News

Tendering for external quality assurance finally launched

Tendering for the external quality assurance of apprenticeships has finally been launched by the Institute for Apprenticeships – three…

Alix Robertson
Alix Robertson
News

NOCN expanding through new acquisition

Expansion is on the cards this summer for awarding organisation NOCN, with a new acquisition from the Construction Industry…

Alix Robertson
Alix Robertson
News

Call to convert UTCs to 16 to 19 colleges

Ailing university technical colleges should be converted into 16-19 colleges, with all studio schools joining multi-academy trusts to stave…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

College leader expects no commercial benefit after paying “immaterial” £8,000 to join Charted Institute for FE

There is no commercial benefit to joining the Chartered Institute for FE, the principal of a college which has…

Alix Robertson
Alix Robertson
News

National provider enters redundancy consultation with staff

Staff at the nation’s largest FE provider are on tenterhooks, as they wait to find out whether they will…

Alix Robertson
Alix Robertson
News

College student named as Manchester bombing victim

A Lancashire college has expressed its “enormous sadness” at the death of one of its students in last night’s…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke


News

What now for colleges that tried and failed to merge?

When they were launched in July 2015, the area reviews were expected to result in a huge number of…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

UTC founds feeder school against Baker trust’s wishes

A university technical college that has struggled to recruit students is opening an 11-14 feeder school next door. This…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Ofsted watch: Provider on apprenticeships register rated ‘inadequate’

A provider on the new apprenticeships register has been hit with an inadequate overall grade, in the only full…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke
News

Confusion for new providers on RoATP over compulsory training

Hundreds of training providers don’t know when they can start apprenticeship programmes, because the government has failed to inform…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Assessment organisations put to the customer service test in our mystery shop

End-point assessment has been a huge source of anxiety for providers across the sector this year, amid a growing…

Alix Robertson
Alix Robertson
News

‘Alarming’: ESFA still giving one-man bands access to millions

Labour has demanded an investigation into the way providers are selected for the register of apprenticeship training providers –…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

Must read

16-19

Curriculum review: ‘Strengthen’ resit accountability and reduce T Level assessment burden

Review recommends already-announced V Levels, level 2 pathways and new pre-GCSE English and maths quals

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
News

Case dismissed: Marples loses High Court claim against DfE

A judge has dismissed a multi-million-pound claim brought by former training boss Peter Marples and his family against the…

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
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