Author: Billy Camden

New “strategic conversations” that require all college leaders to meet with Education and Skills Funding Agency and FE Commissioner officials once a year will begin from next month. The meetings, which must be attended by the principal and chair, will be held with individual colleges annually to “look holistically at the college’s strategy”. The ESFA […]

This year’s autumn exam series will be similar to the one held in 2020, but with GCSE exams potentially taking place later, Ofqual has proposed. A consultation on plans for the series has also asked whether AS-level exams need to be offered this time, following low entries last year. The government announced last month that […]

Full graded Ofsted inspections will not return until the new academic year, with the watchdog instead looking at bringing in a “sensible and proportionate next step” as part of its phased return in the summer term. Department for Education guidance states routine, graded Ofsted inspections “will resume in the summer term”, with the inspectorate “discussing […]

Small employers are being blocked from the government’s apprentice cash incentives due to a “bonkers” cap on starts, an FE Week investigation has found. Under the terms of the bonus scheme for hiring new apprentices, employers can only make claims through the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s digital apprenticeship service. But non-levy-paying businesses have been […]

The government has for the first time revealed the most popular courses being taken through its “Skills Toolkit” – but questions may again be raised about the data’s accuracy. Figures published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency show 162,320 “registrations” and 30,254 “completions” on the courses offered for free by 12 providers as of […]

A former skills minister has criticised the Department for Education for moving away from T Levels student recruitment targets. Sir John Hayes, the Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings who held the skills brief between 2010 and 2012, said numerical goals are essential to making new programmes “credible”. He said targets are vital […]

The government is considering making “adaptations” to exams in 2022 similar to those proposed for this summer’s assessments before they were cancelled, the head of regulator Ofqual has said. Simon Lebus (pictured), the interim chief regulator, told MPs this morning that the “thinking at the moment is about adaptations along the line that had been […]

Progress monitoring visits of grade three and four FE providers will end from March 15 as inspections of new providers finally restart, Ofsted has announced today. The watchdog has been carrying out remote progress monitoring visits to poorly graded colleges and providers since January in place of routine in-person inspections, which have been suspended during […]