FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Paul Grainger, co-director for post-14 research, Institute of Education

A career in post-school education seems to have been on the cards for Paul Grainger right from the day he started his very first job. As co-director of the centre for post-14 research and innovation at the Institute of Education (IoE), it’s an age group he has long found professionally more rewarding. His first job, […]

Politicians coming off the fence

As the countdown to the general election approaches the two-month mark, Mick Fletcher assesses the early FE and skills sector battleground of ringfencing. For some time now it has seemed that there is little difference between the main political parties in respect of FE policy. They are all in favour of apprenticeships, keen on English […]

College team beats nine- minute tractor rebuild challenge

Students at Wiltshire College performed a quickfire display at the Royal Bath & West Showground as they warmed up for their tractor rebuilding races at next month’s World Tractor Show. The first year learners, studying a level three diploma in land-based technology, took part in the two-day Somerset Vintage & Classic Tractor Show and managed […]

Learner counting down the days to game show final

A Stockport College learner will pit her wits against some of the quickest brains in the country next month after reaching the grand final of Countdown. Tracey Mills, aged 43, who studies GCSE maths and English at the college, won eight games in a row in a run of victories that means she will be […]

Parties challenged on ‘experiential careers advice’

Skills Show organisers Find a Future have challenged political parties to promise young people access to “experiential careers advice”. Its boss, Ross Maloney, called for the parties to pledge more detailed careers guidance, including opportunities such as the ‘have-a-gos’ available at the Skills Show, in their manifestos. “Many young people are currently unclear about the […]

Government scraps ‘deterrent’ apprentice rule

A controversial five-year rule that has put off “hundreds” of potential apprentices by forcing them to re-sit GCSEs they already have is to be scrapped. New apprenticeship frameworks written after April 6 will no longer include the rule, which meant learners with English or maths GCSEs achieved more than five years before enrolment would have […]

Digital skills and the make-or-break challenge for the FE and skills sector

Lady Morgan fleshes out her views on the performance of the FE and skills sector in light of the House of Lords Digital Skills Committee inquiry. The FE sector will be essential if the UK is to become a global digital leader. It has to be there from the age of 16 and throughout life […]

Commissioner visits first two local authority providers

The FE Commissioner has made his first two visits to inspect local authority provision, FE Week can reveal. Dr David Collins visited Lancashire Adult Learning (LAL), run by Lancashire County Council, and Warrington Borough Council last month to review adult learning after grade four Ofsted inspection results. The commissioner’s powers of intervention extend to FE […]

Niace and Inclusion merger casts jobs shadow

Staff at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) and the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (Inclusion) face an uncertain future with a possible merger on the horizon after the two organisations formed a “strategic alliance”. Neither organisation said it could “rule out job losses or a name change” if the alliance, which […]