DIUS FE and Skills e-Newsletter

Audience: FE college principals/governors, training providers, voluntary providers local authorities, voluntary providers; (5B;all post-16 providers) and national partners/stakeholders, All with an interest in skills and employment, people working in skills for life, college staff, union learning reps, employers, voluntary organisations who work with the unemployed.

Government announced on 17 December details on how a £158 million fund will be used to help people who have lost or fear losing their jobs.

The fund will be used to make it easier and quicker for people to get advice on careers and work related training helping them find secure jobs. Boosted by an extra £58m from when it was first announced it is paid for by both Government training funds and the European Social Fund.

It is in recognition of this, alongside this announcement, FE Works: supporting individuals, employers and communities, has been published which shows how many colleges and training providers are already rising to the challenge of helping individuals and businesses through the economic downturn and emerge stronger. This is particularly done by working closely with local businesses to help people who might face redundancy get the training they need either to stay in work or find new work.

For further information on the £158 million fund can be found on the DIUS internet at

• http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=387747&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

A copy of FE Works can be found at:

• http://www.dius.gov.uk/policy/furthereducation.html

Audience: Everyone in the FE system

The fourth edition of the 16-18 and post 19 funding transfer bulletin is now available by following this link:

• http://www.dius.gov.uk/policy/raising_expectations.html

Audience:

• Everyone in the FE system
The LSC has published the latest version of Identifying and Managing Underperformance, and supporting Technical Annexes, which set out the guidance on minimum levels of performance and the operation of Notices to Improve applying to the 2009/10 academic year.

The LSC also published its Statutory Intervention Policy in October 2008, alongside the responses to the consultation on this document and a full Equality Impact Assessment. All of these documents can be found on the LSC website, at

• www.lsc.gov.uk/aboutus/quality

Audience: FE college principals and training providers

Congratulations to the 5 ‘winning’ bids, announced on 1 Dec by Lord Young who subject to agreeing contracts are;

1. South West Composites Gateway Aerospace Training SW, West of England Aerospace Forum and GWE Business West - Lead partner: City of Bristol College

2. Innovation in Sustainable Construction East Midlands NTI Construction Network - Lead partner: West Nottinghamshire College

3. College: Business Innovation Accelerator South West Business Innovation and Knowledge Exchange College Partnership - Lead partner: Cornwall College.

4. Knowledge Transfer Leadership The Corporate College Consortium - Lead partner: Barnfield College

5. £ink to FSXchange National Skills Academy (NSA) for Financial Services The Fund was over subscribed by a factor of 30 - a tribute to FE’s appetite to help businesses innovate, and a powerful measure of innovation potential. Ministers have high ambitions for FE to show how it can drive SME innovation during the economic downturn.

• http://www.lsc.gov.uk/Innovation

Audience: Everyone in the FE system

The fifth annual STAR Awards - the Oscars of the further education and skills sector - were held in London on Monday 24 November, with a college chef, a principal and an offender learning head among those honoured.

This year, the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) STAR Awards received a record number of nominations - over 2,500 - demonstrating the high regard in which they are held by further education professionals and learners alike.

Judges selected just ten winners, one for each of the categories. Each winner took away a trophy, a £500 cash prize plus £1,500 from the STARlight fund to spend on professional and/or personal development activities.

This year’s event also saw the launch of Sparkle Auditions - an X Factor-style competition where learners could enter their act to perform at the national ceremony. Students from six different providers across England wowed guests with fantastic displays of talent; from art and fashion, to song and dance.

Nomination packs including nomination forms and promotional material for the 2009 STAR Awards will be posted to providers in the New Year.

TFor more information before then or to nominate your STAR online, visit

• http://staraward.qia.org.uk

Audience: Everyone in the FE system

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) published its second annual simplification plan on 10 December. It outlines how DIUS and its delivery agencies are complying with the Government’s target for all Departments to reduce administrative burdens on business and public bodies by 25% by 2010.

The plan shows how simplified regulations and minimisation of requirements for paperwork are reducing the cost of compliance for business, learners and the front line public sector. It highlights areas of progress in the reduction of bureaucracy, setting out further simplifications to be made, and can be found at

• http://www.dius.gov.uk/Press/annual_simplification_plan_101208.html

Audience: Everyone in the FE system plus Local authorities and their partners, LSC, local partnership teams

The information authority’s first annual report highlights the pivotal role it has played in the task of reducing the burden of data demands placed upon colleges and training providers.

Research commissioned by the authority highlighted a number of areas where demands for information were irrelevant, duplicated or inconsistent, which together make up the 'data burden'.

Actions taken so far include the earlier publication of the individualised learner record (ILR) to help providers with planning and to improve the quality of data.

Graham Jones, Chairman of the information authority, said he was pleased with progress: "We have been working with our stakeholders to examine the issues around data reporting demands and how they can be tackled in order to free up resources to provide high quality education and training."

Another issue highlighted by the authority’s research was the confusion around further education success rate reporting. We have since worked successfully with the LSC and Ofsted to align their working practices and ensure their reports are consistent.

The information authority website:

• www.theia.org.uk

Annual report:

• http://www.theia.org.uk/downloads/Reports/AnnualReport2007-08.htm

Audience: Everyone in the FE system

The Retail Sector Skills Council has been working with awarding organisations to ensure that lower level qualifications are up to standard and can lead on to more advanced awards.

Skillsmart Retail's work in the field has focussed on Entry and Level 1 qualifications, which will be available within 'Progression Pathways'. This Learning and Skills Council / QCA scheme gives learners clear progression routes towards higher level qualifications. It has seen the development of a new Level 1 vocational qualification, and also new Entry Level 2 and 3 units which can be added to generic employability qualifications to give a retail flavour.

It has also changed the rules on Level 1 competence-based qualifications so that learners can now learn the basics of retail in mock shops rather than in a live retail environment. This means that a greater number of learners can take qualifications where access to a real working environment may be limited

• www.skillsmartretail.com

Audience: FE college principals and training providers

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's Pre-Budget Report published in November announced that the Government will expand the successful National Skills Academies programme by....

providing funding for an additional four academies in 2009-10, bringing the total number to 20. The Government is on course to meet its ambition to have at least one academy in every major sector of the economy, resources permitting.

The Round 5 prospectus will be issued during the first half of 2009.

• http://www.nationalskillsacademy.co.uk/

Audience: FE college principals/governors, training providers, voluntary providers local authorities, voluntary providers; (all post-16 providers) and national partners/stakeholders, All with an interest in skills and employment, people working in skills for life, college staff, union learning reps, employers, voluntary organisations who work with the unemployed

The FE Good Practice guide showcases how the sector is responding to the economic challenges, reflecting the composite strengths of the whole FE system. The guide demonstrates the way in which the sector can take the lead in responding to needs of individuals, employers, and communities including examples of:

Audience: Skills for life practitioners, teachers, support staff and anyone with an interest in literacy or numeracy

Quick Reads are short, fast paced books aimed at emergent readers or those who just like a quick read. They are written by well known authors and celebrities. Quick Reads 2009 will be launched on World Book Day, which in 2009 is on 5 March.

The Quick Reads books have proven to be a success with the target audience as well as with Skills for Life and FE practitioners.

The features of Quick Reads are:

• dovetail with, and build upon, existing activities in the wider Skills for Life arena
• help to create a cultural change in the nation, by positioning reading as an adult norm and necessity
• reach reluctant readers, encouraging reading as a habit and developing adults' aspirations with respect to the acquisition of literacy skills.

Audience: Everyone in the FE system

Christmas greetings from the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills.

We want to wish you all a happy Christmas holiday, so please click on the link below to view our excellent e-card designed by student Greg Martin from Cantebury College, the winner of our e-card competition.

• http://interactive.dius.gov.uk/xmas2008/