News

Government decides to retain Applied General qualifications

A serious blow has potentially been dealt to plans for a rigid post-16 divide between academic and vocational education,…

Paul Offord
Paul Offord
News

Exclusive: DfE will scrap forced resits for GCSE English and maths

The government will make a major u-turn over the much-derided condition of funding rule, FE Week can reveal. From August 2015…

Paul Offord
Paul Offord
News

Breaking: SFA and EFA merger confirmed and Lauener retiring

The Skills and Education Funding Agencies are merging and Peter Lauener is stepping down as boss of both, the…

Paul Offord
Paul Offord
News

Whole FE sector backs #SaveOurAdultEducation campaign

A who’s who of major FE organisations have thrown their support behind FE Week’s #SaveOurAdultEducation campaign. Big names on…

Paul Offord
Paul Offord
News

Training providers spend thousands on consultants to get on new apprenticeship register

Consultants are raking in thousands of pounds writing bids for training providers desperate to make it onto the new…

Paul Offord
Paul Offord
News

London council unhappy with plans for local college to merge with group 300 miles away

A London borough council is unhappy over a planned merger between a local college and a group whose headquarters…

Jude Burke
Jude Burke


News

Panel debates end-point assessment and RoATP

Concerns about quality and the impact of reforms on social mobility dominated the panel debate of FE and skills…

Gemma Gathercole
Gemma Gathercole
News

Gordon Marsden lays out Labour’s FE policy objectives

Labour would establish an official pre-apprenticeship programme, and support apprenticeships for care leavers, veterans and people with disabilities, according…

FE Week
FE Week
News

Editor Asks: Amanda Spielman, chief inspector, Ofsted

With ‘inadequate’ verdicts fatally undermining many FE providers, the stakes have never been higher on Ofsted inspections. The new…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
News

No growth projections for Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers

There has been no modelling done by the Skills Funding Agency to predict how many providers will eventually end…

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
News

Apprenticeship providers warned not to sacrifice quality

The “new apprenticeship system is the eBay of education” and “will drive down quality”,  the boss of the Association…

Alix Robertson
Alix Robertson
News

Breaking: College on ‘lock down’ due to security threat

A college has been closed for the day and all students sent home because of a security threat. Bury…

Paul Offord
Paul Offord

Must read

Awarding

Earpiece exam cheat ring jailed over construction test fraud

Men trained candidates to hide devices and exploit access arrangements to pass mandatory safety tests

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Adult education, Apprenticeships, Skills reform

Apprenticeships purge: Team leader and chartered manager among 16 axed standards

Ministers also unveil the first 7 apprenticeship units

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Colleges, Politics

Joe Docherty: Labour peer quit college role over ‘inappropriate conduct’

The former education executive has been suspended by the party weeks after being sent to the House of Lords…

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill and Gabriel Pogrund
Colleges, Long read

Inside FE’s lifeline for under-16s: Stepping in where schools fail

More and more anxious 14-16 year olds not in school are starting afresh in colleges, but they are under-recognised,…

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Colleges, Long read

Legrave’s last orders: build cash, challenge leaders and don’t ignore teaching

In her final interview, the outgoing FE Commissioner warns colleges not to mistake funding rises for financial safety

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Young people

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