Improving and expanding the Level 3 offer: working with providers

While the costs associated with level 3 study can be prohibitive for some learners, we know that adults also face a wider set of challenges and barriers to engaging with training at this level – some of which are associated with the duration, location, timing and mode of learning, as well with the relevance of training to local employment opportunities. Alongside our proposals for additional financial investment set out above, we are keen to work with providers to develop new and innovative approaches to delivering level 3 training to adults, with an ambition of widening and strengthening of the level 3 adult offer across the region.

Our case for increasing investment in our level 3 offer, as set out above, is predominantly based on the employment and earnings outcomes from achieving qualifications at this level. Nonetheless, outcomes data from our existing level 3 provision is poor – outcomes are unknown for more than two-thirds of learners, with significant variation by provider. We need to find more effective, efficient and sustainable Improving the level 3 skills offer for adults WMCA consultation 8 ways to improve on this if we are to make the case for further investment, and to develop our understanding of what works.

The overall value of the WMCA Adult Education Budget has been fixed for a number of years at around £130m. In recent years, this has been supplemented by additional Free Courses for Jobs funding. Nonetheless, it remains true that any decision to prioritise funding for level 3 provision, inevitably limits the funds that can be spent on provision at other levels. It is also true that a significant proportion of adults in the WMCA are not currently ready to undertake level 3 study – and therefore would not benefit in the short-term from this increase in investment at this level.

It is imperative therefore that as well as expanding the offer at level 3, we must also improve the pathways to level 3, particularly in those sectors where there are good well-paid jobs available to people qualified at this level. Alongside our proposed additional investment at level 3, we are keen to work with employers and providers to develop new progression pathways in key sectors. Our current investment on Level 2 provision to secure this pathway amounts to £29.18m – equivalent to 37% of our budget.

Delivering our ambition of ensuring that the skills needs of businesses are met and everybody can benefit from economic growth, requires a strong and well-trained FE workforce. We recognise that while Colleges and training providers have access to support for their own staff development, this is limited and does not usually extend beyond level 3. We regularly receive feedback about recruitment challenges across the sector, including for qualified managers, for IAG practitioners and for teaching assistants and higher-level teaching assistants. We would like to support the sector to ‘grow their own’ and to develop talent in the region, for the region.

We are exploring how we might fully fund a suite of qualifications to support delivery capacity, which could include:

Level 3 Teaching/Higher Level Teaching Assistant
Level 4 Diploma in Advice and Guidance
Level 5 - Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Level 5 – Aspiring Leaders (to be developed with university partners with an aligned focus on curriculum innovation/skills)
Leadership and management – adoption of technology