BIS FE and Skills e-Newsletter

The Skills Funding Agency has published further information on its funding allocations process for the 2010/11 academic year. Skills Funding Agency Guidance Note 2 is the second in a series of communications to the FE sector and builds on Guidance Note 1 published in December 2009. It will inform discussions between colleges and training organisations and the shadow Skills Funding Agency account management teams which will be taking place over the coming weeks and months.

Click here for more information.

On 9th February the LSC announced that it is to provide an extra £34 million to 41 colleges to ensure they do not face financial difficulties as a result of developing capital bids that have not proceeded.

Support is being offered to 20 colleges who have been judged to need additional financial help to protect them from losing a 'satisfactory' classification. Financial support is also being offered to 21 qualifying colleges with a score only just within the 'satisfactory' financial health classification, to ensure their rating does not decline.

Last September the LSC committed to protecting any college facing financial difficulty as a direct result of aborted capital spending. Using the Framework for Excellence financial health assessment criteria, the LSC has examined the financial position of all colleges involved and agreed to provide support to those that need it most. The LSC has been careful to ensure that this only applies to those colleges where the unsatisfactory assessment is a direct result of the college having to write off their development costs.

Click here to view the Press Notice.

The LSC published its latest Train to Gain evaluations on 4th February 2010 which show continued high levels of satisfaction with the service and positive benefits of the programme to both employers and learners. Latest evidence shows over 77% of employers report Train to Gain had equipped their employees with valuable job-related skills which had resulted in increased performance, 70% felt the training had improved day to day operation of the company, 70% were confident the training would contribute directly to long term competitiveness and 41% agreed it had helped the business cope with the recession. Over 90% of learners are satisfied with their training and 80% expect to do their current job better after training.

The full Wave 5 employer and learner reports can be accessed on the LSC's Research and Evaluation pages here 

Principals of FE colleges should be aware that the new Vetting and Barring Scheme does not impose requirements on organisers of exchanges or visits where parents host a child from elsewhere. It will not require organisers to check registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), if the child's parents accept responsibility for the choice of host adults (unpaid volunteers acting as private foster parents). 

In addition, following a recent increase in CRB checks by education institutions, Principals can save time and money by avoiding unnecessary checks.  Click here to download the joint message and find more information on Vetting and Barring by visiting the Every Child Matters website

Changes to Student Support will take effect from September 2010.

After announcements were made in early July 2009, a series of discussions were held with a range of FE stakeholders over the Summer. We received clear messages that we needed to do something to mitigate the potential impact these changes would have on those studying for the Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) and related Skills for Life (SfL) qualifications on a Part-Time In-service basis.

We are now able to confirm that Ministers have approved proposals to implement a “Fee grant” arrangement from 2010/11, which will continue to support individual fee costs for those Part-Time, In-service DTLLS and SfL related courses. In order to fund this, savings have to be made from existing teacher recruitment and retention budgets, including:

• reducing the amounts paid for FE Bursaries with effect from September 2010 (from £9,000 to £7,000 for priority shortage subjects and from £6,000 to £4,000 for other subjects).

• ending payments through the FE Golden Hello scheme with effect from 31 July 2010.

Stakeholders agreed this would be an acceptable way of mitigating the impact, given constraints on public expenditure and changed labour market conditions.  The fine detail is yet to be worked up so a further communication will be issued when systems are in place.  For more details about any of these changes please contact John Davies in the BIS FE Workforce Team.

The National Skills Academy for Nuclear together with Cogent Sector Skills Council held their second annual National Awards evening at the Palace Hotel in Manchester on the 11th February. In attendance were some of the nuclear industries largest employers. Awards were presented to this year’s winners of the National and Regional apprentices and students categories, including the National Nuclear Apprentice of the Year. Each award was sponsored by an employer. The evening was a great success, beginning with a reception and dinner, and continued with the awards ceremony and a filmed message of congratulations to award winners from Skills and Apprenticeships Minister Kevin Brennan.

For more information click here

Changes to vocational qualifications are gathering pace – there are now over 2,500 qualifications accredited on the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and over 15,000 credit-bearing units available.

It's now more important than ever that you are aware of what these changes mean for your learners and employers.

Please go to our new online resources to find out more:

Learners - www.bis.gov.uk/vocationalqualifications
Employers – www.businesslink.gov.uk/vocationalqualifications
FE colleges, training organisations and Awarding organisations will be directed to relevant information through both of these links.

Conference for learning providers - Managing the Transition to QCF

The LSC is hosting a free conference on 10 March at Chelsea Football Club to help learning providers prepare actively for the delivery of QCF qualifications. This event is primarily for publicly funded providers in England, but representatives from Sector Skills Councils and Awarding Organisations will also find the day of interest.

The conference will include workshops on: funding and performance; identification of priority qualifications; the new Adult Advancement Service; and the personal learner record.

For more information and a booking form please e-mail the QCF Service Desk

Further Education is the single most important tool we have to provide a much-needed fast injection of skills improvement into the economy and drive the recovery. FE colleges and training organisations are leading the way in providing new skills in nuclear, digital advanced engineering and biomedical industries.

FE can react quickly and flexibly to provide the training that businesses need to improve productivity, and it can support individuals to gain the skills they need to quickly take up new jobs following redundancy.

The Further Education Reputation Strategy Group has put together a supplement to show the important contribution FE is making to the country’s economic growth. The Group is also working on a series of documents which all those who work in FE can use to demonstrate the full story of how Further Education Works to sustain an advanced, competitive economy – and also as a key driver of social justice and equality of opportunity.

http://www.feworks.org/news/working-together-guardian-supplement
 

The Quick Reads campaign – supported by BIS – returns for its fifth anniversary, with ten new titles published on World Book Day, Thursday 4 March 2010.

Quick Reads are short, sharp shots of entertainment; books by best selling authors and celebrities. Since the initiative was launched in 2006, over 50 different Quick Reads titles have been published, engaging 1.25 million adults. The wide mix of titles and their accessible format make them perfect for adults who are new to reading, find reading tough or simply want a fast, fun read.

To enhance the experience of the books, and to support their use in and outside the classroom, there are a range of free resources available for teachers on the Quick Reads website These include author podcasts, downloadable chapter samplers and learning materials

New for 2010, Quick Reads will also be available to download as eBooks. Look out for a free, exclusive offer on World Book Day. Click here to find out more about the new titles.
 

Revolutions aims to keep people interested in informal adult learning up to speed with developments on The Learning Revolution White Paper, the Government's vision for informal adult learning and how it can best support the ways people want to learn.

Click here to read the latest edition.

UK Skills is looking for talented individuals to take part in the 2010 WorldSkills UK Competitions where skilled people battle it out against each other to be crowned the UK’s best. WorldSkills UK Competitions are open to anyone who has gained or is working towards a vocational skill. All you need to do is enter online by Friday 19th March 2010 at worldskillsuk.org

Entrants from this year’s WorldSkills UK Competitions may be selected to represent the UK at WorldSkills London 2011 being held at ExCeL between 5th-8th October 2011. Over 1,200 young people from 52 countries/regions will be competing in 45 skills ranging from plumbing to hairdressing to robotics. There are many ways in which you can get involved when the largest international vocational skills competition comes to London.

For further information visit worldskillslondon2011.com