FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Hundreds of funding rates ‘realigned’ upwards

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has realigned the funding rates used in the Employer Responsive (ER) Other funding stream, matching the funding rates currently paid for Adult Learner Responsive (ALR) delivery. More than 750 learning aims have been changed in-year, significantly increasing the amount of funding which providers will receive for delivering qualifications. The changes, […]

‘Stop wasting money’ Unison tells colleges

Colleges spent at least £65 million on agency staff during the last financial year, according to information obtained by Unison. The trade union has calculated a combined bill of £64,613,485 for 170 colleges through freedom of information requests. The disclosure, which details spending between August 2010 and July 2011, follows plans for potential redundancies at […]

‘Disappointing’ drop in adult participation says NIACE

The number of adults taking part in formal learning has fallen five percentage points, a survey by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has revealed. The annual adult participation in learning survey, published by the independent charity last week, shows that the majority of adults (62 per cent) have not participated in any […]

BIS Select Committee announces final apprenticeship evidence session

The BIS Select Committee have announced details of their final evidence session on Apprenticeships. On the 16 May at 9.50am John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning will join Gila Sacks, Deputy Director of the Apprenticeships Unit (BIS/DfE), will give their evidence. The session will be streamed live on […]

The Skills Funding Agency don’t do planning, and neither can you

When Skills Funding Agency (SFA) replaced the Learning and Skills Council in April 2010 a critical difference in function was a very public end to central planning. This was accelerated by the coalition government when in June 2010 they scrapped the Summary Statement of Activity (a national template for provider plans) and introduced the ‘freedoms and […]

Colleges call for FE loans to be delayed

The majority of professionals in the FE sector support delaying or scrapping the introduction of FE loans, according to a survey of Lsect members. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents, who represent more than 150 different FE colleges, said the government should prolong the implementation of the scheme or abandon it completely. The survey, designed […]

The SFA just keeps giving

Nearly 300 colleges unexpectedly receive £23 million to be spent before August 2012. Colleges are sharing an additional £23m in Discretionary Learner Support (DLS) funding, which will need to be spent before the end of this academic year. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has revealed that 284 providers, primarily FE colleges, were given the additional […]

Criticism and restructures as Ofsted grades plummet

Three further education colleges have suffered setbacks after receiving the lowest possible inspection grades. Reports by education regulator Ofsted, each published on March 30, show ‘inadequate’ reports for Macclesfield College and City of Wolverhampton College. The third to receive the grade, as previously revealed by FE Week, was Lambeth College, also formally published on March […]

Subcontracting and social media

An “urgent review” of sub-contracting has been called for by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP). Graham Hoyle, chief executive of the AELP, has written to the skills minister John Hayes recommending a full investigation of current sub-contracting arrangements. Issue 567 of the AELP Countdown reads: “Recent analysis by the Skills Funding Agency […]