Billy Camden | FE Week

College’s £240k rugby stadium naming deal investigated

The new interim chief executive at Hull College Group has launched an investigation after FE Week revealed the organisation had signed a £240,000 three-year rugby stadium naming sponsorship deal. The cost of the deal signed in July 2019 with Hull Kingston Rovers came to light after the college fought and lost a year-long freedom of […]

White paper Q&A with skills minister: ‘We have got an awful lot to do and an awful lot to prove’

The lack of a long-term funding settlement for FE did not hamper the Department for Education’s white paper in terms of its boldness or scale of investment, the skills minister has said. Speaking to FE Week following the launch of the white paper on Thursday, Gillian Keegan insisted there is an “awful lot to do” […]

FE white paper: The key reforms

The FE white paper included more than 30 proposals but the majority repeat or build on current reforms rather than announcing radically new ones. In this handy explainer FE Week explores the most significant and newest plans. 1: Create ‘Local Skills Improvement Plans’ and college business centres To ensure technical skills provision is “responsive […]

FE white paper sets out ‘ambitious’ reforms

“New powers” for the education secretary to intervene in colleges and plans for funding reform have been revealed today as the much-anticipated FE white paper is published. The ‘Skills for Jobs White Paper’ was released this morning and includes a raft of measures to “realign” the post-16 system around the needs of employers. While the […]

Ofqual delays decision on solution for apprentices stuck in limbo

A decision on whether apprentices can receive teacher-assessed grades for their English and maths if they are unable to sit their assessments has been pushed back by Ofqual until at least late February. As previously reported by FE Week, tens of thousands of work-based learners, mostly in the health and care sectors, have been stuck […]

‘Compressed’ exams and early results day: Post-qualification admissions proposals revealed

Exam dates could be brought forward or ‘compressed’ to allow for extra time to process university applications under new proposals for post-qualification admissions (PQA). The Department for Education opened its consultation into the proposed changes for a PQA system into higher education today. One model would see students apply to university after receiving their A-level […]

DfE finally publishes ‘interim’ response to Augar Review

The Department for Education has finally published its initial response to Philip Augar’s review of Post-18 Education and Funding, almost two years after it was launched. It is worth noting, however, that this is an “interim” response and the final conclusion will not be set out until the next Comprehensive Spending Review. Much of the […]

Traineeships tender results revealed

Bidders to the government’s traineeships tender are now being informed of their outcomes following a slight delay. In decision letters sent out yesterday, seen by FE Week, the Education and Skills Funding Agency tells providers that they will be observing a ten-day “voluntary standstill period” from 19 January before entering into the contracts on 1 […]

Ofqual raises concerns over DfE reforms to BTECs and other level 3 qualifications

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 […]