News

A4E up for sale

Welfare-to-work provider A4E, which in January saw several employees found guilty of fraud, has been put up for sale….

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Clegg marks National Apprenticeship Week

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called on young people and employers to “get an apprenticeship” ahead of National…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

College governance challenge set to ‘intensify’ with 24 pc funding cut warns union as BIS concedes spending reductions’ ‘profound’ effect on boards

Next academic year’s 24 per cent FE funding cut will “intensify” the challenges faced by college governors, the University…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
News

Local government thinktank’s ‘Heseltine-plus’ report calls for ‘abolition of the SFA’ and acknowledges FE representation on Lep boards an ‘urgent issue’

The abolition of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) within just over a year has been proposed by a local…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
News

Apprenticeships commission puts colleges forward as solution to schools’ vocational offer for ‘all’ 14 to 16-year-olds

All 14 to 16-year-olds should be able to study a vocational subject at school – and colleges could hold the…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Scores of FE colleges involved in £3.75m project to boost sector’s higher education staff

Almost 50 FE colleges will take part in a £3.75m project to help ensure industry knowledge is passed on by…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter


News

Audit office FE finances probe should examine 24pc cut plans, say college leaders

College leaders have called for a government National Audit Office (NAO) probe into college financial sustainability to consider the…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Business Secretary Vince Cable calls for crackdown on ‘short-term tactical subcontracting’

Business Secretary Vince Cable has called on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to crack down on “short-term tactical subcontracting”….

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Training providers celebrate listings in Sunday Times’ ‘100 best companies to work for’

Two independent learning providers are celebrating being named on a prestigious list of the UK’s best companies to work…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Commissioner suggests college help to Marine Society

The FE Commissioner has called for a distance learning provider to work with an FE college and raised doubts…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

Tribunal trademark victory forces company to rename

Bosses at Newcastle College have won their tribunal case against a Manchester-registered company forcing it to change its name….

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
News

New college procedures ‘not fit for purpose’

Official procedures to become an incorporated college have been described as “not fit for purpose” by the first person…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter

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