FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Bolton College student looks back on history

A Bolton College learner who visited Auschwitz as part of an annual national education trip has been inspired to make a documentary about the Holocaust. Sophie Baxendale (17) visited Auschwitz last November and has since created a 30 minute film which she will present to her peers over the coming weeks. The documentary includes images […]

South Cheshire College student goes on special VIP visit to Number 10 to see PM

A South Cheshire College student was given a birthday treat to remember when he hooked up with the Prime Minister at Downing Street. AS-Level student Ryan Worth was invited to meet David Cameron at ‘Number 10’ in a special one-off visit organised as a surprise present by his sister Natasha who joined him on the […]

Weston College fronts new autism campaign

Weston College’s groundbreaking Specialist Support Model has been chosen to front a new national campaign for students on the autistic spectrum. Music technology degree student Steven Philp (24), who has Asperger’s Syndrome, gave a speech about ‘Finished at School’ campaign to MPs and professionals at the House of Commons last month. The year-long campaign backed […]

Apprenticeship advertising: Is it counterproductive?

The Government has committed itself to creating an extra 250,000 Apprenticeships by 2015. This is a challenging target, particularly in an economic downturn, with increasing youth unemployment and dramatic reductions in opportunities in the very industries, such as construction, that have traditionally provided places. Initial progress was good. By June 2011, the target of an […]

Response to ‘Government publish FE Choices’

If you saw FE Week’s front-page headline “Private providers ahead of FE colleges in government learner satisfaction survey” and also visited the FE Choices website ( http://fechoices.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/ ) you might be puzzled. Yes: you can bring the data together as FE Week does; but FE Choices doesn’t compare provider types like that and isn’t meant […]

The government need to sharpen their focus

It’s great as Shadow Skills and FE Minister to celebrate this fourth annual Apprenticeships week. Looking back on Labour’s record in Government, our revitalisation of Apprenticeships remains for me one of our most substantial achievements. Lifting the number of starts from a mere 65,000 in 1996/97 to just under 280,000 was buttressed by the then […]

Sue Rimmer, principal, South Thames College

“We are heading towards the edge of a cliff, which we’re going to fall off,” says the principal of South Thames College, describing the on-going funding crisis in further education. Strong words perhaps, but Sue Rimmer speaks from a vast amount of experience in the sector. It would be unwise not to listen. Raised in […]

NAO’s verdict on adult apprenticeships

Funding rates are unreliable The funding rates used to pay training providers for delivering an apprenticeship are not based on robust information, according to the NAO. The NAO says the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and NAS have set tariffs without “reliable evidence” to support estimated training costs. The ‘Adult Apprenticeships’ report states: “The Agency and […]

Flexibility and ‘black box’ at top of AELP ‘In-Tray’

In the seemingly ever-changing landscape of further education, providers are forced to adapt at a rapid rate of knots. With that in mind, and in the wake of a number of challenges to the sector and a raft of new policy announcements, AELP put together a weighty agenda for its annual ‘In-Tray’ conference, in Leeds. […]