FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Justifying the subcontracting top-slice

Colleges are increasingly at risk of being percieved to be ripping off partners by “top-slicing” 30 per cent or more in subcontracting agreements. Although the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) does not impose a maximum percentage charged by colleges under subcontracting arrangements – its guidance states this should not exceed 15 per cent without a detailed […]

Toni Fazaeli, CEO, Institute for Learning

Friday has become Toni Fazaeli’s least favourite day of the week. Before boarding the train into London – where she commutes to the office from Leicester each day – she buys a strong coffee to help “brace herself” for opening the trade industry paper, the TES. It has been a bumpy few years for the […]

Daily Mirror probes subcontracting “scandal”

The award-winning Daily Mirror Investigations team, Andrew Penman and Nick Sommerlad, this week launched an in-depth probe into the activities of Luis Michael Training which has run into trouble as a subcontractor providing sports apprentice courses. Big colleges including South Thames and Sparsholt in Hampshire pulled out of contracts and stopped payments, claiming the outfit […]

LSIS Leading the Learner Voice Award winners in full

Last night was LSIS’s annual ‘Leading the Learner Voice Awards’. The awards were created to recognise the contributions that staff, students and colleges make to their communities. A record 96 entries were received. Bournemouth & Poole College bagged a double award, the college won the top accolade, Provider of the Year and college student Matt […]

Central Sussex College students – by royal engagement

Hospitality students from Central Sussex College played a vital role in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation, in East Grinstead. The eight strong group, who are studying level one Diplomas in Hospitality, served food and drink to distinguished guests including: Dame Vera Lynn DBE; some of the original ‘Guinea Pigs’ (British […]

CBE for Bedford College principal

Bedford College Principal & Chief Executive, Ian Pryce, has been awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to further education locally and nationally. The college says that the award reflects the transformation of the college over the last twelve years from an institution of 5,000 students, 250 staff with pass rates in […]

City of Westminster College tutor launches Barbados project

City of Westminster College tutor Sheromie Brewster has launched the CATCH youth project (Cultural Arts, Sports & Visual Literacy) for Barbados. CATCH will teach skills including communication, photography, music and film making, as young people create an online magazine with mentoring from sports stars and professional artists, editors and web designers. CATCH launches as a […]

And the principal with the cutest pet is…

It all started with an Lsect update (see www.lsect.co.uk/updates.asp) in January where there was a reference to a local news story which included a quote from Geoff Hall. The story mentioned his dogs. Geoff sent me a picture of his two dogs, so it seemed obvious to create this competition. Principals and CEOs were encouraged […]

Diversity in Challenging Times

An inspiring conference succeeds through collaboration Partnership working at its best was evident recently when the Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) and the Network for Black Professionals (NBP) delivered yet another successful conference – Diversity in Challenging Times. Following on from last year’s joint event, the WLN and the NBP designed and created another inspirational and […]