Student Immigration Levels Unsustainable, Says Minister

INTELLIGENCE

Issue 3 of 2011-2012

Tendering opportunities and new business AGMA Workforce Development We have submitted a tender to the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (via Trafford, which is the authority leading on this) to deliver workforce development provision in seven curriculum areas  Health and Safety  ICT  Leadership and Management  People Management/Skills Development  Financial Management/Skills Development  Adult Services Training  Children and Young People’s Services Training

If successful, we will be included in a group of potential providers from which the authorities included in AGMA (plus some other public bodies in the North West Region) will either select training provision or offer it in the form of mini invitations to tender. The total value of the work, for all providers, is £8.7million. The next step will be to make presentations to the selection panel in October. We will know if we have been successful by the 28th November 2011, and the contract period will commence on 1st December 2011

AGMA Centre of Excellence AGMA are aiming to set up a centre of excellence for training provision, serving all the authorities and offering the benefits of economies of scale and other efficiencies. Before detailed proposals are framed they are carrying out what they call “soft market testing”, which is in fact a piece of consultancy in which potential contributors, such as ourselves, are given the opportunity to guide their thinking and create the parameters for the eventual invitation to tender. We are responding to this opportunity and will send in our submission before the deadline of 4th October 2011.

Higher Apprenticeship Fund The College is very active in bidding to the Higher Apprenticeship Fund and associated, funded initiatives. Here is a summary.

Level 4, 5 and 6 Frameworks in Facilities Management This is led by the Sector Skills Council for Facilities Management, Asset Skills, and, as well as The Manchester College includes  Westminster Kingsway College  Leeds College of Building  Impact Learning & Data Solutions  Sheffield Hallam University  British Institute of Facilities Management  Building Engineering Training Services Ltd  the Compass Group

The contract is worth approximately £1.1m. The aim is to create a flexible programme of Higher Apprenticeships which support career pathways and progression routes for the Facilities Management (FM) sector. This will remove existing barriers to skills development, by creating technical and management skills underpinned by standards and competencies set by professional bodies. The delivery model is expected to create a sector-driven curriculum and modules which reflect career pathways and cross sector opportunities. The combination of competency qualification and knowledge qualifications will lead to better pathways for all FM sectors, and will allow specialization in core units to improve technical knowledge in building services, sustainability, and green technologies. The target recruitment is c.560 Higher Apprentices recruited into the sector.

Delivering a Higher Vocational Centre This is led by The Manchester College on behalf of The Greater Manchester Learning Provider Partnership. The plan is to develop and sustain a Higher Vocational Centre (HVC) to effect a great increase in Higher Apprenticeship starts over the next four years by becoming a nationally-recognized centre renowned for coordinating the delivery of high quality Higher Apprenticeships. The contract is worth approximately £1.3m. The plan is to co-ordinate the work with employers, colleges, universities and independent providers to help them come up with innovative new models for delivering, supporting and developing apprenticeships through to higher skill levels. The bid is not about specific vocational areas but rather about a centre that has as its core purpose the supporting of delivery and development of Higher Apprenticeships by  co-ordinating all stakeholders to develop new frameworks Page 1 of 5  providing existing and new higher frameworks with the opportunity to take root, become established and flourish

Targeted starts are c.300 regionally plus a further projected 600 in the North of England by the end of project funding with another 1,500 the following year based a national roll-out.

Institute of Motor Industry (IMI) We are part of the IMI consortium developing Level 4 automotive frameworks (both technical side and management side. This has been funded separately from the Higher Apprenticeships fund and is from the Employer Investment Fund via the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). The employer investment fund is available only to Sector Skills Councils, was launched on 30 th June 2011 and is designed to stimulate employer-led action to increase development and investment in skills.

Education Endowment Fund collaborative bid with Manchester City Council On 3rd October we submitted our part of a collaborative bid with Manchester City Council to the Education Endowment Fund to  fund CPD networks across Manchester  support and encourage the use of Action Research  develop teaching and learning and hence raise standards

We are bidding for c. £1,000,000 and we have the support of many schools across the city.

Further education and skills news New Challenges, New Chances and associated consultations The College is in the process of formulating its response to this consultation and will be sending it directly to BIS. In the meantime, the 157 Group are also in the draft stage of a collective response, and have sent their working drafts to members, The Manchester College included, so that we may peruse them and offer amendments. The College will be studying these responses in detail and offering any relevant comments in addition to sending a response from our own particular perspective.

There are three parts to this, and if you wish to read the 157 Group draft response to each you should click as indicated below.  To read the 157 Group draft response to the main document “New Challenges, New Chances”, click here.  To read the 157 Group draft response to the supplementary document on loans for FE students click here.  To read the 157 Group draft response to the supplementary document on Informal and Adult Community Learning, click here.

Following these major policy statements and consultations, the DfE, for its part, will soon be consulting on “options for a standard that can apply across all 16-18 provision, including school sixth forms, to inform student and parent choice, in line with the Schools White Paper commitment.” DfE and BIS, we are assured, will work together closely as they develop their respective proposals over the coming months.

14-16 Performance Tables and Qualification Consultation The 157 Group has drafted its response on behalf of member colleges to the DfE on its consultative document concerning 14-16 Performance Tables and Qualifications. To read their draft response, click here.

Parents’ awareness of Further Education – there’s still a big job to be done to get the message across According to a study released this week by the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development (CSD)  parents and teachers do not know what is happening in colleges and so cannot advise potential students about what is on offer  outdated, negative perceptions about vocational education could be driving young people away from what could be the best choice for them

Just 37% of parents said they were confident to give information or advice about vocational qualifications, and just half of young people rated vocational qualifications highly, compared with 80% who rated more traditional courses highly.

The survey points to a lack of good careers advice as a factor: just 42% of young people found it “easy to access” good careers advice, and 29% said they found it “difficult”. A quarter said they have never received careers advice from anyone.

New LSIS framework for improvement for the learning and skills sector LSIS has published its Strategic Framework “New Freedoms: New Focus and Strategic Intentions: 2011 – 2014” which has been

of 5 designed as a platform for future action in improving and developing services across the learning and skills sector. To read it, click here.

NIACE publishes literacy report NIACE published their literacy report at a launch at the British Library with John Hayes of BIS w/c 12th September. To read a copy, click here.

New Learner Competition Lsect (see www.lsect.co.uk/) are running a competition for new learners starting at college, the winner of which will receive their choice of a MacBook Pro or £1,000 in John Lewis vouchers. To enter learners simply have to send, by email to [email protected], an article in 500 words or fewer explaining what brought them to college, along with their hopes, fears and aspirations. The winning entry will also be published in FE Week, along with details of the college. There is an A3 poster which explains how the competition works, which can be downloaded by clicking here.

AoC Conference A national AoC Conference is being held on Wednesday 19 October 2011 at Aston Business School Conference Centre, Birmingham. It is entitled “Applications, Admissions and Student Support Conference - The new FE and HE Landscape” www.aoccreateevents/admissions2011. It will examine both policy and working practices relating to the complex areas of applications, admissions and student support in HE and FE. They promise that delegates will come away with a full understanding of the loans system, the new IAG changes, the financial deal for students and much more. Keynote speakers include Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS and Wes Streeting, Deputy Head, Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information. Workshops will be presented by the Student Loans Company and Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA) amongst others. For further information on this conference, visit the conference website or email [email protected].

UKCES Skills Pledge UKCES has devised a new Skills Pledge, building on the lessons learned from the previous Employer Skills Pledge, the informal Adult Learning Pledge, and after consultation with SSCs and employers. The pledge is a tool designed to support employers in developing skills solutions for their sector, industry or geographic area. For further information click here.

SFA Area Relationship Teams This is advance notice from the SFA. As the SFA completes the restructuring process and moves into its new structures, the Directors of the Area Relationship Teams will soon be writing to Colleges with the details of the main Relationship Team contacts who will work with colleges and providers where there are non-routine issues and developments. The letters will also provide an update on how the SFA will work with colleges and providers moving forward and will confirm the geographical areas to be covered by the new 12 Area Relationship Teams.

List of eligible QCF units for unemployed people The Skills Funding Agency has published a refreshed list of eligible Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) units confirmed as part of the skills training offer for individuals who are unemployed and need help to enter work in 2011/12. This has been conducted in order to incorporate new units (5,244) that have been confirmed for funding since the original list was published in June 2011 and also to remove units where the operational end date of the qualifications they were in have passed (although these are available for continuing learners on the Learning Aim Reference Application).

The latest copy of the list can be found on the Skills Funding Agency’s website.

YPLA reshaping There have been changes to the YPLA’s structure, staffing and services. These have been undertaken principally to improve YPLA’s service to the growing number of Academies and support funding changes to the 16-19 system. The changes will also prepare YPLA for its transfer into the Education Funding Agency (EFA) from April 2012. Locally the nine regional teams have been restructured into four territorial teams each with an Academies and Young People’s division. The Young People’s Division will lead on all 16-19 issues as well as funding for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities up to 24.

The Manchester College will be covered in the North team, which covers North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside. A copy of the new structure can be found by clicking here.

YPLA will transfer this structure into the Education Funding Agency on the 1st April 2012. YPLA are also planning changes to the systems they use to manage allocations to Academies.

Bursary information The DfE have produced a leaflet and some posters to help providers to publicise and explain the 16-19 Bursary Fund. They can be

of 5 downloaded from the DfE website.

The new Educational Funding Agency (EFA) to take advice from colleges The Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) has not been with us long. It was launched in April 2010 in order to  provide financial support to young learners  fund Academies for all their provision  support local authorities to commission suitable education and training opportunities for all 16-19 year olds

However, subject to the passage of legislation, the YPLA will be replaced by the EFA on 1st April 2012 for the funding of young people's education and training, including Academies. Following pressure from the Association of Colleges (AoC) and others, it looks likely that the EFA, once formed, will convene some kind of advisory body through which college Principals and other key stakeholders will be able to put their views and influence the implementation of policy. The government rejected the setting up of a statutory body, but it is probable that one will be set up on a voluntary basis.

More on this as the legislation moves forward.

Lifelong Learning Account now live SFA inform us that the Lifelong Learning Account is now live. This is a free personalised online account for adults aged 19 or over that provides clear information and advice on skills, careers and financial support in a single easily accessible location. It is fully supported by the Next Step careers service and can be directly opened by visiting the Next Step website or by calling 0800 100 900. Providers are encouraged to advise learners to open an account asap. A Quick Guide, set of FAQs, PowerPoint presentation and marketing materials are available on the SFA website.

Costs of STEM provision STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The 157 Group of major colleges has been awarded £25k from the Gatsby Foundation* to work on a project examining the costs of STEM provision in FE colleges and the anticipated impact of funding and entitlement changes.

* the Gatsby Charitable Foundation is an endowed grant-making trust and part of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts.

Christmas Card Competition The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is running an informal design competition for its 2011 e-card among FE colleges and training providers. The Secretary of State, Vince Cable will choose the winner. The winning e-card will include the name of the artist and the institution they are studying and be used to send to all of their contacts. For more details, click here.

Higher Education news 157 Group response to HE White Paper The 157 Group issued their response on the HE White Paper to Government on 19th September. To read it, click here.

They have also issued a draft response to the technical consultation that followed the issuing of the White Paper. To read that, click here.

BIS HE Technical Consultation This document (click here) seeks the College’s views on how the new regulatory system should operate within the principles BIS have already set out. The College is considering its response and liaising with 157 Group and AoC on this.

of 5 Apprenticeship news Access to Apprenticeship pathway SFA informed us that, following the introduction of the new Access to Apprenticeship pathway on 1 August, a number of questions have been received by them from the sector seeking clarification on a range of areas. As a result the Q&A document on the Apprenticeships website has been revised to include many of these clarifications. To access that document, click here.

Offender Learning News Offender Learning and Skills Service – adult estate tenders All colleges on the Approved College and Training Organization Register (ACTOR), including the Manchester College, have been notified that the tender process for OLASS 4 has been launched. The College is now preparing its response, and further updates will appear in Intelligence as the process continues.

LSIS Skills for Rehabilitation LSIS are running this one day event on 27th October 2011. It is designed to provide delegates with an opportunity to discuss challenges and to share effective practice. There will be opportunities to  gain LSIS guidance for improving access to offender learning in the community  review arrangements for referring offenders to learning provision  attend presentations by Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust and Leicester College highlighting the key features of their referral and safeguarding policies and procedures For more information, click here.

Employment and Welfare News Responding to unemployment among young people The ONS released statistics in early September (click here to see them) showing that youth unemployment has reached an all-time high of 20.8%. The College is liaising with the 157 Group to contribute to its response.

Institute of Career Guidance Annual Conference 3 and 4 November, Brighton The Institute of Career Guidance’s Annual Conference is being held in Brighton on 3-4 November. This year the conference comes at a time when the careers service is facing fundamental changes in the way that it provides services to adults and young people – in colleges, schools and elsewhere. For more information about the conference, click here.

Schools and early years news DfE 14-16 Performance Tables and Qualifications Consultation 157 Group have drafted a consultation response to the DfE 14-16 performance tables and qualification consultation. To read the draft response, click here.