News

We need more core funding not ‘initiative mania’, sector leaders tell MPs

Sector leaders have made an impassioned plea to MPs for the government to “stop the initiative mania” and focus…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

NCG boss Joe Docherty quits following turbulent year

The boss of the largest college group in the country has quit, FE Week can reveal. Joe Docherty (pictured)…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

UCU follows Scottish government in paying for sanitary products for learners

A local University and College Union branch has become the first in the country to offer college learners free…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

3aaa seeks to ‘reassure’ customers over ‘new management’

The boss of Aspire Achieve Advance has contacted the apprenticeship giant’s clients to “reassure” them that he’s taking the…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

SFCA to launch campaign calling for huge 16 to 18 funding rate increase

The Sixth Form Colleges Association is preparing to launch a campaign calling for a huge increase in the 16…

Pippa Allen-Kinross
Pippa Allen-Kinross
News

3aaa buyer will need to pay £500k in ‘deal fees’

The buyer of apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance will have to pay £500,000 in “deal fees” by the end…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


News

Kick poor-performing new providers off RoATP, education committee urges

Poor-performing apprenticeship providers should be kicked off the government’s register – not just barred from taking on new starts,…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

Ofsted Watch: Trio of poor monitoring visit reports

Three providers have been criticised for making ‘insufficient progress’ in the latest series of monitoring reports from Ofsted, including…

Pippa Allen-Kinross
Pippa Allen-Kinross
News

Degree apprenticeships a ‘concern’, says skills minister

The skills minister has highlighted the “risks” associated with degree apprenticeships after her predecessor evangelised about how they are…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Fears over ‘market instability’ in rush to roll out AEB devolution

The rushed timeframe ahead of next year’s devolution of the adult education budget means providers will struggle to “hit…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

Skills minister backs Trip Advisor-style rating of trainers over Ofsted inspections

Allowing employers and apprentices to give “smiley faces” as reviews of training providers is a better indicator of quality…

Pippa Allen-Kinross
Pippa Allen-Kinross
News

IfA loses funding rate review battle but uncertainty drags on

An employer group that won an appeal over the Institute for Apprenticeships’ handling of funding rate recommendations is still waiting for a final decision,…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke

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