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Youth unemployment at record high

Figures released this morning (Wednesday) show youth unemployment is at a record high. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said the number of unemployed people aged from 16 to 24 increased by 74,000 over the quarter from June to August to reach 991,000. Although the figure is high, reports earlier this week suggested the rate could […]

Vocational qualifications are ideal… but they’re still for other people’s children

WorldSkills has been and gone, all the hype, the advertising, the supplements, the drum banging… and now the silence is deafening. Colleges try to whip up support from the media, but it’s short lived, the energy dissipates like the steam from the industry-standard hair straighteners once used to style a winner. The skills circus has […]

‘Plumber’s Apprentice’ statue unveiled at Cannon Street Station

A sculpture of the ‘Plumber’s Apprentice’ has been unveiled by the Duke of Gloucester at Cannon Street Station. The seven-foot tall, bronze statue has been built to represent the industry’s history with London and the company’s commitment to training young plumbers. Chris Sneath, Master of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, said: “The statue is […]

WorldSkills London 2011: Opening with a bang

With a rush of activity and a buzz of excitement, the world’s largest international skills competition arrived on UK shores. WorldSkills London 2011 – dubbed the skills Olympics – engulfed ExCel London, on Wednesday ahead of four-days of competition to find the best-of-the-best the skills sector has to offer. Before the 944 competitors, representing 51 […]

250 apprentices at risk of derailment at Bombardier

Around 250 young people will be affected by lost apprenticeships and engineering jobs at Bombardier, a union has warned. Rail union RMT said the firm will be forced to reduce apprenticeships from the Bombardier Centre of Excellence in Derby, if the Government fails to reverse the decision to send the Thameslink fleet contract overseas. The […]

WorldSkills London 2011: Triumph for Team UK

Christopher Berridge, Gold medal winner in the Stonemasonry competition. All pictures by Nick Linford for FE Week. Team UK bagged 12 medals at WorldSkills London 2011, making it their best performance to date. UK competitors received four Gold, two Silver and six Bronze at the awards ceremony in the packed out O2 Arena last night […]

Conservatives call on employers to take on more apprentices

Apprenticeships, apprenticeships, apprenticeships. The vocational qualification was at the forefront of speeches made during the Conservative Party conference in Manchester last week. The Prime Minister David Cameron called on large businesses to take on more apprentices during his speech on Wednesday. “When a balanced economy needs workers with skills, we need to end the old […]

FE Week reporter ‘Has a Go’ at WorldSkills London 2011

FE Week News Reporter Nick Summers gets into the spirit of WorldSkills London 2011 by ‘having a go’ at the trade skills on offer WorldSkills has been cleverly dubbed the ‘skills Olympics’ – but to think of it merely as a tournament would be short-sighted. The aim of the event is not only to inspire […]

NUS launches ‘Fair Necessities’ campaign at FEstival

It was a feast of further education (FE) as hundreds of youngsters flocked to Birmingham to launch a series of student-led campaigns for this academic year. On Monday, more than 200 FE student representatives attended the single largest National Union of Students’ (NUS) FE specific event, FEstival. It brought together Student Officers from Students’ Unions […]