Traineeships

ESFA pleads for more traineeships as recruitment struggles continue

Ministers criticised for using traineeships as a ‘sticking plaster’ to make up for lack of a national strategy

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

NFL Academy set to touchdown in Loughborough College

The academy will move from Barnet and Southgate College in September

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Assessment

Ofqual’s 3-year plan for exams: what you need to know

Exams watchdog pledges to support the use of technology in assessments

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Colleges

Association of Colleges Beacon Award 2022 winners announced

‘Colleges are brilliant – and the winners of the Beacon Awards are some of the best of the best’

Will Nott
Will Nott
Skills reform

DfE begins local skills improvement plans national rollout

It is hoped that “most” of the country will be covered by an LSIP by summer 2023

Will Nott
Will Nott
Skills reform

Ofqual voices concern over DfE reforms to level 2 and below qualifications

Plans risk adding confusion to landscape and ‘overhwhelming’ educators

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


Sponsored post

IPS Ltd; Introducing Enrichment Resource Solutions, Additional Facilities to Support Mental Health in FE

Over the past few years, the UK has identified a vast increase in people facing Mental Health issues, and…

IPS Software
IPS Software
Ofsted

Ofsted 5-year strategy Q&A with Paul Joyce

We discuss the watchdog’s two key areas of focus for FE

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

£11k canapés help guests swallow Zahawi’s climate strategy

Taste Studios, trading as ‘The Recipe’, was given a £11,480 contract to provide the food – about £46 a…

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Inclusion

The college gender gap narrows, but slowly

While the gender pay gap has improved on average at most colleges, sector leaders have said the rate of…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Teaching

College and ITP teachers will be in scope for lifetime bans, DfE confirms

Powers to issue lifetime bans for teachers guilty of serious misconduct will be extended to FE, the DfE has…

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
News

South-west triumphs as AoC Sport National Championships returns after 2-year absence

‘There were tears from the coaches. It’s great to see the joy in the faces of the students’

Will Nott
Will Nott

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