Alix Robertson | FE Week

Apprentices get IfA representation – but no place on the board

The government has finally committed to establishing an apprentice panel for the Institute for Apprenticeships, in a move hailed by the National Union of Students as a victory for learners. The panel was announced by apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon during the sixth sitting of the public bill committee for the Technical and Further […]

Chartered Institution for Further Education appoints new chief executive

The Chartered Institution for Further Education has appointed Dan Wright as its new chief executive officer, with plans for him to step into the role from early January. Mr Wright (pictured below) will take over on January 9 from Ed Quilty, the current chief executive and secretary, whose secondment from the civil service to the […]

SFA criticised for ‘total farce’ over key provider submission failures

Management by the Skills Finding Agency of a key provider submission of learner data has been labelled a “total farce” and “very disturbing”, after it opted against extending the deadline for a second time following continued software problems. The SFA online data collection system, known as the ‘Hub’, is understood to have initially gone down on December […]

Funding axe for provider following FE Week investigation

A training provider whose parent company hit FE Week’s front page after it went bust, leaving learners unable to complete courses and a complicated multimillion-pound trail of debt, has had its contract with the Skills Funding Agency cancelled. The public funding axe has now fallen on Options 2 Workplace, and an SFA spokesperson has confirmed its name will also be removed […]

Disappointment over further delay to FE maintenance loans decision

Sector leaders have been left “disappointed” after the government delayed its decision on whether to provide maintenance loans for higher level learners studying technical education in FE. On September 9, FE Week reported that the Department for Education had stalled on the issue, but promised to “make a statement in the autumn”. With the season […]

UTCs fare best in report on work-related learning failings

Two university technical colleges have come out on top in an Ofsted report which found the majority of England’s schools are failing to effectively deliver work-related learning. Ofsted inspectors carried out 40 thematic inspection visits in the spring term this year, to interview staff and pupils about the delivery of what the education watchdog referred […]

Wilshaw contradicts own report with ‘personal’ English and maths attack

Sir Michael Wilshaw has provoked outrage across the FE sector once again, with a series of “personal and ignorant remarks” that contradict Ofsted’s official views on post-16 English and maths failures. The education watchdog’s annual report, launched in Westminster on December 1, blamed government policy for the sharp increase in 16- to 18-year-olds failing their […]

New nursing degree apprenticeship announced by Jeremy Hunt

The launch of a new nursing degree apprenticeship has been announced by health secretary Jeremy Hunt, with the aim of opening up the profession to more people. The first apprentice nurses could be working on wards from September. It is predicted by the government that once the programme is established, up to 1,000 apprentice nurses […]

UTC Cambridge hit by Ofsted grade four rating

A University Technical College based in Cambridge has been hit with an ‘inadequate’ grade by the education watchdog Ofsted. UTC Cambridge opened in September 2014, specialising in biomedical science, environmental science, and technology, and is backed by Cambridge University Health Partners and Cambridge Regional College. Andrew Hutchinson, interim executive principal at UTC Cambridge, said a […]