FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Colleges in December… It’s a Wonderful Life

Christmas – what does that mean for colleges? Well Christmas starts early in FE. Feels like it starts in the middle of December and goes on well into the New Year. Students drift off, lecturers wind down and the principal does the usual “Principal’s round-up; thanking everyone for their hard work, telling everyone that they […]

The latest plans for FE

With the Chancellor’s Autumn Financial Statement now out of the way, budgets are being set for different parts of the education system. First out of the blocks has been the FE and adult skills sector where BIS has announced an overall budget of £3.8bn for 2012/13, dropping as per previous announcements to £3.4bn for 2013/14 […]

Stop bashing schools

This conference season has felt particularly ‘anti-school’. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always been an element of schools bashing, but this year it feels more desperate, and I think that’s because it’s not just from the usual suspects. Working in education and across sectors (primary, secondary and further education) you see the ‘bashings’ come in […]

BIS clarifies national funding rates, bursary schemes, and more…

FE Week receives many questions about government announcements. This week we sought a number of clarifications from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on your behalf. No change in rates The national funding rates will not change in 2012/13, according to BIS. The investment strategy ‘New Challenges, New Chances’ makes no reference to […]

Government policy on careers advice and guidance in spotlight at conference‏

The future of careers advice in both colleges and schools was scrutinised at the AoC Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Conference last week. The event, held at ‘Etc. Venues’ in London, was a chance for professionals in the further education sector to express their concerns to politicians, civil servants and union representatives. Joy Mercer, […]

UCU in financial turmoil

Urgent action is needed to prevent the University and College Union (UCU) being plunged into debt, a letter from a UCU Trustee to all the National Executive Committee members reveals. The letter, seen by FE Week, describes “a staggering loss to the union, something in the region of £3m – £4m” after the UCU Congress […]

As disputes rise so do the costs

As icy draughts and the impact of budget cuts blow through further education, tensions among staff are rising. Small wonder, perhaps that college managers are increasingly looking for outside help. There’s now a growing demand for the services of outside human resources (HR) consultants – some costing £800 a day – to help sort out […]

Ministers call for a Royal Society of Apprentices

A Royal Society of Apprentices should be established to help promote vocational training, according to the All Party Paliamentary Group for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning. The call is one of five reccomendations published in the ‘Apprenticeship Inquiry: Autumn 2011’ report, and would be used to improve the branding of apprenticeships, as well as […]

David Travis, head of learner support, Lewisham College

At 25, David Travis is certainly one of the youngest college senior managers in the country – not bad for a guy who fell into working with young people almost by chance. As Head of Learner Support at Lewisham College, he is responsible for getting learners into the college and making sure they stick around. […]