the latest education news and updates on emerging education strategies and the #FutureofEducation and the #FutureofWork.

Providing trustworthy and positive Further Education news and views since 2003, we are a digital news channel with a mixture of written word articles, podcasts and videos. Our specialisation is providing you with a mixture of the latest education news, our stance is always positive, sector building and sharing different perspectives and views from thought leaders, to provide you with a think tank of new ideas and solutions to bring the education sector together and come up with new innovative solutions and ideas.

FE News publish exclusive peer to peer thought leadership articles from our feature writers, as well as user generated content across our network of over 3000 Newsrooms, offering multiple sources of the latest education news across the Education and Employability sectors.

FE News also broadcast live events, podcasts with leading experts and thought leaders, webinars, video interviews and Further Education news bulletins so you receive the latest developments in Skills News and across the Apprenticeship, Further Education and Employability sectors.

Every week FE News has over 200 articles and new pieces of content per week. We are a news channel providing the latest Further Education News, giving insight from multiple sources on the latest education policy developments, latest strategies, through to our thought leaders who provide blue sky thinking strategy, best practice and innovation to help look into the future developments for education and the future of work.

In May 2020, FE News had over 120,000 unique visitors according to Google Analytics and over 200 new pieces of news content every week, from thought leadership articles, to the latest education news via written word, podcasts, video to press releases from across the sector.

We thought it would be helpful to explain how we tier our latest education news content and how you can get involved and understand how you can read the latest daily Further Education news and how we structure our FE Week of content:

Main Features

Our main features are exclusive and are thought leadership articles and blue sky thinking with experts writing peer to peer news articles about the future of education and the future of work. The focus is solution led thought leadership, sharing best practice, innovation and emerging strategy. These are often articles about the future of education and the future of work, they often then create future education news articles. We limit our main features to a maximum of 20 per week, as they are often about new concepts and new thought processes. Our main features are also exclusive articles responding to the latest education news, maybe an insight from an expert into a policy announcement or response to an education think tank report or a white paper.

FE Voices

FE Voices was originally set up as a section on FE News to give a voice back to the sector. As we now have over 3,000 newsrooms and contributors, FE Voices are usually thought leadership articles, they don't necessarily have to be exclusive, but usually are, they are slightly shorter than Main Features. FE Voices can include more mixed media with the Further Education News articles, such as embedded podcasts and videos. Our sector response articles asking for different comments and opinions to education policy announcements or responding to a report of white paper are usually held in the FE Voices section. If we have a live podcast in an evening or a radio show such as SkillsWorldLive radio show, the next morning we place the FE podcast recording in the FE Voices section.

Sector News

In sector news we have a blend of content from Press Releases, education resources, reports, education research, white papers from a range of contributors. We have a lot of positive education news articles from colleges, awarding organisations and Apprenticeship Training Providers, press releases from DfE to Think Tanks giving the overview of a report, through to helpful resources to help you with delivering education strategies to your learners and students.

Podcasts

We have a range of education podcasts on FE News, from hour long full production FE podcasts such as SkillsWorldLive in conjunction with the Federation of Awarding Bodies, to weekly podcasts from experts and thought leaders, providing advice and guidance to leaders. FE News also record podcasts at conferences and events, giving you one on one podcasts with education and skills experts on the latest strategies and developments.

We have over 150 education podcasts on FE News, ranging from EdTech podcasts with experts discussing Education 4.0 and how technology is complimenting and transforming education, to podcasts with experts discussing education research, the future of work, how to develop skills systems for jobs of the future to interviews with the Apprenticeship and Skills Minister.

We record our own exclusive FE News podcasts, work in conjunction with sector partners such as FAB to create weekly podcasts and daily education podcasts, through to working with sector leaders creating exclusive education news podcasts.

Education Video Interviews

FE News have over 700 FE Video interviews and have been recording education video interviews with experts for over 12 years. These are usually vox pop video interviews with experts across education and work, discussing blue sky thinking ideas and views about the future of education and work.

Events

FE News has a free events calendar to check out the latest conferences, webinars and events to keep up to date with the latest education news and strategies.

FE Newsrooms

The FE Newsroom is home to your content if you are a FE News contributor. It also help the audience develop relationship with either you as an individual or your organisation as they can click through and 'box set' consume all of your previous thought leadership articles, latest education news press releases, videos and education podcasts.

Do you want to contribute, share your ideas or vision or share a press release?

If you want to write a thought leadership article, share your ideas and vision for the future of education or the future of work, write a press release sharing the latest education news or contribute to a podcast, first of all you need to set up a FE Newsroom login (which is free): once the team have approved your newsroom (all content, newsrooms are all approved by a member of the FE News team- no robots are used in this process!), you can then start adding content (again all articles, videos and podcasts are all approved by the FE News editorial team before they go live on FE News). As all newsrooms and content are approved by the FE News team, there will be a slight delay on the team being able to review and approve content.

RSS Feed Selection Page

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Skills for Jobs White Paper - The Level 4 and 5 Challenge

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In the FE #SkillsForJobs White Paper, @GavinWilliamson sets the bar high when it comes to his vision for its impact: "This White Paper is not just about a new economic dawn for the country, crucial though that it is. 'At its most fundamental it is about fulfillment and enrichment on...

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Supporting the education and learning of people of all ages during a pandemic and beyond

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Supporting the education and learning of people of all ages during a pandemic and beyond

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Further Education News

The FE News Channel gives you the latest education news and updates on emerging education strategies and the #FutureofEducation and the #FutureofWork.

Providing trustworthy and positive Further Education news and views since 2003, we are a digital news channel with a mixture of written word articles, podcasts and videos. Our specialisation is providing you with a mixture of the latest education news, our stance is always positive, sector building and sharing different perspectives and views from thought leaders, to provide you with a think tank of new ideas and solutions to bring the education sector together and come up with new innovative solutions and ideas.

FE News publish exclusive peer to peer thought leadership articles from our feature writers, as well as user generated content across our network of over 3000 Newsrooms, offering multiple sources of the latest education news across the Education and Employability sectors.

FE News also broadcast live events, podcasts with leading experts and thought leaders, webinars, video interviews and Further Education news bulletins so you receive the latest developments in Skills News and across the Apprenticeship, Further Education and Employability sectors.

Every week FE News has over 200 articles and new pieces of content per week. We are a news channel providing the latest Further Education News, giving insight from multiple sources on the latest education policy developments, latest strategies, through to our thought leaders who provide blue sky thinking strategy, best practice and innovation to help look into the future developments for education and the future of work.

In May 2020, FE News had over 120,000 unique visitors according to Google Analytics and over 200 new pieces of news content every week, from thought leadership articles, to the latest education news via written word, podcasts, video to press releases from across the sector.

We thought it would be helpful to explain how we tier our latest education news content and how you can get involved and understand how you can read the latest daily Further Education news and how we structure our FE Week of content:

Main Features

Our main features are exclusive and are thought leadership articles and blue sky thinking with experts writing peer to peer news articles about the future of education and the future of work. The focus is solution led thought leadership, sharing best practice, innovation and emerging strategy. These are often articles about the future of education and the future of work, they often then create future education news articles. We limit our main features to a maximum of 20 per week, as they are often about new concepts and new thought processes. Our main features are also exclusive articles responding to the latest education news, maybe an insight from an expert into a policy announcement or response to an education think tank report or a white paper.

FE Voices

FE Voices was originally set up as a section on FE News to give a voice back to the sector. As we now have over 3,000 newsrooms and contributors, FE Voices are usually thought leadership articles, they don't necessarily have to be exclusive, but usually are, they are slightly shorter than Main Features. FE Voices can include more mixed media with the Further Education News articles, such as embedded podcasts and videos. Our sector response articles asking for different comments and opinions to education policy announcements or responding to a report of white paper are usually held in the FE Voices section. If we have a live podcast in an evening or a radio show such as SkillsWorldLive radio show, the next morning we place the FE podcast recording in the FE Voices section.

Sector News

In sector news we have a blend of content from Press Releases, education resources, reports, education research, white papers from a range of contributors. We have a lot of positive education news articles from colleges, awarding organisations and Apprenticeship Training Providers, press releases from DfE to Think Tanks giving the overview of a report, through to helpful resources to help you with delivering education strategies to your learners and students.

Podcasts

We have a range of education podcasts on FE News, from hour long full production FE podcasts such as SkillsWorldLive in conjunction with the Federation of Awarding Bodies, to weekly podcasts from experts and thought leaders, providing advice and guidance to leaders. FE News also record podcasts at conferences and events, giving you one on one podcasts with education and skills experts on the latest strategies and developments.

We have over 150 education podcasts on FE News, ranging from EdTech podcasts with experts discussing Education 4.0 and how technology is complimenting and transforming education, to podcasts with experts discussing education research, the future of work, how to develop skills systems for jobs of the future to interviews with the Apprenticeship and Skills Minister.

We record our own exclusive FE News podcasts, work in conjunction with sector partners such as FAB to create weekly podcasts and daily education podcasts, through to working with sector leaders creating exclusive education news podcasts.

Education Video Interviews

FE News have over 700 FE Video interviews and have been recording education video interviews with experts for over 12 years. These are usually vox pop video interviews with experts across education and work, discussing blue sky thinking ideas and views about the future of education and work.

Events

FE News has a free events calendar to check out the latest conferences, webinars and events to keep up to date with the latest education news and strategies.

FE Newsrooms

The FE Newsroom is home to your content if you are a FE News contributor. It also help the audience develop relationship with either you as an individual or your organisation as they can click through and 'box set' consume all of your previous thought leadership articles, latest education news press releases, videos and education podcasts.

Do you want to contribute, share your ideas or vision or share a press release?

If you want to write a thought leadership article, share your ideas and vision for the future of education or the future of work, write a press release sharing the latest education news or contribute to a podcast, first of all you need to set up a FE Newsroom login (which is free): once the team have approved your newsroom (all content, newsrooms are all approved by a member of the FE News team- no robots are used in this process!), you can then start adding content (again all articles, videos and podcasts are all approved by the FE News editorial team before they go live on FE News). As all newsrooms and content are approved by the FE News team, there will be a slight delay on the team being able to review and approve content.

RSS Feed Selection Page

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Supporting the education and learning of people of all ages during a pandemic and beyond

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Over the past 12 months we have seen the pandemic shape and alter our social and economic priorities. Education and learning have played a key role in increasing prosperity, as well as delivering considerable benefits to society as a whole. But as we move forward into a post-COVID-19 world, how...

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FEWeek 26 03 21 Treasury to blame for adult ed clawback plans.PNG

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Our weekly newsletter containing actions and information for ESFA-funded organisations.

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We are a diverse and super-connected economy comprising a dynamic core city, thriving towns and market towns, outstanding countryside and a significant rural economy.

Comprised of a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) we work at a regional level to invest in delivering business growth, skills and economic development related projects, in addition to transport, housing, and the Mayor's agenda.

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We are a diverse and super-connected economy comprising a dynamic core city, thriving towns and market towns, outstanding countryside and a significant rural economy. Comprised of a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) we work at a regional level to invest in delivering business growth, skills and economic development related projects, in addition to transport, housing, and the Mayor's agenda.

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The Education and Skills Funding Agency has confirmed that it will claw back adult skills funds from colleges and other grant-funded organisations like local authorities if they miss their 2020-1 academic year targets by more than 10%. In technical terms, has lowered the reconciliation threshold for the non-devolved adult education budget to 90%.
FACTS
The facts behind this announcement are as follows:

Budgets: Responsibility for the adult education budget in 2020-1 is split between the ESFA and 8 mayor-led local authorities (mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority). ESFA allocated £615 million in adult education grants to colleges (£456 million), councils, universities and academies and £88 million in contracts.

How adult funding works: Providers have to use the funds in line with the 104 page adult education budget funding rulebook and report activity on every student via the Individual Learner Record. Every student and their course is priced in ESFA's AEB funding formula. The latest announcement confirms that ESFA will not take back funds if grant funded providers achieve 90% or more of their funding allocation but there will clawback for every extra pound if the funding target is missed by more than 10% (ie 85% performance implies clawback of 5% of funds).

The timing of the clawback: ESFA takes the money back by reducing the funds that it pays out to colleges on a monthly basis. 2020-1 clawback will be taken in December 2021 though colleges can ask for this to be phased over the following three months. Any deferral of clawback into April 2022 or beyond will be treated as a DFE loan to the college, require a formal agrement and result in the college being placed in intervention.

Adult education budget devolution: The devolved authorities have their own rules but some said in spring 2021 that they would wait to see what DFE decided

AoC has been asking for DFE to change the threshold since autumn 2020 because of the disruption caused by the pandemic and the need to stabilise college income to avoid the need for redundancies now that would reduce capacity in future. Our position on the latest announcement is as follows:

Better later than never but 10% tolerance is too low: It is good that has accepted the need for a lower threshold but 10% tolerance is not much given the disruptions of the year and will leave some colleges scrambling for enrolments or savings. The announcement comes four months before the end of the financial year

Activity likely to be 75-85%, implying clawback of £22 million to £68 million: ESFA state that a 90% threshold is a "fair representation of average delivery" but the agency has not collected data from colleges since early February and it is likely that some colleges sent in optimistic mid-year forecasts to avert mid-year adjustments to their funding. We believe college delivery is more likely to fall between 75% and 85% which would imply total clawback at the end of 2021 of between £68 million and £22 million. These will be six figure sums for some colleges and could exceed the additional funds allocated via the National Skills Fund to support the Level 3 entitlement from 1 April 2021 onwards.

The case for a variable threshold: Some colleges expect to be able to meet their adult education targets, particularly where they use the money mainly to support younger adults on full-time courses (for example in the 19-to-24 age group) or for courses suitable for distance learning. It has been much harder for colleges to run English for Speakers of Other Languages online and there have been cities and towns were under higher levels of Covid restrictions before the November shutdown. The spring shutdown disrupted plans for spring course starts. Some colleges traditionally use a share of their adult education budget to provide courses for people under Jobcentreplus mandates but there have been fewer referrals since the pandemic started. These was - and is - a case for a more sophisticated ESFA decision-making process on thresholds rather than a single 90% threshold.

Impact on investment: FE colleges submitted bids on Monday for the Capital Transformation Fund which involves £1.2 billion in government spending to improve the condition of college buildings and facilities so that they are fit for the future. The deadline for T level capital fund bids falls this weekend. Colleges are also involved in Towns funds, Institutes of Technology and other schemes to support for the government's plan for growth. Understandably DfE wants colleges to use their own resources where they have them to match fund. This announcement will put these plans at risk at some colleges.

The threat to adult education teaching jobs: Government allows publicly funded organisations like colleges to apply for the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) to sustain jobs but it is not straightforward for colleges to use JRS for staff in this area because, even with fewer enrolments, colleges still need staff to deal with smaller class sizes and also to manage additional jobs given to them by DfE, for example lateral flow testing and additional student assessment. Delaying this announcement until late March leaves individual colleges little time to use furloughing, thus increasing the likelihood of some redundancies later in 2021. We hope that DfE does not automatically adjust next year's adult education allocations (for 2021-2) on the basis of 2020-1 activity because this would compound the financial issue for some colleges.

Side-effects for the Level 3 entitlement: Colleges were encouraged last week by the Prime Minister and Education Secretary to make full use of the National Skills Fund to support the new Level 3 entitlement. It is hard for any organisation to simultaneously expand and contract in the same field of work.

Improving FE funding and accountabiliy: In the Skills for Jobs white paper, DfE promises to reform the funding and accountability system so that there is a move towards accountability for outcomes and a strong focus both on high quality, high value provision and on addressing skills shortages. These are positive goals and we look forward to DfE's consultation which will set out plans to put this into effect for 2022 and beyond. Unfortunately this latest development will reinforce the activity that the white paper criticises - namely a pressure to fill courses to meet a funding target.

WHAT NEXT?
AoC is gathering information from colleges on this latest development. We advised colleges who believe they face a significant clawback to discuss this with their ESFA territorial team (as required by clauses 12.1 and 12.2 of the 100 page ESFA funding agreement. We have raised some of the concerns set out above wiith DfE and ESFA officials and encourage them to consider whether the threshold is too high and whether an exceptional case process would help deal with the variable threshold point made above.

Any queries on this note to Julian Gravatt.

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Plan to clawback adult education funds targets are missed by over 10% (23 March 2021)

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The Education and Skills Funding Agency has confirmed that it will claw back adult skills funds from colleges and other grant-funded organisations like local authorities if they miss their 2020-1 academic year targets by more than 10%. In technical terms, has lowered the reconciliation threshold for the non-devolved adult education budget to 90%.

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Lower reconciliation threshold for ESFA grant funded providers

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Adult education budget (AEB): funding rates and formula 2020 to 2021

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The tender for the nationwide rollout of the government's technical skills "boot camps" has been launched, with £36 million from the National Skills Fund on offer.

The Department for Education has invited suppliers to bid for two lots, both worth £18 million: the first for digital skills boot camps in the nine geographical regions of England to "meet the skills shortage vacancy needs of local areas", starting this April.

The second will award "a number" of contracts for boot camps in sectors such as electrotechnical, nuclear or green energy, but also for digital skills, at a local or national level, based on "evidenced demand".

Both will last for one year, with the possibility of a one-year extension for lot one and two one-year extensions for lot two, and start this April, when the National Skills Fund is due to be rolled-out.

It comes after two waves of boot camp pilot schemes, both worth £4 million, were commissioned in areas such as the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire, and the south-west last year; featuring training for digital skills as well as industries including welding, engineering and construction.

People aged 19 and over seeking work, looking to change careers, or already in work looking to retrain are again set to benefit from the up to 16-week-long boot camps, which the tender says will "meet the needs of employers and to address the skills shortages vacancies in different regions of England," and will include a guaranteed job interview for those seeking employment.

The DfE said it anticipates that at least 75 per cent of all trainees will "move into a new job or role within six months of completing training".

The department is looking for suppliers with a track record of engaging with employers and delivering training which meets their needs, who can recruit trainees, can flex delivery to meet their needs, can track trainees' destinations, manage the guaranteed job interviews, and report outcomes for evaluation purposes.

According to the tender, the DfE "strongly encourage local area bodies, employers and providers to come together in consortia" to bid.

These consortiums, which must bid as a single legal entity, should include a lead supplier such as a local authority, local enterprise partnership, or mayoral combined authority, and a guarantor to alleviate the department's concerns about "the economic and financial standing of such single legal entity, or in relation to the technical and professional ability of the same".

The lead supplier will have to state which employers are involved with the bid and show how they have helped design and approved the training.

Payment to providers will be on an agreed rate for each learner, and 30 per cent will be earned for a start on the boot camp, for example, if a learner completes their first, full week, or after a set number of guided learning hours.

Sixty per cent will be earned if a learner achieves the boot camp's required standard, which will be defined by the provider at the bidding stage, including evidence of how learners will be assessed, what quality assurance is in place and whether training is externally validated.

And the final ten per cent will be earned by a learner progressing into a new job within six months, or if there is a change in role for learners who are already employed, or if self-employed learners can find new opportunities.

FE Week has previously reported the national roll-out would be worth £43 million, and as this tender is worth £36 million overall, the Department for Education has said details about the remaining £7 million will be announced "in due course".

Potential suppliers have until 12 February to submit tenders for both lots.

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Tender launched for national rollout of skills 'boot camps'

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The tender for the nationwide rollout of the government's technical skills "boot camps" has been launched, with £36 million from the National Skills Fund on offer. The Department for Education has invited suppliers to bid for two lots, both worth £18 million: the first for digital skills boot camps in the nine geographical regions of England to "meet the skills shortage vacancy needs of local areas", starting this April.

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Purpose

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults.

This page explains how we allocate funding for:

ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB), including 19 to 24 traineeships

Advanced learner loans facilities and bursaries

16 to 18 traineeships and bursaries, for providers without 16 to 19 funding

Apprenticeships carry-in and apprenticeship non-levy extensions

We will publish information and updates to this page as they become available.

We will issue all allocations through manage your education and skills funding service.

How we calculate allocations

We calculate allocations on an annual basis using nationally consistent methodologies.

The general principles we follow when setting allocations are to:

reflect historic delivery and ensure allocations are in line with what providers can realistically earn

ensure all providers are treated fairly and equitably

protect public funds and meet principles of public law

enable providers to respond to government priorities

The 19+ allocations technical guidance for 2020 to 2021 sets out in detail, the allocation methodologies and the data sources we used to calculate 2020 to 2021 funding year allocations. This has been updated to include national skills fund: adult level 3 offer allocations which were issued in February 2021.

The apprenticeships non-levy technical guidance for 2021 to 2022 sets out how we calculated allocations for the 2021 to 2022 financial year.

The technical guidance for ESFA funded AEB, advanced learner loans and 16 to 18 traineeships for the 2021 to 2022 funding year will be published in March 2021.

Allocation timeline

We will publish information and updates to the timeline as we make progress on delivering allocations for 2021 to 2022.

Please check out the latest news column on the timeline and our ESFA Update for regular updates.

Business cases

When to submit a business case

You should only submit business cases where you have made significant data errors that have affected your funding allocation.

The deadline for apprenticeships non-levy extension allocations business cases is 31 March 2021.

We will not accept business cases for ESFA funded AEB, 19 to 24 traineeships, 16 to 18 traineeships (for providers without 16 to 19 funding) and advanced learner loans until you have received your allocation in March. The deadline for these business cases is 30 April 2021.

We will not accept requests for growth or cases that are not related to data errors.

How to submit a case

You should complete the business case template and send it to us using our online enquiry form.

Business case outcomes

Where cases have been received with full information before the deadline we aim to communicate outcomes of non-levy apprenticeships extensions cases in May 2021 and adult allocations cases in June 2021.

Complex cases can take longer to investigate, and we aim to communicate outcomes for these before 1 August 2021.

If successful, changes will be reflected in contracts from the start of the funding year

Supporting documents

Published allocations

If you have a query, please use the ESFA online form

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The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults. This page explains how we allocate funding for: ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB), including 19 to 24 traineeships Advanced learner loans facilities and bursaries 16 to 18 traineeships and bursaries, for providers without 16 to 19 funding Apprenticeships carry-in and apprenticeship non-levy extensions We will publish information and updates to this page as they become available.

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The Department for Education has finally published its initial response to Philip Augar's review of Post-18 Education and Funding, almost two years after it was launched.

It is worth noting, however, that this is an "interim" response and the final conclusion will not be set out until the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

Much of the response reiterates plans outlined in the FE white paper, which you can read about here.

Here are the key things you need to know from the Augar response.
Lifelong loan entitlement to create 'a flexible system'
Augar's (pictured) report recommended the introduction of a "lifelong learning loan allowance" to be used at higher technical and degree level at any stage of an adult's career for full and part time students.

As part of the prime minister's lifetime skills guarantee, the DfE has committed to moving to a system where everyone has a "lifelong loan entitlement" from 2025, giving them access to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education.

The DfE claims this entitlement, to be consulted on in "early 2021", will enable universities and colleges to provide a more "modular" offer.
New 'Local Skills Improvement Plans' to align courses to employer needs
The Augar report made clear that it was vital for post-18 provision to address labour market needs.

The DfE said it is their "vision" for the "substantial majority" of post-16 technical and Higher Technical Education to be aligned to employer-led standards by the end of this decade.

The department will also give employers a "central role" in shaping the technical skills provision offered in local areas beginning with Trailblazer areas where accredited Chambers of Commerce, and other business representative organisations, will "work with further education colleges and other providers to develop new Local Skills Improvement Plans".

As per the white paper, these plans will be created by employers and providers, with the employers setting out a "credibly articulated and evidence-based assessment of skills needs to which providers will be empowered to respond".

The DfE intends to legislate to put the employer leadership of Local Skills Improvement Plans on a statutory footing, "strengthening the voice of employers in local skills systems across the country".
Rebalancing from academic to technical education
The DfE says it aims to create a "system whereby the quality of our technical and academic education is on a par, and the two are equally accessible.

"We want every student with the aptitude and desire to go to university to be able to do so and we want technical, employer-centric training to be a viable option for many more people."

In 2018, the department announced plans to overhaul qualifications at levels 4 and 5 and create a "new generation" of courses at these levels.

The DfE said today that this "approved Higher Technical Qualifications offer" is a "high-quality prestigious alternative to the traditional full-length academic degree model" and will "ensure that everyone, no matter where in the country they are based, has access to the same quality of qualification and to equally good outcomes".

They added that T Levels, rolled out for the first time in September 2020, will also help "close the gap" between academic and technical education.
Reforming skills funding
The DfE intends to make reforms to funding across the sectors in order to enable a "new, flexible, fairer system".

The Augar response reiterates that as well as the lifelong loan entitlement, the department is making investments in further education "to ensure that public money is spent on high quality education and training that leads to good outcomes".

"This includes a £400 million increase in 16-19 funding at Spending Review 2019, and a £291 million increase to 16 to 19 funding at Spending Review 2020. We have also committed to invest £1.5 billion of capital funding to refurbish the further education estate."

The Augar report also highlighted the "significant, and growing, taxpayer subsidy in the higher education student finance system". The DfE therefore intends to "freeze the maximum tuition fee cap to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of higher education under control".

This will initially be for one year and further changes to the student finance system will be considered ahead of the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

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#post_titleDfE finally publishes 'interim' response to Augar Review

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The Department for Education has finally published its initial response to Philip Augar's review of Post-18 Education and Funding, almost two years after it was launched. It is worth noting, however, that this is an "interim" response and the final conclusion will not be set out until the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

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Further education and skills inspection handbook

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Guidance for inspectors on inspecting further education and skills providers under the education inspection framework.

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Building a stronger, greener and fairer economy for South Yorkshire
"Our relief effort will be radical, wide-ranging and will stop at nothing to put South Yorkshire back on its feet. It's a plan for small businesses, big businesses and the people and communities we serve." Dan Jarvis MBE MP, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been felt by communities across South Yorkshire and Mayor Dan Jarvis and the Local Enterprise Partnership have developed an ambitious £1.7 billion plan for not just recovery, but renewal.
"Stronger, greener, and fairer: if we can put this vision into practice, we hope that some good may yet come of these difficult times. The plans we've set out are ambitious - but the scale of the crisis, and of our untapped potential, demands nothing less." James Muir, Chair of the Sheffield City Region LEP
The Renewal Action Plan (RAP) sets out our road map to help South Yorkshire recover from the pandemic and put us on the path towards social and economic renewal. It will help people, employers and places recover, and put us on course to transform our region - making our economy and society stronger, greener and fairer.

The plan also contributes to our longer-term goals and the transformation of our City Region - so we can build back better. The plan shows how we will help:

People - supporting people adapt to the new economy and be better able to fill higher-skilled jobs

Employers - supporting businesses to adapt, survive and thrive in the new environment

Places - transforming our local economies to create jobs, and make our towns and cities stronger

A more productive and innovative economy

We need to build a more productive and more innovative economy for South Yorkshire - not just bigger, but better.

The Renewal Action Plan will make our economy and society:

Stronger - an economic transformation to create not just a bigger economy but a better one: higher-tech, higher skill, and higher-value

Greener - a green transformation to decarbonise our economy, improve our environment, and revolutionise our transport

Fairer - a transformation of wellbeing and inclusion, raising our quality of life, reducing inequality, and widening opportunity

Working with our partners to find solutions

The Renewal Action Plan has been developed in close partnership with local authorities, businesses, trade unions, universities and other partners through the Mayor and the LEP's COVID response groups.

The changes you can expect to see

In the next 18 months we will:

Help people improve their skills, get back to work, remain and/or progress in work, or set up in business

Accelerate our Net Zero Carbon transition

Back our wealth and job creators

Get South Yorkshire moving by foot, bike, bus, tram and train

Put cranes in the sky and spades in the ground

Next steps

Our Plan has been submitted to government and the Mayor and the LEP will continue to lobby the Government for the powers and investment we need to unleash our potential.

So far, we have secured funding for the following projects to support the Renewal Action Plan:

We are now exploring what support we can offer using the powers and funding in the recent Sheffield City Region Devolution Deal to help the region's people, businesses and places, subject to approval by the Mayoral Combined Authority.
Read the Renewal Action Plan.

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Building a stronger, greener and fairer economy for South Yorkshire "Our relief effort will be radical, wide-ranging and will stop at nothing to put South Yorkshire back on its feet. It's a plan for small businesses, big businesses and the people and communities we serve." Dan Jarvis MBE MP, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region.

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This week's Education Policy briefing includes Update on the College Collaboration Fund (CCF), Careers Leadership in Colleges, UCAS Discover Apprenticeships, Programme launch: Young Professional - Journey to Work, Skills Bootcamps, EHC plans: Supporting decision-making for September 2021, AoC Vacancy: Senior Policy Manager - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), Transitions for asylum seekers and refugees, Get Help with Technology, Adult Learning in other countries - a EU funded Peer Learning Activity event online, Webinar: DfE Update on the new Level 3 adult offer, Wilberforce Society annual conference and virtual student workshops on public policy, Apprenticeships and Skills Conference, T Level Professional Development (TLPD) offer - Understanding T Levels

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Colleges have a reputation for providing adults with excellent vocational education and training. More than two million adults study or train in colleges and 72,000 16 to 18-year-olds do an apprenticeship through their local college. 54% of large employers train their staff using a local college .

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A report from the independent panel to the review of post-18 education and funding.

Documents

Details

The post-18 review was announced in February 2018.

Since then the independent panel, chaired by Philip Augar, undertook an extensive programme of stakeholder engagement and evidence gathering.

This report sets out their findings and policy recommendations for government consideration.

Is there anything wrong with this page?

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Post-18 review of education and funding: independent panel report

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We use cookies to collect information about how you use GOV.UK. We use this information to make the website work as well as possible and improve government services. A report from the independent panel to the review of post-18 education and funding. The post-18 review was announced in February 2018.

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This white paper sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK.

Documents

Details

The strategy sets out how we are building a Britain fit for the future - how we will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future

We will boost productivity and earning power across the country by focusing on 5 foundations:

A Welsh language version is also available.

Our plans to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles are taken forward in the ' Road to Zero Strategy ', released July 2018.

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Industrial Strategy: building a Britain fit for the future

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This white paper sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. The strategy sets out how we are building a Britain fit for the future - how we will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future We will boost productivity and earning power across the country by focusing on 5 foundations: A Welsh language version is also available.

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2020 - 2040

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Reforms to post-16 technical education and training to support people to develop the skills needed to get good jobs and improve national productivity.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

This white paper outlines how we propose to support people to develop the skills they need to get good jobs, including measures to:

give employers a greater say in the development of skills

provide higher level technical skills

provide a flexible, lifetime skills guarantee

simplify and reform funding and accountability for providers

support outstanding teaching

Thank you for your feedback

Report a problem with this page

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Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth

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Reforms to post-16 technical education and training to support people to develop the skills needed to get good jobs and improve national productivity.

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Overview

Starting this Parliament, the government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund. The National Skills Fund will help adults to train and gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects. It will support the immediate economic recovery and future skills needs by boosting the supply of skills that employers require.

The Chancellor announced £375 million for the National Skills Fund at the Spending Review in November 2020. This includes £95 million of additional funding for a new level 3 adult offer and £43 million to expand skills bootcamps.

Level 3 adult offer

From April 2021, any adult aged 24 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification, which is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or 2 full A levels, will be able to access hundreds of fully-funded courses.

19 to 23 year olds will continue to be eligible for their first full level 3 via the adult education budget, and for any additional qualifications made available through this offer.

The level 3 adult offer is part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September 2020. This offer is a long-term commitment to remove the age constraints and financial barriers for adults looking for their first level 3 qualification so that they can access training to enable them to progress.

Courses will be available in a variety of lengths, to support adults to get the skills they need to boost their careers.

Sector subject areas and courses available

The qualifications on offer will deliver a wide range of skills in many jobs and sectors.

The qualifications have been carefully chosen to help adults improve their job prospects. They have good wage outcomes and address skills needs in the economy.

Qualifications will initially be available in:

engineering

building and construction

health and social care

childcare and early years

digital

business management

accounting and finance

public services

medicine and dentistry

environmental conservation

forestry

agriculture

horticulture

mathematics and statistics

science

teaching and lecturing

warehousing and distribution

manufacturing technologies

transportation operations and maintenance

We will keep the qualifications list under review to ensure that it responds to changing labour market needs.

Awarding organisations, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority will be able to suggest additions to the list through the qualifications funding approval process if they meet the criteria.

Funding arrangements for providers

Funding for the level 3 adult offer will be routed via Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority for residents in those areas of England.

Funding for the level 3 adult offer for residents in all other areas of England will be routed via the adult education budget and administered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). More information on funding for the level 3 adult offer for 2020 to 2021 is available in:

Funding uplift

The government is providing an uplift for each qualification delivered as part of this offer, to support providers to scale up the delivery of level 3 provision for adults. The following uplifts will be applied to the funding rates for all qualifications included in this offer:

£600 per-qualification uplift for qualifications of 360 guided learning hours or above

£150 per-qualification uplift for qualifications of 359 guided learning hours or below

We want to enable providers to deliver these qualifications for adults, even if there is a higher demand than expected. ESFA-funded providers are able to over-deliver on their level 3 adult offer allocation by up to 50% from April to July 2021.

Arrangements are also in place to ensure Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority can fund additional demand in April to July 2021. Details about arrangements to enable providers to expand capacity in line with demand from August 2021 will be provided in the funding rules for the academic year 2021 to 2022.

Skills bootcamps

As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, the Prime Minister also announced the skills bootcamp programme.

Complementing the level 3 adult offer, skills bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of just 12 to 16 weeks. They give people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.

Subject areas

Skills bootcamps are available to develop digitals skills including:

software development

digital marketing

data analytics

Skills bootcamps will now also include courses in technical skills such as:

Locations

Skills bootcamps are available in:

Eligibility

The courses on offer are open to adults aged 19 and over in each location. Visit the websites of the local authority for details on eligibility and availability of the courses on offer in each area.

We will expand the skills bootcamp programme into other areas in 2021. An investment of £43 million from the National Skills Fund, will enable greater availability across the country and a wider range of course subjects on offer to meet the skills needs of local areas.

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Starting this Parliament, the government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund. The National Skills Fund will help adults to train and gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects. It will support the immediate economic recovery and future skills needs by boosting the supply of skills that employers require.

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New government plans to put further education colleges at the forefront of the UK's economic recovery have been unveiled today - January 21st, 2021.

The Skills for Jobs White Paper pledges to transform post-16 education and training, boost skills, invest in lifelong learning for adults and get more people into work.

The measures aim to supercharge further and technical education and put employers at the heart of the system so that education and training leads to jobs that can improve productivity and fill skills gaps in sectors that the economy needs.

Investing in higher-level technical qualifications that provide a valuable alternative to a university degree is also a key part of the government's plan.

Angela Foulkes, Chief Executive and Principal, The Sheffield College, said: " It's exciting to see the further education sector get the recognition it deserves and the chance to show how amazing colleges are at transforming lives, communities and economies.
"Colleges provide a huge range of vocational and academic qualifications for young people and adults from entry through to degree level and are at the forefront of a skills-led pandemic economic recovery. "For too long, our sector has been on the periphery, overlooked and underfunded by government. Now we have the opportunity to benefit from a rebalancing of academic and technical education. "The delivery of high-quality technical education and skills is a strength of the further education sector. Investment in high quality technical and vocational education will lead to improved life chances for young people and adults, and support employers and our regional economies."
Key measures in the Skills for Jobs White Paper, published by the Department for Education, include:

Establishing college business centres by working with employers and Chambers of Commerce.

Creating employer led technical qualifications.

The introduction of higher technical qualifications at national level.

From 2025, access to student finance to enable lifelong learning.

Adults having the opportunity to complete modular and flexible learning.

A nationwide recruitment campaign for further education staff.

Changes in funding and accountability rules.

The Lifetime Skills Guarantee will see the introduction of the lifelong learning entitlement giving adults the chance to return to learning throughout their lives. It will pay for adults, who do not have an A Level equivalent qualification, to access a Level 3 technical course for free.

In addition, the introduction of the Skills Bootcamps, free flexible 12 to 16-week courses, will support adults to upskill and retrain. Both of these schemes have the potential to enable people in our communities to engage or re-engage with learning, which could lead to better careers, higher pay and improved life chances.

The new government measures will enable the College to continue to build on its existing partnerships with employers. The College works with around 2,400 employers and is the largest apprenticeship provider in the city and Sheffield City Region. Of those, 900 employers are involved in apprenticeship programmes and 1,500 provide experience of work, industry placements or other work-related activity.

Recent initiatives include the launch of the College's employer skills academies that provide young people with the skills businesses need and are backed by top business organisations: Discovery STEM Education, Greene King, Kier Construction, Kryolan, Liberty Speciality Steels, Millgate, MSK Ingredients, NextGen Skills Academy, PJ Taste, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, Sheffield Sharks, Uniheads and WANdisco.

Courses provided for adults include one-year access to higher education courses as well as university level qualifications to address higher technical skills and help learners get into employment, go further in a career or break into a new industry.
About The Sheffield College

The Sheffield College is a further education college that provides academic, vocational and professional qualifications to more than 14,000 young people and adults. Its mission is to transform your life through learning. The College offers a broad curriculum that includes apprenticeships, vocational diplomas, A Levels, access courses, and foundation and honours degrees, and has four main campuses: City, Hillsborough, Olive Grove and Peaks as well as two centres at Fir Vale and Eyre Street.

More than 14,000 students and apprentices studied with the College during the last academic year 2019/20. Of those learners, around 2,700 were apprentices. The College works with approximately 2,400 employers and its economic impact on Sheffield City Region annually is approximately £282.5 million. Source: EMSI Economic Impact Study 2019.

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New government plans to put further education colleges at the forefront of the UK's economic recovery have been unveiled today - January 21st, 2021. The Skills for Jobs White Paper pledges to transform post-16 education and training, boost skills, invest in lifelong learning for adults and get more people into work.

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The government has launched its 'Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunities and Growth' White Paper, with a clear focus on the pivotal role that further and technical education has in helping people get skills for good jobs now and in the future.

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And sadly the young are often the first to suffer. The latest data shows us that young people are more likely to work in sectors that have been shut down by Covid. By last autumn, those in the 16-25 age group were twice as likely as older employees to have lost their job, and most of them had seen earnings fall.

As we celebrate the start of National Apprenticeship Week I am delighted to tell you that as of today, more than 20,000 applications have been submitted from employers for a cash boost of up to £2,000 to hire apprentices as new employees.
Gavin Williamson is the Secretary of State for Education and MP for South Staffordshire

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Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson's address to 2021 Annual Conference

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And sadly the young are often the first to suffer. The latest data shows us that young people are more likely to work in sectors that have been shut down by Covid. By last autumn, those in the 16-25 age group were twice as likely as older employees to have lost their job, and most of them had seen earnings fall.

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What do we want and need from our colleges from 2030 onwards, and how do we get there? These were the simple, yet fundamental questions the Commission set out to answer when it began work in Spring 2019.

As the Commission reaches its concluding stages, its UK-wide final report set out a rallying cry for radical and decisive action - enabling colleges to be part of a more joined-up, all-age education and skills system, which enables individuals ultimately to have greater agency and opportunities across their lifetimes.
Now, the Commission has published the first of its nations-specific final reports. This report is for England.
Currently, the post-16 education and skills system in England is not set up to empower colleges to offer the full range of opportunities needed for people to reach their potential. And nor does the system enable colleges to best meet the needs of businesses facing enormous change and challenges, including recovery from the ongoing crisis as well as the urgent need to move to a green economy.

The Commission's new report, The English College of the Future, sets out recommendations that, if implemented through the UK Government's upcoming FE White paper, would develop a coherent and connected education and skills system, with employers playing a central role. This would ultimately ensure that everyone is able to access education and training when and how they need it.

Whilst there is the important prospect of a much-needed reform agenda to renew and reaffirm the role of colleges in England, we are also clear that this is not just a report for government. This report calls on everyone across the system to take collective ownership of the change agenda, living out the principles that this report describes.

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The English College of the Future - The College of the Future

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The Independent Commission on the College of the Future is pleased to publish a progress report. This publication marks the halfway point of the Commission process. It seeks to reflect the discussions we have had so far about what we want and need from our colleges in ten years' time.

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This White Paper is the first glimpse of where further education could be heading - for the better - writes Sally Dicketts

Today's eagerly awaited "Skills for Jobs" White Paper will be seen positively by the optimists in the sector and with disappointment by others. I sit in the first camp - I am full of optimism today.

It goes without saying that there is no such thing as a perfect White Paper. But we should all be delighted and recognise the significance of today's release. And it is worth remembering that the most realistic alternative was not a different White Paper, but no White Paper at all.

I am optimistic because never, in my 37 years in the FE sector, have I seen government put colleges onto the centre stage and recognise the important role we undoubtedly play in achieving social mobility, greater equality and diversity and enabling economic growth and recovery.

We can individually quibble with parts of the paper, bewail issues of funding - or we can decide to change our destiny and embrace the work with employers even more than we do at present.

And I am optimistic because today's White Paper is one of the first tangible examples of what government means when they talk about "building back better" and "levelling-up".

Not only are colleges included (which just a few years ago we'd have been thrilled about), they are front and centre. This is one of the first major policy announcements on what a post-pandemic world could look like.

We will of course need to make sure that the bits we take issue with are ironed out, and any commitments are backed by funding, but that is what the consultation period will be for.

Now, more than ever, working together collaboratively will be key. The aim will be to really impact locally on the quality and range of technical education provided to our communities.

When I work with colleague principals and CEOs from all over this sector I am always wowed by people's passion and thought for their learners and staff.

This thought and concern for learners now needs honing into envisioning a future where we are at its centre.

We need to be working with and helping to shape the implementation of this White Paper to ensure our learners benefit and get the skills knowledge and attributes to improve their life choices and our economies.

I look forward to working with you on finessing and using this White paper to further catapult this sector not only into the limelight but into being the powerhouse for skills to drive the economy and our communities to success.

We are responsible for the lives of so many young people and adults. Let's use our collective ingenuity and interest in learning and development to make this difference with agility, thought and innovative use of technology and our people.

I have real optimism for our future, as long as we stay open and curious to change, work and support one another, and trust and believe in our staff and students to work their magic.

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Never in 37 years have I seen colleges in the limelight like this White Paper

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This White Paper is the first glimpse of where further education could be heading - for the better - writes Sally Dicketts Today's eagerly awaited "Skills for Jobs" White Paper will be seen positively by the optimists in the sector and with disappointment by others.

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3_7 The Skills for Jobs White Paper What could it mean for your college

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The Idea in Brief

Are you waiting for things to return to normal in your organization? Sorry. Leadership will require new skills tailored to an environment of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty-even after the current economic crisis is over.

Foster adaptation, helping people develop the "next practices" that will enable the organization to thrive in a new world, even as they continue with the best practices necessary for current success.

Embrace disequilibrium, keeping people in a state that creates enough discomfort to induce change but not so much that they fight, flee, or freeze.

Generate leadership, giving people at all levels of the organization the opportunity to lead experiments that will help it adapt to changing times.

You won't achieve your leadership aims if you sacrifice yourself by neglecting your needs.

It would be profoundly reassuring to view the current economic crisis as simply another rough spell that we need to get through. Unfortunately, though, today's mix of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty will continue as the norm even after the recession ends. Economies cannot erect a firewall against intensifying global competition, energy constraints, climate change, and political instability. The immediate crisis-which we will get through, with the help of policy makers' expert technical adjustments-merely sets the stage for a sustained or even permanent crisis of serious and unfamiliar challenges.

Consider the heart attack that strikes in the middle of the night. EMTs rush the victim to the hospital, where expert trauma and surgical teams-executing established procedures because there is little time for creative improvisation-stabilize the patient and then provide new vessels for the heart. The emergency has passed, but a high-stakes, if somewhat less urgent, set of challenges remains. Having recovered from the surgery, how does the patient prevent another attack? Having survived, how does he adapt to the uncertainties of a new reality in order to thrive? The crisis is far from over.

The task of leading during a sustained crisis-whether you are the CEO of a major corporation or a manager heading up an impromptu company initiative-is treacherous. Crisis leadership has two distinct phases. First is that emergency phase, when your task is to stabilize the situation and buy time. Second is the adaptive phase, when you tackle the underlying causes of the crisis and build the capacity to thrive in a new reality. The adaptive phase is especially tricky: People put enormous pressure on you to respond to their anxieties with authoritative certainty, even if doing so means overselling what you know and discounting what you don't. As you ask them to make necessary but uncomfortable adaptive changes in their behavior or work, they may try to bring you down. People clamor for direction, while you are faced with a way forward that isn't at all obvious. Twists and turns are the only certainty.

Yet you still have to lead.

Hunker Down-or Press "Reset"

The danger in the current economic situation is that people in positions of authority will hunker down. They will try to solve the problem with short-term fixes: tightened controls, across-the-board cuts, restructuring plans. They'll default to what they know how to do in order to reduce frustration and quell their own and others' fears. Their primary mode will be drawing on familiar expertise to help their organizations weather the storm.

That is understandable. It's natural for authority figures to try to protect their people from external threats so that everyone can quickly return to business as usual. But in these times, even the most competent authority will be unable to offer this protection. The organizational adaptability required to meet a relentless succession of challenges is beyond anyone's current expertise. No one in a position of authority-none of us, in fact-has been here before. (The expertise we relied on in the past got us to this point, after all.) An organization that depends solely on its senior managers to deal with the challenges risks failure.

That risk increases if we draw the wrong conclusions from our likely recovery from the current economic downturn. Many people survive heart attacks, but most cardiac surgery patients soon resume their old ways: Only about 20% give up smoking, change their diet, or get more exercise. In fact, by reducing the sense of urgency, the very success of the initial treatment creates the illusion of a return to normalcy. The medical experts' technical prowess, which solves the immediate problem of survival, inadvertently lets patients off the hook for changing their lives to thrive in the long term. High stakes and uncertainty remain, but the diminished sense of urgency keeps most patients from focusing on the need for adaptation.

People who practice what we call adaptive leadership do not make this mistake. Instead of hunkering down, they seize the opportunity of moments like the current one to hit the organization's reset button. They use the turbulence of the present to build on and bring closure to the past. In the process, they change key rules of the game, reshape parts of the organization, and redefine the work people do.

We are not talking here about shaking up an organization so that nothing makes sense anymore. The process of adaptation is at least as much a process of conservation as it is of reinvention. Targeted modifications in specific strands of the organizational DNA will make the critical difference. (Consider that human beings share more than 90% of their DNA with chimpanzees.)

Still, people will experience loss. Some parts of the organization will have to die, and some jobs and familiar ways of working will be eliminated. As people try to develop new competencies, they'll often feel ashamed of their incompetence. Many will need to renegotiate loyalties with the mentors and colleagues whose teachings no longer apply.

Your empathy will be as essential for success as the strategic decisions you make about what elements of the organizational DNA to discard. That is because you will need people's help-not their blind loyalty as they follow you on a path to the future but their enthusiastic help in discovering that path. And if they are to assist you, you must equip them with the ability to perform in an environment of continuing uncertainty and uncontrollable change.

Today's Leadership Tasks

In this context, leadership is an improvisational and experimental art. The skills that enabled most executives to reach their positions of command-analytical problem solving, crisp decision making, the articulation of clear direction-can get in the way of success. Although these skills will at times still be appropriate, the adaptive phase of a crisis requires some new leadership practices.

Best Buy | A senior vice president helped the company adapt to the reality that women increasingly make consumer electronics purchasing decisions.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | The new CEO helped a dysfunctional organization created through the hasty merger of two Harvard teaching hospitals adapt to modern health care challenges.

Egon Zehnder International | The founder fostered a leadership style that helped the executive search firm adapt to the rise of online recruiting and competitors' IPOs.

Foster adaptation.

Executives today face two competing demands. They must execute in order to meet today's challenges. And they must adapt what and how things get done in order to thrive in tomorrow's world. They must develop "next practices" while excelling at today's best practices.

Julie Gilbert is evidence that these dual tasks can-indeed, should-be practiced by people who do not happen to be at the very top of an organization. As a vice president and then senior VP at retailer Best Buy from 2000 to early 2009, she saw a looming crisis in the company's failure to profit from the greater involvement of women in the male-oriented world of consumer electronics. Women were becoming more influential in purchasing decisions, directly and indirectly. But capitalizing on this trend would require something beyond a smart marketing plan. It would demand a change in the company's orientation.

Getting an organization to adapt to changes in the environment is not easy. You need to confront loyalty to legacy practices and understand that your desire to change them makes you a target of attack. Gilbert believed that instead of simply selling technology products to mostly male customers, Best Buy needed to appeal to women by reflecting the increasing integration of consumer electronics into family life. So Gilbert headed up an initiative to establish in-store boutiques that sold home theater systems along with coordinated furniture and accessories. Stores set up living-room displays to showcase not just the electronics but also the entertainment environment. Salespeople were trained to interact with the previously ignored female customers who came in with men to look at systems.

Gilbert says that championing this approach subjected her to some nasty criticism from managers who viewed Best Buy as a retailer of technology products, not experiences. But focusing on the female purchaser when a man and a woman walked into the store-making eye contact and greeting her, asking about her favorite movies and demonstrating them on the systems-often resulted in the couple's purchasing a higher-end product than they had originally considered. According to Gilbert, returns and exchanges of purchases made by couples were 60% lower than those made by men. With the rethinking of traditional practices, Best Buy's home theater business flourished, growing from two pilot in-store boutiques in mid-2004 to more than 350 five years later.

As you consider eliminating practices that seem ill suited to a changing environment, you must distinguish the essential from the expendable. What is so precious and central to an organization's identity and capacity that it must be preserved? What, even if valued by many, must be left behind in order to move forward?

Gilbert wanted to preserve Best Buy's strong culture of responding to customers' needs. But the company's almost exclusively male culture-"guys selling to guys"-seemed to her a barrier to success. For example, the phrase "the jets are up" meant that the top male executives were aboard corporate aircraft on a tour of Best Buy stores. The flights gave them a chance to huddle on important issues and bond with one another. Big decisions were often announced following one of these trips. After getting a call with a question about female customers from one such group visiting a Best Buy home theater boutique, Gilbert persuaded senior executives never to let the jets go up without at least one woman on board.

Because you don't know quite where you are headed as you build an organization's adaptability, it's prudent to avoid grand and detailed strategic plans. Instead, run numerous experiments. Many will fail, of course, and the way forward will be characterized by constant midcourse corrections. But that zigzagging path will be emblematic of your company's ability to discover better products and processes. Take a page out of the technology industry's playbook: Version 2.0 is an explicit acknowledgment that products coming to market are experiments, prototypes to be improved in the next iteration.

Best Buy's home theater business was one experiment. A much broader one at the company grew out of Gilbert's belief that in order to adapt to an increasingly female customer base, Best Buy would need to change the role of women within the organization. The company had traditionally looked to senior executives for direction and innovation. But, as Gilbert explained to us, a definition of consumer electronics retailing that included women would ultimately have to come from the bottom up. Appealing to female customers required empowering female employees at all levels of the company.

This led to the creation of "WoLF (Women's Leadership Forum) packs," in which women, from store cashiers to corporate executives, came together to support one another and to generate innovative projects by drawing on their collective experience. In an unorthodox attempt to neutralize the threat to Best Buy's traditionally male culture, two men paired up with two women to lead each group.

More than 30,000 employees joined WoLF packs. The company says the initiative strengthened its pipeline of high-potential leaders, led to a surge in the number of female job applicants, and improved the bottom line by reducing turnover among female employees. Gilbert, who recently left Best Buy to help other companies establish similar programs, was able to realize the dual goal of adaptive leadership: tackling the current challenge and building adaptability. She had an immediate positive impact on the company's financial performance while positioning the organization to deploy more of its people to reach wider markets.

Embrace disequilibrium.

Without urgency, difficult change becomes far less likely. But if people feel too much distress, they will fight, flee, or freeze. The art of leadership in today's world involves orchestrating the inevitable conflict, chaos, and confusion of change so that the disturbance is productive rather than destructive.

Health care is in some ways a microcosm of the turbulence and uncertainty facing the entire economy. Paul Levy, the CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, is trying to help his organization adapt to the industry's constant changes.

When Levy took over, in 2002, Beth Israel Deaconess was a dysfunctional organization in serious financial trouble. Created several years previously through the hasty merger of two Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals, it had struggled to integrate their very different cultures. Now it was bleeding red ink and faced the likelihood of being acquired by a for-profit company, relinquishing its status as a prestigious research institution. Levy quickly made changes that put the hospital on a stronger financial footing and eased the cultural tensions.

To rescue the medical center, Levy had to create discomfort. He forced people to confront the potentially disastrous consequences of maintaining the status quo-continued financial losses, massive layoffs, an outright sale-stating in a memo to all employees that "this is our last chance" to save the institution. He publicly challenged powerful medical factions within the hospital and made clear he'd no longer tolerate clashes between the two cultures.

But a successful turnaround was no guarantee of long-term success in an environment clouded by uncertainty. In fact, the stability that resulted from Levy's initial achievements threatened the hospital's ability to adapt to the succession of challenges that lay ahead.

Keeping an organization in a productive zone of disequilibrium is a delicate task; in the practice of leadership, you must keep your hand on the thermostat. If the heat is consistently too low, people won't feel the need to ask uncomfortable questions or make difficult decisions. If it's consistently too high, the organization risks a meltdown: People are likely to panic and hunker down.

Levy kept the heat up after the financial emergency passed. In a move virtually unprecedented for a hospital, he released public quarterly reports on medical errors and set a goal of eliminating those errors within four years. Although the disclosures generated embarrassing publicity, Levy believed that acknowledging and learning from serious mistakes would lead to improved patient care, greater trust in the institution, and long-term viability.

Maintaining the right level of disequilibrium requires that you depersonalize conflict, which naturally arises as people experiment and shift course in an environment of uncertainty and turbulence. The aim is to focus the disagreement on issues, including some of your own perspectives, rather than on the interested parties. But the issues themselves are more than disembodied facts and analysis. People's competencies, loyalties, and direct stakes lie behind them. So you need to act politically as well as analytically. In a period of turmoil, you must look beyond the merits of an issue to understand the interests, fears, aspirations, and loyalties of the factions that have formed around it. Orchestrating conflicts and losses and negotiating among various interests are the name of the game.

That game requires you to create a culture of courageous conversations. In a period of sustained uncertainty, the most difficult topics must be discussed. Dissenters who can provide crucial insights need to be protected from the organizational pressure to remain silent. Executives need to listen to unfamiliar voices and set the tone for candor and risk taking.

Early in 2009, with Beth Israel Deaconess facing a projected $20 million annual loss after several years of profitability, Paul Levy held an employee meeting to discuss layoffs. He expressed concern about how cutbacks would affect low-wage employees, such as housekeepers, and somewhat cautiously floated what seemed likely to be an unpopular idea: protecting some of those low-paying jobs by reducing the salary and benefits of higher-paid employees-including many sitting in the auditorium. To his surprise, the room erupted in applause.

His candid request for help led to countless suggestions for cost savings, including an offer by the 13 medical department heads to save 10 jobs through personal donations totaling $350,000. These efforts ultimately reduced the number of planned layoffs by 75%.

Generate leadership.

Corporate adaptability usually comes not from some sweeping new initiative dreamed up at headquarters but from the accumulation of microadaptations originating throughout the company in response to its many microenvironments. Even the successful big play is typically a product of many experiments, one of which finally proves pathbreaking.

To foster such experiments, you have to acknowledge the interdependence of people throughout the organization, just as companies increasingly acknowledge the interdependence of players-suppliers, customers, even rivals-beyond their boundaries. It is an illusion to expect that an executive team on its own will find the best way into the future. So you must use leadership to generate more leadership deep in the organization.

At a worldwide partners' meeting in June 2000, Egon Zehnder, the founder of the executive search firm bearing his name, announced his retirement. Instead of reflecting on the 36-year-old firm's steady growth under his leadership, he issued a warning: Stability "is a liability, not an asset, in today's world," he said. "Each new view of the horizon is a glance through a different turn of the kaleidoscope" (a symbol of disequilibrium, if there ever was one). "The future of this firm," Zehnder continued, "is totally in the hands of the men and women here in this room."

From someone else, the statement might have come across as obligatory pap. But Egon Zehnder built his firm on the conviction that changes in internal and external environments require a new kind of leadership. He saw early on that his start-up could not realize its full potential if he made himself solely responsible for its success.

Individual executives just don't have the personal capacity to sense and make sense of all the change swirling around them. They need to distribute leadership responsibility, replacing hierarchy and formal authority with organizational bandwidth, which draws on collective intelligence. Executives need to relax their sense of obligation to be all and do all and instead become comfortable sharing their burden with people operating in diverse functions and locations throughout the organization. By pushing responsibility for adaptive work down into the organization, you clear space for yourself to think, probe, and identify the next challenge on the horizon.

To distribute leadership responsibility more broadly, you need to mobilize everyone to generate solutions by increasing the information flow that allows people across the organization to make independent decisions and share the lessons they learn from innovative efforts.

To generate new leadership and innovative ideas, you need to leverage diversity -which, of course, is easier said than done. We all tend to spend time with people who are similar to us. Listening and learning across divides is taxing work. But if you do not engage the widest possible range of life experiences and views-including those of younger employees-you risk operating without a nuanced picture of the shifting realities facing the business internally and externally.

Creating this kind of environment involves giving up some authority usually associated with leadership and even some ownership, whether legal or psychological, in the organization. The aim, of course, is for everyone to "act like they own the place" and thus be motivated to come up with innovations or take the lead in creating value for their company from wherever they sit.

Zehnder did in fact convert the firm into a corporation in which every partner, including himself, held an equal share of equity and had an equal vote at partners' meetings. Everyone's compensation rose or fell with the firm's overall performance. The aim was to make all the partners "intertwined in substance and purpose."

Zehnder's collaborative and distributed leadership model informed a strategic review that the firm undertook just after his retirement. In the short term, the partners faced a dramatic collapse in the executive search market; their long-term challenge was a shifting competitive landscape, including the rise of online recruiting and the initial public offerings of several major competitors. As the firm tried to figure out how to adapt and thrive in this environment, Zehnder's words hung in the air: "How we deal with change differentiates the top performers from the laggards. But first we must know what should never change. We must grasp the difference between timeless principles and daily practices." Again, most sustainable change is not about change at all but about discerning and conserving what is precious and essential.

The firm took a bottom-up approach to sketching out its future, involving every partner, from junior to senior, in the process. It chose to remain a private partnership. Unlike rivals that were ordering massive downsizing, the firm decided there would be virtually no layoffs: Preserving the social fabric of the organization, crucial to long-term success, was deemed more important than short-term financial results. In fact, the firm opted to continue hiring and electing partners even during the down market.

Rooted in its culture of interdependence, the firm adapted to a changing environment, producing excellent results, even in the short term, as it gained market share, maintained healthy margins, and sustained morale-a major source of ongoing success. Adaptive work enabled the firm to take the best of its history into the future.

Taking Care of Yourself

To keep yourself from being corralled by the forces that generated the crisis in the first place, you must be able to depart from the default habits of authoritative certainty. The work of leadership demands that you manage not only the critical adaptive responses within and surrounding your business but also your own thinking and emotions.

This will test your limits. Taking care of yourself both physically and emotionally will be crucial to your success. You can achieve none of your leadership aims if you sacrifice yourself to the cause.

First, give yourself permission to be both optimistic and realistic. This will create a healthy tension that keeps optimism from turning into denial and realism from devolving into cynicism.

Second, find sanctuaries where you can reflect on events and regain perspective. A sanctuary may be a place or an activity that allows you to step away and recalibrate your internal responses. For example, if you tend to demand too much from your organization, you might use the time to ask yourself, "Am I pushing too hard? Am I at risk of grinding people into the ground, including myself? Do I fully appreciate the sacrifices I'm asking people to make?"

Third, reach out to confidants with whom you can debrief your workdays and articulate your reasons for taking certain actions. Ideally, a confidant is not a current ally within your organization-who may someday end up on the opposite side of an issue-but someone external to it. The most important criterion is that your confidant care more about you than about the issues at stake.

Fourth, bring more of your emotional self to the workplace. Appropriate displays of emotion can be an effective tool for change, especially when balanced with poise. Maintaining this balance lets people know that although the situation is fraught with feelings, it is containable. This is a tricky tightrope to walk, especially for women, who may worry about being dismissed as too emotional.

Finally, don't lose yourself in your role. Defining your life through a single endeavor, no matter how important your work is to you and to others, makes you vulnerable when the environment shifts. It also denies you other opportunities for fulfillment.

Achieving your highest and most noble aspirations for your organization may take more than a lifetime. Your efforts may only begin this work. But you can accomplish something worthwhile every day in the interactions you have with the people at work, with your family, and with those you encounter by chance. Adaptive leadership is a daily opportunity to mobilize the resources of people to thrive in a changing and challenging world.

A version of this article appeared in the July-August 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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