Author: Billy Camden

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 […]

A training provider in Somerset that found itself at the sharp end of the adult education budget debacle has unsurprisingly won a special procurement worth £2.6 million to deliver “community learning services”. The Education and Skills Funding Agency launched a tender specifically for the area in May following a campaign by Somerset Skills and Learning, which […]

The skills minister is expecting a “slow take-up” when T-levels are launched, and admitted that as a parent she would tell her children to “leave it a year” before studying a brand new qualification. Anne Milton left one member of the commons education committee “staggered” by her comments on the post-16 technical qualifications during an […]

Battle lines have officially been drawn by the Federation of Awarding Bodies, after it outlined its intention to launch a judicial review of the government’s T-level implementation plans. The legal action began with a letter sent to the Department for Education and the Institute for Apprenticeships yesterday setting out FAB’s grounds, following a unanimous decision […]