Fraser Whieldon | FE Week

Providers and the government need to better manage subcontracting

This week the ESFA published 10 subcontracting proposals in a consultation document. The FE sector is encouraged to respond – and this should put an end to speculation of a complete subcontracting ban, says Peter Mucklow This week we published a consultation proposing reforms to the delivery of subcontracted further education provision. The proposal is […]

Ofsted watch: Two sixth form colleges score top grades

Two sixth form colleges have been declared ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, with one retaining their top grade after more than a decade without inspection. Meanwhile, a publicly-owned private provider has dropped to a grade three after nine years as a grade one. After its last inspection in 2008, Peter Symonds College yet again achieved a grade […]

Government hands 36 Skills Advisory Panels another £2.7m

Skills advisory panels have been handed another £2.7 million to identify local skills gaps and tackle them, education secretary Gavin Williamson has announced. The 36 panels (SAPs) will receive £75,000 each and use the money to produce action plans and reports, highlighting how they have supported local providers and employers to address local skills priorities. They […]

Who will gain this time from apprenticeship reform?

National Apprenticeships Week is now in its thirteenth year; launched in 2007 by the then Labour government as an “annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships across England”. For our readers, those delivering the training and assessment, the programme has changed considerably since 2007, a time when they were only available to young people at level 2 […]

Government research finds policy makers contributed to National College failures

The government’s own researchers have slammed policy makers for exacerbating National Colleges failures, according to an evaluation report into how the same mistakes can be avoided with Institutes of Technology. In the 107-page evaluation report published today, the Department for Education was criticised for setting up specialist National Colleges as stand-alone institutions that relied on […]

FE commissioner annual report: Colleges entering formal intervention rises by two-thirds

The number of colleges entering formal intervention rose by two-thirds on the previous year, mostly due to historical “weak decision-making,” according to the FE Commissioner’s 2018/19 annual report. In total, 13 colleges entered intervention – 12 for financial reasons and one which escalated from diagnostic assessment – five more than the previous year. None were […]

Over 500 FE lecturers to come from industry as part of £24m support package ‘boost’

Over 500 people working in technical roles are to be enticed into training to be further education lecturers as part of a £24 million support package. The Department for Education has fleshed out the details of the investment, after it was previously revealed when chancellor Sajid Javid announced a £400 million boost for the sector […]

ESFA apprenticeship roadshow to cross the country

Providers are being invited to a series of roadshows to find out more about non-levy paying businesses transitioning to the apprenticeship service and the withdrawal of frameworks. The Education and Skills Funding Agency is running events across the country in February and March for employers on the register of apprenticeship training providers. According to this […]

College’s T-level delivery in jeopardy

The government is reviewing whether a large college group approved to start delivering T-levels from 2021 should be kicked off the programme after receiving a grade three from Ofsted. United Colleges Group, which is lined up to offer the digital and construction courses, was told it ‘requires improvement’ in a report released this week. The […]