Author: Billy Camden

Portsmouth College principal Steve Frampton has been announced as the president-elect of the Association of Colleges. He will take over from current president Dr Alison Birkinshaw at the end of her one-year term on August 1. Mr Frampton, who the AoC says has a “lifelong passion” for post-16 education, has over 39 years’ experience in […]

London college bosses have hit out at London’s mayor Sadiq Khan after FE week revealed he plans to top-slice £3 million from the adult education budget to pay over 50 new bureaucrats from next year. The money will be siphoned from frontline learning to cover the wages of administrators managing AEB in the capital when […]

The quality of apprenticeships is in decline, Ofsted has said, and the programmes are starting to resemble the doomed Train to Gain initiative from the mid 00s. The inspectorate’s deputy director for FE and skills told MPs on the commons education select committee earlier this week that around half of inspections carried out so far […]

A new “sector-leading”  pay agreement – amounting to more than six per cent over three years – has been reached between Sandwell College and its staff. Members of the University and College Union had been meant to walk out for three days this week, having already been on strike for five days since February. This action […]

The days of the charismatic principal are gone, according to a deputy FE commissioner. John Hogg (pictured above) told delegates at the Skills and Education Group’s annual conference in Nottingham today that the role of college bosses is changing. A former principal of Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton and Coventry colleges, he also warned that some colleges leaders […]

The skills minister has conceded that there is a lack of clarity when it comes to who is accountable for apprenticeship quality. Anne Milton acknowledged that it was unclear whether it is a job solely for Ofsted or the ESFA at an education committee hearing this morning, admitting responsibility needs to be defined “more clearly”. […]

Caps on subcontracting management fees will be introduced if the government deems it “right and proper”. The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s director of apprenticeships was questioned on the unscrupulous top-slices that many prime providers now charge during an education committee hearing on apprenticeships this morning. Keith Smith pointed out that stricter rules have recently […]

The mayor of London plans to top-slice £3 million from the adult education budget to pay for over 50 new bureaucrats from next year, instead of using it for frontline learning. The money will cover the annual wage costs of a new administration to handle the AEB for the capital when devolution kicks in, including […]

Staff at a college who had been due to go on strike for four days this week have called the walkout off following “positive discussions” with management for a new pay “agreement”. University and College Union members at Sandwell College have already been on strike for five days since February, and were due to return […]