Billy Camden | FE Week

Government suggests schools and colleges relax phone bans to allow use of NHS Covid app

The government has suggested that schools and colleges with bans on mobile phones relax their policies in order to allow students to use the NHS Covid-19 app. New guidance issued by the government even talks of the benefits of the use of smartphones by students during the school or college day, despite recent support from […]

Education sector appears exempt from new Covid restrictions in battle against second wave

No changes have been announced for the FE sector despite a list of new restrictions for England. Prime minister Boris Johnson today unveiled a raft of tougher measures including the axing of “all adult indoor team sports” and five-a-side football, and an enforced 10pm closing time for pubs, restaurants and takeaways from Thursday. All workers […]

Minister’s office breaks apprenticeship recruitment pledge

A pledge to fill all junior roles with apprentices until the end of December has already been broken by the Department for Education. Job adverts for three diary managers, who will work directly with ministers and the DfE’s permanent secretary, at executive officer level are currently live and state the roles can be filled by […]

Ofsted wins battle to inspect ALL apprenticeships

Ofsted will soon be handed powers to inspect all universities that offer apprenticeships – including the likes of Cambridge, FE Week can reveal. In a controversial move, the education watchdog is set to take on responsibility for overseeing all apprenticeships, including those at the degree levels of 6 and 7, for the first time. Only […]

Why route reviews are so critical for the future of technical education

The resumption of route reviews is a wonderful opportunity for us to consider together how technical education can play a more important role than ever in supporting the nation’s economic recovery, writes Ana Osbourne It has now been nearly six months since the Institute announced that all route reviews would be postponed due to the […]

DEBATE: Should FE colleges lose autonomy to make course choices?

On 17 January 2020, FE Week was first to report that the government was working on new legislation in the form of an FE Bill, which “could mean colleges lose ultimate power over deciding which courses are run”. Four days later, on the 21 January, Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, gave a speech in which […]

No mandatory face masks, and 7 other things you need to know about autumn exams

The government has released further guidance on how schools and colleges must prepare for autumn exams to best protect public health. This is what you need to know: 1. Keep students apart in safe spaces before exams … Schools and colleges are being told to “identify a location where candidates will wait before the […]

76 winners scoop silver Pearson Teaching Awards for 2020

Inspirational teachers from across the country have been honoured today for their outstanding commitment to changing the lives of children. A total of 76 winners have scooped silver awards in the annual Pearson National Teaching Awards. The winners (full list below) will now be shortlisted to win just one of 14 gold awards at the […]

DfE seizes control of handling school and college covid cases after PHE local teams ‘overwhelmed’

The government has set up a national helpline for colleges to report positive coronavirus cases following some schools being left in “limbo” waiting three days to get official health advice. An investigation by FE Week’s sister paper FE Week revealed yesterday how schools were waiting days for advice from local health protection teams on how […]