Billy Camden

  • Crumbs: Spending review extends apprenticeship employer incentives by just two months

    A two-month extension is set to be applied to the government’s cash bonus scheme for hiring apprentices in tomorrow’s spending review. The Treasury has tonight trailed a series of announcements that chancellor Rishi Sunak will pledge for the 2021-22 financial year to create and support “hundreds of thousands” of jobs post-Covid-19, but no other new…

    18.00 Nov. 24th, 2020 | News

  • Highbury College agrees merger partner

    A crisis-hit college has agreed to merge with a neighbouring sixth form college as it continues its road to recovery. Highbury College, which has been led by interim leadership since its principal quit last year following an expenses scandal and government intervention, is set to amalgamate with Portsmouth College following an FE Commissioner-led structure and…

    14.02 Nov. 24th, 2020 | News

  • AoC calls for adult funding boost ahead of spending review

    Funding rates for adult learners must be raised to the same level as 16 to 19-year-olds to ensure courses are viable to deliver, the Association of Colleges has said. Ahead of tomorrow’s spending review, the membership organisation has published research that claims the government’s flagship national skills fund will “fail” unless more money is pumped…

    0.01 Nov. 24th, 2020 | News

  • DfE hiring spree for Covid response

    A huge recruitment drive has been launched at the Department for Education to aid its response to Covid-19, with 100 jobs up for grabs. Job adverts for the 12-month contracts contain limited detail but state that people are being sought to work in “priority roles” that have been impacted by the pandemic and will be…

    6.00 Nov. 21st, 2020 | News

  • Revealed: The sectors excluded from PM's new 'lifetime skills guarantee'

    Major parts of the economy will see level 3 qualifications in their sector excluded from the new Lifetime Skills Guarantee, FE Week can reveal. Sectors deemed a low priority with low wages include hospitality, leisure, travel, retail, media and arts, while sectors such as IT, construction and engineering will get the green light. When the…

    5.00 Nov. 20th, 2020 | News

  • Adult education budget tender delayed again

    An upcoming tender for the national adult education budget has been delayed – again. The Education and Skills Funding Agency had planned to launch the re-procurement exercise, which is expected to follow the same scope as the controversial AEB tender in 2017, in July 2020 but then pushed this back until the end of the…

    9.00 Nov. 20th, 2020 | News

  • ESFA to audit university apprenticeships, from April

    Universities that deliver apprenticeships will be subject to Education and Skills Funding Agency funding audits for the first time from April next year. The first audits could come the same month that Ofsted is handed new powers to inspect degree apprenticeships. University representative organisations said their members have been preparing for ESFA audits and understand…

    7.00 Nov. 20th, 2020 | News

  • MPs launch inquiry into prison education

    A new inquiry into the challenges faced in prison education has been launched by the parliamentary education select committee. MPs on the committee said that while the Covid-19 pandemic had made delivery of education challenging across the board, provision has been “significantly impacted” for those in custody. They will examine to what degree adults in…

    12.19 Nov. 19th, 2020 | News

  • ESFA reveals major cashflow problems at mega-college in Nottingham

    A mega-college in Nottingham has been placed in formal FE Commissioner intervention after hitting “serious cashflow pressures”. The Education and Skills Funding Agency published a financial notice to improve for Nottingham College on Wednesday. The ESFA letter, dated July 2020, states that there is a “need for cashflow support in November/December 2020” and there was…

    11.57 Nov. 19th, 2020 | News

  • Gavin Williamson’s speech on lifting FE’s ‘potential’ through the white paper: The full text

    The education secretary has promised that the imminent FE white paper will bring an “end to getting a qualification for its own sake” and ensure that training reflects the “changing needs” of employers. Gavin Williamson said further education will “no longer be hiding its vast potential under a bushel” following the reforms, while making a…

    12.45 Nov. 18th, 2020 | News

  • College commission calls on DfE to force principals into multi-academy trust style accountability structures

    New legislation should force all colleges to be part of “networks” that could follow similar accountability structures as multi-academy trusts, a commission of leading FE figures has said. Authors of the Independent Commission on the College of the Future report for England say the imminent FE white paper and subsequent legislation should define the principles…

    0.01 Nov. 18th, 2020 | News