News

Ofsted rolls out key complaints process changes

Watchdog also beefs up its policy on pausing inspections

Lucas Cumiskey
Lucas Cumiskey
Ofsted

Keegan refuses to retract remarks about punching Ofsted inspectors

Education secretary says comment was ‘light-hearted’ and she ‘clearly would not be punching anyone, or advocating anyone else do…

Lucas Cumiskey
Lucas Cumiskey
News

Who is Luke Hall? 11 facts about the new skills, apprenticeships and HE minister

He replaces Robert Halfon who suddenly resigned last week

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Apprenticeships, Ofsted

Ofsted upgrades ‘resilient’ emergency care provider from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’

Medipro staff were thanked for their ‘fortitude’ after sudden and complex influx of apprentices

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Colleges, Long read

Resilient Ricketts: How Brooklands was saved from going broke

The story of a college’s fight for survival after a subcontracting scandal left it on the brink of insolvency

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Exams

Special exam requests soar in colleges

Staff are being stretched and campuses closed in some cases

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel


News

The court ruling that ‘cast a long shadow’ over college VAT

Multiple colleges lodge HMRC tax assessments after landmark decision

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
AEB, Devolution

Mayoral authorities can’t afford new national adult ed funding rates

Greater Manchester claims new rates would lead to 22% drop in learner volumes

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Apprenticeships

IfATE slated for apprenticeship assessment reform confusion

Institute changes guidance AGAIN after sector outrage

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Politics

Exit interview: Why Robert Halfon quit ‘the best job in government’

Halfon tells FE Week he ‘did all he could’ after leaving skills minister role

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen
Apprenticeships

Apprentice minimum wage should be linked to age, says Low Pay Commission

Government advisory body finds evidence for scrapping apprentice rate but cites risks to labour market if removed

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Ofsted

‘Consultation not referendum’: Oliver defends Ofsted’s ‘Big Listen’

Union leader raises ‘significant concerns’ about the design of Ofsted’s consultation

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker

Must read

Colleges, 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
Jessica Hill
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