FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Is England set to go Dutch on skills system?

Super colleges and beefed-up sector skills councils could be on the horizon — if Skills Minister Nick Boles’s hopes of emulating the Dutch vocational system come to fruition. During a special debate tabled in Westminster Hall on Tuesday (May 9) to mark VQ day, Mr Boles told MPs that in the UK “we always beat […]

Burnham backlash over apprentice loans worries

Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham sparked an alarmed response on Twitter after his comments on apprenticeship loans led to fears he was considering proposals to bring back a failed FE policy. Former Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable revealed to FE Week exclusively in December 2013 that apprentice FE tuition loans would be scrapped after just […]

MPs pitch for chair posts on FE committees

Nominations have closed, and the race to chair two of Parliament’s most influential select committees is almost over. Labour MPs Adrian Bailey, Iain Wright and Roberta Blackman-Woods have been officially nominated for election to the role of chair of the business, innovation and skills (BIS) committee. West Bromwich West MP Mr Bailey chaired the BIS […]

Let’s work together on 16 to 19s, FE leaders tell local councils

Sector leaders have said they are keen to work with local authorities on improving 16 to 19 participation and careers advice after a survey revealed councils were struggling with their duties in the face of government cuts. The Association of Colleges (AoC), 157 Group and Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) called for partnership […]

Edition 141: Terry Jones, Ioan Morgan, Ayub Khan & Simon Cook

Peterborough Regional College (PRC) is on cloud nine with the appointment of Royal Air Force director of flying training Terry Jones as its new principal. Mr Jones, who oversees the famous Red Arrows, takes over from interim principal Ioan Morgan next month. Mr Jones also oversees three UK bases responsible for education and training, including […]

Andy Forbes, principal, College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London

Sitting at a meeting table in his wood-panelled principal’s office, Andy Forbes strikes a comedy pose with lips pouted and eyebrows raised as he says to the FE Week photographer: “You can see where the being in the drama club comes in, can’t you?” “Delete it!” begs Forbes through his chuckles — “you can’t print […]

Neets — ‘it’s probably even worse than LGA says’

It’s unclear just how poor the tracking of young people’s education and employment status is, but having seen Local Government Association (LGA) findings, Amy Lalla argues it’s an issue for which those at the very top must ensure funding pressures do not mean inaction. Another week and another set of depressing data on the state […]

Where the axe might fall, and where it should

In light of the Chancellor’s announcement he wanted to see £900m of in-year savings split evenly between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE), Mick Fletcher considers how FE might be affected — and how to lessen that effect. What we know is that the two education departments, […]

Inadequate funding for 16-19 education is not good economics

With the issue of 16 to 19 funding dropping to critical levels, sector leaders have written to Chancellor George Osborne and Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, as reported on feweek.co.uk. Malcolm Trobe explains what why he wants government to reconsider its view on funding education for the age group. Education for 16 to 19-year-olds is in […]