FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Simon Bartley, president, WorldSkills International

Simon Bartley’s school memories could have come straight out of an Enid Blyton novel. Educated from the age of eight at a Catholic boarding school in Lancashire, by the sounds of it, he enjoyed an idyllic childhood filled with tuck boxes and wholesome boyish pursuits. “There used to be a school train just like in […]

UTC scuppered by college and university dispute

A college principal which helped create the University Technical College (UTC) model has been forced to postpone her own bid. Stella Mbubaegbu, principal of Highbury College, has been unable to finalise a UTC proposal because of a leadership dispute with the University of Portsmouth. Paul Whittle, who worked on the UTC bid for Highbury College, […]

Toni Pearce: Challenges and chances for learners in 2012

In honour of the new strapline for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, FE Week asked two further education (FE) experts, David Hughes, chief executive of NIACE, and Toni Pearce, NUS vice-president for FE, what they thought the “New Challenges, New Chances” would be for learners this year. These are my challenges and chances […]

FE Week visits parliament to meet the apprentices working in MP’s offices

The number of apprentices working in MP’s offices are on the rise, just as young people undertaking an unpaid internship in Parliament has become a hotly contested issue. Voluntary help is a tradition in politics that goes back several decades and at a time when job prospects are increasingly bleak, political graduates both from further […]

BETT: World’s largest learning technology trade show comes to London town

BETT Show 2012 replaces traditional seminars with a number of interactive sessions known collectively as LearnLive. The format hopes to discourage static presentations and open up more opportunities both for networking and intelligent discussion between participants. Visitors can influence each session by contacting a programme ‘leader’ through Twitter or youbett, an online social community designed […]

Gove could do BETTer for FE

The shadow minister has hit out at the disregarding of further education in the overhaul of the ICT curriculum. Education secretary Michael Gove announced a consultation on withdrawing the existing National Curriculum Programme of Study for ICT at the BETT Show last week. However, Gordon Marsden MP, shadow minister for FE, skills and regional growth, […]

One principal, two colleges

Two further education colleges have joined in a unique federation to cut costs under the leadership of one principal. Surrey-based institutes Kingston College and Carshalton College last year scrapped the original plan to merge, in favour of the new type of partnership, which means both colleges will retain their own governing bodies. The decision was […]

Hundreds of Zenos apprenticeships ‘delayed’

Hundreds of people have been affected by the postponement of an apprenticeship programme led by a major provider. Zenos, a provider of ICT apprenticeships, has told around 300 of its 19+ candidates that there will be a “short delay” to their programmes, which were due to start today (January 9). The training provider, which is […]

Millionaire becomes ambassador for Newham College

A former Newham student who became a millionaire at 24 has pledged to be an advocate for Newham College’s business initiatives. Chairman of Bance Group, Dave Bance has become an Enterprise Ambassador for his old college after meeting principal Denise Brown-Sackey and other top managers. He studied at what is now the college’s Stratford Campus […]