FE Week Reporter | FE Week

New loans being used for leisure

The government’s £232m pot of cash for FE loans could be going on courses not aimed at getting people into a job or higher education, FE Week has learned. The cash was set aside by the Skills Funding Agency to fund provider “loan facilities” as part of the new 24+ advanced learning loans system, launched […]

Hundreds ‘fail’ to comply with wage rule

High street fast food business Subway was among hundreds of employers on the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website advertising jobs that paid less than the national minimum wage, FE Week has discovered. The legally-required amount that employers must pay apprentices went up 3p to £2.68 on October 1. But many jobs — with start dates […]

Foundation rejects non-competitive bids

The Education and Training Foundation is binning contract bids it received under its old non-competitive tendering process. Foundation interim chief executive Peter Davies told FE Week last month that contracts would have to be awarded through a competitive process in future. And now, because of this, a number of bids already submitted for a share […]

Why create a barrier to apprenticeships?

Teresa Frith compares different visions for the future of apprenticeships. The Husbands Review of apprenticeships is, at first glance, wife of the Richard Review. It also takes what, by all measures, is a successful government-supported initiative and seeks to introduce radical change. It would be a brave person who claimed there is nothing wrong with […]

Major challenges ahead to make Labours plans into reality

Steve Besley offers a Policy Watch perspective on Labour’s proposals on apprenticeships. We’ve had world class qualifications for the academic system, now we have a call for “a universal gold standard for apprenticeships”. This would be based on a level three threshold with minimum durations, dedicated time for off the job training and greater employer […]

Hancock tries out the apprentice high life

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock exchanged his suit for overalls to find out what life was like for an apprentice engineer as part of a job swap scheme. Mr Hancock switched places with City & Guilds apprenticeship champion of the year Jenny Westworth, aged 23, who works at BAE Systems. He said: “It was fantastic to […]

Design student through to junior awards

A design student showed off her talent at London Fashion Week as part of a charity project to help young people into the fashion industry. Barking & Dagenham College student Olivia Till, aged 17, took part in a workshop organised by the charity Fashion Awareness Direct (FAD) and was handpicked by an industry panel to […]

Dragon artwork inspires rugby victory

The Newport Gwent Dragons rugby team roared to a 23-16 victory against South Wales rivals the Scarlets with the help of some college-created artwork. The team was presented with a metalwork sculpture of a dragon created by fabrication and welding and vehicle body repair students from Coleg Gwent at half-time. They constructed the decorative beast […]

Naval cup win for rugged students

South West students showed they were ship-shaped when they battled eight other colleges win the Naval Careers Service Challenge cup. The 15 Royal Marine-sponsored Weston College public service students took on an assault course, tug-of-war and deck hockey on a naval ship. They also tackled navigation, cross-country and mock grenade throwing over two days at […]