Colleges

DfE ‘must increase support’ for AP school leavers entering FE

Children’s commissioner also says disrupted alternative provision pupils should be able to repeat year 11

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Apprenticeships

EPA on trial: DfE to test alternative apprenticeship assessments

Several options are on the table to speed up apprenticeship assessments…but at what cost?

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Bootcamps, Ofsted

Ofsted slates US firm with £5m DfE bootcamps contract

Whistleblower flagged concerns last year but no action was taken

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Sponsored post

Why we’re backing our UK skills champions (and why you should too)

This August, teams from over 200 nations will gather to compete in the sticky heat of the Paris summer…

Advertorial
Pearson
Ofsted

Land-based college retains ‘outstanding’ Ofsted grade

Hartpury College celebrates another grade 1, six years after it last achieved the feat

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
WorldSkills 2024

Team UK for WorldSkills Lyon 2024 revealed

Over 30 young skills champions will head to France to represent the UK this September

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel


NUS, Politics

NUS reaches settlement with sacked president

Terms of the deal with Shaima Dallali will however be kept confidential

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Shared apprenticeship scheme barely meets half its recruitment target

Flexible construction apprenticeship starts tumble amid sector-wide recruitment issues

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Colleges, Ofsted

Waltham Forest named London’s only ‘outstanding’ general FE college

Inspectors heaped praise on the college for helping students to “flourish”

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Colleges, FE Commissioner

Wolverhampton college freed from intervention after 12 years

The college’s financial health improved to ‘good’ after DfE agreed to take on part of a £10m debt

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Skills bootcamps

Provider sues DfE after skills bootcamp contract termination

The DfE accuses the provider of changing awarding body without prior agreement

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
AEB, Politics, Skills reform

DfE scales back ‘free courses for jobs’ offer 

Access will be restricted to adults earning below £25k in 2024/25

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

Must read

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
Apprenticeships, Politics

Phillipson to exempt young people from level 7 apprenticeships funding axe

Education secretary makes ‘important concession’ amid backlash from other government departments

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Colleges, FE Commissioner

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
Anviksha Patel
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
Anviksha Patel
T Levels

NAO reveals enormity of T Level take-up failure

Forecasts missed by 75% and secret DfE estimates show staff and employer shortages could limit places to 48,000 students

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel