News Study of colleges shows ‘encouraging’ texts dramatically cut dropout rates A study of three colleges has shown that sending regular encouraging text messages to learners can dramatically cut dropout… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News New Apprenticeship Delivery Board announced A new Apprenticeship Delivery Board (ADB) is set to advise the government on how to reach its target of… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News 26 new Trailblazer groups announced Film and TV, ceramics, veterinary nursing, and motorcycle manufacturing are among the industries that will be covered by 26… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Eight things we learned from the Skills Funding Agency’s annual accounts The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has released its annual accounts and report for 2014/15, so we had a comb… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Dates announced for next year’s National Apprenticeship Week National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) will run next year from March 14 to 18. The dates for the ninth annual… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Five colleges announce ‘collaboration’ plans after pioneering area review Five FE and sixth form colleges facing “significant financial challenges” are “actively considering” collaboration plans, following a pioneering review… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Boles tasks Education and Training Foundation with functional skills ‘reform programme’ The Education and Training Foundation has been asked to draw up a “programme of reform” for functional skills qualifications,… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Additional adult skills cuts account for just 13 per cent of required BIS savings Further cuts to college budgets will account for just 13 per cent of extra savings needed at the Department… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News BIS committee announces inquiry into government Productivity Plan The government’s Productivity Plan will be the first focus of the new business, innovation and skills (BIS) select committee,… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News SFA confirms further 3.9 per cent ASB cut as in-year departmental savings bite FE providers face a further cut of almost four per cent to their non-apprenticeship funding in 2015/16, the Skills… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Colleges claw-back warning after audit reveals SFA may have wrongly paid out £50m Almost £50m of funding may have been wrongly paid out by the Skills Funding Agency last financial year and… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y News Sixth Form Commissioner warns of large-scale mergers for sixth from college Large-scale mergers may be needed among sixth form colleges (SFCs) to cope with looming funding problems, Sixth Form Commissioner… FE Week Reporter 10y FE Week Reporter 10y Newer 1 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 835 Older Must read 16-19 Long read 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 3w Anviksha Patel 3w 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 4w Shane Chowen 4w Skills reform Long read New law to bar ‘unsuitable’ FE leaders among skills white paper reforms The government’s post-16 strategy has finally been unveiled Billy Camden 1mo Billy Camden and Shane Chowen 1mo Next 3 stories Qualifications Exclusive 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 2mo Shane Chowen 2mo Politics, Skills reform Exclusive DWP will take over apprenticeships, minister confirms Shifting adult skills and apprenticeships policy will give “bigger emphasis on skills”, Jacqui Smith claims Anviksha Patel 2mo Anviksha Patel 2mo 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 4mo Jessica Hill 4mo