Author: Billy Camden

David Hughes has “serious concerns” about the unstoppable rise of management apprenticeships and the consequent lack of opportunities for young people. In an exclusive interview with FE Week ahead of the AoC’s national conference next week, the organisation’s boss warned that FE would end up with a “polarised system” if the numbers taking apprenticeships in […]

The long-term survival of Learndirect will hinge on the success of its sister companies, including Learndirect Apprenticeships, over the next 12 months, as newly released accounts show it saddled with debts of more than £50 million. The nation’s biggest FE provider, which has had serious financial and performance issues ever since Ofsted damned it with […]

Two thirds of colleges and schools have had to cut extra-curricular activities and student support services due to crippling 16 to 19 funding cuts, a damning survey has found. This was one of the main findings in a report published by the Sixth Form Colleges Association today, based on a survey of 341 college and […]

The education secretary has been accused of putting more talk than action into growing apprenticeships amongst ethnic minorities. Justine Greening repeatedly told the education select committee that the Department for Education has had a “big focus” on encouraging “a higher proportion of BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] young people going into apprenticeships”, during a […]

The head of the Commons education select committee wants a “wholesale review” into why Ofsted is yet to inspect a single subcontractor more than a year after the rules changed. Robert Halfon, a former skills minister, made the demand days after chief inspector Amanda Spielman admitted that she too was worried by this lack of […]

The government revealed today that they are working on a plan to allow employers to hand over much of the apprenticeship account administration to their providers, something they insist will still “maintain employer ownership”. Keith Smith, director of funding and programmes at the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), told delegates at the AELP autumn conference […]

The government must urgently address employer resistance to the minimum off-the-job training apprenticeship rule, the AELP has said ahead of its autumn conference. This is one of many actions that the association is asking for, to foster a “more flexible” approach to the apprenticeship reforms and make them a success – and something that apprenticeships […]