FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Apprenticeships reform puts college sector in need of a cunning plan

Government direction on skills policy is clear — take-up the apprenticeships challenge. Colleges that don’t act accordingly put their futures at risk, explains Teresa Frith. Nobody could blame colleges if they were overwhelmed by government policy. With apprenticeship reforms and targets, new vocational routes from 16, changes to higher education, area reviews, devolution and a […]

Meet new members of Dr Collins’ 21-strong team

These are the new members of FE Commissioner Dr David Collins’ team, FE Week can exclusively reveal. Five deputy commissioners, four of which had already been working as advisers to Dr Collins, have been appointed along with nine new advisers. It takes Dr Collins’ team up to 21 — consisting of five deputies and 16 […]

Don’t let private training providers ‘steal your lunch’, Skills Minister Nick Boles tells college leaders

Skills Minister Nick Boles has told Association of Colleges (AoC) conference delegates to stop letting private providers “nick your lunch”. He was critical of colleges for failing to secure more government apprenticeships cash and said independent learning providers (ILPs) were much better at securing the funding, during a keynote speech at the ICC Birmingham this […]

Movers and shakers: edition 154

City College Brighton and Hove will be hoping for a period of stability following the completion of its senior management team revamp with Sharon Collett joining as principal. She joins chief executive Nick Juba and chief operating officer Jon Rollings who have been in post since September. The new appointments come after FE Commissioner Dr […]

Pogoing hamsters? It must be a maths question

A City College Norwich lecturer is aiming to take the fear out of maths with a series of random challenges he has created over a 30-year teaching career, writes Billy Camden. From pogoing hamsters to tomato ketchup-filled canals, Phil Gulliver (pictured) is hoping to take the fear out of maths for students with a […]

Grooming great day

Grimsby Institute’s animal care team proved they were a cut above at the British Dog Grooming Championships where they were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in their categories. The team included staff members Emma Taylor, Connie Critcher and Amanda McCracken as well as current level three dog grooming learner 23-year-old Emma Bull, who travelled […]

Learners in rubbish effort

Donning their high-vis jackets and litter pickers, a taskforce of staff and learners from Salford City College kicked off a volunteering campaign to help clean-up the local community. Following a number of meetings between the college and local residents, it was decided that students should engage more with the community. The team will carry out […]

Live with Linford at AoC Conference 2015

Nick Linford, founder and former editor of FE Week, is out-and-about during AoC Conference 2015 bringing you all the news, gossip and fun. Stay tuned for live updates! FE Week is proud to be a media partner and the premier news source for the FE and skills sector. Also, register now for Nick’s free post-conference analysis and […]

‘We hope the DfE-appointed group will have an open mind to solutions’

If the Department for Education (DfE) wants to get more 17-year-olds onto apprenticeships then it will need to consider the role that the independent learning provider sector can play, says Stewart Segal. In placing a focus on the development of technical and professional skills, it is good that the DfE review is of a wider […]