FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Event aims to boost female tech skills

Greater collaboration between FE and business could help to encourage more women into digital industries, according to a report published by the Women in Technology project. The findings of the report, produced by Coralesce with funding from the Education and Training Foundation, were revealed at the Women in Technology conference on Tuesday (April 21). The […]

A UTC failure is a setback for vocational education

Lynne Sedgmore called for a review of the drive for more UTCs in light of the second UTC closure, and here she considers what problems might be affecting the programme. The news of the failure of another UTC, this time in the Black Country, may tempt some FE observers to indulge in schadenfreude. It would […]

Recruitment at 14 ‘difficult’ as UTCs’ capacity runs as low as 12.2pc

Six out of 30 University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are operating at up to just a third full — with two running at no more than 14 per cent capacity, FE Week can exclusively reveal. The two — Central Bedfordshire UTC and Wigan UTC — did not recruit any learners into Year 10 in 2014/15, according […]

Euro ‘funding gap’ warning of closures and staff lay-offs

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has warned that a “funding gap” for schemes backed by European Social Fund (ESF) cash could force providers to lay-off staff and close training centres. Stewart Segal (pictured), AELP chief executive, said “we are almost certainly looking at a funding gap” between when a number of ESF […]

Trailblazer status in balance after grade four result

An employer provider’s status as an apprenticeship Trailblazer was today in the balance after Ofsted found it had “no significant strengths” and issued it with grade four ratings across the board. Priory Central Services, which runs the national medical chain that includes London’s Priory rehabilitation centre famously attended by an array of celebrities, offers healthcare […]

Interim replacement hired while New College Stamford principal ‘on leave’

Former Lincoln College principal of 14 years John Allen (pictured above left) has taken over from under fire New College Stamford principal April Carrol (pictured above right). Ms Carrol had been hit with two votes of no confidence from staff while trying to implement new contracts that included extending the college year from 33 to 36 […]

Concern grows that FE quality mark has ‘stalled’

Concern is growing in the FE sector that plans for an FE Chartered Status quality mark have “stalled” with no mention of the scheme in party manifestos and little in the way of news on its progress. Plans, originally drawn up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), for the Royal seal of […]

Shakira hopes to inspire minority groups with NUS election win

The newly-elected National Union of Students (NUS) vice president for FE Shakira Martin (pictured above left) has told of her hopes to boost the sector’s learner engagement and be an inspiration to minority groups during her tenure. The 26-year-old Lewisham Southwark College students’ union president spoke exclusively to FE Week after she secured 141 votes — […]

Dual mandate spells double danger

A month after the launch of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) ‘dual mandate’ consultation on the future of FE and Mick Fletcher reflects on what the hefty 90-page document presents. It is a measure of how far our expectations of BIS have sunk that a deeply flawed paper such as the consultation […]