Author: Billy Camden

The Department for Education has this morning published its annual report, revealing payoffs, various bonuses and millions in unrecoverable debt. The accounts sets out the expenditure and performance of the department over the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018. FE Week has the main findings:   1. Hinds’ ministerial direction ‘demonstrated strong commitment’ […]

An independent specialist college showed the best of FE this week as it maintained its ‘outstanding’ rating, but the worst of the sector was also displayed when a private provider was branded ‘inadequate’. Foxes Academy, based in Somerset, was given a grade one across the board for the third time since 2007, in a report […]

The Department for Education spent more than £90 million on university technical college and studio school projects that went on to fail, new data shows. The government updated its register of capital spending on free schools, which includes the acquisition and construction costs for the 14 to 19 technical institutions. Analysis of the data shows […]

The government has watered down a number of rules in its procurement process for T-levels following outcry from the sector – but it’s unlikely to appease the Federation of Awarding Bodies’ legal action. The draft invitation to tender for awarding organisations was published by the Department for Education today. It follows two market engagement events […]

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has this afternoon published its annual report for 2017-18, revealing huge bailouts, questionable bonuses and resource issues. This is the first set of accounts for the agency, which formed last April, bringing together the Education Funding Agency and the Skills Funding Agency. FE Week has the main findings:   The […]

The education secretary has hit back at the Federation of Awarding Bodies “deeply disappointing” threat of a judicial review of T-levels, warning that it could “disrupt” their rollout. Damian Hinds vowed to press ahead with the new technical qualifications as planned, and said the proposed legal action was “unnecessary”. He told awarding organisations to “focus […]

Colleges have slightly narrowed the gap with private training providers by 2.5 percentage points when it comes to learner satisfaction, according to new government figures. The Department for Education released the results of its 2017/18 student survey this morning, which showed overall satisfaction with all FE providers fell by nearly 2 per cent compared to […]

The prime minister has claimed that apprenticeships quality has risen since the introduction of the levy, despite Ofsted finding the reverse. Theresa May (pictured) was quizzed on the “disastrous” government policy by Alan Whitehead, the MP for Southampton Test, during prime minister’s questions today. Mr Whitehead said that the largest apprenticeship provider in his constituency […]

The West Midlands has become the first combined authority to strike a “skills deal” with the Department for Education, with £69 million available to be unlocked for training. Up to £49 million will come via government investment, while the extra £20 million is being pumped into the region by the authority itself. The funding, to […]