FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Plant sale raises funds for Children in Need

A plant sale run by learners raised precious funds for Children in Need. The South Cheshire College skills for independence and work students sold cyclamens and lavenders, which they had potted themselves, to staff and students to raise around £70 for the charity. Harriet McConaghy, of Whitchurch, said: “We wanted to raise money for a […]

Apprenticeships aren’t broken but system might need fixing

David Phillips explains why reform is needed to ensure trainees learn a broader set of skills to suit businesses’ needs. Presented with the top line figures, most people would assume the apprenticeship programme is in fair shape and they would be right. In the last academic year, there were around 520,000 apprenticeship starts, more than […]

Beware the dangers of traineeship exploitation

Traineeships are the government’s latest weapon in the fight against youth unemployment, but, asks Mike Hopkins, what hope do trainees really have of a job in the end and is the free labour offer, that is inherent to the programme, open to abuse? There appears to have been some frustration at a slow uptake on […]

The familiar face of the Husbands Review

David Harbourne agrees with much of what has been recommended in the Labour skills taskforce review, but recommends a more flexible approach to policy. There’s something vaguely familiar about the apprenticeship reforms proposed by Labour’s skills taskforce — also known as the Husbands Review. As it happens, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Take the […]

Upholding need for teacher qualifications

Ruth Mathias raises concern about the government decision, which was implemented earlier this month, to remove the requirement for FE lecturers to have teaching qualifications. The decision to remove the requirement for teaching qualifications for FE lecturers mean candidates with no prior teacher training, or professional teaching qualifications, could now secure lecturing roles in FE […]

Lynsi Hayward-Smith, head of adult learning and skills, Cambridgeshire County Council

The tale of Lynsi Hayward-Smith’s journey into FE management, she says, “is an ongoing story of being excited by what I do”. “Any challenge, any opportunity, I’m always interested,” she says. “I’ve never been in the same job for very long. I’ve been in the same organisation, but I’m always thinking what can we do […]

Labour sticks with forced apprentice plan

Business leaders have attacked Labour leader Ed Miliband’s plans to make firms train a “local” apprentice for every foreign worker they employ. John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, labelled the proposal an “apprentice tax” on employers. He said: “Businesses need to be able to choose the talents and resource they need […]

Dress to impress or dress to de-stress?

Former House of Commons EducationSelect Committee specialist Ben Nicholls is head of policy and communications at London’s Newham College. He writes exclusively for FE Week every month. A little while ago, an acquaintance of mine — a rather dapper management consultant — confessed that he’d been asked to change the way he dressed in the […]

Minister boosts traineeships with £20m – but only for 19 to 23s

An extra £20m funding will be available for over 19 traineeships, but there is no new cash for 16 to 18-year-olds despite a “pressing” need. The funding, announced by Skills Minister Matthew Hancock on Thursday, is for the government’s flagship scheme which offers learners work experience alongside English, maths and employability training. The cash has […]