FE Week Reporter | FE Week

SFA already finding ineligible employer incentives and will ‘strengthen’ funding rules

The apprenticeship funding rules will be beefed up to stop inappropriate employer incentives, just two months ahead of the launch of levy-funded apprenticeships. The Skills Funding Agency said in their weekly update that they were aware of providers offering incentives, such as payments to employers to refund fees, which was ‘contrary to the policy intent’. “Following […]

School funding ‘done rather well’ and it’s cuts to 16-18 that’s the ‘bigger story’ claims Institute for Fiscal Studies

Researchers at the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have contrasted cuts to 16-18 funding with “spending shifting towards earlier in youngsters’ lives” in the last 25 years. The IFS today publish a report into education spending and are keen to point out that despite school funding cuts hitting the headlines in recent weeks, in the […]

BREAKING: Apprenticeship achievement rate falls to 67 per cent under new method

The percentage of people passing their apprenticeship has fallen to 67 percent, figures released this morning show. The overall achievement rate for apprenticeship frameworks fell from 71.7 percent to 67 percent in 2015/16, however this follows a change to the methodology. Applying the new methodology to 2013/14 and 2014/15 shows overall achievement rates remain at 67 percent (see table […]

Digital Apprenticeship Service to be renamed prior to launch

The Digital Apprenticeship Service (or DAS) is due for launch later this month, but will be renamed the ‘apprenticeship service’, FE Week can reveal. In an email to employer groups, seen by FE Week, the Department for Education said: “The name of the new service through which employers will plan, manage and pay for their […]

Apprenticeship starts rise despite fall in vacancies

Apprenticeship starts published by the DfE this morning show a slight increase, when comparing provisional figures for the first quarter of the academic year (August to October). Latest figures out today show provisional starts at 155,600, compared to 153,100 over the same period a year ago. This comes as the latest vacancy numbers taken from the ‘find and […]

Industrial Strategy will put FE in spotlight with £170m to create Institutes of Technology

The Industrial Strategy Green Paper will be published tomorrow, with post-16 technical education taking centre stage. A statement by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy says the strategy will “include plans for a radical overhaul of technical education to address its historic undervaluation in the UK and provide a credible alternative to the academic […]

Navigating 2017

In 2016 the FE sector navigated very choppy waters – but for the New Year it is now full steam ahead. There is much to do to be ready for the developments 2017 will bring, and it is important to take stock of what was achieved in the past 12 months. Click here to download […]

Institute for Apprenticeships consultation launched

This morning the government launched their long awaited Institute for Apprenticeships consultation. With a January 31 deadline, you have less than four weeks to give your view on the Draft Strategic Guidance to the Institute for Apprenticeships. Key functions for the Institute for Apprenticeship, which will be launched in April: Standards development and approval Currently the government […]

Daventry UTC announces it is to close next year

Low student numbers will lead to closure at yet another University Technical College. The trustees of UTC for New Technologies at Daventry (known as Daventry UTC), today announced that it will close on 31 August 2017, making it the sixth UTC out of 48 to shut. Figures obtained by FE Week through Freedom of Information requests made […]