Fraser Whieldon | FE Week

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 328

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Simon Pierce, Principal, St Helens College and Knowsley Community College Start date: August 2020 Previous job: Deputy principal, The City of Liverpool College Interesting fact: A keen cyclist, he has ridden downhill at Whistler and up (and down) Mont Ventoux several times Philip Dover, Chair, Derby […]

Will England take inspiration from Germany’s chambers of commerce?

The government’s forthcoming FE white paper could hand the British Chambers of Commerce key influencing powers over funding and priorities, FE Week understands. Sources close to policy development say a gap has been created with the demise of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills in 2017, and that local enterprise partnerships have failed to […]

Unions call for substantial college staff pay increase following £400m boost

Trade unions have called for a “significant” pay rise for college staff this year, after the government pumped an extra £400 million into the sector. The University and College Union (UCU), the National Education Union, the GMB, UNISON, and Unite have today launched a new claim for pay levels to move considerably towards what they would have been had pay […]

WorldSkills UK LIVE back for 2020 with online event

Plans to replace this year’s WorldSkills UK LIVE with a virtual event, including talks from the likes of Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, have been announced. WorldSkills UK LIVE, which is the country’s biggest skills and careers event usually held at Birmingham’s NEC, was cancelled earlier this year in the wake of the […]

Long-running apprenticeship provider goes bust

An independent training provider in Birmingham has entered insolvency after Covid-19 reduced the company’s income to a point that “it was no longer in a position to continue trading”. GB Training (UK) Ltd, which offers apprenticeships and is also an adult education budget provider for the West Midlands Combined Authority, has announced on its website […]

Shadow education secretary apologises after calling Covid-19 a ‘good crisis’

Shadow education secretary Kate Green has apologised after calling the Covid-19 pandemic a “good crisis” which Labour “should not let go to waste”. Green made the remarks at the Labour Party’s virtual party conference, ‘Connected’, last week, which sparked a furious backlash and were used by Boris Johnson at prime minister’s questions to attack Labour leader […]

College dependent on merger to survive has latest bid rejected by ESFA

A merger that was planned to save a cash-strapped college from going bust has been rejected by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. City College Southampton and Itchen Sixth Form College had been due to merge in August 2021 but today announced the move was off. A spokesperson for the colleges said the ESFA had […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 327

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Sue Sturgeon, Chair, Activate Learning Start date: August 2020 Previous job: Managing director, Guildford Borough Council Interesting fact: She enjoys motorbike adventure touring on the back of her partner’s BMW Ian Wiggans, Operations director, Skillnet Limited Start date: August 2020 Previous job: Operations and programme director, […]

Is Ofsted really ready to inspect all apprenticeships?

Ofsted will need to prove it can handle the higher levels if they are to inspect all apprenticeships, writes Adrian Anderson. Let me start by saying that universities have nothing to fear from an appropriate Ofsted inspection system. Universities are committed to high-quality delivery and have an excellent track record in delivering and accrediting work-based […]