Politics

Lady Spielman and Lord Gove: Tories confirm peerages

Two former education secretaries have been given gongs

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Colleges

Unions demand 10% pay rise amid looming strike threat

This year’s AoC negotiations will also include measures to tackle “impossible” workloads

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
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
DfE

DfE seeks job share director to oversee T Levels and level 3 reforms

It’s the second senior skills role to be shared by two people announced in recent months

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Colleges

Luminate boss to retire

National leader of FE Colin Booth to step down from Luminate Education Group after 40 years in education

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
skills

Ministers funding LSIPs until at least September

Recommissioning of bodies responsible for the plans will take place later this year

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor


Colleges

Creating ESOL courses isn’t ‘voluntary work’, says tribunal

Tribunal notes ‘significant failure of HR’ for lack of communication with hourly paid staff

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
T Levels

T Levels for adults ‘under review’ amid ‘very little interest’

Only one college recruited a standalone group of adults

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Colleges

It’s not only Leeds and Manchester desperate for demographic boom help, say leaders

The number of 16 to 18-year-olds is projected to rise by 20 per cent between 2017 and 2028

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Apprenticeships

Kaplan tops apprenticeship revenue charts as level 7 verdict looms

QA and Multiverse also rose up the ranks in 2022-23, according to data finally released this week

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Ofsted

Ofsted looks at renaming new ‘secure’ grade

But expert warns: ‘It’s not that word, it’s the structure of the grading system’

Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Politics

Oli de Botton appointed ‘expert adviser’ to Starmer on skills

Former headteacher will leave role at the Careers and Enterprise Company this month

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker

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