Ofsted

Fourth consecutive ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted rating for BMet

Inspectors criticised leaders for failing to ensure the college’s curriculum is “consistently good in all subjects and at all…

Will Nott
Will Nott
Levelling Up

Councils oppose ‘elite’ sixth form plans

Do not allow the new institutions to become ‘cuckoos in the nest’, ministers also warned

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Devolution, Levelling Up

Top Tory mayor to bid for unprecedented skills powers

West Midlands wants control beyond the adult education budget

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Apprenticeship achievement rates removed due to ‘error’

It took the DfE’s statisticians almost a year to spot the issue

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Levelling Up

Levelling up white paper: The key reforms for FE and skills

New sixth forms, a skills mission and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund all feature

Will Nott
Will Nott
Levelling Up

Levelling up: More areas to be offered devolved adult education budgets

Long-awaited white paper reveals AEB devolution will be open to areas even if they do not have an elected…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


Exams

Swap ‘cliff-edge’ GCSEs for ‘test when ready’, says exams review 

Independent Assessment Commission says qualifications are ‘inequitable and unreliable’

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Teaching

Lifetime bans for teachers guilty of serious misconduct to be extended to FE

Anyone involved in ‘teaching work’ in the post-16 sector could be in scope of teacher misconduct rules.

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Levelling Up

Levelling up: Plans for ‘elite’ new sixth forms and skills ‘mission’

Education and skills policies from the much anticipated levelling up white paper will also include a new ‘future skills…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Police won’t investigate DfE Christmas party, but Sue Gray findings withheld

Party was allegedly instigated by Gavin Williamson to ‘thank staff’ and attended by Susan Acland-Hood

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

First 11 FE research scholars named

Topics include racial inequality, regional outcomes, culture and finance

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Sponsored post

The Importance of Digital Skills in Adult Education & Employment

We discuss the value of digital skills in our communities and how these can be embedded into adult learning.

Ascentis
Ascentis

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