Author: Billy Camden

The Department for Education’s top civil servant has admitted “hard choices” will need to be made in the face of an imminent apprenticeship budget overspend. Jonathan Slater, the department’s permanent secretary, was one of a number high-profile government officials quizzed by the Public Accounts Committee this afternoon on the affordability of the apprenticeship programme. Asked […]

The number of HMRC investigations into the underpayment of the apprenticeship levy at big employers has more than doubled in a year, according to an accountancy group. Figures obtained by UHY Hacker Young from the tax office show that 84 investigations were carried out in 2018-19, compared to 33 in 2017-18. As a result, HMRC […]

England’s largest college group this week announced plans to slash up to 300 jobs across its two training providers to “strengthen” its “already robust provision”, but FE Week has since learnt the truth behind the move. The redundancies consultation at Intraining and Rathbone Training, part of NCG, comes off the back of a slamming Ofsted […]

Two colleges in severe financial trouble have been told by the FE Commssioner and skills minister that “urgent actions” are needed to secure their long-term futures. North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, which has experienced historical cash issues since its merger in 2016, and Macclesfield College, which had its financial health rated ‘inadequate’ earlier this […]

The principal and chief executive of a college that gave £16.5 million over the last three years to a mysterious subcontracting partner currently subject to a government investigation has resigned. Gail Walker (pictured), who has worked her way up to the top job at Brooklands College since 2011, has stepped down “as part of her […]

Thirteen more colleges will receive a total of £1.8 million in grants through a fund designed to support struggling colleges, the government announced today. Skills minister Anne Milton has named the second round of colleges set to receive the cash, which is part of the £15 million strategic college improvement fund. The 13 institutions are: […]

A training provider is launching legal action against the Education and Skills Funding Agency following an allegedly botched European Social Fund tender. The agency ran its latest ESF procurement, worth around £282 million in total, towards the end of last year and was supposed to award contracts to the winning bidders on January 29. But […]

The government’s consultation on plans to withdraw funding for thousands of applied general qualifications including BTECs is not manipulation of the market to ensure T-levels are a success, the skills minister has insisted. Speaking to FE Week, Anne Milton said: “There is no manipulation whatsoever. If somebody is providing or teaching qualifications that are of […]

Up to 300 jobs are on the line at England’s largest college group, after it announced plans to close its two private training providers. Staff at Intraining and Rathbone Training, which are part of NCG, are being consulted on the redundancies. The providers currently train 4,500 learners between them, of which two-thirds are apprentices. Some […]