FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Crossing borders to learn college lessons

The 157 Group has spread its wings beyond England to take on colleges from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Lynne Sedgmore explains why. I am very pleased that we have announced in recent months the arrival of Belfast Metropolitan College, Coleg Cambria and Aberdeen College as the newest members of the 157 Group. These large, […]

Pioneer of distance learning rises again

Having overcome a troubled recent past, including the loss of a £6m site, the National Extension College celebrates half a century of learning — and is looking forward to a bright future, explains Anne Nicholls. This year the National Extension College (NEC) — the distance learning organisation that was the forerunner of the Open University […]

How much involvement do employers really want?

Rob Wye warns Labour’s plans for more employer-involvement in apprenticeship schemes could actually put many businesses off taking on trainees. The Husbands Review of Vocational Education and Training aims to “address historic weaknesses in skills development and training to improve the country’s competitiveness”. It identifies issues that have hindered the quality and quantity of apprenticeships […]

Building a good reputation for work experience

After FE Week revealed last week that Kwik Fit was looking to take on unpaid trainees for up to five months, Stephen Gardner explains why national standards to safeguard learners are needed. With study programmes, traineeships and many local initiatives aimed at helping unemployed people into paid employment, this will become an increasingly important debate […]

Margaret Sharp, Lib Dem education spokesperson, House of Lords

There can’t be many places better than the House of Lords to hold an interview. Lady Sharp and I talk beneath paintings of seminal battles and her knowledge of our surroundings shows she is an academic through-and-through. A Cambridge economics graduate, who has penned papers in science and technology and is fluent in French, the […]

Charge for 16 to 18 training not ruled out

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock (pictured, right) has refused to rule out the possibility that employers may have to pay towards the cost of training for 16 to 18-year-old apprentices. In a webinar from the Department for Education, and in partnership with FE Week, the minister spoke to an online audience of around 500 about the […]

Miliband sent ‘back to drawing board’

Labour leader Ed Miliband has been told to “go back to the drawing board” with his plans to create 125,000 apprentices. The proposals — in which companies would be forced to train a “local” apprentice for every foreign worker they take on — were branded “illegal” by Skills Minister Matthew Hancock, who further questioned Labour’s […]

Mixed welcome for older apprenticeships ‘policy shift’

An apparent shift in FE funding policy that could see a rise in the number of 24+ apprentices has received a mixed welcome. In March last year the agency said, in its 2012/13 final allocations methodology briefing note, that it would “not award any growth” for older apprenticeships. But an agency spokesperson confirmed to FE […]

New social partnership needed for apprentices

Wider agreement between the Government, employers, learners and learning providers is needed to ensure apprenticeships set people up for long and fulfilling careers, explains David Hughes from the Labour Party Conference. We all know apprentices are a good thing, don’t we? Sitting on the panel at the FE Week fringe event last night on the […]