Author: FE Week Reporter

Staff at Milton Keynes College were among thousands of sector workers up and down the country to have set up events for National Apprenticeship Week (NAW), which launches today (March 9) They created a specialist apprenticeship zone at college that will give learners an opportunity to explore a variety of industries available at all levels […]

The success of nearly 90 learners helped by the Helena Kennedy Foundation to overcome a variety of obstacles was celebrated at the House of Lords. Each Learner selected by the foundation — which is supported by FE Week — received a bursary of £1,500 to help cover the costs of going from FE college study […]

World class apprenticeships should be developed to solve a “productivity shortfall”, the International Skills Standards Organisation (INSSO) has claimed. In a report based on research in the UK and overseas, INSSO chief executive Tom Bewick calls for a “real debate about whether continued university expansion is the best policy choice for the 21st century”. He […]

Hartlepool Sixth Form College focused too much on getting students through the doors and not of the quality of provision, the sixth form college commissioner has said. The college, which was slapped with an inadequate Ofsted grading in November, was visited by commissioner Peter Mucklow on February 28. In his report, published today, Mr Mucklow […]

Welfare-to-work provider A4E, which in January saw several employees found guilty of fraud, has been put up for sale. Company founder Emma Harrison, who is a former adviser to the Prime Minister, has appointed auditors Deloitte to advise on the sale or break-up of the business, according to the Financial Times. The business has been […]

All 14 to 16-year-olds should be able to study a vocational subject at school – and colleges could hold the key to providing that offer, an influential group of politicians and sector leaders recommended today. The Demos thinktank’s Commission on Apprenticeships, launched last summer, has published its report, which also calls for an “apprentice guarantee” that […]

Almost 50 FE colleges will take part in a £3.75m project to help ensure industry knowledge is passed on by the sector’s higher education staff. The Association of Colleges (AoC) has been given £2.75m by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) Catalyst Fund for a project that will see higher education staff at 47 […]

College leaders have called for a government National Audit Office (NAO) probe into college financial sustainability to consider the effect of a national cut of 24 per cent next year. The government spending watchdog has announced an investigation into oversight of financial sustainability in the FE sector, focusing specifically on colleges. The NAO, which will report on […]