Author: Billy Camden

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 […]

A major college has been bumped up from a grade three to a two by Ofsted, in a report that was finally published after a 90-day delay, while Pizza Hut’s FE skills training has been rated ‘requires improvement’. South Essex College, which teaches around 11,500 students, received a ‘good’ overall grade in a report published […]

An Ofsted report on a major college in Essex is still nowhere to be seen – despite the provider being inspected nearly 90 days ago. South Essex College, which has campuses in Southend-on-Sea, Basildon and Grays and teaches around 20,000 students, was inspected by the education watchdog in early May. Yet its report has still […]

A private training provider lost its ‘outstanding’ rating in what was otherwise a sturdy week for FE providers. Heart of England Training, which has campus’ in Rugby, Birmingham, Leicester and Coventry and teaches nearly 2,000 learners, dropped from a grade one to a grade two in a report published July 31. The provider had gone […]

The government’s decision on the phasing out of the next wave of apprenticeship frameworks has again be postponed, this time until the autumn. An update on the removal of apprenticeship frameworks was released today by the Department for Education which revealed the outcome of its long-awaited phasing out consultation would be delayed further. It was […]

A request to scrap the “controversial” £200,000 threshold in the new non-levy procurement process is going to be put forward by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers. Mark Dawe, the association’s chief executive, described the minimum contract value for the tender, which was launched by the Education and Skills Funding Agency last week, as […]