FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Apprenticeships in the spotlight

Left to right – Select Committee witnesses: Alex Jackman, Forum of Private Business Denis Hird, JTL Training and Graham Hoyle, AELP Employer contributions and the ‘rebadging’ of former Train to Gain provision were both heavily debated at the first evidence session of the BIS Select Committee inquiry into apprenticeships. The two hour session, held at […]

SFA to offer access

Views are being sought on the new Provider Access Project. The Project will allow providers to view their contract-related data held by the Skills Funding Agency and forms part of the commitment to share information more efficiently. A survey will be launched on March 7. In particular, the survey will focus on types and methods […]

Mayor candidate pledges London EMA

Following the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance, Labour candidate Ken Livingstone pledges to restore London-wide £30-per-week allowance if he is elected as Mayor in May. But he also tells FE Week he wants other cities to follow… The battleground for the fight to become the next Mayor of London moved to the FE sector […]

Talking rubbish at K College

Cleaning up rubbish has never been so pleasant for students at K College after a new talking bin was installed at the Brook Street campus. When litter is placed into the bin, voices like Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, former England cricketer Phil Tufnell or opera singer Katherine Jenkins speak – or sing – their thanks. Some […]

Minister presents update on apprenticeship quality

The skills minister John Hayes has told partliament that the review into short duration apprenticeships is due to be finalised by April. A total of 87 providers have so far been reviewed by the Skills Funding Agency and National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) for running programmes which last six months or less. However, 29 have been […]

Funding future faces further formulation

Implementation of a new streamlined and simplified funding system for adult skills that had already been delayed until 2013/14 has suffered a further setback, following a rethink on how apprenticeships might be funded. A newly formed Skills Funding Agency advisory group has been meeting monthly since December, and has said plans to fund apprenticeship provision […]

New college classification cautiously welcomed

Colleges will be coming to terms with their new found freedoms after being released from government control. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), reclassified general further education colleges as part of central government, and sixth form colleges as local government entities, for the purposes of national accounts in October 2010. But that changed last week […]

BIS Committee reveals apprenticeship inquiry itinerary for Sheffield

The itinerary for the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s visit to Sheffield next week has been revealed. As part of their major inquiry into apprenticeships, the cross-party committee will visit Sheffield on Monday, March 5 and Tuesday, March 6. During the visit, committee members will visit Forgemasters and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (ARMC). They […]

Subcontractors courted by SFA into direct relationship

Subcontractors with a total allocation of more than £1 million are being offered a direct contract by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Businesses were sent a letter by the SFA in mid-January encouraging them to bid for a contract worth at least £500,000 as part of a one-off funding pilot by the agency. The letter […]