Dr Anne Murdoch says government proposals for funding and accountability changes in FE are welcome, but they mustn’t fall short of what’s required.

All change for FE?

Funding 

The government recently consulted on measures to further education (tinyurl.com/47whd9uk), which, if implemented, will significantly change the adult skills funding and accountability system. The intention is to streamline funding through a minimum number of routes, which should reduce requirements on providers, reduce administration and make funding outcome-focused and responsive to local area economic needs. 

These are good intentions, but only if funding is implemented fairly across the system. Currently, adult skills funding is a complicated mix of systems that haven’t been updated for years and is dependent on historical data about needs and demands. Government data states there were 1.7 million adult learners in further education and skills in 2019/20 but only 174,000 were studying qualifications at Level 4 and above (tinyurl.com/57bxkaxb), the area given most attention in the government’s ‘skills for jobs’ white paper (tinyurl.com/zemf5b5v). 

There’s been little strategic direction for adult skills in the past decade and change is being directed when the government’s long-term strategy for adult skills at all levels isn’t yet clear. Other than the skills white paper, government strategy on adult skills has been lacking for some time. The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, now making its way through Parliament, doesn’t address the wider needs of adults to improve literacy and digital skills. 

The government consulted on a single skills fund, which would incorporate the existing adult education budget (AEB), community learning and any national skills fund investment. It isn’t clear whether public funding would be replaced by fees paid by individual learners, but this is likely to be the direction of travel. The problem with this approach, previously introduced into the AEB a decade ago, is that adult enrolments fell hugely as adults were required to take out and repay loans, and growth in numbers in technical areas was at the expense of reduction in other provision. 

Furthermore, following changes to adult funding in 2013, combined authorities have grown, and the government is proposing a needs-based approach to setting funding in those areas as part of devolution. The likely outcome will be winners and losers in different areas of the country. A needs-based system could work in the longer-term but in non-devolved areas, activity-based funding means funding can vary because of age, disadvantage and postcode and in cost to its learners. 

Other proposals on funding and accountability are potentially positive. The government consulted on introducing funding for lagged adult learner numbers, a multi-year funding stream, upfront funding for growth areas, new eligibility rules and on supporting areas to improve, all of which are intended to help deliver employer-relevant skills and support individuals into meaningful employment. 

If implemented as a package with a clear strategy to support them, many of these additional proposals could bring positive outcomes. However, without a clear plan or proposals to properly fund all levels of adult skills, including those that feed into higher technical levels, only a small number of learners and employers will benefit. 

Accountability

While proposed changes to funding lack detail and potential impact, the proposals for changes to accountability measures are focused on new ways of reporting data and monitoring impact. A new performance dashboard will include prioritised outcomes and input measures. The government wants to introduce a new accountability agreement, starting from a set of rules and replacing the current, lengthy funding agreement, giving colleges more autonomy over their technical and vocational offer. 

The government also wants to explore a new role for Ofsted where the inspectorate focuses on how well providers meet skills needs and how well this matches employers’ needs. And although the government is proposing to introduce other, separate changes for apprenticeships, it wants a wider set of quality measures included in accountability agreements. 

The consultation also includes details about support and intervention, such as where a college fails to meet the skills needs of its area. The FE Commissioner’s office will have a new role supporting colleges to improve their response on skills. Early intervention in the regime will be replaced by strategic support, with the onus on colleges to find the support they need to improve their skills outcomes. 

Finally, the consultation proposes ways of improving data and reducing the burden of audit and other assurance processes. This requires colleges to set out their governance and controls in accountability arrangements and could be an opportunity to reduce the audit burden for all colleges. 

Conclusion 

In ASCL’s response to the consultation (www.ascl.org.uk/SkillsforJobs), we agree that adult education funding and accountability needs to change, but we are concerned that some of the proposals will complicate the system further. We’ve also pushed for a trial of any proposed changes and for skills improvement plans to be implemented properly before providers are made accountable for their outputs.

GOVERNMENT DATA STATES THERE WERE 1.7 MILLION ADULT LEARNERS IN FURTHER EDUCATION AND SKILLS IN 2019/20 BUT ONLY 174,000 WERE STUDYING QUALIFICATIONS AT LEVEL 4 AND ABOVE

Dr Anne Murdoch OBE
ASCL Senior Advisor, College Leadership
@ASCL_UK

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