Apprenticeships

Apprentice pay: ‘£4.81 an hour isn’t enough to live on. It’s crippling.’

Low-paid apprenticeships are becoming ‘unaffordable’ for learners and are contributing to low take-up, according to providers.

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Colleges

Clawback disputes and ‘frustratingly slow’ ESFA reviews delay accounts for 4 colleges 

One college has now failed to publish financial statements for the previous three years

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Colleges

Principal under investigation given £75k for loss of office

He lost his job after an audit revealed £5m worth of overclaimed funding

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Not enough desks for DfE staff sent back to the office

Staff at the Department for Education have had to work in corridors and canteens after the government’s return-to-the-office edict…

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Apprenticeships

Winners of inaugural apprenticeship assessment awards revealed

Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive Tom Bewick said the awards marked a “crucial point” when the majority of…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Colleges

Deputy FE Commissioner to take the reins at college surviving on bailout money

Struggling City College Southampton will have a new principal from July

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


Industrial action

One college strike called off, but five more go ahead

‘To avoid further strike action, management at the other colleges need to look at Bury and see what can…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Prison education

MPs call for overhaul of prisoner education assessments and in-cell laptops for learning

In a new report, the House of Commons education select committee highlighted what it called the ‘cracks in a clunky, chaotic, disjointed…

Will Nott
Will Nott
WorldSkills

Revealed: 6 colleges chosen to host WorldSkills UK national finals 2022

A total of 62 finals will be held between them in November

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Expand skills minister role to tackle youth unemployment crisis, says report

EDSK’s paper said that on current trends it will take over 150 years before there are no longer any…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Long read

Focus feature: Student safety and criminal exploitation

What happens after a serious violent incident plays out in a college? How can colleges best support students and…

Jess Staufenberg
Jess Staufenberg
Covid-19

Stressed and nervous but determined to prove themselves: the students sitting exams for the first time 

John Dickens, editor of FE Week’s sister publication Schools Week, joined Ofqual chief regulator Dr Jo Saxton as her…

John Dickens
John Dickens

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