FE Week Reporter | FE Week

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The LGA report is, to put it politely, inadequate

The publication of the recent Local Government Association (LGA) report on a so-called “skills mismatch” in further education is deeply disappointing. It represents a backward step to outdated and discredited approaches to labour market planning and threatens to undermine moves towards a more fruitful strategic co-operation between colleges and local authorities that we in the […]

Denise Brown-Sackey, principal, Newham College

Denise Brown-Sackey describes further education as being in a constant state of flux and change. It’s why, as a natural survivor and “pretty fearless” leader, she’s the ideal principal for Newham College. From the age of three, Denise grew up in local authority care. The experience gave her strength and an adaptability that is still […]

Future of FE must be an enterprising one

The news of Education Secretary Michael Gove’s proposals for reforming the qualification system has brought into sharp focus the extent to which education needs to change to equip the workforce of the future. The Education Secretary is right to call for a curriculum that “prepares all children for success at 16 and beyond, by broadening […]

Final interview with retiring SFA CEO

What has been your greatest achievement at the SFA? “The biggest thrill for me and the greatest intellectual high is to be able to see one of your ideas implemented – and find that it works. The shift to outcomes, and how I wanted to introduce more competition around price, the simplifications in the sector, […]

Traineeships to be piloted

The deputy prime minister has revealed plans for a new pre-apprenticeship scheme that he called “traineeships”. Nick Clegg, speaking at an event held by the Confederation of British Industry on youth unemployment, said the scheme would provide support for people leaving school with minimal work experience or qualifications. It was a package of training and […]

Exam reform would stop ‘race to the bottom’, say MPs

A radical shake-up of the qualifications system for 15 to 19-year-olds in England has been proposed by an influential cross-party committee of backbench MPs. The Education Select Committee concluded a near year-long investigation that focused on GCSEs and A-levels with a recommendation that exam boards lose the right to set their own syllabuses for each […]

SFA satisfaction survey

The Skills Funding Agency has launched its second annual ‘College and Training Organisation Survey’. The questionnaire looks at how effective the Agency has been in improving the way it operates and communicates with the sector. The results of the first survey, published last September, found that 60 per cent of respondents thought the SFA had […]

Providers’ management fees to be audited

Lead providers who subcontract will need to provide a report next year that proves they are not taking too much in management fees, according to the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). “(Each provider) must provide a report from its external auditors at the end of the contract year that provides assurance that the funding that it […]