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14 May 2026

Author: FE Week Reporter

What it means to offer a true apprenticeship

We need to send out a clear message about apprenticeships — don’t dumb down the brand, says Graham Hasting-Evans. An independent review of apprenticeships published in November called on the government to improve their quality and make them more focused on bosses’ needs. Its author, Doug Richard, entrepreneur, educator, former Dragon’s Den star and founder […]

Clawback ‘possible’ on £91m overpayment

Providers who shared in a £91m Skills Funding Agency overpayment could yet be asked to hand back some of the cash while current allocations could also be reduced, FE Week can reveal. The agency published details this month of providers who received funding for education in the 2011/12 academic year that they had not delivered. […]

Inspection ‘delight’

The principal of an FE provider said she led her centre to an outstanding Ofsted inspection result by focusing on teaching and learning. Maria Gilling, 52, principal at Walsall Adult and Community College (WACC) (pictured right), said she was “delighted and really proud” of her staff for achieving grade 1 — outstanding — in 23 […]

Let’s make the FE Guild representative

As the FE Guild goes through its early stages of formulation Robin Landman OBE considers an opportunity for the group to create a representative FE workforce. As we approach the beginning of the brief consultation period for the proposed FE Guild we need to give some serious collective thought to what this new FE formation […]

Providers ‘anxious’ over growth cash

Training providers said they could be left thousands of pounds “out-of-pocket” after the government unexpectedly doubled functional skills rates. The Association of Employment Learning and Providers (AELP) is currently in talks with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) about the impact English and maths rates more than doubling has had upon growth requests from providers to […]

Audit exposes ‘£40m’ ESF error

European funding could be at risk after a government audit uncovered “potentially” £40m-worth of errors over money dished out by the Skills Funding Agency, FE Week understands. The situation was described as “significant and potentially damaging” to the reputation of the UK government and the agency, according to correspondence leaked to FE Week. Errors were […]

Union strike threat over new dismissals

A bitter dispute over the sacking of lecturers at a Midlands college looks set to worsen. The University and College Union (UCU) balloted members at Halesowen College, near Birmingham, on strike action on Friday over the dismissal of three lecturers — all active UCU members. The union had already staged one protest when just before […]

Record breaker raises organ donor awareness

A teenager is set to compete in the World Transplant Games after a rare genetic disorder sparked a life-saving liver transplant operation. Adam Wall, 17, from Broadstairs, in Kent, is a sports student at Canterbury College who has been selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Durban, South Africa, in July. The keen sportsman […]