Billy Camden

  • Five troubled colleges handed DfE warnings over 'inadequate' finances

    Five struggling colleges have been hit with a notice to improve by the government this morning, after they were all assessed to have “inadequate” financial health. Three of the warning notices have been dished out to North Hertfordshire College, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College, and Coulsdon Sixth Form College after they requested an unspecified…

    11.11 Nov. 15th, 2018 | News

  • DfE urged to launch independent review into Careers and Enterprise Company

    The government has been urged to commission an independent review into whether the Careers and Enterprise Company is doing a good job helping poorer students get work experience. The Commons youth select committee, run by the British Youth Council charity, has also said Ofsted should inspect provision that is funded by the CEC to check…

    16.30 Nov. 14th, 2018 | News

  • DfE finally confirms thousands of apprentices are going unregulated – but is now trying to find a solution

    The government has confirmed there are thousands of apprentices with no organisation responsible for checking the quality of their training – but has committed to fixing the issue following revelations by FE Week. However, a solution might not be found for some time as its proposed regulator, the Office for Students, has said no arrangement…

    12.24 Nov. 14th, 2018 | News

  • Provider to challenge inspection after Ofsted found learners ‘unaware’ they took out an FE loan

    A provider has been slammed with a grade four after Ofsted found its 500 learners received “no teaching” and some were “not aware” they had taken out an advanced learner loan. Harrow-based Academy Training Group was branded ‘inadequate’ across the board in its first ever inspection, published today, which claimed the provider has “no strengths”…

    17.45 Nov. 13th, 2018 | News

  • ‘Falling through the cracks’: thousands of apprenticeships going unregulated

    The government has been left red-faced after FE Week found thousands of apprentices with no organisation responsible for checking the quality of delivery of their training. The apprenticeship accountability statement, published by the Department for Education, says responsibility for oversight of level six and seven programmes does not lie with Ofsted but with the Office…

    6.00 Nov. 9th, 2018 | News

  • College refuses to explain spending millions on mysterious subcontractor

    A college has refused to explain why it has given £16.5 million over the last three years to a subcontracting partner that employs fewer than 10 people. Brooklands College relies on SCL Security Ltd, a private provider run by Andrew Merritt, to deliver hundreds of level-three IT apprenticeships every year, for mostly 16-to-18-year-olds. The company…

    8.00 Nov. 9th, 2018 | News

  • NCG resolves bitter pay dispute with its London colleges

    A deal has been struck between the country’s largest college group and union members at its two London colleges to settle a long-running bitter pay dispute. Staff at the Lewisham and Southwark colleges, who were involved in a controversial long-distance merger with NCG last year, took a total of four days’ strike action in May…

    10.36 Nov. 9th, 2018 | News

  • ESFA WON’T ban new apprenticeship providers with poor AEB provision found in monitoring visits

    The government will not ban new apprenticeship providers from recruiting adult learners if they’re making ‘insufficient progress’ in that theme alone in Ofsted monitoring visits, after FE Week highlighted the grey area last month. Updated policy guidance was published this afternoon by the Education and Skills Funding Agency which has finally brought some clarification to…

    13.44 Nov. 7th, 2018 | News

  • DfE plans National Colleges evaluation to avoid repeating mistakes with Institutes of Technology

    The government is going to evaluate its troubled National Colleges policy to identify what has gone wrong with the scheme and help avoid the same mistakes in the rollout of Institutes of Technology. A tender from the Department for Education went live on Monday asking for a research company to take on the in-depth evaluation…

    13.04 Nov. 7th, 2018 | News

  • Broker offered 3aaa staff £200 for apprentice referrals – but admits it was a 'bad idea'

    A broker has admitted it was a “bad idea” to offer cash to former staff of Aspire Achieve Advance in exchange for referrals of apprentices affected by the collapse. The now-defunct apprenticeship giant, better known as 3aaa, ceased trading on October 11 when the government pulled its skills contracts following a second investigation into success-rate…

    12.57 Nov. 6th, 2018 | News

  • DfE reopens £15m strategic college improvement fund before finalising first round

    Colleges are being invited to bid for cash in a new round of the strategic college improvement fund – but it’s unclear how much is left in the £15 million pot. A pilot for the SCIF was run last year in which 14 struggling colleges shared £2 million (the winners of which can be found…

    14.17 Nov. 6th, 2018 | News