Billy Camden | FE Week

HE admissions service to ‘act as a digital Baker Clause’

UCAS has pledged to act as a “digital Baker Clause” and reform its service to be “as strong for would-be apprentices as it is for prospective undergraduates”. In a report published today, the universities admissions service warns that one-third of students are not told about apprenticeships despite this being a legal requirement for schools. And […]

Ofsted finds apprentices without jobs at provider

Ofsted has chastised an online training provider after finding cases where, “in contrast to the records held”, apprentices did not have jobs. Applied Business Academy Limited (ABA) claimed it was an “isolated incident” but was also called out for poor safeguarding, after the watchdog discovered the provider did not know at least one of their […]

‘Middle-class grab’ on apprenticeships confirmed by new analysis

The apprenticeship reforms are increasingly disadvantaging people from low-income areas, new FE Week analysis has revealed. Since the new-style employer-led standards were first introduced in 2015, latest government figures show there has not only been a decline in starts, but also a far smaller percentage of them are from those living in the most deprived areas. […]

ESFA to select providers for reapplication to apprenticeships register in random order

Providers on the apprenticeships register will be “randomly selected” to reapply in different phases over the next year, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has said. The agency also confirmed that the register remains closed to new providers unless they offer training for critical workers, with no timeline for opening it up to all. Officials […]

Skills Bill: DfE accused of ‘power-grab’ over colleges

The much-heralded Skills Bill contains a Department for Education “power-grab” and will “fail to meet the scale of the challenge that years of neglect” of FE have caused, Labour has said. Writing for FE Week, shadow skills minister Toby Perkins warned that many “smaller” colleges will be looking nervously at the government’s expressed right to […]

£250m of apprenticeship funding went back to Treasury in 2020-21

Apprenticeship funding to the tune of £250 million was handed back to the Treasury in 2020-21, FE Week can reveal. The Department for Education said it had to surrender the money as demand for apprenticeships from employers was “lower than expected” partly due to the impact of Covid-19. Government statistics show that apprenticeship starts were […]

Right2Learn campaign to host inaugural conference tonight

A new campaign that argues for a lifelong statutory right to fully funded learning for every adult is holding its first conference tonight. Former education secretary Lord David Blunkett will be the opening speaker for the Right2Learn campaign, which was founded in December 20202 by a steering group including ex-shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden (pictured). […]

Reverse adult education clawback plans, says cross-party group of MPs

A cross-party group of MPs has called on the education secretary to reverse his adult education budget clawback plans to give colleges “financial security” amid the pandemic. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on FE has also urged ministers to give students leaving college a fully funded extra year of study and introduce a new fund to […]

Speed read: Skills and Post-16 Education Bill published

The first draft of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill has officially been laid before parliament. It outlines the legislation behind the government’s planned reforms for FE, including local skills improvements plans, strengthened intervention powers for the education secretary, and a flexible lifelong loans system. There are also new regulations for independent training providers, FE […]