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13 April 2026

Author: Billy Camden

Wishing you a healthy, merry Christmas and better times ahead

Jennifer Coupland reflects on the challenges of 2020 and looks ahead to what the new year will hold for apprenticeships I recently marked my first anniversary as chief executive and could never have imagined that I would spend the vast majority of that time working from home, forever at the mercy of my Wi-Fi and […]

Ministers have once again proven that FE is an afterthought for this government

Mind the gap! Warm words from ministers on skills can’t conceal the gulf between rhetoric and reality, writes Toby Perkins Three months on from the prime minister’s proclamation that he would lead a skills-based recovery, two recent examples of the government’s neglect for further education continue to undermine it. Firstly, it will be a huge […]

Regulators took over after apprenticeship assessment bodies refused to comply

A lack of regulatory powers for quality assurance providers to enforce compliance with apprentice assessment rules was a key reason for moving the job to Ofqual and the Office for Students, according to a new report. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has today published its first ever ‘external quality assurance’ (EQA) annual report, […]

DfE extends free sanitary products scheme for an extra year

The government has extended its free sanitary products scheme for schools and colleges for an extra year. Schools and 16 to 19 providers will continue to be able to order products for any students who need them until December 2021, the Department for Education has announced today. However, the DfE has not said whether it […]

Why urgent support is needed to address UK skills deficit

New incentives are needed for businesses to train their employees for a post-Covid world, writes Guglielmo Ventura With the economy still in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, workers (especially the young) in low-paid occupations continue to bear the brunt of lower earnings and redundancy. The crisis has also accelerated trends which predated the pandemic: […]

Ofqual chair Roger Taylor to stand down

The chair of exams regulator Ofqual is to stand down at the end of the year. Roger Taylor, who has been a member of the organisation’s board since 2012 and its chair since 2016, will be replaced by academy trust leader Ian Bauckham on an interim basis pending a “fair and open” competition to find […]

Ofsted reveals key findings from final FE interim visits

Ofsted has today published a summary of what they found during their final “interim visits” of colleges and training providers that took place this autumn. A total of 84 providers were visited between October 19 and December 4 – the majority of which (44, or 52 per cent), were previously judged as ‘requires improvement’. The […]

£125m promised FE funding delayed

Promised investment in skills training has been questioned after FE Week discovered £125 million of FE funding has been delayed by at least a year. The Conservative Party manifesto pledged a new National Skills Fund (NSF) with £500 million being made available in each of the next five years in England from 2021/22, but last […]