Skip to content
14 May 2026

Lauener pledges salary to student hardship fund

Peter Lauener will donate the £25,000 salary he will earn as chair of one of the UK’s largest college groups to a student hardship fund. Apparently one of the busiest men in FE, the former boss of the ESFA and the Institute for Apprenticeships, who currently leads the Student Loans Company, bagged himself yet another […]

Top providers turn to MPs for non-levy relief

Top training providers and colleges still denied non-levy contracts are turning to influential MPs in an effort to squeeze the cash they need from the government. Exeter College, which FE Week rates as the best college in the country, and Hull’s HYA Training both appealed the ESFA’s decision not to fund their apprenticeships with smaller […]

Urgent government action needed to save traineeships, AELP claims

Traineeships are in decline and could die without more support from the government, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers has warned. Alongside the shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, the body hosted a special Westminster debate on the future of the scheme in Parliament this afternoon. Panel members, including AELP’s chair Martin Dunford and chief executive […]

Exeter College brings the big guns in its non-levy tender battle

A high-profile ‘outstanding’ college has asked its influential local MP to help it overturn the decision not to give it any non-levy funding, after its appeal was rejected. Exeter College, which FE Week recently crowned the best college in the country for the second year running, was denied a contract in the recent tender for […]

Former ESFA boss Peter Lauener to chair NCG

Peter Lauener, the busiest man in FE, has bagged himself yet another job, this time as chair of one of the largest college groups in the country. The former ESFA and Institute for Apprenticeships boss will take up the role at NCG in the spring, taking over from Jamie Martin. He retired from both government […]

Learners and employers lauded at National Apprenticeship Awards

The country’s top three apprentices and six best employers have been celebrated at the 14th National Apprenticeship Awards. London’s Grosvenor House hosted a stellar ceremony on Thursday night, using the theme of ‘Bright Future’, hailing individuals and employers for their commitment to apprenticeships. To be crowned winners at the national final, apprentices had to beat […]

FE sector steps in to help stranded Carillion apprentices

FE providers are rallying to help more than 1,000 apprentices affected by the collapse of the outsourcing giant Carillion, but many more places are needed to ensure everyone’s qualifications are saved. The UK’s largest employer of construction apprentices went into liquidation on Monday, leaving the future of around 1,400 trainees, mostly 16- to 18-year-olds, uncertain. […]

Learndirect boss reveals ‘surprise’ at £45m allocation following AEB tender withdrawal

Learndirect’s boss has admitted he was “surprised” his provider was handed such a large allocation in the adult education budget tender fiasco, after it tactically withdrew its bid. Andy Palmer made his astonishment known about the £45 million contract at last night’s Public Accounts Committee hearing on the nation’s biggest FE provider. Responding to a question […]