Author: Billy Camden

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

The government still won’t say when the results of the first ever procurement process for the adult education budget will be published – after previously claiming it would be revealed after the general election. FE Week revealed in May that the Education and Skills Funding Agency had emailed providers via FASST, the online services hub […]

A Merseyside college hit with an Ofsted grade four in apprenticeships is claiming it will not cut down on staff, despite government rules removing it from the new apprenticeships’ register. St Helens College was given an overall ‘requires improvement’ judgement by the inspectorate in a report published today, but it was branded ‘inadequate’ for its […]

Exceptional FE learners and tutors have been honoured for their “outstanding achievements” in professional and technical education at this year’s City & Guilds Lion Awards. London’s iconic Kensington Roof Gardens was the setting for the prestigious ceremony this afternoon (June 15) to recognise individuals who have “overcome significant challenges” to achieve their goals and lecturers […]