Billy Camden | FE Week

Williamson defends independent provider Covid-19 testing ‘madness’

The education secretary has defended the controversial delay in distributing Covid-19 testing kits to independent training providers. In an interview with FE Week, Gavin Williamson insisted that the providers have “not been left out”. He said they can tap into the current local community testing regime until the supplies are made available to them through […]

Skills bootcamps ‘counter-intuitive’ to long-term FE simplification, top civil servant admits

Pilot schemes, such as skills bootcamps, are “counter-intuitive” to the Department for Education’s long-term goal of simplifying the FE system, Keith Smith has admitted. The director for post-16 strategy at the DfE and mastermind behind the FE white paper conceded that introducing programmes with brand-new funding rules and methodologies do add further complexity to an […]

Intervention regime WILL include college failure to comply with local skills improvement plans

New legislation will enable the education secretary to intervene where colleges refuse to deliver courses decided through local skills improvement plans, the FE white paper’s architect has confirmed. But the extent of the powers is still being determined by ministers and there is currently no timeline for when the formal regulations will come into force. […]

GCSE and A-level grades 2021: ‘I will back you all the way’, Williamson says to teachers

The education secretary has pledged to back teachers “all the way” in their efforts to award GCSE and A-level grades this summer, and accepted he will share the responsibility if there is a backlash on results days. In an exclusive interview with FE Week’s sister title FE Week, Gavin Williamson said the government was putting […]

A flexible and supportive approach to reforming EQA

The timeline has been extended for the external quality assurance (EQA) transition because apprentice assessment providers are under huge amounts of pressure due to Covid-19, writes Rob Nitsch We have decided to give more time for the EQA for apprenticeship end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) to transfer from the Institute-provided service to Ofqual. This recognises the […]

Colleges and training providers in line for £35m slice of the Turing Scheme

Around a third of the funding pot set aside for the Turing Scheme will go to further education providers, FE Week can reveal. £105 million in total has been promised to pay for 35,000 placements for the UK’s new international student exchange programme, which is set to get underway in September. In an interview with […]

ESFA announces new subcontracting cap

The volume of subcontracted training will be capped at 25 per cent for providers from next year – but plans for a further phased reduction beyond this amount have been binned. However, providers will be allowed to submit a request to be exempt from the cap. Further details about reforms to FE subcontracting were published […]

Budget 2021: What the chancellor announced for FE and skills

Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his spring budget today and confirmed a number of new investments for the FE and skills sector. They include a doubling of apprentice incentive payments for employers, a further boost to traineeships and a new “Help to Grow” scheme for small businesses to upskill. FE Week has the key points: […]

FE providers to receive free batch of face masks to aid reopening

FE providers will each receive up to 7,500 face masks from government for free as they reopen to more students from next week. A key new recommendation for onsite teaching from March 8 is for all students and staff to wear face coverings in the classroom until at least Easter. Under Department for Education guidance, […]