News Ofsted watch: A week of contrasting fortunes for UTCs It’s been a week of contrasting fortunes for university technical colleges, as one is rated ‘good’ and another ‘inadequate’… Jude Burke 7y Jude Burke 7y News Ofsted: Bigger colleges aren’t always better “Big is not always beautiful,” Ofsted’s main man for FE has warned, admitting he is considering the effect of… Jude Burke 7y Jude Burke 7y News AoC criticises new public sector register of providers A second register for apprenticeship training providers is being created for the public sector, and the Association of Colleges… Paul Offord 7y Paul Offord 7y News Ex-principal paid £80k for gardening leave amid staff redundancy push A former Sussex principal is being paid around £80,000 not to work over a five-month period even though the… Billy Camden 7y Billy Camden 7y News Exclusive Secrecy surrounds Ofsted’s decision to declare its 3aaa inspection ‘incomplete’ Ofsted’s latest inspection of Aspire Achieve Advance – which holds the largest ESFA apprenticeship allocation – is “incomplete” following… Paul Offord 7y Paul Offord 7y News An eighth UTC gets the bottom Ofsted grade Yet another university technical college has been rated ‘inadequate’, the eighth to receive Ofsted’s most dubious honour. Derby Manufacturing… Jude Burke 7y Jude Burke 7y News Spotlight on 16-year-olds as NEETs rise and level 2 apprenticeships fall A sharp fall in the number of 16-year-olds taking up level two apprenticeships is being blamed for a startling… Billy Camden 7y Billy Camden 7y News Bids reopen for £13m strategic college improvement fund Colleges can bid for the remaining £13 million from the strategic college improvement fund using newly released guidance. The… Jude Burke 7y Jude Burke 7y News Journalism bosses hit out at apprenticeship training blockage Media bosses have criticised the “red tape” that surrounds the government’s apprenticeships register, seemingly preventing providers from training journalists…. Billy Camden 7y Billy Camden 7y News Damian Hinds defends T-levels timetable to Education Committee The education secretary has defended his decision not to delay the first T-levels, insisting the new qualifications are being… Jude Burke 7y Jude Burke 7y News Unions write to AOC to justify 5 per cent national pay claim Trade unions have written to the Association of Colleges to spell out exactly why they have resubmitted a claim… Paul Offord 7y Paul Offord 7y News Staff at Lowestoft SFC out on the first of six strike days over merger Staff at Lowestoft Sixth-Form College have walked out on the first of six days of strike action protesting a… Paul Offord 7y Paul Offord 7y Newer 1 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 821 Older Must read Colleges, Long read 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 1mo Jessica Hill 1mo 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 2mo Jessica Hill 2mo Long read, Prison education Long read 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 3mo Jessica Hill 3mo Next 3 stories Apprenticeships, Politics Exclusive Phillipson to exempt young people from level 7 apprenticeships funding axe Education secretary makes ‘important concession’ amid backlash from other government departments Billy Camden 4mo Billy Camden 4mo Colleges Exclusive 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 4mo Anviksha Patel 4mo 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 5mo Anviksha Patel 5mo
