News Strength at the top is key to improvement concludes Ofsted Strong, effective leadership is one of the key features of success, suggests Ofsted’s How Colleges Improve report. Winning colleges… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Colleges undecided on ‘Trip Advisor’ website Providers are remaining on the fence about Ofted’s Trip Advisor-style Learner View website. The website, which cost £65,000 to… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Short shrift for new-look Ofsted reports Joy Mercer, AoC Jan Webber, ASCL Reports of inspections under… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Urgent reform to apprenticeships needed, says BIS Committee An 11-month government inquiry into apprenticeships has recommended a host of changes, including “closer scrutiny, careful monitoring or even… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Skills Funding Agency ‘assured’ over Elmfield Training payments to Morrisons A system of payments from the provider behind the UK’s biggest apprenticeship programme to the firm whose staff it… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Cash boost on out-of-favour qualifications Funding for a host of politically unpopular workplace qualifications is set to rise, with payments for one course rocketing… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Provider challenges new-look inspection One of the first Ofsted inspections under the new common inspection framework is to be disputed. Merseyside-based Central Training,… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Heseltine questions funding agency’s future A wide-ranging report from the Tory grandee Lord Heseltine (right) questions the role of the Skills Funding Agency, instead… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News New courses bypass the regulator The government has allowed new adult English and maths qualifications to be funded without the usual approval of an… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Apprenticeship highs and lows Apprentice numbers in engineering and construction have plummeted while management apprenticeships have rocketed 45 per cent. Engineering, based on… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News New report critical of government’s education divide The government’s departmental split over education responsibility has been branded “damaging and artificial” in a new report from the… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y News Lead provider that had £3.3m of Skills Funding Agency cash ‘ceases trading’ An Essex-based lead provider that was allocated nearly £2m of Skills Funding Agency cash last academic year has ceased… FE Week Reporter 12y FE Week Reporter 12y Newer 1 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 802 Older Must read 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 2w Anviksha Patel 2w 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 3w Anviksha Patel 3w Adult education, ITPs Investigation Mayors dump adult education cuts on independent training providers Up to two-thirds axed from devolved procured budgets Josh Mellor 1mo Josh Mellor 1mo Next 3 stories Bootcamps, Skills bootcamps Exclusive Coding firm caught charging students for free bootcamps Ed tech provider ‘regretful’ after complaints and promises full refunds as bosses try to sue DfE over non-payments Billy Camden 1mo Billy Camden and Frances Read 1mo Apprenticeships Entrepreneur chased for millions after apprenticeship collapse ESFA uncovers ‘fake’ taxi apprentices as liquidator reveals intercompany payments days after firm decided to shut Billy Camden 2mo Billy Camden 2mo Adult education Exclusive Fury as DfE cuts adult education budgets Combined authorities told to expect reductions in ‘already deeply diminished’ adult skills funding Shane Chowen 2mo Shane Chowen 2mo