Billy Camden | FE Week

Two thirds of loan-funded learners from collapsed providers still lack alternative provision

Over two thirds of learners from providers that have collapsed – leaving them with huge loan debt but no qualifications – have still not been moved onto alternative courses. The situation has become so dire that Robert Halfon (pictured right), the new chair of the Commons education select committee, is now backing FE Week’s campaign […]

Damning evidence mounts against DfE over Learndirect

The Department for Education did not launch a funding audit of Learndirect at the end of March, even though Ofsted sent damning evidence that apprentices were not receiving enough training, FE Week can reveal. An experienced independent apprenticeship funding auditor confirmed Ofsted’s evidence should have raised significant concerns at the department. FE Week understands that […]

Ofsted exposes rule breach over unemployed apprentices

An ‘inadequate’ community learning provider has been caught breaching government funding rules, after Ofsted found most of its construction apprentices were unemployed. North Liverpool Regeneration Company Ltd, which trained around 129 learners last year with an Education and Skills Funding Agency apprenticeships allocation of more than £600,000, was given a grade four across the board […]

DfE given legal ultimatum over botched adult education budget tender

Private providers have given the government until the end of this week to find a solution to the “tragedy” of the botched adult education budget tender – or else they’ll launch legal action. The fallout from the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s contentious AEB procurement process has stoked “immense anger and frustration” across the sector […]

DfE launches its FIFTH consultation on apprenticeship funding reform

The Department for Education has put out yet another survey on how reforms to apprenticeship funding are affecting employers and training providers today – the fifth such consultation in four years, under four different ministers. Described as a “short” questionnaire, the DfE is asking 32 questions on the impact of the apprenticeship levy. This latest […]

DfE discussing ‘options’ to reverse provider’s £3m funding cut

A 10,000-learner provider on the brink of collapse after it lost 97 per cent of its funding has been “assured” the government is discussing “options” to reverse the cut – but there’s been no change yet. On Monday, bosses at Somerset Skills & Learning were joined by four Somerset MPs and various county council representatives […]

Review prompted by autistic teen’s college enrolment heartbreak

A college is reviewing its enrolment procedures after an autistic boy was asked not to return just days after he was mistakenly allowed to start a course – and his mother’s heartbroken Facebook post went viral. James Parker, 16, began a one-year pathways course at City College Norwich last Monday, but his mother Emma received […]

BREAKING: Milton grants Somerset MPs emergency meeting with funding agency

Somerset MPs held an emergency meeting on Wednesday with the skills minister to reverse the massive £3.3 million funding cut imposed on a 10,000-learner community-based provider. Four of the county’s five Conservative MPs, Marcus Fysh, James Heappey, Rebecca Pow and David Warburton, met with Anne Milton to “urgently review” the 97 per cent cut to […]

Training providers join forces to challenge Justine Greening in court

A group of leading training providers is gearing up for collective action against the government’s adult education budget procurement process, FE Week can reveal. The coalition is made up of organisations which say they’ve suffered financial loss and damage to their business as a result of the recent tender – and they believe they have sufficient […]