Colleges

Long-awaited three-college Hampshire merger gets over the line

Future of City College Southampton secured as it joins Fareham and Eastleigh College

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
AEB, Apprenticeships, Ofsted

BCTG changes owner and ‘removes’ CEO after Ofsted battering

Provider slammed for ‘lack of focus’ on quality following switch from subcontracting to direct delivery

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Top apprenticeships civil servant to retire

Kate Ridley-Moy will succeed Peter Mucklow as director of apprenticeships

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Exams

Teenager arrested in exam board cyber attack investigation

Police confirm 16-year-old boy has been arrested and bailed until later this year

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Training Providers

Multimillion-pound competition launched for net zero training

Training providers could get up to £1 million for retrofitting and insulation courses

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein
Training Providers

‘Broken’ Skills Training UK employees won’t be paid in full this month

AELP launches ‘save the skills system’ campaign following latest training provider closure

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein


Funding

Revealed: ‘Front line’ boost to 16-19 funding

Base rate to increase by an extra £111 per student

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Training Providers

Skills Training UK on brink of insolvency

More than two hundred jobs are at risk if insolvency goes ahead

Joshua Stein
Joshua Stein
Exams

Leaders sound alarm as 2024 exam entry fees soar by up to 16.5%

Biggest exam board increases prices of some of its most popular qualifications far higher than inflation

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Equality and diversity

Keegan wants ‘extreme caution’ from colleges after trans advice delayed

Education secretary claimed trans guidance delay was to ‘allow more time’ to speak with teachers, parents and lawyers

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Ofsted

Oliver vows to ‘work with whole sector’ to ‘create best’ Ofsted

Sir Martyn Oliver will appear before MPs in September after being confirmed as DfE’s pick for Ofsted chief

Amy Walker
Amy Walker
BTECs, Ofsted, Skills reform, T Levels

Students ‘misled’ and teachers struggling: Ofsted’s verdict on T Levels

Watchdog calls for rethink of controversial plans to axe BTECs amid ‘teething issues’ with replacements

Billy Camden
Billy Camden

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