Author: Billy Camden

The chair of an influential committee of MPs has called for an investigation into the government’s Kickstart scheme after FE Week revealed how firms based outside the UK or with no trading history were selected as “gateway” providers. Meg Hillier (pictured), who heads the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, was “shocked” to hear how firms were […]

Proposals for externally-set papers to help inform teacher GCSE and A-level grades this year are not “exams by the back door”, Ofqual’s chief regulator has said after students flagged concerns. Ofqual is proposing that papers, providing by exams boards, can help teachers award a grade to their pupils this year after exams were scrapped. But […]

Registrations for courses on the government’s “skills toolkit” that have been celebrated by ministers could be coming from anywhere in the world, the Department for Education has admitted. More than £1 million of public money has been spent on developing and advertising the “platform”, which directs visitors to free online content provided by the likes […]

Regional mayors are preparing to plead for courses to be added to the government’s lifetime skills guarantee offer after ministers controversially excluded critical economic sectors from the list. However, most remain tight-lipped about which industries they want to target. Almost 400 level 3 qualifications covering sectors including engineering, construction, public services and IT will be […]

Apprenticeship starts appear to be recovering after new data showed a less dramatic percentage drop amid the pandemic. Figures published this morning by the Department for Education show there were 91,100 starts recorded from August to October 2020, compared to 125,800 reported for the same period pre-Covid-19 in 2019/20 – a 28 per cent fall.  […]

Employers can claim the government’s promised £1,000 for a completed traineeship work placement using an online form from today. The form is now live on the gov.uk website and it is understood claims will be checked against the monthly Individualised Learner Record data submitted by traineeship providers before payments are made. The £1,000 payment is […]

The government’s approach to college intervention takes too long, costs too much and is not effective in making them more sustainable, influential MPs have said. A Public Accounts Committee report today warns that ministers “cannot keep putting sticking plasters over this gaping wound” as it delivers a damning verdict on how college finances are being […]

The government will make announcements on reopening education providers “in the next few days”, the schools minister has said. However, Nick Gibb gave no indication of whether the upcoming announcements would include a firm date for schools, colleges and training providers to reopen, or details of any phased approach the government may take. He also […]

Daf Williams, just hours after a shock resignation from the position of chair to the board of Hull College Group, has denied there has been a failure of governance and instead accused the government regulators of failing to do their jobs. The resignation came on the day of a visit from the FE Commissioner’s team […]