Features

Work Matters: Management Focus - Training Providers - Ready for change

The future for training in the nursery sector is forecast by Ross Midgley, with questions for providers to ask themselves.

The good news from the Chancellor's first round of cuts is the protection of Sure Start and 16-19 education, and the creation of 50,000 adult apprenticeship places targeted at smalland medium-sized enterprises.

The bad news is that the latter is to be paid for by diverting £150m from Train to Gain, a scheme which has long been in the Conservatives' sights.

Good-quality training providers will still be funded to deliver apprenticeships, which, under the Qualifications and Credit Framework, will mean a Level 3 Diploma, together with functional skills and first aid. Functional skills, which embed literacy and numeracy in a work context, are more challenging than key skills, and employers will need to consider carefully whether those they wish to train to Level 3 are capable of achieving these awards and what support they will need.

Although funding is still available for adult learners, employers will inevitably find it easier to secure for the under-19s, and may need to start budgeting to make a contribution towards the training costs of older staff. The Government increasingly assumes an employer contribution in its funding calculations. In the new climate, providers will be less able to absorb this.

Looking ahead, the funding landscape may change dramatically.

While the Skills Funding Agency remains intact for now, Conservative thinking before the election looked forward to 'one funding body, one audit regime, one improvement body', and a move away from centralised planning towards a market-driven mechanism. Each college and registered training provider would receive a funding allocation based on an assumed number of learners; underand over-performing providers could then trade their allocations with each other.

Several other trends do not need much of a crystal ball to discern.

First, there will be a premium on 'doing more for less', with reductions in unit funding rates, coupled with an expectation that providers will train more learners more effectively.

Technology - particularly e-portfolios to manage evidence, and good quality interactive e-learning to reduce dependence on classroom teaching - will be especially important.

Second, the need to reduce transaction costs will create pressure for minimum contract sizes. The smallest 35 per cent of providers currently account for less than 2 per cent of skills funding.

Separate arrangements for contracting with, and monitoring, every small provider make no sense. But the accountants' dream of pushing all training procurement through two or three mega-consortia is unlikely to do much for quality and learner outcomes. Smaller providers should consider forming alliances that allow them to speak to the funding agencies with a single voice.

Third, while Government money will still be channelled to registered, approved colleges and providers, these will concentrate on their own delivery as funding becomes tighter. This could see many subcontractors being squeezed out.

Put your existing training provision through a health check. Ask yourself:

  • Is your college or training provider really committed to quality? Ask for references from other settings and learners.
  • The case for e-portfolios - security, ease of use, inclusiveness, instant feedback - is now unanswerable. Does your provider use them?
  • The new Diploma is only months away.
  • How prepared is your training provider, and how will it deliver learning? Will e-learning be genuinely interactive, or just 'lectures on the internet'?
  • How secure is the funding? Does your provider have a Government contract? If it does, is it at risk from the imposition of minimum contract sizes? If it doesn't, how can you assure continuity when subcontracting is no longer available?

Ross Midgley, a former nursery owner, is a director of People and Business Development, a work-based learning provider specialising in early years and playwork. PBD can be contacted on 01440 731731 or via www.pbdevelopment.co.uk.