Author: Billy Camden

Tonight the T Level public consultation closes after running for 10 weeks and seeking answers to 45 questions. It sought opinions on the planned implementation of the new post-16 technical qualifications, which the government claims will set a new “gold standard” in training, set to emerge from 2020. Businesses and training providers had the chance to […]

The Department for Education has today published a research report exploring quality of teaching and leadership in FE. ‘Teaching, leadership and governance in further education’ examines whether the sector can cope with the reforms it is currently undergoing. Professor David Greatbatch from Durham University and Dr Sue Tate from the University of the West of […]

Ten colleges which once held contracts to deliver apprenticeships with small employers were not awarded funding in the recent non-levy tender. The figure, revealed by academies minister Lord Agnew in an answer to a parliamentary question yesterday, comes amid political campaigns to overturn the decision from high-profile unsuccessful colleges such as Exeter. Lord Agnew explained […]

The £170 million funding pot for new Institutes of Technology will not enable them to have a significant impact on the skills system, the FE commissioner has told a parliamentary hearing. Richard Atkins (pictured above) was asked about the role of the government’s new project during a House of Lords economic committee hearing on the […]

Off-the-job technical qualifications can now be included in apprenticeships, the Institute for Apprenticeships has officially announced, confirming a significant U-turn which FE Week revealed last week. It is one of a number of reforms from the IfA to make the approval of new apprenticeship standards “faster and better”, after skills minister Anne Milton admitted that […]

Two former professional footballers and two other men have been found guilty of scamming colleges out of £5 million in apprenticeship funding, through a con which involved “ghost” learners. Mark Aizlewood (above right), who played for Wales 39 times in the 1980s and 1990s, and Paul Sugrue (above left), who played for clubs including Manchester […]

Around £25 million was given to providers entering the apprenticeship market for the first time in the controversial non-levy tender, Anne Milton has revealed. In her first monthly column for FE Week, the skills and apprenticeships minister makes a robust defence of the government’s approach to the procurement exercise, explaining how it was unavoidable due […]

Cash incentives of £1,000 are being offered to every employer who takes on apprentices caught up in the collapse of Carillion. The payments have been sourced by the Construction Industry Training Board in a £1.4 million package that sees firms receive £500 upfront, and a further £500 after six months if they’ve retained the displaced […]