Apprenticeships

Halfon threatens low achieving apprenticeship providers

Minister warns of growth limitations and market exits for providers showing ‘insufficient improvement’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

National apprenticeship achievement rate rises to 54%

Slight increase leaves sector way off government target

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships, Higher education

OfS awards further £14m for degree apprenticeships expansion

Weston College wins £1.1 million in latest round of OfS degree apprenticeships funding

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
ABS, Colleges, Skills reform

‘Clunky’ Advanced British Standard risks ‘blunt choice’ for students, leaders warn

Ministers accused of ‘putting the cart before the horse’ with 16-19 reform plans

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Ofsted

Ofsted: ‘Constrained’ funding could ‘compromise’ inspection reliability

Watchdog’s chair warns actions to absorb rising costs are a ‘short-term fix’ and will likely ‘store up cost pressures’

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Colleges, Ofsted

Second consecutive ‘outstanding’ for Catholic sixth form college

St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College retains top marks 7 years after previous inspection

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel


Apprenticeships

Sunak to scrap SME co-investment for young apprentices

PM will also increase apprenticeship levy transfers up to 50%

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Who cares? Funding boost won’t spark renaissance in care apprenticeships

Nearly 200 training providers have stopped delivering care apprenticeships since 2019

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
T Levels

DfE could step in if T Level fee hikes hit college budgets

Awarding bodies can charge colleges higher fees if gen 2 T Levels under-recruit

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Politics, Skills reform

DfE puts 40 staff on Advanced British Standard ‘vanity project’

‘To say this is the wrong priority is an understatement, and smacks of rearranging the deckchairs while the Titanic…

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Colleges

Procurement paused on college antisemitism training

Procurement of £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education now has “arbitrary” closing date of 2030

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
News

West of England’s LEP funding withheld amid political infighting

WECA is the only mayoral combined authority that has not integrated its local enterprise partnership

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor

Must read

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
Adult education, ITPs

Mayors dump adult education cuts on independent training providers

Up to two-thirds axed from devolved procured budgets

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor