Billy Camden | FE Week

DfE hands out £2m for more levy research

An FE-focused research centre has been given the ministerial nod to continue its work until 2020, and the apprenticeship levy will be particularly in focus. The Centre for Vocational Educational Research had its mid-term review at the beginning of this year. After an initial £3 million grant from the Department for Education in May 2015, […]

Employer satisfaction surveys to be audited for the first time

The government will audit the results of its employer satisfaction survey for the first time, due to concerns over the way it is distributed by providers. The ESFA said it would provide “additional quality assurance” in this year’s survey, in new guidance, in order to ensure the data is comparable between providers. It specifically wants […]

Council branded ‘inadequate’ after Ofsted warns of radicalisation risk

A local authority in the north-east has plummeted two grades to ‘inadequate’, in an Ofsted report which raised alarms about risks of radicalisation and severely poor subcontracted apprenticeship delivery. Sunderland city council, which was rated ‘good’ in 2014 and trains just over 3,000 learners, received the damning verdict this morning. Inspectors slammed its apprenticeships, which […]

Ofqual’s turn to raise T-level worries

The body that regulates qualifications in England has added its voice to fears about the government’s plans for T-levels. Ofqual is worried about proposals to use a single awarding organisation per qualification, and the FE sector’s ability to cope with yet another set of significant reforms. It made its concerns known in its response to […]

Huge VAT loans let-off after HMRC admits poor guidance

Private providers are being let off millions of pounds in unpaid VAT because the tax office gave them bad advice, FE Week can reveal. ITPs were meant to start adding a 20-per-cent charge to advance learner loans courses when the scheme was introduced in 2013, but it seems as though the rule has not been […]

Ofsted Watch: Delight for colleges but despair for community learning provider

Two colleges rejoiced this week as they stepped up to grade two, but there was no cause for celebration at an adult and community learning provider rated ‘inadequate’. As reported by FE Week on Wednesday, Chelmsford College and Craven College rose to from grade three to two. It means just under three quarters of colleges […]

Adult education budget climbdown cost £16m

The government has had to pump an extra £16 million into the adult education budget to appease a group of training providers who threatened legal action over last year’s controversial tender. The original procurement had total pot of around £110 million to use this academic year. The process culminated in widespread fury when the results […]

Ofqual to audit awarding organisations amid concerns with provider relationships

Ofqual will begin auditing awarding organisations’ on the “control” they have over their individual providers, after finding evidence it has reduced in recent years. The exams watchdog wrote to AOs today explaining the decision has been made due to concerns over “direct claim status”. It is now asking all bodies to review their “arrangements with […]

Stoke-on-Trent College received a half-million bailout

Stoke-on-Trent College is almost £16 million in the red and received more than £500,000 in exceptional financial support in December alone, while it awaits the outcome of a £21.9 million application to the government restructuring facility. In the meantime, it is “reliant on the continued availability of bank loans (in respect of which covenants have […]