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10 April 2026

DfE to consult on level 4 and 5 T-levels for introduction from 2022

The government is going to build a “new generation” of higher technical qualifications at levels 4 and 5 for T-level students to progress onto, the education secretary will announce today. A consultation on the qualifications, which will be an alternative to degrees and apprenticeships for mostly 18-year-olds, will be launched early next year with an […]

Revealed: The next seven T-levels to be taught from 2021

The programmes to be taught in wave two of the government’s T-level roll-out will be announced by the education secretary today. Qualifications in health, healthcare science, science, onsite construction, building services engineering, digital support and services and digital business services are to be taught from 2021. Damian Hinds is also going to reveal that T-levels […]

Interserve denies 5,000+ apprentices will go the way of Carillion

Even as the fallout from Carillion’s collapse engrossed the nation, another outsourcing giant which trains over 5,000 apprentices also had financial concerns highlighted. Interserve, an international support services and construction group which runs a large UK training provider called Interserve Learning and Employment Ltd, employs over 80,000 staff worldwide and has an annual turnover of […]

Shadow minister demands IfA hands over private levy overspend presentation

The Institute for Apprenticeships has been criticised for refusing to publicly share a presentation given to employers about a worrying imminent apprenticeship overspend. Gordon Marsden, the shadow skills minister, described the latest example of a lack of transparency at the institute as “disappointing” and has said he will write to the government agency demanding its […]

Revealed: The 30 apprenticeship standards included in IfA’s new funding band review

The funding bands for a further 30 apprenticeship standards have gone up for review today. The new list (see table below), revealed by the Institute for Apprenticeships on its website, includes two standards currently set at £27,000 – the maximum upper limit, meaning their rates can only fall. The institute expects the full review to […]

Major apprenticeship provider to Santander goes bust after Ofsted mauling

A major new apprenticeship provider has gone bust following a scathing Ofsted monitoring report which found its directors were claiming funding for delivering little to no training. FE Week understands the company, AMS Nationwide Ltd, had its contracts terminated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency when the findings were revealed to officials. The private […]

Ofsted annual report warns apprenticeship levy being spent on graduate scheme rebadging

Amanda Spielman has amplified Ofsted’s concern that too much apprenticeship levy funding is being spent on higher levels, which is squeezing out the recruitment of young people onto lower level programmes. The chief inspector (pictured) raised the issue in her second annual report, published this morning. “We are concerned that in many cases, levy money […]

ESFA handed over £250,000 AFTER disgraced training provider went bust

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has paid a further quarter of a million pounds to a firm that had its training contracts terminated following an undercover FE Week investigation. Talent Training, which was based in South Tyneside and claimed to have £130 million of apprenticeship levy business, was caught offering banned inducements in the […]