LIVERPOOL'S PROFILE: 'A SWITHENBANK'S 68% AEB ROLE MODEL SIX-FIGURE THRESHOLD FOR MANY' PAY-OFF Page 10 Pages 21-23 Page 8 In-depth, investigative journalism, determined to get past the bluster & explain the facts for the FE & skills sector FEWEEK.CO.UK | @FEWEEK FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 | EDITION 349 there is a new sheriff in skills town Page 5 esfa loses confidence in...themselves Agency tells college auditors to stop trusting their year-end funding statement Every college will need a funding assurance review before accounts signed off AoC fears 'last-minute scramble' for extra work from the external auditors Page 4 HIT TARGETS AND CONTRIBUTE #TALKTOTOM TO STRATEGIC PRIORITIES [email protected] @FEWEEK EDITION 349 | FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 MEET THE TEAM Nick Linford Shane Mann Billy Camden EDITOR MANAGING DEPUTY DIRECTOR EDITOR @NICKLINFORD @SHANERMANN @BILLYCAMDEN [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] JL Dutaut Jess Staufenberg Fraser COMMISSIONING COMMISSIONING Whieldon EDITOR EDITOR REPORTER @DUTAUT @STAUFENBERGJ @FRASERWHIELDON [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] THE TEAM Simon Kay DESIGNER HEAD DESIGNER Nicky Phillips ? [email protected] DESIGNER Simon Kay SALES MANAGER Bridget Stockdale ADMINISTRATION Frances Ogefere Dell EA TO MANAGING Get in touch. DIRECTOR AND FINANCIALS Victoria Boyle Contact [email protected] or call 020 81234 778 RNN GROUP MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES SALARY DEPENDENT ON ROLE https://httpslink.com/j6gt FEATURED THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING JOBS FOUNDATION MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES SALARY DEPENDENT ON ROLE https://httpslink.com/3w5z CLIP CHIEF EXECUTIVE £40,000 - £50,000 PER ANNUM https://httpslink.com/rocm THIS WEEK’S TOP AVAILABLE JOBS IN THE FE SECTOR. TO ABINGDON & WITNEY COLLEGE CURRICULUM MANAGER SEND FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION DEPARTMENT PLEASE TURN TO THE CENTRE £40,285 - £40,540 PER ANNUM OF FE WEEK OR VISIT THE https://httpslink.com/xo9s WEB ADDRESS LISTED TO ADVERTISE YOUR VACANCY WITH EDUCATION WEEK JOBS QUBE LEARNING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SKILLS TUTORS AND FE WEEK PLEASE CALL £25,500 - £29,500 PER ANNUM 020 81234 778 OR EMAIL [email protected] https://httpslink.com/f35e Please inform the FE Week editor of any errors or issues of concern regarding this publication. 2 Contents EDITION 349 Tripling traineeships: no growth yet, but new providers remain upbeat First college in England approved for nursing training Page 7 Page 13 The Commission on Race is a spectacularly badly-timed distraction Page 25 If your college isn’t in a careers hub, here’s the evidence it should be Page 26 DISCLAIMER SUBSCRIBE FE Week is owned and published by Lsect Ltd. 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Audit Code of Practice 2020 The Education and Skills Funding Agency is to 2021 requiring all external auditors to conduct a Assurance and accountability requirements for post funding audit this year, before signing off on -16 providers, including further education and sixth- the annual college financial statements. form college corporations News of the significant change came buried in the Post-16 Audit Code of Practice for 2020 March 2021 to 2021, published by the ESFA this week. One of 19 “changes” stated the ESFA year- end funding statement “does not constitute assurance over the funds earned by the college”. “risks creating a last-minute scramble by It also remains uncertain whether other In previous years, external auditors signed colleges and auditors to carry out extra work funding bodies reliant on the ILR returns, off college accounts without checking the in summer 2021. such as mayoral combined authorities, will accuracy of income claims received from the “Colleges aim to comply with high audit make similar demands. main funding grants generated through the standards but we don’t agree with the ESFA Individualised Learner Record (ILR) returns, decision to introduce this change two-thirds of because the ESFA provided the assurance. the way through the year.” “Colleges aim to Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive at the And in an email to all AoC members seen by Association of Colleges and former college FE Week, Gravatt says: “The implication of this comply with high finance director, told FE Week the change change is that external auditors will now carry audit standards but out more work this summer and early autumn to ensure compliance with funding rules. we don’t agree with In effect this extends the funding audit to all the ESFA decision” colleges this year – at their own expense.” According to several college accountants who spoke to FE Week, the responsibility for And despite the move from the ESFA to funding audit being passed from the ESFA to require the extra assurance work, there has colleges presents a number of challenges. been no suggestion they will scale back the Many accountancy firms that currently number of audits they conduct themselves. undertake external audit for colleges have Gravatt was also keen to point out that never conducted a “funding assurance this late change appeared to go against review”. broader government plans to reduce This is likely to present resourcing bureaucracy. challenges announced so late in the year and “The FE white paper promises raises the prospect of additional costs for simplification but, for colleges, the current colleges. audit code is a uniquely complicated However, Gravatt said he hoped external custom-built framework involving internal, audit firms would “handle any extra work external, regularity and multi-year funding Julian Gravatt within agreed and fixed budgets”. audits,” he said. 4 @FEWEEK EDITION 349 | FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 DO YOU HAVE A STORY? News CONTACT US [email protected] Long-standing college leader named as new FE Commissioner her leadership. She has led it through two mergers to achieve an ‘outstanding’ judgment From front from Ofsted in 2020. The chief executive of one of the country’s Legrave, who was largest college groups has been appointed awarded an OBE the next FE Commissioner. in 2015, said it was Shelagh Legrave, who has worked at a “great privilege” Chichester College since 2003 and became to be appointed its leader in 2010, will succeed Richard FE Commissioner, Atkins on a permanent basis from October. particularly at As FE Week revealed on Wednesday, “this critical time, current deputy FE Commissioner Frances when skills will be Wadsworth has taken up the post on an vital to rebuilding interim basis until Legrave takes the reins. our economy and Legrave is a qualified accountant and communities. currently chairs the Coastal West Sussex “As the FE white Skills & Enterprise Group as well as Bourne paper has set out, Shelagh Legrave Community College and homeless charity colleges will be at the Stonepillow. forefront of education She is also vice chair of the Collab Group and training that will the Department for Education. The and sits on the Chichester Festival Theatre enable social mobility and address the needs commissioner intervenes in struggling board. of employers,” she added. colleges, where visits turn into published Chichester College has grown into one “I look forward to supporting the secretary reports that assess quality and financial of England’s largest college groups under of state and skills minister to ensure that health, as well as the existing governance further education and sixth-form colleges and leadership. across England are in the strongest possible Its inaugural post holder was Sir David position to change people’s lives for the Collins, who was replaced by Atkins in 2016. better.” The FE Commissioner leads a team of Education secretary Gavin Williamson, who around 18 deputy FE commissioners and announced the appointment on Thursday, FE advisers, made up mainly of former said: “I am delighted to appoint Shelagh to college principals or deputy principals and this vital role. She is hugely experienced in directors of finance. the sector, with a track record of outstanding The four-day week role will earn Legrave success and improvement.