Author: Billy Camden

A former Wales international footballer and three other men conspired to scam colleges and the government out of around £5 million of apprenticeship funding, in some cases faking “ghost learners”, a court has heard. Mark Aizlewood, aged 57, from Aberdare, who played for Wales 39 times in the 1980s and 1990s, appeared today before Southwark […]

The Learndirect saga has taken a fresh twist today, after a government spokesperson admitted that the nation’s largest FE provider submitted and then withdrew a bid to the adult education budget tender, contrary to previous briefings. It emerged yesterday that despite its recent ‘inadequate’ from Ofsted, Learndirect would receive another £45 million from the AEB […]

A large adult community learning provider in Somerset has found itself at the sharp end of the adult education budget chaos, after its funding was slashed to just three per cent of its previous level. Somerset Skills & Learning, which teaches around 10,000 students and has around 200 staff, won a new AEB contract in […]

The government is refusing to release a crucial report that would show whether or not the forecasting tool it has developed to predict apprenticeship starts is actually working. The Department for Education is suppressing a report that scrutinises the model it uses to anticipate starts at large and small employers, even while arguments still rage […]

The nation’s largest FE provider has been handed around £45 million from next years’ adult education budget even though it didn’t participate in the tender process and despite its now-infamous grade four from Ofsted. The news was confirmed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in letters, seen by FE Week, sent to providers which […]

Labour’s shadow skills minister has demanded official answers on whether Learndirect is getting special treatment from the government after Ofsted hit it with its worst possible rating. Gordon Marsden has tabled a series of probing parliamentary questions for the education secretary over the size of the adult education budget allocation the nation’s largest training provider […]

Even Learndirect’s own membership body, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, has demanded a full explanation of how the government will protect current and future students. The Department for Education admitted this week it will continue to fund the nation’s biggest FE provider for current and new students until July 31, 2018, following its ‘inadequate’ […]

An ex-Wales international footballer and five others will stand trial next month following a serious fraud office investigation. The three-month trial starting on September 4 will relate to Luis Michael Training Ltd, a provider formerly based in Newport alleged to have claimed payments from FE colleges for training that did not take place. Mark Aizlewood […]

Training providers are unhappy over the handling the adult education budget procurement process, with having their contracts rejected despite near-perfect scores in the bid evaluation. The Education and Skills Funding Agency finally revealed how much cash private providers will receive to deliver AEB training in 2017/18 on August 4, after the results of the bidding […]