FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Fears eased on funding

The Association for Employment and Learning Providers has secured access to extra funding for independent providers whose allocations have been drastically cut. The association said it had “intense discussions” with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) after dozens of worried members made contact when their allocations were reduced between 20 and 30 per cent. The cuts […]

Questions remain on Tech Bacc

Government plans for a Technical Baccalaureate (Tech Bacc) have received a lukewarm welcome from the FE sector, amid questions about its substance and timing. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the Association of Colleges (AoC) described the new qualification, which will count towards college and sixth form league tables, as “a step […]

‘I had my medal when I heard the noise’

As Elaine Battson collected her bag after a successful Boston Marathon, she thought the explosions she heard were fireworks to celebrate the end of the event. But within minutes, the Institute for Learning’s director of finance discovered that the April 8 event had been bombed. “I’d gone through the finishing line, got my medal and […]

Minister ‘cancels’ on traineeships

Providers have been kept waiting at least another week for the government to outline its plan for traineeships. Skills Minister Matthew Hancock had been advertised as attending an event in Manchester on Wednesday, April 24, at which he would unveil the scheme. But the launch was cancelled at the 11th hour. Traineeships, due to start […]

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‘Photos really capture special moments in my life’

Jake Beattie had three things on his wish list – including his own camera. Rebecca Cooney reports on how Hopwood Hall College helped to make the seriously ill student’s dreams come true A seriously ill art and design learner from Manchester was lost for words when his college made his wish list a reality. Jake […]

League stars prepare for life off the pitch

Rugby league players are going back to college to prepare for the day when they hang up their boots. Fifty players from teams across the Super League will study a range of vocational courses at Warrington Collegiate to help them to prepare for a career once their playing days end. Warrington Wolves squad member Trent […]

Spoons at dawn in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough College students were part of a head-to-head cook-off between their lecturer and a former student. The level three professional cookery students were split into teams working for tutor Steve Donnison and Matty Beadnall, now a sous chef at Rockliffe Hall. More than 30 diners at the college’s training restaurant chose between a menu prepared […]

Brittany jets off for dream job in travel

An apprentice from Yorkshire is jetting off to Greece after landing her dream job for a global travel organisation. Brittany Stubbs, 20, was struggling to find work before she enrolled on an administration apprenticeship programme at Doncaster College, which involved a mixture of level two technical business and administration qualifications, and level one ICT, maths […]