Billy Camden | FE Week

Controversial 2014/15 achievement rate data will now be published

The government has U-turned on its decision not to publish controversial achievement rate data – after FE Week revealed that ministers were hiding the figures. Two weeks ago, the Department for Education published revised national achievement rates tables for 2015/16 for individual providers – but without comparable figures for previous years, which are needed to […]

UTCs demand more funding than mainstream schools

The body behind the ailing university technical college model has called on the government to apportion more funding to them than to mainstream schools. The Baker Dearing Trust also wants school leaders to assess which students might best fit the scheme – instead of just sending them unsuitable learners – as well as changes to […]

DfE U-turn on hiding controversial apprenticeship data ‘welcomed’

The DfE’s rethink on publishing the revised provider achievement rate data for 2014/15 is a welcome change of heart – though it is possible that FE Week’s front page two weeks ago claiming they were hiding the data prompted tough questions within the department. It may seem like a technical issue, but this is very […]

Ofsted chief stresses ‘real challenge’ with apprenticeships register

Ofsted’s chief inspector has reiterated the “real challenge” faced by the education watchdog following the influx of new training providers who deliver apprenticeships. Amanda Spielman described the issue as a “big problem” during an interview with Laura McInerney, the editor of FE Week’s sister paper FE Week, at the Festival of Education and Skills today. […]

Terminated: Government bans major levy provider after FE Week exposé

A major training provider claiming to have £130m of apprenticeship levy business has had its contract with the ESFA terminated, after an FE Week investigation found that one of its employees had been offering banned inducement payments to an employer. Talent Training, based in South Tyneside, was caught offering cash amounting to as much as […]

Gold standard for 14 colleges with HE teaching

Fourteen FE colleges have achieved gold status for higher education teaching in the first ever Teaching Excellence Framework ratings. The feat was doubly impressive for the sector’s high achievers, as more than half of Russell Group universities – traditionally considered to be the best in the country – missed out on the best mark. A […]

Government banning major levy provider will send a strong message to the sector

The ESFA should be applauded for taking swift and tough action against Talent Training. I expect this story and the associated concerns will be a hot topic at the upcoming AELP conference, but to be clear there can be no grey areas over how levy money should be spent. It must all be used for […]

Second consecutive grade four Ofsted for previously ‘outstanding’ college

A former ‘outstanding’ college has been hit with a second consecutive ‘inadequate’ rating from Ofsted in just 15 months. Mid-Cheshire College was slammed by the education watchdog in a report published last March, which plummeted the college from the highest to the lowest overall grade. It followed a respite period of eight years from the […]

£10 million refund claims expected from colleges as HMRC accepts euro VAT ruling

Colleges will be exempt from VAT on important training supplies following a landmark European Court of Justice ruling – with refund claims expected to amount to £10 million – FE Week can reveal. A long-running dispute with Brockenhurst College and the taxman, centred on whether supplies for the college’s training restaurant was exempt from VAT, […]