Billy Camden | FE Week

Extra-curricular and student support cuts exposed

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 […]

Milton appears to back subcontractor inspections

The skills minister has appeared to agree that Ofsted should inspect subcontractors during an exchange at education questions in the House of Commons today. Anne Milton seemed to echo the beliefs of her predecessor Robert Halfon when he asked her about subcontracting in Parliament. Mr Halfon, now the chair of the influential education select committee, […]

Greening ‘all talk’ on BAME apprenticeships

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 […]

Halfon: ‘Ofsted must start inspecting subcontractors’

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 […]

Big BAME focus – really?

The government went to the trouble of setting a target in 2015 to increase apprenticeship starts for ethnic minorities, but Justine Greening’s claim of a “big focus” in the past two years simply does not stand up to scrutiny. And it’s worth considering what a 20-per-cent increase actually means in terms of actual figures. The […]

ESFA plans new ‘trusted provider status’ for employer levy account management

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 […]

Off-the-job training rule hangs over 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 […]

Ofsted watch: Anxious wait for loans learners after private provider’s damning grade four

Learners will face an anxious wait after an independent training provider that’s heavily focused on FE-loan funded provision was given the worst possible Ofsted rating. Activ8 Learning, which is based in York and delivers programmes in early years education for adult learners who fund their courses through advanced learner loans, was today given ‘inadequate’ ratings […]

Unison recommends members reject ‘disappointing’ 1% pay offer

A major public sector union has recommended that its members reject this year’s “disappointing” FE pay offer, and industrial action could be on the cards. Unison released an e-ballot last week asking its members whether they want to accept or reject the Association of Colleges’ offer of a one-per-cent pay increase for college staff made […]