A new network is starting for Natspec member colleges.

Specialist sensory impairment teachers or others in a role that involves supporting learners with sensory impairments, who work in a Natspec college, are invited to come along to this new supportive network to discuss your work, share ideas, ask questions and compare experiences. The network will aim to meet termly and dates are set for Wednesday 20th March and Wednesday 19th June at 4pm.

The network is jointly chaired by Becky Sargent, National Star College, Specialist Tutor Vision Impairments (QTVI) and Kajal Mistry (QTVI), Treloar College. Please email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like to join the network and for further information.

Here is the link to share for further information: Sensory impairment network - Natspec

Join nasen for a pair of FREE webinars for staff working with young people at post-16 in education, training or employment to explore how the learning environment and additional support can be put in place to ensure that staff and students feel confident and secure in their post-16 provision. These webinars have been made possible through funding from Thomas Pocklington Trust.

The webinar themes are ‘Learning to Access’ and ‘Access to Learning’, designed to complement each other and bring awareness, signposting and upskill staff in what support will enable learners and employees with VI to succeed and for settings to improve outcomes.

Alongside the webinar recordings, a set of curated support materials from across the VI sector will be hosted.

To have a further look at the topics covered and to book your FREE place on the webinars click here: Accessing Futures – Improving Outcomes for Learners with VI at post-16

T Level Delivery Division | Professional and Technical Education Group are pleased to let you know that on 12th January they have written to Wave 1 T Level providers to provide a further update on additional industry placement flexibilities that they have introduced, to ensure that so that no 2020 T Level student is held back from completing their course because they have not been able to do an industry placement, due to Covid-19.  

Today T Level Delivery Division | Professional and Technical Education Group | anounced that £50 million is being invested to support colleges, schools and sixth form colleges delivering T Levels from September 2022, which will include new subjects in Finance, Media and Legal. 

65 building projects will receive a share of this funding, improving and expanding existing teaching spaces, to provide world-class facilities for T Level students.

This multi-million-pound investment will ensure that students learn in modern, fit for purpose buildings and have access to industry standard equipment to prepare them for skilled employment when they finish their T Levels.

T Levels form a key part of the government’s reforms to revolutionise skills and technical education, providing students with the skills and experience they need to progress into well-paid jobs, further study or an apprenticeship.

Today’s announcement builds on the £133 million made available to support providers delivering T Levels in 2020 and 2021, including funding given to all new T Level providers to purchase specialist equipment so students have access to the equipment they will use when they get a job.

 

Colleagues at T Level Delivery Division are pleased to announce the government response to the second stage consultation for the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 has been published today at : https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-second-stage

The aims of the reforms set out in the response are:

·        to ensure that all qualifications offered at post-16 are high quality and help all students progress to their next stage – be that higher education or employment, and

·        to make the offer more streamlined and give students clearer choices.

This consultation response focuses on qualifications at level 3, following a call for evidence earlier in the year, we plan to publish a separate consultation for qualifications at Level 2 and below in the autumn.

Message from T Level Delivery Division | Professional and Technical Education Group  published on 28th May 2021 follows:

'As we all know, industry placements are critical to the success of T Levels and are necessary for every T Level student. However, at the moment, employers are finding it challenging to offer placements. We have therefore been monitoring the situation and working with providers and employers to put as much support in place as possible.

Today we have announced the launch of an Industry Placement Employer Incentive. As part of this scheme Employers will be able to claim £1000 for every T Level student they host on a high-quality industry placement https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cash-boost-for-t-levels

The T Level employer incentive fund recognises the impact of the pandemic on many businesses and has been designed to help cover financial constraints employers may face as a barrier to hosting placements in the short term. Employers will be able to claim £1000 for up to 20 students they host on a 45 day (315 hour) industry placement, from now until July 2022. The incentive offers businesses an excellent opportunity to tap into the emerging talent pipeline, whilst supporting the skilled workforce of the future.

Those interested in accessing the incentive payments and offering T Level industry placements should contact: 08000 150 600 (choose option 4)

T Levels uniquely combine classroom study with industry placements, generating the skilled workforce that businesses need for the future. With your support we want to share news of the new incentive payment with your network. Please do share today’s news where appropriate, linking to the news story on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cash-boost-for-t-levels

We are also pleased to share our new Employer Guide to help businesses understand how to host an industry placement. This includes details on what is expected of employers during the placement. Please do share this with your networks too. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/t-level-industry-placements-employer-guide

Also announced, a procurement exercise, of up to £350,000, for an Employer Support Package, will taking place in the summer, for an organisation to offer employers T Levels support. Such support will include delivering webinars, and support sessions across England. https://employerindustryplacements.co.uk/'

The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill was introduced in Parliament yesterday, 19th May 2021, and the Bill print is now available. You can access the press release and Bill documents via the following links:

Press Release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-legislation-to-help-transform-opportunities-for-all

Bill print: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2868/publications

Skills and Post-16 Education Bill

The Bill sets out the legislative changes needed to implement reforms outlined in the Skills for Jobs White Paper and proposals in the Review of Post-16 Qualifications: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-for-jobs-lifelong-learning-for-opportunity-and-growth

The proposed legislation will support:

·         A flexible Lifetime Skills Guarantee: supporting the introduction of the Lifelong Loan Entitlement, which will give all individuals access to the equivalent of 4 years of student loans for higher-level study. The loans can be used flexibly across their lifetime, full-time or part-time, for modules or full qualifications, for high-quality technical qualifications and academic education;

·         Putting employers at the heart of post-16 skills: by providing the statutory underpinning for local skills improvement plans as part of the Skills Accelerator;

·         Providing the technical skills the country needs: by introducing new quality requirements for technical qualifications, streamlining regulatory arrangements undertaken by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and Ofqual, and introducing a single approval gateway for technical qualifications (further detail below);

·         Responsive providers supported by effective accountability and funding: by placing duties on providers to review their provision and structure to meet local needs; by extending the Secretary of State’s statutory FE intervention powers; by taking powers to make regulations for a list of post-16 providers with registration conditions aimed at protecting learners in event of provider failure; and

·         Supporting outstanding teaching: including by taking powers to make regulations for the purpose of improving or securing the quality of FE initial teacher training.

The Bill also proposes measures to improve the FE insolvency regime, simplifying how a college becomes a “designated institution” and other technical improvements; and to make clear that the Office for Students has the ability to set requirements and make assessments in relation to quality by reference to absolute student outcomes rather than relative benchmarks.

Technical education qualification measures – overview

The proposed legislation will allow the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute) to approve a broader range of technical education qualifications. This will support the implementation of the proposals in the Post-16 Qualifications Review and in the Skills for Jobs White Paper, ensuring that the majority of technical education is linked to employer-led standards by 2030.

It will also embed collaboration between the Institute and Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) for the approval and regulation of technical education qualifications. This will streamline and reinforce the long-term stability of the technical education qualification regulatory framework.

In practice, it means:

·         The Institute will have an oversight role to ensure the system of technical education and training within its remit is coherent. It will have a categorisation and approval function for a broader range of technical education qualifications in addition to T Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications. Furthermore, the Institute will have a role in advising on the relationship between non-qualifications-based provision (such as traineeships and skills bootcamps) and employer-led standards.

·         There will be scope for the Institute to manage the number of qualifications that are approved. This will include the ability to issue a moratorium on approving new qualifications of a particular kind (e.g. in a particular occupational area, level and category), subject to consultation and in agreement with the Secretary of State for Education. There will also be scope for the Institute to charge fees in relation to the approval of qualifications, subject to regulations published by the Secretary of State.

·         Through regular reviews of approved qualifications, the Institute will determine whether a qualification should continue to be approved, whether it requires revision, or whether approval should be withdrawn. This will ensure that qualifications remain available where they continue to meet the criteria against which they were approved.

·         The Institute will be able to take steps to allow for the availability of T Levels in countries outside England.

·         Ofqual and the Institute currently share the regulatory and oversight responsibilities for technical education qualifications through voluntary collaboration. The legislation will not change how this works in practice but will future-proof the stability of the collaborative relationship between the two bodies. It will also create a single approval gateway for technical education qualifications by taking them out of scope for separate statutory accreditation by Ofqual.

The Government response to the Review of Post-16 Qualifications at level 3 will build on the Bill and set out more detail about the range of technical qualifications that the Government will fund for 16-19 year olds and adults. DfE T Level Development Division expect to publish this in due course.

DfE T-level division are pleased to let you know that they have updated the next steps and further details on their approach to developing the T Level Transition Programme, for September 2022 implementation. Details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/t-levels-next-steps-for-providers#t-level-transition-programme

"It has been fantastic to see the launch of the first T Level Transition Programmes in 32 providers across the country. Over the next 9 months, we will be determining what the final national programme will look like, drawing on this first year of delivery, wider evidence on good practice and working with education specialists, providers, employers and sector stakeholders.

The programme will retain the flexibility to be able to support each student individually and enable them to progress on to a T Level, whilst introducing a degree of consistency to ensure all students are consistently prepared regardless of where they are studying."