News

Councils to charge families for post-16 SEND transport to plug black holes

‘Unfair’ plans slammed as cash-strapped LAs look to balance books

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
News

Ofsted promises to start recording inspection pauses in new era

Pledge comes after watchdog admits it holds no ‘central record of the number of inspections that have been paused’

Lucas Cumiskey
Lucas Cumiskey
Apprenticeships, Politics

Apprenticeship provider boss embroiled in Post Office scandal

Lifetime Training board backs David Smith as he inputs to public inquiry

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Funding boost for popular early years apprenticeship

DfE hopes increase will aid nursery providers in training more staff amid a workforce crisis

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
resits

GCSE maths resit pass rate lower than pre-pandemic

But performance in English re-takes continues to rise

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
RAAC

DfE will repay colleges £4k for RAAC surveys – but there’s a catch

Funding will only be available for surveys carried out over a two-month period last year

Jack Dyson
Jack Dyson


News

HE short course trial hit 5% of student enrolment target

‘Dire’ figures raise questions about demand for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Ofsted: Inspectors locked out of new training after tech glitch

Watchdog promises to send video of mental health training to all inspectors after hundreds were unable to access the…

Lucas Cumiskey
Lucas Cumiskey
Ofsted

Ofsted inspections to restart from January 22

Union leaders will also provide ‘constructive challenge’ on Ofsted’s response to critical coroner report

Lucas Cumiskey
Lucas Cumiskey
GCSEs

‘This isn’t the end of pen-and-paper exams’, Pearson says as English GCSEs set to go on-screen

The board is the latest to announce its timeline for digital assessment, but will still offer the choice of…

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
News

Boost Turing scheme funding for most disadvantaged, evaluators tell DfE

Providers should also offer disadvantaged students funds upfront before jetsetting, researchers say

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Ofsted

Inspections won’t restart next week as new Ofsted boss launches inquiry

New chief inspector says inspections halted for ‘a couple of weeks’ as he takes action after headteacher death

John Dickens
John Dickens

Must read

Colleges, Long read

Resilient Ricketts: How Brooklands was saved from going broke

The story of a college’s fight for survival after a subcontracting scandal left it on the brink of insolvency

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Politics

Exit interview: Why Robert Halfon quit ‘the best job in government’

Halfon tells FE Week he ‘did all he could’ after leaving skills minister role

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

National apprenticeship achievement rate rises to 54%

Slight increase leaves sector way off government target

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

Apprenticeship growth pilot cash would reach just 15 ITPs

Providers need to start at least 15 apprentices on the chosen standards to be eligible for extra funding

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

Treasury announces £3k top-up for 13 ‘growth sector’ apprenticeships

Training providers will have to deliver a minimum number of starts to access the cash

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships, Politics

DfE set to surrender £60m apprenticeship cash in 2023-24

Just 2% of total ring-fenced budget expected to be handed back to Treasury

Billy Camden
Billy Camden