SEND

Half of councils face insolvency over £5bn SEND deficit ticking timebomb

Survey of councils suggests over half will fail to break even if a measure keeping deficits off their books…

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Apprenticeships

English and maths apprenticeship reforms: 24-25 rules updated

Exit requirement ditched for apprentices aged 19+ on the day of their start

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships behind bars follows open jail failure

Scheme expanded inside prison walls despite just 10 prisoners undertaking apprenticeships since 2022

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Devolution

Skills devolution spreads with plan for six new regions

Millions in skills funding will be handed to mayors, with ringfences lifted on budgets

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Colleges, Industrial action

NEU ends sixth form college pay dispute

Members accept 4.3 per cent deal with ‘firm assurances’ of future pay equality

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
T Levels

No answers for failed T Level students in re-mark fiasco

College and awarding organisation have failed to resolve the issue six months on

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor


Adult education, DfE

Come clean on cuts, demand adult education providers

Providers face uncertainty after news emerged in a ‘fragmented’ fashion

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Apprenticeships

Make apprenticeship funding top priority, poll suggests

But parents still prefer to send children to university over taking up apprenticeships

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Apprenticeships

Short isn’t sweet for apprenticeship standards warning

Government plans to move from a 12 to 8 month minimum duration by August

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Faster apprenticeship payments to providers as DfE ditches duplicate data

Database fix to cut admin and speed up apprenticeship funding payments

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

Providers to assess apprentices in EPA overhaul

DfE claims more red tape cut as it confirms assessment rule changes

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Colleges, Industrial action

23 sixth form colleges vote to strike in NASUWT ballot

But the union has been criticised for also balloting teachers in academised sixth form colleges not involved in the…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

Must read

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
Adult education, ITPs

Mayors dump adult education cuts on independent training providers

Up to two-thirds axed from devolved procured budgets

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Bootcamps, Skills bootcamps

Coding firm caught charging students for free bootcamps

Ed tech provider ‘regretful’ after complaints and promises full refunds as bosses try to sue DfE over non-payments

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Frances Read