Author: Billy Camden

A record high proportion of Ofsted-inspected colleges are now rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, FE Week can reveal. Our analysis of inspection grades shows an impressive 78 per cent of all general FE colleges have been placed in the top two categories as of August 31, 2019, up from 76 per cent in 2017/18. It is […]

A ‘Diversity in Leadership Programme’ is to be launched, following analysis published by FE Week which found just 7 per cent of college principals are Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME). The Education and Training Foundation is aiming to roll out the scheme by Christmas. It will have four strands: unconscious bias workshops; one-to-one coaching […]

A new provider that trains nearly 500 apprentices for a “world leading” security company has been rapped by Ofsted. Inspectors listed a catalogue of issues with the training delivered by EGS Nationwide Limited, which was found making ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of an early monitoring report. The sole employer it works with is G4S […]

The government needs to pursue every avenue to stay in a Europe-wide student exchange scheme regardless the outcome of Brexit, or fund a replacement programme, the Association of Colleges has said. The membership organisation is concerned about the potential loss of Erasmus+ – a long-running mobility programme that funds opportunities for students to learn and […]

A group of ten East Midlands college leaders met up at Chesterfield College today to celebrate this year’s national Colleges Week campaign. The group, who were hosted by Chesterfield College’s principal Julie Richards, posed in front of a Love Our Colleges graffiti mural which was created by level 3 graphic design student Mikey O’Connell last […]

AQA has been fined £350,000 – the largest ever handed out by Ofqual – and will compensate schools and colleges by £740,000 after “serious breaches” of rules over re-marks. The exam board failed to ensure re-marks and moderation were not carried out by the original marker, or by someone with no personal interest in the […]

A college faces “multiple, difficult and high-risk” challenges after being rocked by a £20 million subcontracting scandal which has put its future in doubt, a minister and the FE Commissioner have said. Richard Atkins’ team was sent into Brooklands College after FE Week revealed it had passed millions of pounds over to a mysterious private […]

Funding for students progressing to college from Pupil Referral Units should more than double to £10,000, the Association of Colleges has said. A new report, published by the organisation at the start of Colleges Week, has highlighted the barriers that colleges face when trying to re-integrate “marginalised” young people back into mainstream education. The research, […]

Twenty one colleges in the West Midlands have joined forces to produce a region-wide approach to educating learners about the dangers of gang violence and knife crime. Announced at the beginning of Colleges Week, the Further Education and Skills Productivity Group has designed a ‘Safer Student Charter’ with support from the West Midlands Combined Authority […]