Author: Billy Camden

Funding rates for adult learners must be raised to the same level as 16 to 19-year-olds to ensure courses are viable to deliver, the Association of Colleges has said. Ahead of tomorrow’s spending review, the membership organisation has published research that claims the government’s flagship national skills fund will “fail” unless more money is pumped […]

A huge recruitment drive has been launched at the Department for Education to aid its response to Covid-19, with 100 jobs up for grabs. Job adverts for the 12-month contracts contain limited detail but state that people are being sought to work in “priority roles” that have been impacted by the pandemic and will be […]

Major parts of the economy will see level 3 qualifications in their sector excluded from the new Lifetime Skills Guarantee, FE Week can reveal. Sectors deemed a low priority with low wages include hospitality, leisure, travel, retail, media and arts, while sectors such as IT, construction and engineering will get the green light. When the […]

An upcoming tender for the national adult education budget has been delayed – again. The Education and Skills Funding Agency had planned to launch the re-procurement exercise, which is expected to follow the same scope as the controversial AEB tender in 2017, in July 2020 but then pushed this back until the end of the […]

Universities that deliver apprenticeships will be subject to Education and Skills Funding Agency funding audits for the first time from April next year. The first audits could come the same month that Ofsted is handed new powers to inspect degree apprenticeships. University representative organisations said their members have been preparing for ESFA audits and understand […]

A new inquiry into the challenges faced in prison education has been launched by the parliamentary education select committee. MPs on the committee said that while the Covid-19 pandemic had made delivery of education challenging across the board, provision has been “significantly impacted” for those in custody. They will examine to what degree adults in […]

A mega-college in Nottingham has been placed in formal FE Commissioner intervention after hitting “serious cashflow pressures”. The Education and Skills Funding Agency published a financial notice to improve for Nottingham College on Wednesday. The ESFA letter, dated July 2020, states that there is a “need for cashflow support in November/December 2020” and there was […]

The education secretary has promised that the imminent FE white paper will bring an “end to getting a qualification for its own sake” and ensure that training reflects the “changing needs” of employers. Gavin Williamson said further education will “no longer be hiding its vast potential under a bushel” following the reforms, while making a […]

New legislation should force all colleges to be part of “networks” that could follow similar accountability structures as multi-academy trusts, a commission of leading FE figures has said. Authors of the Independent Commission on the College of the Future report for England say the imminent FE white paper and subsequent legislation should define the principles […]