FE Week Reporter | FE Week

The meaning of freedom

Colleges and other providers are promised significant new freedoms by the coalition government in the way they are governed and managed. So, what does this mean in practice? For example, if colleges are free and can have whatever governing arrangements they like, where does that leave capital assets and to whom do they belong if […]

AoC survey reveals a ‘worrying’ drop in low level learners

Worrying trends have been revealed in the recruitment of Level 1 and Entry Level students. In their latest survey on 16-18 recruitment, the Association of Colleges (AoC) has found Level 1 learner numbers declined by 6.6 per cent and Entry Level figures by around 6.4 per cent on last year. The data was collected from […]

Government publish FE Choices

Private providers ahead of FE colleges in government learner satisfaction survey. Learners think private training providers listen and respond to their views better than general FE colleges, according to analysis by FE Week. Private training providers outscored colleges in every category of the learner satisfaction survey, published online in the ‘FE Choices Publication of Outputs’, […]

Helena Kennedy QC, Labour peer and barrister

“This is no misery memoir,” says the Labour peer and barrister Helena Kennedy of her upbringing in the south side of Glasgow. Raised in a two-room and kitchen tenement, with her parents, aunt and three sisters, there may have not been much money around, but there was plenty of love. As part of a large, […]

Does satisfactory require improvement?

Ofsted has announced a consultation which will propose replacing the ‘satisfactory’ grade with ‘requires improvement’ for all further education (FE) colleges. The inspection shake-up follows similar suggestions put forward by the new chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, in a bid to tackle “coasting schools”. Matthew Coffey, national director of learning and skills at […]

The merits of an FE loans system debated

Pictured above from left to right: Paul Warner, AELP, David Hughes, NIACE, and Martin Doel, AoC, at the EMFEC Centenary Conference in Daventry The FE loans system proposed by government has been criticised by the leaders of three key membership bodies. David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), Martin […]

The ACE new system for apprenticeships

The new online certification system for apprenticeships, designed to reduce bureaucracy and improve quality, has been launched. Apprenticeship Certificates England (ACE) replaces the paper-based system previously provided by the 25 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs).It cost £120,000 to develop and has been set up by the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils, who will manage the system, […]

Concern over college recruitment trends

Colleges working harder than ever to help unemployed, say AoC

Colleges provide training for more than 1000 unemployed people each year, according to a report by the Association of Colleges (AoC). The research, conducted by the AoC in November 2011, found that 95 per cent of colleges offer provision for unemployed people. A further 64 per cent responded saying they had improved their provision to […]