Award-winning journalism from the only newspaper dedicated to further education and skills FEWEEK.CO.UK | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015 | EDITION 126 Page 4 Pages Page 8 Adding value success Inspection 6 & 7 More sfc visits, in the South West results in depth more expected Main picture: Handbridge ‘MISTAKES’ LED TO ‘COSTLY AND and, inset, Ellesmere Port INEFFICIENT’ BUILDINGS One site ‘difficult’ for learners to get to and ‘unsuitable for provision’ £68m developments leave college with huge debts ‘Sell one off’ says commissioner @paulofford it with crippling debt as he called on Skills years after rebuilding it on a site “relatively [email protected] Minister Nick Boles to order that one be difficult to reach by public transport”. sold off. It is also “unsuitable for the provision it Further Education Commissioner Dr David He described the buildings as “costly offers,” according to Dr Collins. Collins has told how a series of blunders and inefficient” — and the college has The building, in Chester, opened around over the “size, location and financing” of revealed plans to shut the Handbridge site, the same time as the college’s Ellesmere these £68m West Cheshire College builds left as recommended by Dr Collins, just four Continues on page 3 FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference and Exhibition 2015 THE FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE OF NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK DON’T DELAY BOOK TODAY DATE: March 9 to 10, 2015 VENUE: Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London For more information and to register visit feweekaac2015.co.uk 2 @FEWEEK FE WEEK MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015 Edition 126 NEWS FE WEEK News in brief ‘OPEN TRAINEESHIPS UP’ PLEA AS FE loans top 52k FE WEEK team More than 2,300 applications for FE loans STARTS HIT 5K IN FIRST QUARTER in December have taken the total so far this Editor: Chris Henwood year to 52,670. Head designer: Nicky Phillips @fcdwhittaker evidence that they can deliver high quality The figure for the number of applications [email protected] traineeships.” for 24+ advanced learning loans so far Designer: Rob Galt The SFR also showed that apprenticeship this academic year lags behind the 57,181 Sub editor: Paul Offord The government has been urged to open starts among 16 to 18-year-olds between applications made by the end of December Reporters: Freddie Whittaker traineeships up to more providers after the August and October last year were last year. Rebecca Cooney programme was boosted with figures showing provisionally up by almost 9,000 — totalling Although the 2,340 applications received Billy Camden 1,700 more people started on the scheme in 54,100 — on the same period in 2013/2014. in the month is an increase on December 2013’s 2,271. Photographer: Ellis O’Brien the first three months of 2014/15 than in the But the increase could be explained entire first half of last academic year. by problems with reporting learner data Financials: Helen Neilly Information in the latest statistical first through the Skills Funding Agency’s Find a Traineeship Victoria Boyle release (SFR) showed 5,000 starts on the Funding Information System (Fis) during An online service to help young people find Sales manager: Hannah Smith programme in the first quarter of this the reporting period relating to the 2013/14 and apply for traineeships has launched. Sales executive: Negar Sharifi academic year, compared to 3,300 in the first numbers. Final figures for the August to The Skills Funding Agency called on Administration: Frances Ogefere Dell six months of 2013/14. October 2013 period showed 54,400 starts for providers to encourage interested learners Sales administrator: Jasmin Fergus-Aghamiri By the end of last academic year — the 16 to 18s. to log on to the early version of the Find a programme’s first — there had been 10,400 And the provisional figures further showed Traineeship so the agency could gather user starts and a spokesperson for the Department that all-age apprenticeship starts between data and feedback to improve and develop the Contributors: Shane Chowen for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) August and October last year stood at 147,500 service. Lisa O’Loughlin welcomed the latest figures as “building on — an increase of almost 40,000 on the previous The site is available at www.gov.uk/find- Smita Jamdar the first year of the programme”. year. But again, the 2013/14 August to October traineeship and more information can be Barry Lord-Gambles It comes after FE Week revealed in figures ended up actually being 130,300 starts. found on the agency’s digital blog. December how Job Centre Plus (JCP) staff Martin Doel, chief executive of the Managing director: Shane Mann had been set a target of 10,000 traineeship Association of Colleges, said: “It’s good to see Teach Too phase two referrals by the end of this academic year. more and more 16 to 18 year-olds pursuing And tweet us your thoughts @feweek or The Education and Training Foundation Association of Employment and Learning traineeships and apprenticeships, which will with the #feweek has published a report on phase one of Providers chief executive Stewart Segal said help them to gain the skills that businesses its Teach Too initiative to set up projects he was “encouraged” by the SFR figures, need and start them on a journey along their Contact the editor encouraging professionals into classrooms but that he wanted a review of restrictions chosen career path. Please inform the FE Week editor of any to teach their trades. errors or issues of concern regarding this limiting the delivery of traineeships to “As numbers increase we need to see a Phase two will provide £580,000 to fund publication. mainly grade one and two providers. continued commitment to skills training provider-led projects supporting colleges, “By restricting the delivery, many from the next government, including providers, and employers to engage in Teach Email [email protected] with employers will not get access to the further development of traineeships into a Too practice. Error/Concern in the subject line. programme because they want to continue to pre-apprenticeship programme to support Please include the page number and story The deadline to apply to run a maths-based headline, and explain what the problem is. work with their apprenticeship provider,” he those who are not yet ready to take up a full project is noon tomorrow (February 3), told FE Week. apprenticeship with an employer.” while the deadline for science, technology, “We understood the restriction in the A BIS spokesperson said she was not aware engineering and other subjects is February subscribe first year but we have to now reconsider of any plans to open traineeships up to grade 13. this issue and allow provides to produce the three and four providers. Visit www.teachtoo.org for details. For an annual subscription to FE Week for just £75 visit www.feweek.co.uk and click on ‘subscribe’ at the top of the page. www.feweek.co.uk Law change ‘could lead to HE in FE complaints rise’ @rebeccaKcooney partner and head of education at SGH also be able to access support through OIAHE ADVERTISE WITH US [email protected] Martineau LLP, also warned the change in subscription, although the model and costs the law would “bring with it the powerful were yet to be decided. If you are interested in placing a product or Student complaints about FE colleges new remedies of a right to a repeat “We will have a direct relationship with job advert in a future edition please click on the ‘advertise’ link at the top of the page on offering degrees could rise with a proposed performance and a right to a discount”. the FE institutions,” said Mr Elger. feweek.co.uk or contact: new law putting them under the universities “More colleges that deliver higher “Under the new legislation we will be E: [email protected] ombudsman, principals have been warned. education will find themselves directly able look at what’s actually gone on in the T: 020 81234 778 Complaints about FE colleges’ higher subject to the OIAHE. This will almost complaints process in the college itself.” education courses will be scrutinised by certainly continue the upward trend as far as He added a “perception issue” could lead to Disclaimer the Office for Independent Adjudication learner complaints are concerned,” she said. a rise in student complaints, if students felt it in Higher Education (OIAHE) if the The news follows the 2013/14 Higher was easier to make their voices heard. FE Week is owned and published by Lsect Ltd. The views expressed within the publication are those of the authors government’s Consumer Rights Bill passes Education Review by higher education “Perhaps students are more likely to see named, and are not necessarily those of FE Week, Lsect Ltd or later this year. inspectors QAA, which said more than there’s a clear advantage of going to the any of its employees. While we try to ensure that the information we provide is correct, mistakes do occur and we cannot Currently the OIAHE deals with a quarter of FE colleges offering higher OIAHE, because we can look at a complaint guarantee the accuracy of our material. complaints about FE higher education education needed to improve their without having to worry about who is The design of the printed newspaper and of the website is copyright of Lsect Ltd and material from the newspaper provision if they relate to something complaints handling. responsible for which bit,” said Mr Elger.