Author: Billy Camden

The government is encouraging under-performing colleges to reduce their 2018/19 adult education budget now, to avoid cash flow problems as a result of the ESFA clawing-back funding. A funding claims and reconciliation update was published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency today. It states that if a provider considers it “may not fully spend […]

A cash-strapped college’s 2017/18 accounts have revealed a £5 million deficit, on the same day that the insolvency regime came into force. The massive shortfall at North Hertfordshire College is 20 times higher than was budgeted at the beginning of the year, and twice what was predicted just two months before the end of the […]

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has delayed issuing European Social Fund contracts after multiple providers who lost out in a recent procurement alleged that the government broke tender rules. Winning bidders from the exercise, which was worth £282 million in total, were supposed to be awarded their contracts on Tuesday following a 10-day standstill […]

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has suspended starts at an apprenticeship firm with multimillion-pound subcontracting deals while it investigates the provider, following revelations in FE Week about its shady set-up. SCL Security Ltd, a private provider based in Kent that is run by Andrew Merritt, has taken £16.5 million from Brooklands College in Surrey […]

The government’s apprenticeships agency is not willing to share the formula it uses to calculate funding bands for apprenticeship standards as it fears employer groups will “misuse” it to “inflate their costs”. Sir Gerry Berragan, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s chief executive, acknowledged that it is a “common refrain that we are very […]

FE finally has representation on the board of the new regulatory body for higher education, after Leicester College’s principal was appointed as a non-executive director. Verity Hancock (pictured) joins the Office for Students’ board on a fixed term appointment for five years from tomorrow until Janaury 31, 2024, according to a Department for Education announcement […]

Two days before the college insolvency regime comes into effect, meaning that colleges will be able to go bust for the first time, the Department for Education has released guidance for governors on the new law and their responsibilities. FE Week has picked out seven key points:   Early identification of financial difficulties is vital […]

Special educational needs experts have warned of a “postcode lottery” for post-16 learners with high needs, during an education select committee roundtable this morning. MPs heard from representatives from colleges and charities working with learners with special education needs and disabilities on the issues around post-16 education. It was part of the committee’s inquiry into […]

More than half of the apprentices that trained with former apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance have still not been found a new provider, four months after its collapse. The company, better known as 3aaa, went into administration on October 11 after the government pulled its skills funding contracts following a fraud investigation, which is now […]