Kickstart

Clumsy, complex and slow: business puts the boot into Kickstart

New figures reveal less than two-fifths of Kickstart jobs created have been filled

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Spending Review

Spending review: will it be trick or treat for the sector?

Groups such as the CBI and UCU have put in submissions for the three-year spending review

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
Assessment

College defends keeping A-level inquiry secret amid community backlash

The college has also insisted they have kept staff in the loop on how the review has been run

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
Inclusion

BAME apprentice awards: back in person – and bigger than ever

One of the winners was credited for ‘showing a real passion for the women in STEM agenda’

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Assessment, Covid-19

2022 exams: What you need to know about plan B

DfE and Ofqual seeking views on draft teacher assessed grades guidance

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Assessment, Covid-19

2022 exams: Adaptions and grading plan finally confirmed

Assessment adaptations and Covid contingencies have been revealed.

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth


Traineeships

ESFA opens bids for new 16 to 18 traineeships contracts

Contracts worth between £100,000 and £300,000 are up for grabs

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Politics

DfE confirms remits for FE’s two new ministers

It has finally been revealed how splitting FE and skills policy between ministers will work

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
Colleges

Three more college strikes abandoned as 10 other walkouts get underway

Staff have been on the picket line since 8am this morning

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Adult education

DfE wants HGV bootcamps up and running in a month

The tender for providers will be out this week, the government has said

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
Adult education, Ofsted

Ofsted to review skills bootcamps ahead of possible full inspections

Bootcamps could get full inspections if they become a fixture of DfE-funded provision

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
Apprenticeships

New campaign aims to raise apprentice pay

Organisers hope the initiative will help tackle the high dropout rate in apprenticeships that has troubled ministers

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

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