Author: FE Week Reporter

The government’s Productivity Plan will be the first focus of the new business, innovation and skills (BIS) select committee, its chair Iain Wright has confirmed. The recently-elected committee has launched an inquiry into the plan, which was released earlier this month and set out plans for an apprenticeship levy, per-learner funding for adult learning, new […]

FE providers face a further cut of almost four per cent to their non-apprenticeship funding in 2015/16, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has confirmed. In a letter to the sector, SFA chief executive Peter Lauener has announced the 3.9 per cent cut to adult skills budget (ASB) and discretionary learner support allocations, which is being […]

Large-scale mergers may be needed among sixth form colleges (SFCs) to cope with looming funding problems, Sixth Form Commissioner Peter Mucklow has warned. Mr Mucklow warned, in a letter to every SFC in the country on Thursday (July 16), that “the tough funding climate” will continue to “present challenges to many sixth-form colleges over the […]

Protestors led by National Union of Students (NUS) vice president for FE Shakira Martin were dispersed by police after staging an overnight protest at Lewisham Southwark College. They were objecting to a vote taken by governors on Tuesday (July 14) to sell-off the campus and a separate proposal by Southwark Council, published this month, to […]

A report out this morning by the National Audit Office (NAO) has criticised the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for being too slow to spot problems with colleges’ finances because of failures to check the “realism” of “over-optimistic” forecasting by colleges. The report, called Overseeing financial sustainability in the FE sector, said that some colleges’ forecasting […]

The government has announced a national review of post-16 education and training, and admitted the number of general FE and sixth form colleges in England will decrease. Here, FE Week outlines the ten main points in the government document, and what it might mean for the FE and skills sector. 1. Colleges are going to merge and […]

The government could cut the number of general FE and sixth form colleges in England in a bid to bring “greater efficiency” to the sector, an official document has revealed. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published its report Reviewing post-16 education and training institutions, which sets out plans for a national […]

Gateshead College has shot up two Ofsted grades to outstanding while Weymouth College is making “significant” improvements as it rebuilds from an inadequate rating. Gateshead was visited by the education watchdog last month and inspectors found a dramatic turnaround since it was deemed to require improvement three years ago. Meanwhile, Weymouth was monitored for progress in four […]

Shadow Education Minister for Young People John Woodcock has warned the government against “churning out numbers at the expense of quality” as it targets 3m apprenticeship starts by 2020. Mr Woodcock (pictured above) was part of a panel of FE and skills experts who spoke at a House of Commons event last night hosted by […]