News Kickstart breaks down: NAO reports on massive underspend and ‘deadweight’ jobs At a cost of £7k per participant, Kickstart has become DWP’s most expensive support scheme Billy Camden 4y Billy Camden 4y Colleges The Queen recognises five colleges’ excellence in her Anniversary Prizes Colleges have been recognised for becoming leaders in certain fields and helping learners find jobs Fraser Whieldon 4y Fraser Whieldon 4y Digital, SEND Digital functional skills: DfE backtrack after SEND exclusion warning A consultation on the new qualifications triggered a massive backlash against making learners complete assessments entirely on computers Fraser Whieldon 4y Fraser Whieldon 4y News Public sector apprenticeship target missed, and 4 other things we learned from today’s DfE data Figures also show colleges accounted for only 18.5% cent of apprenticeship starts last year Billy Camden 4y Billy Camden 4y Higher education Minister to demand universities set ‘ambitious’ degree apprenticeship targets The government plan to ‘reboot’ HE access plans. Billy Camden 4y Billy Camden 4y Higher education New director to lead ‘reboot’ of HE access The government have appointed John Blake as the next OfS access lead. Shane Chowen 4y Shane Chowen 4y News Ofsted now inspects over 2,000 FE providers, and 5 other findings from latest inspection data The number of further education providers in scope for Ofsted inspection has surpassed the 2,000-mark, new data released today… Billy Camden 4y Billy Camden 4y News MPs launch inquiry into ‘effectiveness’ of post-16 qualifications A new inquiry into the “effectiveness” of post-16 qualifications like A-levels, T Levels, BTECs and apprenticeships has been launched… Billy Camden 4y Billy Camden 4y Politics Labour unveils new council of skills advisers Analysis has revealed a divide in level 3 attainment between London and northern communities Fraser Whieldon 4y Fraser Whieldon 4y Inclusion Ignored: 80% of colleges fail on legal requirement to inform the visually impaired on accessibility Specialist colleges have also been criticised for not meeting legal accessibility requirements Fraser Whieldon 4y Fraser Whieldon 4y Governance External governance reviewers ‘must understand the local context’, conference delegates are told For upcoming external board audits, providers have been told to ‘start thinking about reviewers in your locality in your… Fraser Whieldon 4y Fraser Whieldon 4y News Level 3 adult offer to be widened for low earners The government is set to allow people on low wages to take multiple level 3 qualifications available through the… Billy Camden 4y Billy Camden 4y Newer 1 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 812 Older 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 6d Jessica Hill 6d Long read, Prison education Long read 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 1mo Jessica Hill 1mo Apprenticeships, Politics Exclusive Phillipson to exempt young people from level 7 apprenticeships funding axe Education secretary makes ‘important concession’ amid backlash from other government departments Billy Camden 2mo Billy Camden 2mo Next 3 stories Colleges, FE Commissioner Exclusive 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 2mo Anviksha Patel 2mo 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 2mo Anviksha Patel 2mo 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 3mo Anviksha Patel 3mo
