News

Mayors’ use of AEB powers ‘disappointing’, says ex No 10 adviser

Ex skills advisers Alison Wolf and Michael Barber will share their insider perspectives on how further education and skills…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Apprenticeships

Halfon threatens low achieving apprenticeship providers

Minister warns of growth limitations and market exits for providers showing ‘insufficient improvement’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

National apprenticeship achievement rate rises to 54%

Slight increase leaves sector way off government target

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships, Higher education

OfS awards further £14m for degree apprenticeships expansion

Weston College wins £1.1 million in latest round of OfS degree apprenticeships funding

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
ABS, Colleges, Skills reform

‘Clunky’ Advanced British Standard risks ‘blunt choice’ for students, leaders warn

Ministers accused of ‘putting the cart before the horse’ with 16-19 reform plans

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Ofsted

Ofsted: ‘Constrained’ funding could ‘compromise’ inspection reliability

Watchdog’s chair warns actions to absorb rising costs are a ‘short-term fix’ and will likely ‘store up cost pressures’

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter


Colleges, Ofsted

Second consecutive ‘outstanding’ for Catholic sixth form college

St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College retains top marks 7 years after previous inspection

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
News

Sunak to scrap SME co-investment for young apprentices

PM will also increase apprenticeship levy transfers up to 50%

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Who cares? Funding boost won’t spark renaissance in care apprenticeships

Nearly 200 training providers have stopped delivering care apprenticeships since 2019

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
T Levels

DfE could step in if T Level fee hikes hit college budgets

Awarding bodies can charge colleges higher fees if gen 2 T Levels under-recruit

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Advanced British Standard, Politics, Skills reform

DfE puts 40 staff on Advanced British Standard ‘vanity project’

‘To say this is the wrong priority is an understatement, and smacks of rearranging the deckchairs while the Titanic…

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Colleges

Procurement paused on college antisemitism training

Procurement of £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education now has “arbitrary” closing date of 2030

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel

Must read

Colleges, Long read

Resilient Ricketts: How Brooklands was saved from going broke

The story of a college’s fight for survival after a subcontracting scandal left it on the brink of insolvency

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Politics

Exit interview: Why Robert Halfon quit ‘the best job in government’

Halfon tells FE Week he ‘did all he could’ after leaving skills minister role

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

National apprenticeship achievement rate rises to 54%

Slight increase leaves sector way off government target

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

Apprenticeship growth pilot cash would reach just 15 ITPs

Providers need to start at least 15 apprentices on the chosen standards to be eligible for extra funding

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

Treasury announces £3k top-up for 13 ‘growth sector’ apprenticeships

Training providers will have to deliver a minimum number of starts to access the cash

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships, Politics

DfE set to surrender £60m apprenticeship cash in 2023-24

Just 2% of total ring-fenced budget expected to be handed back to Treasury

Billy Camden
Billy Camden