Skip to content
20 April 2026

Poor performing new provider hoping for apprenticeships lifeline

A new apprenticeship provider blames the impact of Covid for a second poor Ofsted report and is hoping to be given a rare lifeline by the government. Doncaster Conferences, Catering and Events Limited (DCCE) could be kicked off the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) after the inspectorate found it had made ‘insufficient progress’ in […]

DfE offer further help to cash-strapped colleges this term

New funding to help colleges with a poor cash position to cover the costs of staff absences incurred between November and the Christmas holidays has been announced. The Department for Education said the ‘Covid workforce fund’, announced this afternoon, will be backdated to 1 November, and colleges’ eligibility will be based on their cash position […]

ESFA director wants ‘more power’ as college ownership battle rages

Top civil servants have inadvertently exposed a rift at the top of the Department for Education over the future of college independence, ahead of a delayed FE white paper. In a Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday the Education and Skills Funding Agency director, Matthew Atkinson, told MPs he would “definitely like more power” to […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 335

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Peter Donnelly, Business development and commercial manager, Northern Skills Group Start date: November 2020 Previous job: Employer engagement coordinator, Middlesbrough College Interesting fact: In recent years, he has bungee-jumped off a bridge and competed in a boxing match, for charity Kate Parker, Chair, City & Guilds’ […]

FE white paper pushed back to 2021, ESFA director suggests

The much-anticipated FE white paper might not appear until next year, the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s chief executive has revealed.  Eileen Milner, taking questions from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee this morning, was quizzed by chair Meg Hillier on when the white paper would be published.  “You have talked about how important the FE […]

Top official reveals ‘gut wrenching’ £6m spent on accountancy fees to dissolve college

The Department for Education has revealed £6 million was spent on administrators’ fees alone for the two college insolvencies, an amount its most senior civil servant has called “gut-wrenching”.  At a hearing of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee today, the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s director of provider market oversight Matthew Atkinson told […]

64 colleges running out of cash which is ‘more than we thought’ admits official

Sixty-four colleges are at risk of running out of cash, a top ESFA director has said, admitting the number of colleges needing emergency funding was “more than we thought”.  Speaking at a House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee hearing this morning, the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s director of provider market oversight Matthew Atkinson said they had […]

Apprentice minimum wage to rise again in April 2021

The national minimum wage for apprentices will increase next April from £4.15 to £4.30 per hour, the Treasury has announced today.  The 15p increase equates to a 3.6 per cent rise, and is in line with a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission.  It comes shortly after prime minister Boris Johnson announced in January that the apprentice minimum wage […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 334

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Alexandra Miles, Governor, Selby College Start date: September 2020 Concurrent job: Managing director, West Yorkshire Learning Providers Interesting fact: She reached the final stage of the England Squad Netball trials under-18 in 1993 Anne-Marie Francis, Vice principal of quality and curriculum, Loughborough College Start date: Early […]