FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Fears over conflict of interest

The qualifications watchdog is “developing its thinking” on whether providers of apprenticeships should also be awarding bodies after a government report criticised the practice. An Ofqual spokesperson said it was looking at “potential conflicts of interest and will be saying more about our thinking in due course”. “We do not believe it is desirable for […]

Exclusive interview with BIS committee’s chair

With the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report highlighting a number of apprenticeship issues, FE Week deputy editor Chris Henwood met chairman Adrian Bailey MP to discuss where he thinks the government is getting it wrong. Are you critical of the government’s aims on apprenticeships? The government has interpreted this programme as being a […]

Teachers unskilled to provide careers advice

The fifth annual Colleges Week has kicked off with the publication of a report that shows schoolteachers and parents are struggling to give youngsters the right advice to prepare for the world of work. Colleges Week bosses are hoping students and lecturers will take part with a host of events up and down the country […]

Where have all the students gone?

More than a million students could not be traced by researchers wanting to find out what happened to them when their courses finished. Just 12.9 per cent of 1,455,746 students could be reached in a study by GfK NOP Social Research on behalf of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Researchers were hampered by a host […]

Group chair appointed to steer FE Guild

An independent chair has been appointed as proposals to create an FE Guild take shape. David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), has been appointed chair of a steering group. His appointment follows a meeting of Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) chief executive Graham Hoyle and Association […]

The X Factor star put through his paces

Singer Danyl Johnson (left) was put through his paces by students when he recorded a live BBC broadcast at a south-eastern college. No obstacle stood in the way of The X Factor 2009 contestant and star of ITV’s Benidorm as he presented a live show while completing outdoor pursuits at Berkshire College, including launching himself […]

Skills Funding Agency ‘assured’ over Elmfield Training payments to Morrisons

A system of payments from the provider behind the UK’s biggest apprenticeship programme to the firm whose staff it trains has been given the green light by the Skills Funding Agency. Elmfield Training, which was allocated £41m by the agency for the current academic year, has previously defended the payments to giant supermarket chain Morrisons, […]

Urgent reform to apprenticeships needed, says BIS Committee

An 11-month government inquiry into apprenticeships has recommended a host of changes, including “closer scrutiny, careful monitoring or even complete reform”. The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee today published its report on apprenticeships. Click here to download the report. It has called for an “overarching government strategy and clear purpose for the apprenticeship programme,” along […]

Dual success for Plymouth carpenters

Two carpenters at Devon college have won a national crafts competition. City College Plymouth students Jack Weekes, 19, and Sebastian Roberts, 30, both won first place in their category and were awarded £250. More than 200 colleges took part in the competition, run by The Institute of Carpenters. The site carpentry students were awarded first […]