Billy Camden

  • Subcontracting rules watered down just a day after being published

    A new rule that would force providers to gain permission before charging subcontracting management fees above 20 per cent was published in “error”, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has claimed. The ESFA says the policy will now be corrected, just a day after sending it out to the sector. In a new subcontracting “standard”…

    14.52 Jul. 29th, 2021 | News

  • Hospitality and catering courses added to level 3 lifetime skills guarantee offer

    The government has added hospitality and catering courses to its new level 3 adult offer after controversially excluding the industry when the policy was first announced. Almost 400 level 3 qualifications covering sectors including engineering, construction, public services and IT have been fully funded for all adults without a full qualification at level 3 –…

    12.04 Jul. 29th, 2021 | News

  • Williamson slammed for 'ignoring' concerns about scrapping BTECs

    Twelve education bodies have today slammed the education secretary for “ignoring” their concerns and ploughing ahead with plans to scrap the majority of BTECs. In a letter to Gavin Williamson, sector leaders reiterate that disadvantaged students have the “most to lose” and that it is “impossible to square the government’s stated ambition to ‘level up’…

    0.01 Jul. 29th, 2021 | News

  • Union calls for formal review after OCR confirms 42% exam fees rebate

    Exam board OCR has confirmed it will give schools and colleges a rebate of 42 per cent of fees for GCSEs and A-levels. The announcement is likely to put more pressure on AQA – the country’s largest exam board – to up its rebate. The board will only return 26 per cent of entry fees,…

    16.18 Jul. 28th, 2021 | News

  • Colleges invited to use cost-cutting consultants

    Colleges will be given access to the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s army of cost-cutting advisers from September. The ESFA today announced a new suite of measures that it says will be a more “proactive” approach to help colleges “realise and re-invest savings and to spot early warning indicators of financial issues”. It involves a…

    13.39 Jul. 28th, 2021 | News

  • Students are worried employers will see TAGs as ‘fake grades’, says Ofqual advisers

    Students are worried employers will see their teacher assessed GCSEs as “fake grades”, Ofqual has said, as the regulator tries to quell fears about upcoming results days. Child psychology and education experts have been speaking to students preparing to receive grades next month about their concerns. The experts include Kevin Woods,  educational and child psychologist…

    13.22 Jul. 27th, 2021 | News

  • DfE considers college vaccine passports

    FE students could need to be fully vaccinated to attend education and training in the coming year under plans being considered by the Department for Education. The Times today reported that the prime minister Boris Johnson had suggested that learners in higher and further education setting should face compulsory vaccination, subject to some medical exemptions.…

    16.37 Jul. 26th, 2021 | News

  • High praise for university in first tranche of Ofsted’s level 6 and 7 apprenticeship inspections

    Ofsted’s first new provider monitoring visits of level 6 and 7 apprenticeship provision have resulted positive results for higher education providers, including a glowing report for a university. Inspectors found ‘significant progress’ in two of the three themes judged at the University of Worcester, which gained praise for “thorough” quality assurance procedures, “precise” assessment of…

    11.38 Jul. 26th, 2021 | News

  • UTC jumps from Ofsted ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’ in a year

    A university technical college (UTC) has been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted just a year after being hit with the inspectorate’s lowest possible judgement. UTC Portsmouth was slapped with an ‘inadequate’ rating in a report published in July 2020 after it failed to provide effective safeguarding arrangements. But thanks to “swift” action from the senior leadership…

    11.18 Jul. 23rd, 2021 | News

  • 5 things we learned from DfE's final apprenticeship reform review

    The Department for Education has today published its final review of its apprenticeship reform programme. Officials established the programme, which has seen the launch of the levy and introduction of standards among other changes, in 2015 and was scheduled to be delivered by the end of the financial year 2020-21. Today’s report reveals the government’s…

    11.50 Jul. 21st, 2021 | News

  • 100 jobs at risk as combined authority rejects WEA's adult education bid

    Around 100 jobs are at risk at one of England’s largest charitable adult education providers after a mayoral combined authority chose to defund it. The WEA, formerly the Workers’ Educational Association which was founded over a 100 years ago, says it will see a cut of £1.7 million after the South Yorkshire Combined Authority rejected…

    16.29 Jul. 20th, 2021 | News