Author: Billy Camden

Defunct apprenticeship firm Aspire Achieve Advance paid for its former managing director’s child’s school fees as part of a “generous bonus”, FE Week can reveal. Andy Palmer (pictured) worked at the provider, better known as 3aaa, from September 2013 to October 2015 before becoming managing director of another disgraced FE giant – Learndirect – in […]

The boss of the Association of Colleges has told his members Ofsted is “quite right”, after the inspectorate found some colleges risk giving students “false hope” by putting them on courses where there are slim job prospects. Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector, drew gasps from delegates at the AoC conference this week when she questioned […]

Confusion surrounds the skills minister’s view on college and private provider partnerships, after FE Week discovered that her published speech for the Association of Colleges conference contradicts what she actually said. Anne Milton told over 1,000 delegates on Tuesday that she wants to see “more and more apprenticeship training being offered by colleges and where […]

Petroc has been crowned the best college in the country in FE Week’s exclusive league table for 2018. This year’s NICDEX gave 186 colleges a score of up to 40, with 10 marks available in four categories: learner satisfaction, employer satisfaction, 16-to-18 positive progression and adults into employment. The league table was first devised in […]

Significant senior staff vacancies and non-existent strategic and financial plans are just some of the issues facing a cash-strapped London college which was left in tatters by its old leader, its new principal has revealed. Karen Redhead lifted the lid on the difficulties at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College during a hot-topic panel session […]

Ofsted’s chief inspector delivered a keynote speech to bring this year’s Association of Colleges conference to a close today. Amanda Spielman talked delegates through the new common inspection framework and what it means for FE, a crackdown on “teaching to the test”, and the inspectorate’s new level 2 report, among other things. FE Week has […]

The controversial GCSE English and maths resits policy would be scrapped under a Labour government, Angela Rayner is expected to announce. The shadow education secretary will tell the Association of Colleges conference this afternoon that her party’s National Education Service would “reform” FE. As part of a “series” of changes, she’ll tell delegates that Labour […]

The skills minister has told college leaders that they need to use their money and resources “wisely” before making the case for more funding to the Treasury. Addressing the Association of Colleges conference in Birmingham today, Anne Milton (pictured) said that “all too often I sign off on requests for emergency financial support” and there […]

High street giant Boots has been hit with a third ‘requires improvement’ rating in a row by Ofsted. Inspectors who visited the employer provider in early October to monitor its apprenticeship provision criticised it for not learning lessons quickly enough from previous poor inspections in June 2015 and then again in June 2017. However, the […]