Bill Watkin | FE Week

Urgent investment needed for sixth forms

MPs will today (September 7) be warned that a worsening cash “crisis” engulfing the sector will cause further cuts to courses, and sixth form college closures, in a Westminster Hall debate on 16 to 19 education funding geared at drumming up support for the Support Our Sixth-formers campaign. Bill Watkin explains below why the Sixth Form Colleges […]

Small sixth forms are no longer viable

The highest standards can be found at large, specialist sixth-form centres, claims Bill Watkin This year has been an important one for specialist sixth form colleges: the first new A-levels and BTECs are in place, area reviews are at an end, the first academy conversions, and a growing sector as new sixth form specialists have […]

GCSEs vs functional skills: which English and maths resits should your students take?

When only one per cent of E-grade students pass their maths GCSE on resit, why are they not sitting functional skills instead? Bill Watkin describes an alternative, win-win scenario. Every 16-year-old who has not achieved a C-grade or higher in their GCSE maths or English by the end of Year 11 must now continue in […]

Academisation choices will be anything but straightforward

FE Week reported last week that around 60 of the country’s 93 SFCs had registered an interest in converting to an academy. Bill Watkin reflects on their option. Recently both Sir Michael Wilshaw (Ofsted chief inspector) and Sir David Carter (national schools commissioner) discussed with MPs the part played by multi-academy trusts (MATs). Both agreed […]