Billy Camden | FE Week

University technical colleges plan to switch recruitment age to 13

University technical colleges across the country are planning to recruit students a year before their standard 14 starting age, an FE Week investigation has found. Five UTCs are consulting on taking students in from year nine, instead of year 10, in future academic years – with more expected to follow suit. The UTC project is […]

Conservatives accused of ‘hiding’ ministers from press scrutiny

The Conservatives have been accused of hiding from FE Week in the run-up to the general election – and the party’s central office has persistently blocked us from grilling the skills minister on his own manifesto. The entire sector is desperate for more detail from Robert Halfon on his party’s plans for FE. Many, for […]

Principal standing down of recently created FE college

The principal of Prospects College of Advanced Technology is set to retire, after guiding it through becoming the first new FE college in more than 20 years. Neil Bates (pictured above) will step down at the end of this academic year and said today it has been an “enormous privilege” to have led the college […]

Final two Team UK competitors selected for WorldSkills 2017

A chef from The Ritz and a car painter who works for a national crash repair company have been announced as the final two members of Team UK for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi. Ruth Hansom, 22, and Daryl Head, 20, will now join up with the 32 other members of Team UK, announced in April, for […]

Call to convert UTCs to 16 to 19 colleges

Ailing university technical colleges should be converted into 16-19 colleges, with all studio schools joining multi-academy trusts to stave off closure, says a new report. A major study by the Institute for Public Policy Research has uncovered concerns over the 14-19 schools. The report found that while UTCs attracted a comprehensive year 10 intake similar […]

UTC founds feeder school against Baker trust’s wishes

A university technical college that has struggled to recruit students is opening an 11-14 feeder school next door. This comes despite opposition from opposition from the Baker Dearing Trust, responsible for overseeing all UTCs. The school, which will be called ‘the Inspiration Academy@Leigh UTC’ will open in September, operating on the same plot of land […]

Confusion for new providers on RoATP over compulsory training

Hundreds of training providers don’t know when they can start apprenticeship programmes, because the government has failed to inform them of the mandatory training they need to complete first. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has added over 500 companies to the register of apprenticeship training providers, but FE Week has found that none were […]

‘Alarming’: ESFA still giving one-man bands access to millions

Labour has demanded an investigation into the way providers are selected for the register of apprenticeship training providers – after a new company with one employee run from home made it onto the list. The updated register was published this week by the Education and Skills Funding Agency – and Learn for Free Ltd, which […]

Colleges not on apprenticeships’ register still advertising vacancies

High-profile colleges that failed to get onto the government’s new register of apprenticeship training providers the first time round are still advertising vacancies, as they nervously wait for permission to deliver them. The revelation, which Birmingham Metropolitan College and Solihull College openly admitted to, comes as FE Week has learned the results of the second […]