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13 May 2026

Author: FE Week Reporter

Hundreds of 12 week apprenticeships advertised on NAS website are ‘under review’

The apprenticeship programmes delivered by the hotelier De Vere are under review and “likely to change” as part of an assessment into provision and standards. The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) is looking into every short apprenticeship, alongside the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), following the introduction of Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE). However, news […]

Employers use apprentices for ‘cheap labour’

Colleges and training providers say employers should pay towards apprentice training programmes. A survey conducted by Lsect asked if employers should continue to be allowed to contribute nothing towards the training for their apprentices. Nearly three quarters of the people who replied – 73 per cent – said the employer should pay something towards training […]

Attempt to ‘simplify’ funding may prove barrier to FE loans

A consultation on proposals for a further education loans system is set to close today (October 21). The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has said the proposals, which would charge apprentices and adult learners at Level 3 and above up to £4,000, will “be determined in a simple and straightforward way”. The maximum […]

Number of adult apprenticeships expected to more than triple

The number of apprenticephip starts aged 25 and above is expected to soar in the latest Statistical First Release (SFR) due next Thursday. Based on the June 2011 SFR, if the same number of starts in February to April 2010 are repeated in May to July 2011, more than 50,000 will have started taking the full […]

FE Week hosts House of Commons debate on FE Loans

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) are planning to replace funding with loans, for classroom and workplace adults (24+) learners studying Level 3 and above. Their consultation (click here to download) closes on Friday, so FE Week held a debate at the Houses of Commons to discuss the pros and cons. The proposals for a loans […]

Geoff Russell, CEO, Skills Funding Agency

One crisp Monday morning, back in 2009, Geoff Russell found himself sitting in the government’s Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, with a shiny new Blackberry in his hand. The previous Friday, he’d had a call about “a finance job somewhere in Whitehall”, but he wasn’t exactly sure what the job involved. “I was looking […]

New art centre at Bournemouth & Poole College

Art and Design are about to take on a fresh hue with the opening of a brilliant new £1m art and design centre at Bournemouth & Poole College. Remarkably, building work on the new block only began in May and it is being seen as a triumph of hard work and dedication of all the […]

Victoria cross war hero visits South Thames College

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry VC visited South Thames College as part of Black History Month today. The British Army Soldier met over 100 hundreds and spoke about he came to be decorated with the Victoria Cross in 2005, the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Mr Beharry said: “When […]