T Levels

DfE keeps T Level placement capacity proof a secret to protect policy ‘safe space’

Officials say the evidence should be ‘sheltered from external distractions’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Exams, Ofqual

Owner of defunct awarding body demands Ofqual repays £115,000 fine

‘We’ll look to court if we need to’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Finalists announced for the 2022 AAC Apprenticeship Awards

Finalists include training providers, colleges and employers and span 23 awards categories celebrating the very best of apprenticeship delivery.

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Skills reform

DfE campaign calls on skilled workers to teach part-time in FE

Particular shortages in construction, engineering and manufacturing, legal, finance, digital and health and social care aim to be tackled

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Higher education

Crack down on ‘poor quality’ courses announced by Office for Students

Plans for tougher outcome measures and ‘intrusive sanctions’ announced

Will Nott
Will Nott
News

Twelfth UTC closure confirmed

The 14-19 college has failed to recruit enough students to become financially viable

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


Covid-19

Face masks in classrooms ditched from tomorrow

DfE to ‘shortly’ remove guidance on use in communal areas too, PM says

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Apprenticeships in prisons STILL being considered, and 4 other takeaways from today’s prison education hearing

Skills minister Alex Burghart and prisons minister Victoria Atkins answered questions from the House of Commons education committee this…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Covid-19, Exams

Scheme extended to cover costs of extra invigilators for this term’s vocational exams

Exams invigilator costs can be claimed back by FE centres with high staff absences due to Covid.

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Long read

‘Sport is special – it’s in your face’: New College Pontefract

Sport is often forgotten in discussions of FE. But with Ofsted looking hard at ‘personal development’, the award-winning PE…

Jess Staufenberg
Jess Staufenberg
Ofsted

Shrewsbury College bounces back from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’

Principal praises ‘fantastic’ staff after rapid turnaround

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Colleges

First chief of freshly merged City of Portsmouth College

The new leader will take the reins in the summer and joins the college ‘at the start of a…

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen

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