FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Fashion show outfits created and modelled by learners

Art and design students from Lancashire-based Nelson and Colne College proved they were cut out for the fashion industry by creating stylish outfits that they modelled on the catwalk. The group of 18 level two and three learners were photographed during the fashion show at Colne Golf Club by level three extended diploma art and […]

Strawberry-pickers add fizz to breast cancer campaign

Barking and Dagenham College students helped produce 20,000 bottles of strawberryade for charity. A group of 10 level two hospitality learners picked more than 20 kilos of fresh strawberries from Growing Communities Starter Farm, in Dagenham, before freezing and transporting them to drinks production firm Square Root, in Hackney, to be made into strawberryade. The […]

Graduate Laura tipped for the top by Jools Holland

A recent graduate from City of Bath College performed her new single on Later… with Jools Holland. Laura Doggett, who completed a level three extended diploma in music at the college in 2012, performed her latest single, Moonshine, on Mr Holland’s famous grand piano after he described her as his “new tip for the top”. […]

Further FE cuts ‘disastrous’, sector warns

Further cuts to FE would be “disastrous,” sector leaders have warned amid claims another £48bn could be slashed from government budgets. Sector leaders have warned that FE cannot cope with another round of harsh cuts after already shouldering the burden of a 35 per cent cut in the adult skills budget and a 17.5 per […]

Competition for new sixth form provision figures among recommendations in SFCA’s newly-released 2015 manifesto

The Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA) has launched its 2015 manifesto calling for a national funding formula to reflect the actual cost of provision and a competitive process for establishing new sixth form providers. The SFCA also called for its members to join school sixth forms in being exempt from VAT, which it dubbed “a […]

Cameron gives business leaders his lifelong learning commitment

Prime Minister David Cameron renewed his commitment to lifelong learning in England in a speech to business leaders. Mr Cameron, pictured above, spoke about the importance of continuing education when he spoke at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) yesterday. “The idea that you go to school, go to college, get […]

Ambassador Holt learners hit by SFA delays

Around 150 learners with government apprenticeship ambassador Jason Holt were left “stuck” and unable to register for the start of qualifications because of issues with the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) delay-prone Learning Aim Reference Service (Lars), FE Week can reveal. Mr Holt, whose influential 2012 review of apprenticeships concluded that a main barrier to small […]

Ofqual chief Glenys Stacey issues ‘stability’ plea over quals as Skills Minister Nick Boles considers Functional Skills rebrand

Qualifications should remain “as stable as possible,” Ofqual chief Glenys Stacey (pictured) has warned Skills Minister Nick Boles as he considers a major relaunch of Functional Skills qualifications. Ms Stacey (pictured), replying to a letter from Mr Boles early last month in which he said Functional Skills would “continue to be one of the types of qualification […]

HMRC tax apprentices — no ICT skills necessary

Computer skills are “not relevant” for tax apprentices enrolling on a new framework at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), FE Week can reveal. Learners on the HMRC’s level three programme do not have to learn ICT skills as part of the “transferable skills” section of the programme. In contrast, a level two business administration […]