FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Sector calls for delay to FE loans implementation

Four of the largest organisations representing colleges, staff and students have joined forces to call on the government to delay the implementation of FE loans. The Association of Colleges (AoC), National Union of Students (NUS), University and College Union (UCU) and UNISON will write to ministers next week arguing that the sector is not prepared […]

Panorama investigation into apprenticeships sparks sector-wide response

The government and leading membership bodies have responded to “The Great Apprentice Scandal” Panorama programme broadcast on Monday. David Way, chief executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, said yesterday he was “very concerned” for the apprentices affected on the programme and would be tackling any training providers who are not “up to scratch.” “I am […]

FE colleges to be directly funded for pre-16s in 2013

Further education (FE) and sixth form colleges could be funded for 14 to 16 year-olds on a similar basis to schools from 2013. The Department for Education (DfE) is proposing to fund FE colleges using a “simplified local funding formulae” managed by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) from the 2013/14 academic year. The new proposals […]

Top principal salaries detailed for 2010/11

The Skills Funding Agency has published a new version of the College Accounts 2010/11 spreadsheet detailing the salaries of every FE college principal. The top ten salaries, shown above, contain some inaccuracies however. Loughborough College has told FE Week the salary for their principal in 2010/11 was in fact £124,000. A statement from the college […]

Call for re-evaluation of apprenticeships following Panorama programme

Image: Apprenticeships England founders Lindsay McCurdy (left) and Peter Cobrin (right) read FE Week The largest independent group of people engaged in apprenticeships has called for a “root and branch re-evaluation” into how apprenticeships are regulated and administered by government. A statement by Apprenticeships England, a movement with more than 5,000 members which originated on […]

IfL members with QTLS qualified to teach in schools

Institute for Learning (IfL) members with Qualified Teacher Leaning and Skills (QTLS) status have been recognised as being fully qualified to work in schools. An amendment to the 2003 Regulations, outlined in number 431 of the Statutory Instruments 2012, means IFL members now have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and can take up a permanent position […]

Minimum duration of 12 months unveiled for adult apprenticeships

Adult apprenticeships must take at least 12 months to complete from August this year, the skills minister has announced. If an apprentice aged 19 or above has prior learning or attainment however, there will be an absolute minimum of six months for achieving a framework. John Hayes MP, minister of state for further education, skills […]

SFA to monitor growth in 25+ apprenticeships

The increase in apprentices aged 25 and above is to be monitored by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) throughout the next academic year. A briefing note published by the SFA on March 30, says: “We will monitor the pattern and volume of 25+ apprenticeship delivery in-year and will not award any growth for 25+ apprenticeship provision.” […]

College blames government cuts for redundancies

Sunderland College has today announced that it intends to make 36 people redundant as part of a bid to save £2.26 million in 2012/13. The cuts have also led the college to review job descriptions for all teaching staff with a proposal to put in place a number of pay bands. New descriptions, say the […]