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12 April 2026

Cabinet reshuffle: Education secretary Damian Hinds out

Damian Hinds has lost his job as education secretary, following skills minister Anne Milton out the door, as new prime minister Boris Johnson puts his cabinet together. He announced the news on Twitter: “It has been the greatest privilege to serve as education secretary. “Thank you to the brilliant team at @educationgovuk. And thank you […]

Government turns to European Union funding to support T-levels

The government is looking to the European Social Fund to help tackle the barriers that rural areas face with T-levels. A tender worth £500,000 was launched by the Department for Work and Pensions on Monday for an organisation to “broker opportunities” with small employers in the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding region for young […]

Theresa May uses last PMQs to plead with Boris Johnson to invest more in FE

Outgoing prime minister Theresa May used her last speech at the dispatch box to plead with her successor to make increasing further education funding his “priority”. “I want to see that happening” was the message from May in front of a packed House of Commons during her last ever prime minister’s questions session this afternoon. […]

DfE officially reopens academisation option for sixth-form colleges

The government has confirmed it will continue to allow sixth-form colleges to academise, two months after FE Week revealed the move was on the cards. Converting to academy status, and in doing so enjoying the luxury of not paying VAT, has been a possibility for nearly all SFCs since November 2015. Many took the opportunity […]

Skills minister Anne Milton resigns

Apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton has resigned from government. She announced the move on Twitter ahead of the appointment of a new prime minister today, and cited her “grave concerns about leaving the EU without a deal” in her letter of resignation. “Having abstained in the vote last week, today I have resigned from […]

The 11 things we learned from the DfE’s and ESFA’s 2018-19 accounts

Both the Department for Education and Education and Skills Funding Agency have today published their annual accounts for 2018-19, revealing huge college write-offs, rising fraud allegations and an increase in civil servant bonuses. FE Week has trawled through both documents and pulled out the main findings:   1. Nearly £60m in loan write-offs for colleges […]

Ofsted watch: Unimpressive week for new private providers

Five early monitoring reports for independent providers returned ‘insufficient’ ratings this week, with Ofsted finding some have not recruited with “integrity” and another had learners unaware they’re on an apprenticeship. It was also bad news for a local authority which was downgraded to ‘inadequate’. There was, however, promising results for colleges. The grade four came […]