FE Week Reporter | FE Week

John Bolt, former teacher and funding guru

It’s not an easy job getting audiences to master complex financial concepts. And you don’t normally expect to cross wit with funding systems. But as John Bolt hangs up his calculator and settles into retirement, the FE funding guru reflects on a career that he believes worked best laced with humour. “They liked the jokes,” […]

Ofsted success leads to government support call

The government has been urged to do more to promote sixth-form colleges after the sector’s second outstanding grade under Ofsted’s tough new inspection regime. Rochdale Sixth Form College, which has around 1,000 students, got grade one rankings across the education watchdog’s headline fields following its first inspection. “Teaching is energetic and often inspirational, and builds […]

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The post-Incorporation college: a not-so-sleeping giant

Leeds City College is one of the single largest providers of apprenticeships in the UK following the launch of the Apprenticeship Training Agency — jointly owned with the local authority — and the creation of the Food Academy at city centre restaurant Flannels. Now the third largest college in the UK with more than 40,000 […]

‘If that doesn’t work, we do it again.’ Really?

Next time you come across a member of your college marketing staff, treat him or her gently. They’re a much misunderstood lot, says Nick Warre In 1990 I was one of the first people in FE to have the word marketing in my job title. There were very few of us, and we were not […]

Forming an orderly queue to improve customer service

When the Association of Colleges helped give 31 enterprising colleges a permanent presence in India earlier this year, the initiative required a level of customer service to match that of the best export companies. Education export services are already worth £14bn a year to the UK and are expected to rise to at least £22bn […]

Four into one equals success

City and Islington College, born in 1993, has faced challenges aplenty in its 20 years. Despite the blips, a birthday study shows how it has championed the community it serves, writes Andrew Morris Take two FE colleges, one sixth-form centre and one adult education service, mix together slowly, simmer on a gentle heat and what […]

How do you solve a problem like ‘college’?

Public confusion about the identity of a “college”, poor media perception of FE and a lack of skills among college press officers combine to prevent the sector getting better media coverage, it is argued. A brief study of journalists’ perceptions of the sector for FE Week points to a continued poor understanding among news editors […]

The rise of the entrepreneurial college

Former hairdressing apprentice Jodie Whitemore (pictured right) is running her own salon at the age of 20 while completing a foundation degree at West Nottinghamshire College. Just four years ago, she started her NVQ with no school-leaver qualifications and looked destined to add to the growing bank of NEET statistics. But Asha Khemka, her college […]