FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Ofsted grades fall in two more colleges

Two more colleges have dropped a grade in recent Ofsted inspections. Bracknell and Wokingham College and Worcester College of Technology were both graded ‘satisfactory’ in Ofsted reports published last week, after having been awarded ‘good’ when inspected in 2009. In the breakdown of the overall grade both colleges received a mix of marks, with a […]

Download your FREE copy of FE Week lite

We have today published a 5 page FE Week lite edition, which is FREE for all to download. Click here to download the first FE Week lite (4mb) Our next printed edition of FE Week for subscribers will be on the 10 September, as we only publish a weekly printed edition in term time. To subscribe to […]

Reggie Yates hosts National BTEC Awards

Students, teachers, schools and colleges celebrated their outstanding achievements in vocational learning at the second annual National BTEC Awards. Pearson, the parent company of Edexcel, the awarding body for BTECs, received over 500 nominations across the 15 award categories for this year’s awards. Megan Turner, a 17 year old engineering student from Loughborough, won the Overall […]

Government plan to introduce a ‘Chartered Community College Status’

Colleges and other training providers could be given the chance to gain “chartered” status as a mark of quality, FE Week has learned. A new “chartered community college” grade would be introduced, with institutions assessed against a range of criteria possibly including the levels of qualifications of their staff, learner feedback and community involvement. The […]

FE Guild could become a new body responsible for professional standards

The Government is poised to set up a new professional body for further education, a document leaked to FE Week reveals. The Further Education Guild would act as a “focal point” for ministerial efforts to promote professionalism in the sector, including taking on aspects of the regulation of lecturers through setting professional standards and codes […]

Changes to college high grade tables a ‘mystery’

Unexplained changes to college data tables on what classifies as a ‘high grade’ have baffled colleges, who have seen their high grades drop “dramatically”. The Association of Colleges (AoC) brought the problem to the attention of their members in a briefing leaked to FE Week. The briefing said that “changes seem to have been made […]

Further delays for college success rate data

Revised versions of the 2010/11 Education and Training National Success Rate Tables (NSRT) have been delayed until August, according to the Data Service. Widespread errors were found in the original NSRT, published on May 24, forcing the Data Service to take down and investigate the data. A spokesperson for the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) then […]

FE Weekend asks ‘where next for apprenticeships?’

The future of apprenticeships was debated by the sector at FE Weekend last Friday. The summer conference, hosted at Morley College, was FE Week’s first event looking at the latest updates and policy developments surrounding apprenticeships. The agenda included speeches on various aspects of apprenticeships, such as funding frameworks, minimum durations and subcontracting. One highlight […]

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