Ofsted, RAAC

Ofsted won’t inspect education settings on DfE’s RAAC list

Affected providers ‘will not be selected for inspection during the term’ unless Ofsted has ‘concerns’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Freddie Whittaker
Long read, Training Providers

Private equity and training: a complicated relationship explained

The last ten years has seen a gold rush of global private equity (PE) companies seeking to make the…

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Ofsted, T Levels

Q&A: Ofsted’s verdict on T Levels

‘There remain issues we want to see addressed before these are rolled out at scale’

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Colleges, T Levels

How to buck the low T Level retention trend

We speak to the colleges who were able to retain more than 2 in 3 students

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein
WorldSkills

EuroSkills 2023: Team UK scoops gold in Gdańsk

Isabelle Barron leads the way with gold in digital construction, as 8 other UK competitors pick up medals

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Colleges

Inaugural Good for Me Good for FE awards launch

New awards will showcase impact of local volunteering and fundraising efforts

Shane Chowen
Shane Chowen


Colleges

Lawyers advise colleges to sell surplus assets in next 18 months

There are concerns colleges could otherwise miss out on profits

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein
Ofsted

Education MPs endorse Sir Martyn Oliver as new Ofsted boss

Oliver said in his application Ofsted has gone from being seen as ‘combative to cold’, and will take a…

Amy Walker
Amy Walker
Apprenticeships

‘Outstanding’ provider exits apprenticeships and bootcamps

‘Market attractiveness’ forces Avado to switch focus to AI

Billy Camden
Billy Camden and Jessica Hill
News

New Lifetime Training leadership plans more redundancies

Around 5% of the provider’s 1,000-strong workforce set to be cut

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
WorldSkills

EuroSkills 2023: Restaurant services with a smile

Competitors tasked with fine dining and bistro services after gruelling training programme

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Colleges, RAAC

RAAC surveys delayed due to lack of specialists

But no colleges have had to delay the start of term because of crumbling RAAC concrete

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein

Must read

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
Bootcamps, Skills bootcamps

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
Billy Camden and Frances Read