Apprenticeships

6% of apprenticeship providers eligible for ‘ludicrous’ expert group

Leaders hit out at DfE’s ‘dangerous’ pilot name and strict criteria that excludes most providers

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Colleges

‘Pyromaniac’ student set fire to college to avoid exam

Student given a suspended sentence after lawyer said there was no ‘intent to harm’ anyone

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein
Sponsored post

Transforming Digital Learning with Apple

Exeter College’s transformation into an Apple Authorized Training Centre for Education has not only enriched student learning but also…

academia
Academia
BTECs, Skills reform, T Levels

155,000 young people to ‘fall through the gap’ left by BTECs, report warns

‘Desperate’ ministers also accused of misusing data to overstate performance of T Levels

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

DfE to appoint ‘expert’ apprenticeship training providers

Stringent criteria will eliminate many of the largest from applying

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Ofsted

IT training provider scoops first Ofsted ‘outstanding’

Baltic Apprenticeships praised for ‘substantial improvements’, including tackling the number of apprenticeship drop outs

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein


Colleges, Office for Students

Office for Students slammed for lack of political independence

HE regulator ‘driven by the ebb and flow of short-term political priorities and media headlines’

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein
Skills reform

Two decades of skills policies haven’t improved productivity, says report

Failure to boost lower and intermediate-level skills is harming UK productivity

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Ofsted, RAAC

Ofsted won’t inspect education settings on DfE’s RAAC list

Affected providers ‘will not be selected for inspection during the term’ unless Ofsted has ‘concerns’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Freddie Whittaker
Long read, Training Providers

Private equity and training: a complicated relationship explained

The last ten years has seen a gold rush of global private equity (PE) companies seeking to make the…

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Ofsted, T Levels

Q&A: Ofsted’s verdict on T Levels

‘There remain issues we want to see addressed before these are rolled out at scale’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

Must read

Colleges, Long read

Colleges on the frontline of a divided nation

As social media algorithms fuel intolerance and binary thinking, college staff increasingly find themselves dealing with the fallout. Jessica…

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Colleges, Long read

Alun Francis, chair of the Social Mobility Commission

Deprived areas need vision – not victimhood – to level up, and Social Mobility Commission chair Alun Francis is…

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Long read, Prison education

The prison that’s offering hope for a new life upon release

‘We’re saving people’s lives as well as turning them around’

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Apprenticeships, Politics

Phillipson to exempt young people from level 7 apprenticeships funding axe

Education secretary makes ‘important concession’ amid backlash from other government departments

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Colleges, FE Commissioner

Weston chair felt powerless over £2.5m payments to former principal

Ex-Weston college chair gives tell-all interview following FE Commissioner probe

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Colleges

Weston College governance failure allowed ‘concealment’ of £2.5m payments to former principal

Paul Phillips was paid £1.8m in 2023, including a ‘significant’ six-figure retention payment which his COO son ‘resisted’ paying…

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel