FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Traineeships ‘will start in September’

The first traineeships, the new government programme targeted at young people to help them acquire work-related skills and attitudes, are on track to start in September this year, says FE minister Matthew Hancock. He told training providers, business leaders, apprentices and awarding bodies at a Voice of Apprentices conference in London last week that the […]

Value of new FE quality kitemark questioned

Sector bosses have called into question the “worth” of a new quality marker launched by FE Minister Matthew Hancock. Sir Geoff Hall, chair of the Information Authority, asked if chartered status for top providers was “worth doing”. His query came during a workshop at an Association of Colleges conference, on information and accountability in FE. […]

Get past the rhetoric and down to business

Learning by doing should be valued equally with academic learning, says David Harbourne. But vocational education first must meet the highest possible standards Education must provide a wide range of knowledge, skills and attributes that are best represented by a spread of qualifications of equal status and value. There are, after all, many paths to […]

An ‘end-to-end’ professional development

The Credit Services Association is determined that debt collection become an industry with real career prospects, writes Stephen Morley Debt is set to top the agenda for some time to come. Therefore, it is paramount that talented youngsters are attracted into the credit services industry and that those involved in collecting debt are recognised as […]

Out of the starting blocks

Bob Harrison reflects on the first meeting of the Further Education Technology Action Group Matthew Hancock’s inaugural gathering of some key people in the worlds of FE and technology was all about action. More than 20 strong, the membership is an interesting mix of public and private sector providers as well as the usual representatives […]

Mike Hopkins, principal, Middlesbrough College

The smiling principal of Middlesbrough College seems like an unlikely sea captain. Just look at him in this week’s Campus Round-up where he’s showing off the soles of his feet painted blue and green. But, last year, Mike Hopkins found himself in his element in a Force 8 gale when out sailing at night with […]

It’s the quality that counts

Colleges and schools can work together to provide the impartial advice and guidance that young people need to decide their futures, says Dawn Ward A damning Education Select Committee report on the quality of careers guidance in schools recently prompted FE Week editor Nick Linford to issue a rallying call for colleges to up their […]

EXCLUSIVE: Leading college falls from outstanding to inadequate

One of England’s biggest colleges has fallen from outstanding to the lowest Ofsted grade of inadequate. City of Liverpool College, which achieved the highest grade almost across the board at previous inspection in early 2009, has been hit with a grade four result. It was revisited in early February and has been graded inadequate in […]

AELP fears for skills funding

UPDATE: The government today left the door open for the introduction of a single funding pot, containing the adult skills budget, for local enterprise partnerships. Its response to Lord Heseltine’s No Stone Unturned report, published here, pointed to Wednesday’s Budget on the devolution of skills funding (see page 60, point 81). Government money for […]