Colleges

College confirms cyber attack brought down IT systems

England’s largest adult education college City Lit had cancelled online lessons before Christmas due to serious ‘IT disruption’

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
News

Ofsted admits complaints policy ‘isn’t working’

Officials told to make the process more human and less bureaucratic

John Dickens
John Dickens and Amy Walker
Apprenticeships, Ofsted

‘Inadequate’ private provider escapes ESFA contract termination

‘Unique’ circumstances at ambulance ITP lead to unheard-of decision

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Vocational training sector mourns loss of ‘inspirational’ Steve Lawrence

Tributes paid to EEVT founder hailed as a ‘committed advocate’ for the sector

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
News

Principal and social mobility tsar to move colleges

Alun Francis will replace Bev Robinson at the helm of Blackpool and The Fylde College, it has been announced…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Sponsored post

Mathematical Modeling in High School: How It Begins and Where It Can Go

For most secondary students, interaction with mathematics involves progression through the standard math curriculum — typically the higher-level sections…

M3 Challenge
M3 Challenge


Industrial action, Politics

DfE and Ofsted staff to hold one-day strike

It follows votes in favour of industrial action over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms last year

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Qualifications, T Levels

Approval process for T Level alternatives finally revealed

Alternatives to T Levels will be available, the government insists, but will first need to pass a complex approvals…

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
T Levels

DfE will now allow working from home in some T Level placements

A fifth of hours can be delivered remotely in certain subjects

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

DfE adds 16 organisations to register of flexi-job apprenticeship agencies

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is among the new names added to the register

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
News

Colleges with high energy bills will get discount under reduced scheme

New ‘Energy Bills Discount Scheme’ will run until March 31 next year

John Dickens
John Dickens and Tom Belger
Colleges, Funding, Skills reform

16-19 base rate to rise by just 2.2% from August 2023

Colleges to receive an extra £100 per head in next academic year

Jason Noble
Jason Noble

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