FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Could Cable’s ‘elite’ colleges lead in the wrong direction?

Business Secretary Vince Cable’s Cambridge Public Policy Lecture on the future of further and higher education last month brought the prospect of elite colleges to the fore, as Mick Fletcher explains. The Business Secretary’s speech was an important one. He was clearly trying, retrospectively, to impose a logical policy framework on an area where development […]

The indy scene

Our directors and senior managers have been in discussions with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, sector skills councils, employers and trade associations about implementing the Richard review. What is emerging are the unforeseen consequences of handing employers direct financial and operational control of apprenticeships. Is the government only going to fund employers solely […]

Understanding the law behind the learner experience

The 157 Group and law firm SGH Martineau have teamed up to produce a guide for college on the legal issues surrounding learners. Smita Jamdar outlines some of the key issues. Over the last few years, the government has introduced policies to encourage greater competition and learner choice in the FE sector. More recently this […]

Who will certificate Bright?

More awarding organisations distance themselves from troubled provider Two further awarding organisations have cut ties with Bright Assessing less than three months after NCFE told the troubled provider to stop running its qualifications. OCR said it would not be dealing with “any new candidates” for the Warwickshire-based provider and fellow awarding body Ascentis said it […]

Jill Whittaker, managing director, HIT Training

The hospitality industry doesn’t seem like the most likely place to find a qualified chartered accountant who has sailed around the world and partied with Duran Duran, but it’s a sector which has always been close to Jill Whittaker’s heart. The managing director and co-founder of Sussex-based HIT Training first joined HCTP in 1998, but […]

AoC report predicts £4.6bn budget black hole at Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) could face a financial black hole of more than £4bn by 2018/19, the Association of Colleges (AoC) has warned. In a report by the AoC on the DfE’s financial situation, the body has warned that it could face a budget deficit of £600m in 2015, rising to £4.6bn by 2018/19. […]

Top DfE civil servant makes IAG concession

There remains “more to be done” to improve careers advice and guidance in England, the Department for Education’s most senior civil servant has conceded. Chris Wormald (pictured), who is permanent secretary to the department, made comments about the state of careers advice when he faced questions from MPs at a meeting of the Education Select […]

Schools cash ringfence ‘unsustainable’ warns AoC

Department for Education (DfE) ringfencing of school funding has been labelled as “unsustainable” by the Association of Colleges (AoC) as it predicted a departmental budget black hole of £4.6bn. In a report by the AoC on the DfE’s financial situation, it warned of a budget deficit of £600m in 2015, rising to £4.6bn by 2018/19. […]

EFA issues out-of-area rule

Colleges seeking funding for learners based outside their usual catchment areas will have to give notice of eight weeks, the government has said. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has claimed the guidance simply represents a clarification of existing policy, while the Association of Colleges (AoC) described the move as a “clear signal that the EFA […]