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Ela Piotrowska, principal, Morley College

London in the aftermath of World War Two was a hard place for many, including the Piotrowska family. It had promised so much with Ela Piotrowska’s father, Stasio, having reached safety after fleeing the Nazi occupation of his native Poland, having walked hundreds of miles across Europe to join the Polish Free Army, in Scotland. […]

Recruitment integrity call for functional skills regime

With functional skills now in place, providers should be taking the opportunity to make sure they are recruiting with integrity from the outset, says Runway Training’s Oliver Trailor. So the time has finally arrived — Key Skills and Skills For Life have finally gone. For many, the introduction of a qualification that will serve to […]

Lies, damned lies, and UKBA statistics

Professor Daniel Khan OBE, chief executive of Open College Network (OCN) London, reacts to UKBorder Agency (UKBA) criticism of FE Colleges. UKBA’s recent comments with regards to FE colleges are both unfair and misleading. It claimed colleges are guilty of selling ‘immigration rather than education’. It stated that its tightening of the requirements for providers […]

What’s to show for tech cash?

The benefits of new technology are not being fully felt at colleges across the country, prompting former Barnsley college principal and Toshiba education adviser Bob Harrison to question whether a government aim to bring all classrooms up to the digital age is achievable. The annual Association of Colleges (AoC) technology survey last month paints an […]

The truth behind the 16-18 apprenticeship problem

Falling apprenticeship numbers among 16 to 18-year-olds have come as no surprise to Peter Cobrin, from Apprenticeships England, who looks at how to stop any further declines. So now the truth is out — government figures reveal a ten per cent fall in 16-18 apprenticeships. Let me provide some answers as to why this is […]

Firms primed for new status after success on apprentices

Two Midland-based training providers have made the shift from delivering apprenticeships for lead providers to dealing directly with the Skills Funding Agency following success in a pilot scheme. Leicestershire’s Steve Walker Associates (SWA) and Derbyshire’s Aspire Achieve Advance (3AAA) have become prime contractors for the first time after winning deals with the agency. The reward […]

Colleges underdeliver by ‘£45m to £60m’

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has estimated that colleges failed to deliver between £45m and £60m of adult provision last year as a result of policy changes. It warned funding may need to be returned in 2013, despite a change in reconciliation rules announced this month that allow underdelivering colleges to hold onto Skills Funding […]

Provider hits back at ‘unfounded claim’

The boss of an Essex-based training provider has said a local college was refusing to pay its apprenticeship bill amid an “unfounded claim” his firm had gone bust. John Baker, managing director of DB Training, issued a statement on his firm’s website that said no funding had been received from Harlow College for “the past […]

Elmfield Training ‘tells 400’ staff their jobs are at risk

A training provider that helped deliver one of the UK’s biggest apprenticeship programmes at Morrisons is shedding a third of its 600-strong workforce, it has been claimed. Two in every three of Elmfield Training staff were warned on October 4 they could be facing redundancy, according to a worker who wanted to remain anonymous. Documents […]