Apprenticeships

DfE issues final call for flexi-job apprenticeship agencies

Department confirms ‘no plans’ to open another application window after May 31

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Ofsted

English Football League apprenticeship provider nets top Ofsted marks again

Large provider given ‘outstanding’ rating 11 years after securing the top rating

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Funding

ESFA ups childcare cash for young parents as demand falls

Care to Learn allocations rise by £20 per week but data indicates falling demand for subsidies

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Multiply, Skills reform

DfE puts Multiply online platform on ice

DfE says the platform is under review while it considers the right offer for learners

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Colleges

DfE opens applications for colleges capital loans

Loans are available for college capital projects originally planning private sector borrowing prior to reclassification

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Adult education, Levelling Up, Long read

Multiply – The maths scheme that doesn’t yet add up

The flagship Multiply programme, aimed at adults with poor numeracy skills, is failing to attract learners, reports Jessica Hill….

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill


GCSEs

‘Groundbreaking’ progress for GCSE maths resit students in pilot, researchers claim

Study says students make one month of additional progress on intervention programme

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Exams, Ofqual

Penalties soar for taking devices into exams

Ofqual figures indicate four times as many penalties for VTQ exams in 2022 than the previous year

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Colleges

Lecturer awarded £90k after three years of ‘turmoil’ following unfair dismissal

Employment tribunal finds college discriminated against lecturer’s disability in redundancy process

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Institutes of Technology, IoTs, Skills reform

Experts and minister hail ‘flying start’ as recruitment stats for IoTs revealed

‘This could prove very attractive in many localities’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

30 days of strikes at London college as toxic battle rages

‘Extremely damaging’ action hits students during exam season

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Think tank reveals plan to cut chatbot cheating

Report also recommends the extended project qualification should become compulsory

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker

Must read

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
T Levels

NAO reveals enormity of T Level take-up failure

Forecasts missed by 75% and secret DfE estimates show staff and employer shortages could limit places to 48,000 students

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel