Billy Camden | FE Week

Grade three Ofsted ratings confirmed for NCG and Intraining

The nation’s largest college group and its troubled private training provider have officially been downgraded to ‘requires improvement’, after Ofsted published inspection reports on the pair this morning. FE Week revealed last week that NCG and Intraining were expected to receive poor ratings – down from their previous ‘good’ overall, following serious concerns about their achievement […]

Is the government about to scrap apprenticeship fees to woo back employers?

The 10-per-cent fee that small businesses must pay when they take on apprentices could be scrapped, according to the AELP. Its boss Mark Dawe revealed that the skills minister is having “ongoing conversations about a change in policy” regarding the co-investment rule, in an exclusive interview with FE Week ahead of his association’s national conference […]

ESFA given ‘vote of confidence’ in managing apprenticeship and T-level reforms

The ESFA will manage the reforms to apprenticeships and T-levels from this September, in a “vote of confidence” from the Department for Education. The DfE’s staff covering apprenticeships and professional and technical education will move into the funding agency at the start of the month, it was announced today. “I am delighted to welcome colleagues […]

Scrapping employer fees would be a mistake

We revealed this week that the government is considering a U-turn on apprenticeship employer fees. Since May last year, and for the first time in the history of apprenticeships, providers could only access government funding for small, non-levy paying firms after they received a 10-per-cent payment from the employer. This employer charge is central to […]

NHS starts fall despite apprenticeships push

The number of National Health Service apprenticeship starts fell by more than a fifth last year despite a plan for rapid expansion. Increasing the amount of NHS apprentices has been an important government goal since 2016, when health secretary Jeremy Hunt pledged to create a further 100,000 starts in the sector by 2020. At that […]

Trouble ahead for NCG with anticipated grade three from Ofsted

The largest college group in the country is to be dropped from the government’s final bidding round for Institutes of Technology after Ofsted hit it with a grade three rating, FE Week understands. Two teams of inspectors were deployed to NCG last month, in a visit prompted by achievement rate concerns. FE Week understands that […]

The big interview: NCG chair Peter Lauener

NCG has been in the headlines lately, what with the visits from Ofsted, its falling achievement rates, mass redundancies, strike action and the closure of the free school it sponsors. FE Week senior reporter Billy Camden sat down with the group’s new chair, once the ESFA’s chief executive, Peter Lauener to discuss why he took […]

DfE estimates colleges with financial warnings will nearly triple to 100

The number of colleges with financial warnings will nearly triple to 100 over the next 10 years, the government has estimated. The Department for Education revealed the figure in its response to its insolvency regime consultation today, in which it urges all colleges with financial troubles to “fully familiarise themselves with the [new] insolvency procedures”. […]

Now the National Audit Office is sniffing around T-levels

T-levels will be watched for “potential for losses and fruitless payments” according to the comptroller-general at the National Audit Office. Sir Amyas Morse has turned his eye towards the new post-16 technical qualifications after a rare ministerial direction published last month. The education secretary Damian Hinds last month refused to delay the initial 2020 rollout […]