FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Don’t cut allocations to meet savings target, pleads sector

The government has been warned against looking to FE allocations to help meet Chancellor George Osborne’s aim of a £900m cut by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE). Each is staring down the barrel of £450m cuts this financial year — with FE budgets specifically earmarked for […]

Colleges ‘come of age’ at time of need for change

Senior FE and skills figures warned that colleges would have to change “more than ever before” to survive, at the launch of a 216-page book celebrating ‘the coming of age of FE’. The book, which focuses on the experiences of FE colleges since incorporation in 1993 and also considers their future, was unveiled at the […]

Grade four Priory ordered to leave second apprenticeship Trailblazer

Priory Central Services has been ordered to leave a second healthcare-related Trailblazer group following its grade four across-the-board rating from Ofsted. Dr Terry Tucker, who chairs the Trailblazer group developing an adult nursing higher apprenticeship standard that also includes BUPA, told FE Week that she had sent a letter to the apprenticeship employer provider on […]

Labour MPs put their names forward for BIS committee chair

Labour MPs Iain Wright (pictured above left) and Roberta Blackman-Woods (pictured above right) have launched bids to challenge Adrian Bailey for the chair of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee. Nominations for the post opened on Thursday after it was confirmed that the chair would be elected from Labour’s stock of 232 […]

Internet watch ban example of ‘block on progress’

A college’s exams blanket ban on watches over fears learners could use outlawed web-enabled smart watches has been branded “a classic example of how the assessment and accountability system inhibits innovation and progress”. North Nottinghamshire College (NNC) said it took action because smart watches were becoming increasingly similar to normal watches — and it didn’t […]

Two ministers, one careers strategy ‘desperately needed’

The Department for Education (DfE) has overlooked Skills Minister Nick Boles (pictured above left) for its careers guidance remit — despite him having been handed the job for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Mr Boles, who serves as a minister in both departments, has been given BIS responsibility for post-18 careers advice, while Education […]

DfE resit policy leads to GCSE campus chaos

Colleges readying themselves for an impending Department for Education (DfE) policy have witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of English and maths GCSE exams that has left many struggling to accommodate learners. One college even saw gridlock on nearby roads with bumper learner numbers on Tuesday (June 2) and also had to resort to […]

Woodcock’s journey up FE ladder under way

John Woodcock, the Labour MP for Cumbria’s Barrow and Furness, was appointed Shadow Education Minister for Young People last month. It’s a post that has seen a fair amount of change, with Mr Woodcock taking over from Yvonne Fovargue after she became Shadow Veterans Minister having had the education role for just seven months. She […]

Taskforce under fire for ‘earn or learn’ name

Prime Minister David Cameron’s new troubleshooter taskforce that aims to ensure young people are “earning or learning” has started “on the wrong foot” — young people can do both, sector leaders have pointed out. Downing Street announced on Tuesday it was launching implementation taskforces, made up of high-ranking Conservative MPs, to ensure government priorities spread […]