Author: Billy Camden

Labour will seek amendments to the Skills Bill so that metro mayors have a bigger role in local skills improvement plans, the House of Lords has heard. The party will also seek to remove proposed new powers for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, warning that the plans would “undermine the independent status” of […]

Government plans to remove funding for the majority of BTECs will hit the most disadvantaged young students the hardest, numerous sector-representative groups have warned. In a joint statement published today for a campaign called #ProtectStudentChoice, 11 organisations urge ministers to rethink plans outlined in the level 3 qualifications review. They express concern that removing funding […]

University and College Union members at 11 colleges across England are voting on industrial action from today. Ten of the ballots follow college bosses’ “refusal to make a decent pay off to staff”, while a separate one has opened at a group that is planning to make 30 staff redundant while investing in a controversial […]

Number 10 is seeking a “deputy director for education, jobs and skills” to work in a new unit set up to drive policy implementation. According to a job advert, the new £71,000 to £117,800-a-year role will be based in the Number 10 Delivery Unit, a new team within the Cabinet Office that “should grow to […]

Plans to hand the government’s apprenticeships quango new powers over technical qualifications are a “retrograde step” and introduce a conflict of interest, awarding bodies have warned. The Federation of Awarding Bodies has sought legal advice over the Skills Bill ahead of its second reading in the House of Lords tomorrow. A key proposal in the […]

Training providers have been left livid and refusing to sign contracts after the Department for Education revealed their researchers would randomly reject half of all eligible bootcamp applicants. “Ludicrous” is how one described the delivery requirement, first revealed in a DfE presentation (see image) to the successful bidders to the £18 million digital, technical and […]

Colleges and universities are being invited to bid for a slice of a new £18 million fund to expand their higher technical qualifications (HTQs) offering. The Growth Fund has been set up to help providers invest in equipment and develop the business links they need to offer training at levels 4 and 5 in sectors […]

Tens of thousands of students faced more stress this morning as a glitch in UCAS’s system automatically rejected their university offers. Around 100,000 learners have until midnight today (June 10) to make their decisions through the admissions service’s portal. But as many as one in five received emails from UCAS in the early hours of […]