FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Team UK florist Chloe hits WorldSkills 2013

Two days before WorldSkills 2013 kicks off and already many competitors have been getting comfortable with the Leipzig Messe (Trade Fair) venue. Milton Keynes florist Chloe Woolf (pictured) was among the Team UK members to have a look around the impressive glass-structured buildings today (Monday). The team travelled together from London on Saturday, but today […]

And they’re off…Team UK are bid farewell and good luck

After months of grueling training, selection heats, pressure testing and tears of both sadness and joy; Team UK were bid farewell at a fitting reception this afternoon. Close family and friends of competitors, World Skills UK alumni and representatives from World Skills UK packed out a function room, over looking the River Thames at London’s […]

Arise Sir Charlie

The world of FE is to welcome a new knight of the realm in UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) chair Charlie Mayfield (pictured). He features in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to business. Mr Mayfield, from Newbury, Berkshire, is also chair of the John Lewis Partnership and was appointed to […]

Colleges’ pay offer withdrawn

The Association of Colleges has withdrawn its offer of support for a pay increase after talks with unions failed to reach a conclusion. The association did have the recommendation of a 0.5 per cent increase on the table when it met officials from the University and College Union (UCU), which is involved in negotiations with […]

The K College catalogue

The provision, debts and estate of a troubled Kent college being split up and sold off in pieces have been laid bare in a catalogue for what has been described as the first sale “of its kind in the UK”. The full extent of the debts — and assets — at K College are listed […]

Rethink call on traineeship rules

The leader of a group representing 27 large colleges has called on the government to loosen rules on who can run traineeships. Skills Minister Matthew Hancock announced the traineeships framework this month — just weeks after youth unemployment figures nudged the one million mark — along with rules governing who can offer the scheme. The […]

Principal leaves after Ofsted blow

The principal of City College Coventry is to leave his job after the Skills Funding Agency demanded “fundamental changes” following a disastrous Ofsted inspection report. After 16 years in post and two previous poor inspections, Paul Taylor (pictured) was hit with grade four (inadequate) results across each inspection headline field last month. We have made […]

Commissioner specification ‘prejudices’ FE hopefuls

College leaders hoping to play a part in the FE Commissioner hit squad have been put “at a disadvantage” by the job’s specifications. The deadline for applications to the post, along with its seven advisory posts, ended last week. But the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and its leadership arm, the Association of Managers […]

NUS gets some learner satisfaction

The lack of learner presence within a new FE body that will set professional standards across the sector has now been taken “seriously”, the National Union for Students’ president-elect has told FE Week. Toni Pearce spoke out after a union-led discussion on learner engagement at the most recent steering group meeting for the FE Guild. […]