Charles Parker Title here Baker Dearing Educational Trust @UTColleges
Bondholder Breakfast Event – 7 April 2017 • What is the problem? • What are University Technical Colleges? • What is Baker Dearing? • Progress to date – good, bad and lessons learned • Significance of links with employers and university • Plans for the future
A gaping hole in the English education system • We had technical schools until the early 60s, educating 4.75% of the cohort Continued demand for • Comprehensive schools and universities focus on white-collar jobs low skilled jobs • “Academic” = high -status (cheap!) vs. “Vocational” = second class (expensive!) Decline in clerical and blue collar • There were 209,500 reported skill-shortage vacancies in 2015, an (intermediate jobs) increase of 43 per cent from the 146,000 reported in 2013. (Employer Skills Survey 2015) Increased demand for • 265,000 skilled entrants required annually in engineering highly skilled jobs (technician and above) enterprises until 2024 (Warwick University: Institute for Employment Research)
What are University Technical Colleges? • Lord Baker and Lord Dearing invented UTCs in 2010 to address this problem • Technical schools for 600 14-19 year-olds (non-standard age range) • Governing body controlled by nominees of employers/university • High quality combined academic and technical education • Employers inform the curriculum and projects • Long school day, because of extra taught hours • Measured like other schools (Progress 8 and Ofsted inspections) • Focus on top quality destinations
Where are UTCs? • There are currently 48 UTCs open across England • 11,200 students, or 0.5% • Specialise in industries with local skills shortages ie ▪ Engineering/manufacturing ▪ Digital ▪ Cyber ▪ Healthcare
UTCs are start-ups from two separate worlds Governors Typically unused to schools Chairman Leadership PRINCIPAL Senior Team Staff and Students Typically unused to businesses
Employment progression from normal Employment progression from schools UTCs – saving three years Level 6 26 26 25 25 Level 5 24 24 23 23 Level 6 Level 4 22 22 21 21 Level 5 20 20 Level 3 19 19 Level 4 18 18 A-Levels A-Levels 17 17 3 years equivalent of GCSE 16 GCSE 16 technical education 15 15 in 4 years 14 14 Level 4 = Higher Apprenticeship Level 6 = Degree Apprenticeship
What is Baker Dearing Educational Trust? • A small independent charity which sits at the centre of the UTC network • We promote UTCs with government and employers/H.E. • We developed and own the UTC brand and licence it to UTCs (£5k p.a.) • We are independent of government, but work with the Department for Education for the good of the UTC programme • We do not control UTCs from the centre, but encourage best practice • We seek to build a recognisable family of sub-regional technical schools • Nothing like Baker Dearing in the English school system
Baker Dearing’s operations • We turn over around £1.5 million, of which 70% comes from private charities • We employ about 12 FTE (20 people) • Our field team advises UTCs on education, finance and employer engagement • We help UTCs benefit from being part of a large network so they can: o Share good practice o Attend training seminars o Stretch budgets through joint procurement • We lobby/work with government for the good of the UTC programme
Progress since 2010 • £500 million of capital has gone into around 50 new UTCs • Establishing and enforcing the principle of the UTC licence • Defending the 14-19 age range (the establishment hates this!) • Negotiating credit terms with Education Funding Agency • Changing the law to require LAs to write to all parents of Yr 9 children • Educating Ofsted into the USPs of UTCs • Managing disappointments and bad news!!
Flow of resources – UTCs and Baker Dearing Employers and University Time Majority of Department Very little cash governors for Education 100% capital 100% running costs £5k p.a. per UTC (c. £300k p.a.) Licence Other charitable £200k p.a. until March 2018 £1,200k p.a. until Dec 2019 donors
Numbers, trends and results – Good news • September 2014 - 30 UTCs open 37.5% full (6,350 students) • September 2015 - 39 UTCs open 42% full (8,700 students) • September 2016 - 48 UTCs open 46% full (11,200 students) • Yr 13 leavers 2016 second year running o 44% started H.E. (38% nationally) o 29% started apprenticeships (8.5% nationally) o 15% started jobs o 5/1292 on job- seeker’s allowance (NEET) • (Four will close this summer and) five UTCs will open in Sept = 49 in total
UTC Students – 2016 Destinations
Numbers, trends and results – Bad news • Average 5 A*-C GCSEs including English and maths for 25 UTCs in 2016 was 47%, 12% better than for 13 UTCs in 2015 but still below average • 17 Ofsted inspections since launch. Of these eight have been Good or better, five Required Improvement (of which three have since closed) and four have been judged as Inadequate (of which two have also closed). • £25 million owed to EFA • Student recruitment is tough at 14 and UTCs are dumped on • Six UTCs have closed in total and two have terminated their licence
Lessons learned • The DfE gives very little time for new UTCs to embed themselves • Need to guard against ruthless competitors (in spite of small share) • Need better business management capability/economies of scale • UTCs are small schools, which puts more pressure on the Principal • Starting a UTC is really tough and Baker Dearing needs to offer more support to Principals • Employer and HE engagement are critical (strong =positive/weak = negative) • Need to form sensible partnerships while protecting the UTC brand
Links with employers and universities • UTCs only happen because employers/university commit to them • They do this because they (and their suppliers) need the talent pipeline • Outsiders (like us) have to judge if this is real or fake • Employers/university must control governing body – but running a school is very different from running a business (jargon and drivers) • Employer-led projects and curriculum influence make all the difference to the students and the outcomes
Links with employers and universities (2) • UTCs need employer engagement person and teachers with employer links/background • Universities provide unique local cachet • Provide (often young) specialist teaching staff and mentors • University seems more accessible/less scary • If employers/H.E back a UTC we can trade through hard times • If employers/H.E. don’t care then the UTC is just a small, high-cost, quirky, irritating, “normal” school
Why UTCs fail • Six UTCs have closed since 2010, one has become an 11-19 school and one has become a post-16 school • The DfE gives very little time for new UTCs to embed themselves • Small schools – this means that a strong new Principal can quickly make a big difference Poor Principal and Unhelpful Weak employer Weak university No LA Letter to parents no corrective action FE college . engagement support of Yr 9 pupils advising by the board of their options UTC 1 YES YES YES YES UTC 2 YES YES YES YES UTC 3 YES YES YES YES YES UTC 4 YES YES YES YES YES UTC 5 YES YES YES UTC 6 YES YES YES YES
Plans for the future • Justine Greening is supportive • Another application round this year • When UTCs are full = 22,400 students or 1% of cohort • Employers and governors need lots of training in this unfamiliar world • Relatively high unit cost of UTCs when the state is shrinking • ROI = shorter training time, lower recruitment costs, better retention • Reach “escape velocity” by the end of the decade
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