FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Apprenticeship reforms ‘not in long grass’ — Boles

Skills Minister Nick Boles denied apprenticeship reforms had been “kicked into the long grass” after the government went back to the drawing board with plans to route funding through employers. Mr Boles was quizzed by MPs on the House of Commons Education Select Committee on Wednesday (January 14) — the day after the government said […]

Finance directors targeted in scam

College finance directors have been targeted in a bailiff scam involving a chilling “long series” of phonecalls with the con artists themselves. Staff in at least eight colleges, including the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London and City of Southampton College, were subjected to the rip-off attempt this month. So far, FE Week […]

FE colleges get £700k windfall for higher ed collaboration

More than £700,000 will be handed shared among 74 FE colleges to encourage young people to progress into higher education. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) has announced that £714,772 will be allocated to FE colleges with higher education provision between now and 2016 in a bid to improve collaboration with schools and […]

Confusion as official websites return different apprenticeship results

Concerns that two official apprenticeship websites could be causing confusion have emerged with identical vacancy searches returning vastly different results. The Skills Funding Agency is keeping its old vacancy matching website running until April while its replacement, which has already gone live, is being tested and developed. However, with an example search on the old […]

Internet block on LGBT websites ‘sends out wrong message’

A Midland college has been warned its internet software was sending out the “wrong message” after it blocked learners from accessing lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) websites. Henley College Coventry students who tried to view websites related to the LGBT community, such as the site for the Birmingham Pride march, have been met with […]

Principal says borrowing to blame for finances issue

A Basingstoke sixth form college was today expected to present a draft financial recovery plan to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) after being issued with a financial notice to improve. Queen Mary’s College (QMC) was issued with the notice on December 12, after it was assessed as “inadequate” for financial health by the EFA. It […]

Local authority one of just three to win a glowing Ofsted report

A Midland council is celebrating after its adult education provision was rated outstanding across the board by Ofsted. Wolverhampton Adult Education Service (pictured) was given a grade one rating in all headline areas following inspection last month. And staff at Stockport College also received good news from Ofsted this month with inspectors having found it […]

British Gas cutting flow of 16 to 18 apprentices

British Gas failed to deliver a massive 89 per cent of its £2.5m initial allocation for 16 to 18 apprenticeships last academic year. Skills Funding Agency (SFA) data shows the energy giant, which started 13 times more apprentices over the age of 18, was ultimately paid £2.2m less than its July 2013 allocation for the […]

Yvonne Fovargue, junior shadow minister

The first thing many people entering the FE and skills sector notice is the number of acronyms. Telling your EFA (Education Funding Agency) from your ETF (Education and Training Foundation) can be daunting, but new Junior Shadow Education Minister Yvonne Fovargue, who has previously served time shadowing defence, isn’t fazed. “You can’t beat the strange […]