News

Ofsted grade 3 forces mega-college to appeal not to be kicked off the T-levels roll-out

A college is bidding to stay on the T-level programme and prevent another cold spot from opening up after…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Sixth form college staff to strike against 16-19 funding cuts in lead up to the budget

“Angry” sixth form college staff will hit the picket line tomorrow as they step up their protest against government…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Could free travel drive the sector to new heights?

As the Manchester mayor’s flagship policy for students enters its second term, JL Dutaut asks if it’s one worth…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
JL Dutaut
News

College complaint forces Ofsted to reopen grade 4 inspection

Ofsted inspectors will return to a college after the principal questioned the accuracy of serious safeguarding failure claims that…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
News

Ofsted watch: Two sixth form colleges score top grades

Two sixth form colleges have been declared ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, with one retaining their top grade after more than…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

Minister warns college bosses it could go bust next year

A minister has warned a college that it could go bust next year if learner losses are not reversed…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu


News

Government hands 36 Skills Advisory Panels another £2.7m

Skills advisory panels have been handed another £2.7 million to identify local skills gaps and tackle them, education secretary…

Fraser Whieldon
Fraser Whieldon
News

DfE lobby Treasury with findings that FE can’t survive ‘as is’ without ‘relaxing the financial pressure’

Colleges are providing “good quality” FE despite facing “significant cost pressures” and if the sector is to survive “as…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Adult education, Devolution

Khan criticised as being ‘wasteful’ for £40k splurge on AEB consultant

London’s mayor is planning to spend up to £40,000 of the capital’s adult education budget on hiring a consultant…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
News

Williamson offers his reassurance that apprenticeship system will be fixed

Days after Ofsted criticised the government for locking young people out of the apprenticeship system, education secretary Gavin Williamson…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
News

Troubled college to tumble two Ofsted grades from ‘outstanding’

A college that is currently investigating an unexpected £6 million deficit is set to be downgraded by Ofsted from…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
News

Alarm bells sound over college’s last-minute £500K subcontracting tender

A college has put £500,000 out to tender in an attempt to achieve funding targets before August – despite…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

Must read

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
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