News

Atkins exit interview: ‘Do I think we’ve got most of it right? Yes – I do’

In his final interview as FE Commissioner, Richard Atkins speaks candidly about his time in office and why he…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

MPs demand answers from ministers over ‘Wild West’ grading fears

Ministers have been warned over a “Wild West” grading system this summer with MPs demanding concessions to ensure a…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

DfE admits official Skills Toolkit completion data may just be starts

The Department for Education has admitted that a “completion” of a course on its Skills Toolkit may simply represent…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Apprenticeship standard achievement rate fails to hit 60%

More than two in five apprentices on standards failed to successfully complete their qualification last year. National achievement rate…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Level 2 apprenticeships functional skills flexibility extended – AGAIN

A flexibility that suspends the requirement for level 2 apprentices to study towards and sit a level 2 functional…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

Impact of ‘spiteful’ ESFA adult education claw back plans revealed

A college has warned it will have to hand back over £4 million under the Education and Skills Funding…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon


News

Government security centre warns colleges of ‘spike’ in cyber attacks

Schools and colleges have lost financial records, students’ coursework and Covid-19 testing data during a recent “spike” in cyber…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Threshold rate for college adult education under-delivery lowered – but only to 90%

Colleges that deliver less than 90 per cent of their national adult education budget allocation this year face having…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

Public sector apprenticeship target restated for extra year

The public sector apprenticeship target is to continue for an extra year as the majority of bodies in scope…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

DfE knuckles rapped by stats watchdog over Skills Toolkit data

The Office for Statistics Regulation has reprimanded the Department for Education over the data published for its new Skills…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

‘All hell was breaking loose’: How hackers forced a mega college to close

FE Week tells the inside story of the cyber attack that shut down one of Birmingham’s major colleges, and…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

‘Long overdue’: Colleges welcome ‘nurturing’ conversations with ESFA

College leaders have endorsed a move by the Education and Skills Funding Agency to rebuild relationships with annual “strategic…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

Must read

16-19

Curriculum review: ‘Strengthen’ resit accountability and reduce T Level assessment burden

Review recommends already-announced V Levels, level 2 pathways and new pre-GCSE English and maths quals

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
News

Case dismissed: Marples loses High Court claim against DfE

A judge has dismissed a multi-million-pound claim brought by former training boss Peter Marples and his family against the…

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Skills reform

New law to bar ‘unsuitable’ FE leaders among skills white paper reforms

The government’s post-16 strategy has finally been unveiled

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Shane Chowen
Qualifications

Revealed: V Levels incoming as axe looms for BTECs

New qualifications set to launch as ‘third route’ between A-levels and T Levels

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Politics, Skills reform

DWP will take over apprenticeships, minister confirms

Shifting adult skills and apprenticeships policy will give “bigger emphasis on skills”, Jacqui Smith claims

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
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