News

UCU threatens to ‘name and shame’ unsafe colleges

A union has threatened to “name and shame” colleges that are “not doing enough” to keep staff and students…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Ofsted chief now ‘open to exploring’ direct inspection of all FE subcontractors

For the first time Ofsted is exploring a move to directly inspect all FE subcontractors, something until now it…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

NAO reveal £726m in college bailouts and loans with ‘nearly half’ in intervention

Nearly three-quarters of a billion pounds in public funds has been spent on bailing out and restructuring colleges, while…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

REVEALED: £26.6m cost of Hadlow Group transfer and how five colleges were bailed out to avoid insolvency

The eye-watering £26.6 million cost of the first two education insolvencies, and how five colleges were bailed out by…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
Feature, News

Investigation: College sector recruitment highs & lows after virus and exams fiasco

As colleges re-open their doors after a summer like no other, staff have had to cross their fingers and…

Jess Staufenberg
Jess Staufenberg
News

College drops plans for ‘alternate week’ rota after parent complaints

A college has dropped plans to alternate students between on-site provision and studying from home after an outcry from…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon


News

UCU boss pockets £400k payoff a year after lambasting college principals as ‘greedy and hopelessly out of touch’

The general secretary of a leading college union who lambasted colleges for how much their principals earn was handed…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

College switches to ‘alternate week’ rota despite government promising full-time teaching

A college has implemented an ‘alternate week’ timetable for 16 to 18-year-olds after concluding it did not have the…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

Apprentices to fill junior exec vacancies at DfE and ESFA

Staff have been told that they must fill junior executive vacancies with apprentices, as part of a three-month trial…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Student numbers soaring at new UTC

The first new university technical college to open its doors for two years has been deluged with students, while…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

Colleges and ITPs miss out again on Covid relief funds

A cash-strapped college is among more than a quarter of training providers to have had a bid for help…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Call for colleges to host employer hubs to help fill healthcare vacancies

New employer hubs to “turbocharge greater college collaboration” with the NHS have been proposed to fill “significant workforce vacancies”…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon

Must read

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
Adult education, ITPs

Mayors dump adult education cuts on independent training providers

Up to two-thirds axed from devolved procured budgets

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor