Author: Fraser Whieldon

Disruption during the pandemic has forced colleges to postpone industry placements required by 16- and 17-year-olds to complete their T Level, FE Week can reveal. Early years educator qualifications, including the T Level specialism, require 750 hours or more on an industry placement, far higher than the 315 hours minimum for other T Levels. A […]

Thousands of adult education courses across England and funded from the new National Skills Fund will not be inspected by Ofsted, the government has admitted. FE Week can reveal that Department for Education sees no need for Ofsted inspections for skills bootcamps – a £38 million programme of courses targeting 25,000 unemployed and employed adults, […]

Members of parliament fighting to save a land-based college have escalated the issue to prime minister Boris Johnson, after the FE Commissioner rejected multiple rescue bids. Six Conservative MPs – including former Scottish secretary David Mundell – and former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron have called for the prime minister to support their efforts to […]

The government has extended its free digital devices scheme to independent training providers, just days after the skills minister said they would not be included. A Department for Education spokesperson confirmed today that private providers would soon be able to benefit from ‘Get Help with Technology’ for students aged 16 to 19 on study programmes, […]

Trade unions and sector representative bodies have combined forces to call on the government to prioritise education staff in the second phase of Covid-19 vaccinations. The organisations, including the Association of Colleges, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, Sixth Form Colleges Association and the University and College Union, have today co-signed a letter to […]

Students and staff are being encouraged to keep their bodies and brains active throughout lockdown by walking, running and cycling their way to the moon with their colleges. AoC Sport, an arm of the Association of Colleges, has launched the ‘Lunar Challenge’ to keep the FE active by travelling 238,855 miles, roughly equivalent to a […]

Employers should pay for apprentices’ digital devices to continue training remotely, Gillian Keegan said today as she confirmed learners at independent providers will not be offered them for free by government. Speaking on an FE Week webcast this afternoon, the skills minister claimed that independent providers would not be included in government initiatives to hand […]

The tender for the nationwide rollout of the government’s technical skills “boot camps” has been launched, with £36 million from the National Skills Fund on offer. The Department for Education has invited suppliers to bid for two lots, both worth £18 million: the first for digital skills boot camps in the nine geographical regions of […]