Expert Contributor | FE Week

How to improve apprenticeship completion rates

Apprentices need to understand why completion is so important, and this needs to be led from the top, says Alan Woods The phrase ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’ might be commonly associated with University Challenge presenters, but it also articulates a mental resolve that should be adopted by young apprentices. When it comes to the […]

3 ways to support apprentices’ mental health

Apprentices need help getting the right mental health support in place to give them the best chance of retaining employment once qualified, says Chris Kingsbury It is great to see the mental health of young people so high on the agenda. This is something I notice increasingly as I attend conferences and seminars across the […]

Cuts to apprenticeship providers will end in disaster

The goverment’s determination not to open up any more lines of funding for our incredibly hard-pressed providers is a strategy that’s doomed to end in disaster, perhaps for many years to come, argues Phil Hatton The government keeps telling us that it wants to achieve a target of three million apprenticeships, even though we all […]

Stop ignoring national colleges!

Birmingham already had a college on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, and it fills an important gap in provision, says Clair Mowbray Over the past few editions FE Week has been telling us that from May this year the Second City will have no colleges able to deliver apprenticeships, as all four existing Birmingham […]

Smelting apprenticeship gold: the alchemy of EQA

To avoid a conflict of interest, it would seem logical for Ofqual to take over external quality assurance for the Institute for Apprenticeships, but this would put off many organisations wanting to offer end-point assessment, says Simon Martin Apprenticeship standards are intended to drive forward the workforce skills that UK employers have identified for competitiveness […]

Dear Robert, the apprenticeship allocation will cut our funding by over 80%

Colleges and training providers were sent a funding allocation on April 25, for apprenticeship starts from May to 31 December 2017 for non-levy employers. In response, the finance director of Ofsted outstanding apprenticeship provider Crackerjack has written to minister Robert Halfon to question their contract allocation, which he says equates to a funding cut between 80 […]

ESFA pause will destroy good specialist providers

It was announced during the Easter break that the government’s decision over funding allocations for apprenticeship provision for non-levy-paying employers had been paused, to allow time a careful review. Noel Dunne explains why he thinks this was a bad move. As the director of an award-winning training provider in charge of four subcontracts with different […]

ESFA was right to pause non-levy ITT process

The government’s decision over funding allocations for apprenticeship provision for non-levy-paying employers has been paused, to allow it more time to review this policy area. Anne-marie Morris explains why she thinks this was a good move. The pause in the non-levy ITT will bring some much needed stability to a sector that is currently in […]

Why is the NHS London Procurement Partnership charging fees to apprenticeship providers?

The NHS London Procurement Partnership responds to FE Week’s questions about new charges it plans to implement for apprenticeship procurement services. The LPP response – from which quotes for the news story ‘NHS defends apprenticeship brokerage fees‘ were taken – has been published here in full for the sake of clarity. NHS London Procurement Partnership Thank you for […]