News

Chair follows principal and quits at college with shock £6m deficit

A former deputy FE commissioner has been drafted into a college that is currently investigating an unexpected £6 million…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
News

Parents demand ‘inadequate’ Sheffield film school be reopened

Parents are lobbying the government to restart funding for an arts and media provider that trained mostly high-needs learners….

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

T-level cold-spots could prove to be a major DfE headache

An FE Week investigation into T-level cold-spots has found six out of eight college principals in Lincolnshire appear to…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

A fifth of colleges go more than 12 months without publishing minutes

One in five colleges have not published board minutes in over a year, an FE Week investigation has found….

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
AEB

Provider challenging ‘flawed’ AEB tender in the high court

Lawyers are set to go to battle at the high court later this month, in the first ever challenge…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

DfE granted screening firm access to 28m learner records

The founder of a firm at the centre of a major education data breach involving betting companies was subject…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


News

Education secretary calls on sector to support a UK WorldSkills bid

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has applauded the UK’s ambition to host an upcoming WorldSkills competition – and is encouraging…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

Back A Bid: Campaign to host WorldSkills 2027 in the UK

FE Week is coordinating a campaign for the UK to host WorldSkills in 2027. The chief executive of WordSkills…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Coupland tells FE Week she will have ‘independent voice’ and is ‘excited to step out of the confines’ of the DfE

The new boss of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is “excited to step out of the confines”…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

FE Commissioner’s leadership team to nearly double

The FE Commissioner has almost doubled the number of national leaders of further education (NLFEs) and national leaders of…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
News

DfE gender pay gap closing – but men get bigger bonuses

Bonuses paid to men working at the Department for Education were on average 3.8 per cent larger than those…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Thousands of apprentices dumped by training provider after Ofsted inspection

More than 2,500 apprentices and adult learners have been left in the lurch after their provider immediately exited the…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu

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
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
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