FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Second groundbreaking UTC to shut as student numbers fail to increase and Ofsted sees lack of improvement

Student numbers, financial challenges, staffing capacity and a second consecutive Ofsted inspection blow were said to be behind plans to shut the Black Country University Technical College (UTC) — one of the first UTCs to open. Governors of the University of Wolverhampton and Walsall College-sponsored UTC, which opened in 2011, tonight announced their decision to […]

College governors’ code updated with ‘clearer and shorter’ guidance on financial risk management

The Association of Colleges (AoC) took on board more than 160 consultation responses before updating its new code of governance with clearer guidance on financial risk management, FE Week can reveal. Ex-head of FE and skills investment and performance at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Dr Sue Pember spent six months last […]

Threefold increase in £200k-plus principal posts

The number of colleges paying out upwards of £200k on their principal posts rocketed threefold last academic year, FE Week can reveal. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) published the 2013/14 college accounts during the Easter holidays and FE Week analysis shows that a dozen colleges handed over more than £200k in salaries to principals — up […]

Labour’s apprenticeship scrap plan fails to make manifesto

Labour remains committed to scrapping level two apprenticeships despite the absence of the pledge from the party’s education manifesto, it has been confirmed. Speaking to FE Week following the launch of the document at Microsoft’s offices in Victoria, central London, Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna confirmed his party still wanted all apprenticeships to be at […]

London federation learns from Middlesbrough ‘failure’

Three London colleges have announced plans to form a federation in a bid to combat budget cuts. Newham College, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge College have formed the Federation of East London Colleges, due to have its first working group meeting this month. College leaders said they hoped the move would allow them to share resources […]

Bogus United Nations invoice caught by eagle-eyed staff

Providers have been warned to be vigilant after another attempted scam hit the sector. Andy Cole (pictured), principal of the College of North West London, told FE Week how this month he was invoiced for a fictional United Nations (UN) programme. And just two days before Christmas another phoney invoice, claiming to be from within […]

Planning victory over crossing

Dudley College has won a planning battle to secure a pedestrian crossing after fears for learner safety. The Midland college expanded in 2012 to open its Evolve campus, which is used by up to 800 students a-day and situated around 200 metres from its main campus on the other side of the same road. Councillors […]

Edition 133: Bob Pattni, Dinah Caine, Stewart Till & Ivan Dunleavy

Cambridge Regional College has appointed a new deputy principal to head finance and corporate services. Bob Pattni is a former chief operating officer at Birmingham Metropolitan College and qualified accountant with more than two decades’ experience in education. He has been appointed to help lead and grow the college’s core business of vocational qualifications and […]

Roll on the General Election

Apprenticeships were on the agenda as David Cameron hit the campaign trail in West Yorkshire on Thursday (April 9). Mr Cameron met Cory Hurst, a level two fashion and textiles apprentice at Camira Fabrics in Huddersfield. He also announced deals which had been struck with large employers including Costa to create 16,000 apprenticeships. The Tories […]