Colleges

AoC raises college staff pay recommendation – but only to 2.25%

The recommendation is well below the call from unions for a 10% rise

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Ofsted

City and Guilds-owned apprenticeship provider falls two Ofsted grades

Gen2 is no longer ‘outstanding’ after a decade without inspection

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

80 winners scoop silver at the 2022 Pearson National Teaching Awards

Silver winners will now be shortlisted for one of 16 gold awards

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Covid-19

Williamson provided wine and mince pies for DfE lockdown Xmas party

Sue Gray report finds 50 staff were invited to the ‘festive drinks’ – organised days in advance

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Higher education

Open University to partner with colleges to fill higher technical education cold spots

The government has backed the initiative with £10 million – cash which will be used to ‘increase the capability’…

Will Nott
Will Nott
News

Staff say overcrowding hampered bomb scare evacuation at DfE’s Sheffield office

Workers warn of ‘disaster waiting to happen’ after incident on day of top civil servant’s visit

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker


News

Principal chosen to captain new UK shipbuilding skills taskforce

Captain Dr Paul Little, who is chief executive of City of Glasgow College, will lead a team of 20…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Colleges

DfE reveals plan for three-way merger to secure survival of cash-strapped Southampton college

The proposal forms the outcome of the DfE’s long-awaited City-wide Solution project Southampton

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Colleges

Colleges call for emergency government funding to boost staff pay

The DfE is also being asked to review FE policies to reduce financial risks

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Industrial action

Week of strikes at London college begin over ‘fire and rehire’ threat

‘The management team at Richmond upon Thames are effectively putting a gun to the head of its own staff….

Will Nott
Will Nott
Ofsted

SEND college jumps from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘outstanding’ in three years

‘From the moment learners enter the college premises, they encounter a very welcoming, caring and calm environment,’ inspectors said…

Will Nott
Will Nott
News

DfE and quangos shun NUS – but will FE notice?

The union’s engagement on FE issues is already minimal

Will Nott
Will Nott

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