Long read

Focus feature: Decarbonising college estates

Decarbonising a college estate is a huge, multi-million-pound project. Jess Staufenberg talks to three leaders about risking it all…

Jess Staufenberg
Jess Staufenberg
News

Ex-DfE adviser and ESFA boss appointed in Ofqual board shake-up

New board members to bring ‘invaluable insight’, says regulator chair

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Ofsted

Hampshire college retains ‘outstanding’ grade a decade after last Ofsted inspection

Farnborough College of Technology retains ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating a decade after last

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Colleges, Ofsted, SEND

SEND college judged ‘inadequate’ after Ofsted finds issues of neglect and ‘uninspiring’ curriculum

Concerns raised over neglect, hygiene and curriculum at My Life Learning in Wigan.

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Apprenticeships, Ofsted, Pay

AELP conference highlights: Leaders talk funding rate review, the levy and staffing crisis

Ofsted, AoC, IfATE and CBI among speakers at AELP conference

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Apprenticeships

Lifetime Training’s grade 3 Ofsted report published

Inspectors criticise focus on financial performance and starts over quality

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


AEB, Colleges

Investigation: how colleges coped with the £61.4m AEB clawback

Redundancies and merging classes among measures colleges have taken to mitigate clawback of adult education budget

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Sponsored post

The importance of joined-up data

How integrated data can help colleges drive improvement

Advanced
Advanced
Politics

DfE monitors staff after edict to return to the office

WiFi is being used to track attendance

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Higher education

Universities told to advertise drop-out rates

Universities have been asked to advertise drop-out and employment rates so, in the minister’s words, applicants avoid ‘dead end’…

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
NEET

NEET 16: Out of work and training 16-year-olds at highest level in nearly a decade

Number of 16-year-olds not in education, employment or training highest since 2012

Jason Noble
Jason Noble
Apprenticeships, Ofsted

Ofsted to hit England’s largest apprenticeship provider with grade 3

Quality concerns found at Lifetime Training, which delivers to big-name employers and the civil service

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

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