News

Major DfE research says ‘no evidence’ the £350m Employer Ownership Pilot had impact

A £350 million employer ownership of skills pilot failed to have any impact at all, a damning evaluation report…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

Mixed reactions to Association of Colleges senior pay code

Principals have welcomed new guidance from the Association of Colleges for setting senior pay in colleges, but unions have…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Education secretary in Germany in search of inspiration

Education secretary Damian Hinds this week followed in the footsteps of many a government minister before him and jetted…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

DfE invests £5.4m in Ofsted early monitoring visits

The government has coughed up the full £5.4 million Ofsted requested to visit all new apprenticeship providers as its crackdown on…

Pippa Allen-Kinross
Pippa Allen-Kinross
News

Hinds quick to show IfA support but fails to name employers in agreement

The education secretary was unable to name a single employer who supported the Institute for Apprenticeships in an interview…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

London mayor warned 72 administrators may not be enough when AEB devolved

London’s mayor has been warned that his current adult education budget team of 72 administrators may not be enough…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden


News

AELP calls for March 2020 end to non-levy transition period

Any transition period for moving small employers onto the apprenticeship service should only last until March 2020 to avoid…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

DfE given just 48 hours to rescue high-profile college from cash crisis

A college in financial crisis requested a multi-million pound government bailout just 48 hours before it would have run…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

IfA launches first content review of apprenticeship standards

The Institute for Apprenticeships has begun its first statutory review of apprenticeship standards since it began operating more than…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

Damning Ofsted visit finds huge employer provider forced staff onto apprenticeships

A large employer provider in the security sector has stopped recruiting new apprentices after a damning Ofsted early monitoring…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Ofsted DOES soften 3 year full inspection rule – after sector backlash

Poorly performing new apprenticeship providers will now only be left in no new business limbo for up to a…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

Ofsted criticises ‘new’ apprenticeship provider for ‘insufficient’ off-the-job training

The future of apprenticeship provision at a new provider is in doubt after its Ofsted early monitoring visit warned…

Pippa Allen-Kinross
Pippa Allen-Kinross

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