A college has been banned from entering into new sub-contracting arrangements following an investigation by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

The College of West Anglia, which has four campuses spread across Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, was investigated by the ESFA following allegations relating to provision delivered by one of its sub-contractors.

Nottinghamshire-based GEMEG was awarded a contract worth up to £140,000 - although this sum was reduced to £100,000 in November 2015 due to lower than expected recruitment. The total funding claimed by the training provider was £50,817.75, with the college taking a 25 per cent management fee.

The provision included work experience at Worksop Town Football Club and Worksop Town Football Academy.

College had ‘no idea’ where students were based

The ESFA report says that the college had no idea where the training for the 19 students enrolled on the course was taking place for the first six months of the programme. Training was delivered in Worsop rather than Nottingham, where the college thought its students were.

A quality assurance visit revealed that one of the rooms used for teaching was “not entirely suitable for teaching”, with students complaining it was “always cold and uncomfortable”.

Around half of the students on the course were required to take maths or English classes but attendance was poor.

The funding agency said the college did not adhere to the “EFA 2015 to 2016 sub-contracting controls regulations” in relation to the subcontracting arrangements with GEMEG and did not have effective controls over the provision delivered.

‘We have further strengthened oversight’

College of West Anglia principal David Pomfret said: “This report relates to concerns dating back nearly three years about the practices of one of our sub-contractors. This subcontractor was responsible for delivering courses on our behalf to a small number of students in the 2015-16 academic year. As a result of our own concerns, we ended our association with this provider in July 2016, long before any ESFA concerns came to light.

“The report raises concerns about CWA’s oversight and management of the subcontracting. At the time of the ESFA’s investigation visit to CWA in November 2017, we had already implemented changes to our processes to address most of the perceived weaknesses and recommendations mentioned in the report.

“Since then, we have further strengthened oversight of sub-contracting delivery, which includes our own staff directly overseeing enrolment of 16- to 18-year-olds and discontinuing non-local Study Programme sub-contracted delivery. We have also carried out a full review of subcontracting controls and assurance systems and processes and are confident these are operating effectively for all subcontracted provision.”