Author: Billy Camden

Government plans to remove funding for thousands of courses, such as BTECs, that compete with T Levels and A-levels risk destabilising the qualifications market and adversely narrowing learner choice, Ofqual has warned. The exams regulator has today raised a number of concerns in response to the Department for Education’s level 3 qualifications review. The DfE […]

The exams regulator Ofqual has finally revealed its plans for replacing exams this summer. Two consultation documents have gone live this afternoon: one for GCSEs and A-levels; and one for vocational and technical qualifications including BTECs and functional skills. Both have a two week deadline for submissions of 29 January 2021.   GCSEs and A-levels […]

The chancellor Rishi Sunak was personally “annoyed” at how long the Department for Education traineeships tender took to get off the ground, FE Week has learnt. The Treasury did not deny this when approached for comment. This latest revelation comes on the day that the DfE commercial team has further delayed the outcomes of the […]

A high profile college leader has taken the reins at the Hull College Group as a short-term interim chief executive. Staff were informed today that Lowell Williams, a former national leader of further education who retired as the boss of Dudley College last year, will lead the group until its new permanent chief executive, Chris […]

The government has been accused of “losing their way” when it comes to England’s apprenticeships, as the number of standards on offer nears the 600 mark. Demands have been growing in recent years for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to “take stock” and focus on quality rather than quantity, but the pace of […]

A government consultation that asks for views on plans to remove funding for applied general qualifications, such as BTECs, that compete with T Levels and A-levels has been extended. The deadline for responding to the second stage of the level 3 qualifications review was set for tomorrow, but will now remain open until 31 January. […]

Written BTEC and other vocational exams planned for February and March should not go ahead, the education secretary has said. But students taking competency-based assessment including apprenticeships can continue with “protective measures put in place”. Gavin Williamson outlined the plans in a letter to Ofqual’s interim chief regulator Simon Lebus this morning before justifying the […]

Almost 50 colleges set to deliver T Levels from 2021 will share £48.5 million to refurbish their buildings. Successful projects include a new civil engineering centre at the Lakes College in Cumbria, and a brand new teaching block at Burnley College that will include classrooms, an elite athlete gym and a sports therapy space. The […]

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has this morning outlined his expectation for how exams will be replaced this year. In a letter to exams regulator Ofqual, he said that grades should be issued “as late as possible”, with teacher assessments only changed as apart of the moderation process in the “exception”, and wants the idea of […]