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12 April 2026

Author: Fraser Whieldon

Apprenticeship provider register to open to all new applicants later this month

The register of apprenticeship training providers will be opened to all corners this month, but new applicants will only be successful if they can prove they “fulfil unmet employer demand”. Yesterday’s Education and Skills Funding Agency Update reveals the register (RoATP) will be opened for applications more widely than for just those training critical workers, […]

Revealed: The FE providers to win Turing Scheme funding

Over one hundred colleges and training providers have been awarded funding under the government’s new Turing Scheme – but FE will only receive two-thirds of the promised cash owing to lack of demand. The Department for Education has today revealed the winning bidders to the scheme, which includes 110 further and vocational education providers. Ninety-three […]

Troubled college forced into last-minute change of merger partner

A troubled college’s plans to merge with a major college group have been abandoned at the eleventh hour after “significant financial liabilities” were uncovered. Oxford-based Ruskin College had been set to join neighbouring Activate Learning at the end of July, but it has been announced it joined the University of West London last Friday instead. […]

Bidding opens for £7m flexi-job apprenticeship development fund

Applications have opened for a £7 million fund to set up flexible apprenticeships in sectors struggling to meet the 12-month minimum duration for an apprenticeship. The Department for Education will be welcoming bids to set up a small number of flexi-job apprenticeship agencies to allow learners to work across multiple projects with multiple employers in […]

New £55k chair wanted to steer Ofqual through ‘unprecedented challenges’

The government is searching for a new Ofqual chair to steer the regulator through “unprecedented challenges” and shape the future of exams during a “period of significant change”. The successful candidate will be paid £55,120 per year for working two days a week. They will take over from current interim chair Ian Bauckham, an academy […]

ESFA U-turns on banning providers from assessing learning difficulties for funding

The government has U-turned on a controversial new funding rule which could have meant apprentices’ learning difficulties could have gone undiagnosed. In its draft 2021/22 apprenticeship funding rules for main providers, the Education and Skills Funding Agency had proposed banning providers from assessing apprentices for funding for any learning difficulties as a standard part of […]

University apprenticeships to be externally assessed

Degree apprenticeships will have to assessed with an industry expert who is independent of the university, under new proposals published today. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has launched a consultation on changes to how degree apprenticeships are created, run and examined. One of their proposals is for the end-point assessments of all degree […]

National Skills Fund consultation launched

A consultation has been launched on the government’s new level 3 qualifications offer, its skills bootcamps programme and how it can “meet critical skills needs”. The consultation on the offers, all run through the £2.5 billion National Skills Fund, was originally meant to begin in the spring but was pushed back. The Department for Education […]

Pilot areas for £65m Strategic Development Fund announced

The Department for Education has revealed the pilot areas for the new Strategic Development Fund. The £65 million fund, first mooted in the Skills for Jobs white paper, went to tender in April. Eighteen winners have now been announced, of which eight will be Local Skills Improvement Plans trailblazer and development fund pilot areas. The […]