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26 April 2026

Author: FE Week Reporter

Local enterprise partnerships shun ‘fantastic’ resource, says AoC

Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are failing to take advantage of the “fantastic” education resources offered by colleges, the Association of Colleges (AoC) has claimed. An association report has revealed “patchy” engagement between the two, with a lack of college representation on the 39 partnership boards and a lack of understanding of the role FE plays […]

Ofsted dismisses Learner View website abuse fears

Ofsted has hit back at fears that its new Trip Adviser-style website for rating colleges could be open to abuse. “There are always going to be concerns that there might be a campaign against a provider, but our security system means individual learners have to register,” said Ofsted’s national director for learning and skills, Matthew […]

Apprenticeship minimum wage up 5p an hour

The apprentice minimum wage remains “shockingly low” despite an increase that kicks in on Monday, the National Union of Students said. The figure is going up 5p to £2.65 an-hour for apprentices under 19, and for those aged 19 and over in the first year of their apprenticeship. That’s £1.03 less than the rate for […]

Inspectors publish report on how colleges improve

Unrealistic self-assessments with little or no critical insight, plus unexpected job cuts, show up time and again among poorly performing colleges, according to a new Ofsted report. How Colleges Improve also warned colleges about the dangers of paying too much attention to building projects and mergers. The report, which was released last week, also highlighted […]

College and training provider step in to save 500 jobs at First4Skills

More than 500 jobs have been saved by a college and a training provider after another training provider behind around 10,000 apprenticeships across the country went into administration. Liverpool Community College teamed up with Derbyshire-based provider 3AAA to buy the “majority” of business from First4Skills. The Ellesmere Port firm had been allocated £19.8m by the Skills […]

Dozens of shared service projects mark their anniversaries

Caption: Sunderland College students are getting the benefits of joined up administration among members of the North East Shared Services Project. Organisations coming together to develop services that can be shared, including teaching and learning as well as office systems, are a year into their projects. The 157 Group and Association of Colleges (AoC) were […]

Ofsted previews their report on effective practice in colleges

Poor inspection grades at colleges already suspected of performing badly are hiding a general downward trend in results, chief college inspector Mike Davis has told FE Week. The principal officer for FE colleges at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate said that a range of issues that kept cropping up were affecting results. He conceded colleges considered at […]

Deptford not Delhi – but why not both?

Kate Green, director of business development at the 157 Group, responds to Sir Michael Wilshaw on behalf of the 157 Group International Network It would be interesting to understand the basis for Sir Michael’s warning in the last edition of FE Week. Is he concerned our FE colleges are being overrun with foreign students, or […]