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13 May 2026

Author: FE Week Reporter

Traineeships need to have a strong start

The transition from unskilled to skilled could be key to answering the UK’s youth unemployment problem, explains Matthew Hancock The German Chancellor Angela Merkel is by no means alone in regarding unemployment among young people as “the most pressing European problem”. However, in Germany the rates of youth unemployment are far lower than most of […]

The Government must get this right

The introduction of a training route to support young people without the necessary skills and qualifications to start an apprenticeship is a step forward, says shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, but it must be implemented properly While I welcome the fact the Government are introducing traineeships for the 2013/14 academic year, the timescales involved concern […]

Transformational: from inadequate to good in 15 months

Macclesfield College soared from an Ofsted grade four to a grade two in just over a year. Principal Simon Andrews explains how. In February 2012, just weeks before I took over as principal, Macclesfield College failed an Ofsted inspection.  The college recorded an overall grade four ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness and leadership and management.  The […]

WorldSkills celebrates the vocational route

And apprenticeships inspire high levels of ambition, confidence and eloquence says Matthew Coffey, National Director of Further Education and Skills This is an important week for vocational education. The Worldskills competition in Leipzig, Germany is showcasing some of the world’s best young trainees. They will compete for medals in 46 disciplines ranging from hairdressing to […]

Apprentice starts for 16 to 18 keep falling

The continual downward slide in the numbers of under-19s taking up apprenticeships is “substantial” and “worrying”, Junior Shadow Education Minister Tristram Hunt has said. He spoke out after the latest Statistical First Release (SFR), published by the Data Service on Thursday, showed that  4,000 fewer 16 to 18-year-olds started apprenticeships from February to April this […]

Students step up to the crease

Learners from South and City College Birmingham are offering their building skills and services to local cricket clubs. The college and the Warwickshire Cricket Board, which is based at Edgbaston Stadium, have agreed a partnership through the ECB NatWest Cricket Force Programme that will allow construction students to gain work experience, while giving a helping […]

Stoke-on-Trent celebrates success

Emotions ran high at an annual celebratory evening as students from Stoke-on-Trent College were recognised for their achievements. The learners, their families and special guests heard tales of triumph during the college’s annual Celebrating Success evening, held at the Kings Hall in Stoke on June 20. Major winners included first-year interactive media student Rhona-Anne Breeze, […]

Up there with the big guns

Students at a Staffordshire College finished in the top 10 of an artillery competition for the fourth year in a row. A team from Buxton and Leek College took part in the Junior Leaders’ Naval Field Gun Challenge at naval base HMS Collingwood in Fareham, Hampshire. In the competition teams raced to assemble an antique […]