Author: FE Week Reporter

  Lifelong Learning Accounts were made available last week despite no formal announcement and minimal publicity from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).   At the time of publication neither the SFA nor BIS had published a press release, although the SFA had included them as an item […]

Government reforms could see colleges given greater freedoms under plans to deregulate further education (FE). The Education Bill, which is at the Lords Committee Stage, contains a range of measures to give colleges greater freedom from government control. However, the Department for Education (DfE) say they could go further. A spokesman for DfE said: “Ministers […]

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) is rumoured to be shortly announcing a delay to the full roll-out of a new funding formula for 2012/13. However, the SFA deny this is the case, and reassure FE Week  that: “Work to introduce a simplified funding system, as set out in the BIS document Further Education – New […]

The 157 Group and Association of Colleges (AoC) have announced nine projects which will benefit from the Collaboration and Shared Services Grant. AoC and the 157 Group were each given £2.3million by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for the grant, which launched in June for the further education sector (FE). With the process complete and decisions […]

Apprenticeships are most effectively delivered by colleges working in partnership with employers, according to a new policy paper. The 157 Group has published its latest policy paper Expanding apprenticeships – colleges are key to employability during Colleges Week, run by the Association of Colleges and just before WorldSkills London 2011. The policy paper underlines that […]

Calls are being made for guaranteed face-to-face careers guidance in the wake of a startling report. Research released today by the Association of Colleges (AoC) shows considerable confusion among young people about post-GCSE options. The study, released to mark the start of Colleges’ Week, found half of pupils do not feel they have received enough […]