Expert Contributor | FE Week

Should FE colleges raise their HE fees?

Our universities provide a good service, but it’s not flexible enough for the needs of everyone, says Paul Feldman It’s known that FE colleges charge less for higher education courses than universities, even while they are faced with funding challenges on all fronts. So could colleges increase their provision of HE courses to create new […]

Colleges should call for Ofsted reform

Having spent considerable time examining Ofsted’s methods, Frank Coffield claims they are invalid, unreliable and unjust. While “unjust” may seem like a strong way to describe an Ofsted inspection, I have a clear example to illustrate it. Take its grading scale, which attaches one adjective, such as ‘outstanding’ or ‘inadequate’, to a large FE college […]

More women on boards will increase college success

There are some barriers preventing women from joining college boards, but the evidence shows their involvement boosts success rates. So how do we get them involved? Pauline Odulinski has the answer The Women’s Leadership Network has been actively involved in supporting and developing talented women in further education leadership and management since the 1980s. Since […]

Why are so many college mergers falling apart?

The area reviews are a disaster slowly unfolding before our eyes, claims Jonathan Brash, who believes the process was motivated by cuts alone Hopelessly flawed and done for the wrong reasons. That’s the only rational assessment we can make of the government’s ill-fated area review programme. Hartlepool Sixth-Form College was part of the first wave, […]

What do employers really want from an apprenticeship provider?

Employers are becoming increasingly savvy about what they want from training providers. Annette Allmark explains exactly how to make your pitch stand out and win more business It’s almost six months since the levy was introduced, enough time to make an initial assessment. After a snapshot survey in August, we discovered that employers struggle to […]

What government can learn from Learndirect

The government needs a skills strategy that cuts across every department, argues Stephen Evans The recent scandal involving Learndirect, coupled with the ongoing troubles in our procurement processes, shows the need for a clear vision for learning and skills. The Learndirect affair opens up a whole set of questions around corporate governance that also apply […]

It’s judgement time for the ESFA on degree apprenticeships

So, the tenders are in for the second attempt at procurement for apprenticeship provision for non-levy paying employers, and it’s over to the ESFA. As well as evaluating tenders, we’d suggest it’s also time to hold the ESFA’s own performance to account. It’s fundamental this time that the procurement is successful and works to the […]

Adult education budget procurement has been a disaster

The ESFA has ridden rough-shod over the work of many vital third sector providers. Tim Ward wants answers Imagine the outcry if, at the beginning of the year, the ESFA had come out with a policy that would move money from one area to another without any reference to local stakeholders. What if it took […]

Why are neurodiverse apprentices so badly supported?

Students’ learning needs are met at university, but not on apprenticeships, says Chris Quickfall How can it be, in a world that talks so much about equality and diversity, that the self-development opportunities for learners with a neurodiversity, for instance dyslexia, favour one post-16 study route far more than another? If a learning weakness is […]