Author: Billy Camden

The skills minister offered a handwritten promise to the Association of Colleges that her “lobbying for FE continues” when delivering the news that there is no cash to fund a college staff pay rise. Anne Milton, who says she “constantly” fights the Treasury for more money, appeared sympathetic to the AoC’s case when responding to […]

Apprenticeship providers could be forced to stop recruiting students for several years, if judged to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in early monitoring visits from Ofsted, FE Week can reveal. Earlier this month the Education and Skills Funding Agency confirmed that any poor-performing provider with the rating in at least one of the themes under review […]

A college in west Anglia has been banned from entering into new subcontracting arrangements after a government investigation found it did not know where training for 16 to 19-year-olds was being delivered. An inquiry into the College of West Anglia’s relationship with GEMEG Limited was launched at the end of 2017 following allegations of severe […]

The government is expecting to spend up to £7.5 million over a 15 month period to cover the cost of the legal work carried out by practitioners and consultants for its new college insolvency regime. The vast amount is being set aside despite the Department for Education admitting college insolvency would be an “unlikely event”, […]

After 10 years of “politely” highlighting the impact of funding cuts, the Association of Colleges will now make “a lot more noise”, after a plea to ministers for cash to fund a lecturer pay rise was rejected. It will kick off its new louder strategy by holding a “week of action” in October, where students, […]

The University and College Union has begun balloting its members for strike action, after colleges failed to meet their demands over this year’s pay claim. College staff were left bitterly disappointed in July when the AoC said it was unable to recommend a salary increase of five per cent, and was instead only able to […]

Over 1,500 training providers on the government’s apprenticeships register will not have direct access to funding for small employers until at least a year later than planned. An update from the Education and Skills Funding Agency revealed the news today which claimed it was “acting on user feedback”. The agency had planned that all employers […]

A training provider previously banned from taking on any new apprentices and a formerly ‘inadequate’ council have been making strong improvements, monitoring visits have found. Key6 Group had its first revisit from Ofsted last month since it was told its delivery was “not fit for purpose” in March, as part of the inspectorate’s investigations into […]

Ofsted will soon call on FE providers to help it undertake a “huge” amount of FE-related research projects, according to its director of corporate strategy. The education watchdog has set aside around £2.4 million, or 4 per cent of its inspector resource, to spend on 20 studies over the next two years. It is part […]