Author: Fraser Whieldon

Ofsted will delay publication of its annual report as it seeks to avoid making any statements that relate to its own performance. Civil servants and public bodies cannot publish anything that could be considered political in the period before an election, known as purdah. But the watchdog is particularly hamstrung this year as Labour, the […]

A learner who works at a major UK bank after spending most of her life in Pakistan and a training provider from the Midlands are among the winners from the fourth annual Asian Apprenticeship Awards. The awards were presented at a glittering ceremony last night in Birmingham, in front of an audience of nearly 500 […]

An unidentified construction firm is propping up the troubled Chartered Institution for Further Education (CIFE), as it pivots from being a membership body to conducting research for the sector. The revelation came in a blog published this week on the institution’s website, which also disclosed for the first time that it had paid its advocate, […]

A college is struggling to get up to snuff ahead of a demerger, as independent providers see ups and downs in this week’s run of Ofsted reports. After the watchdog found them to be ‘inadequate’ last year, a recent monitoring visit judged Easton and Otley to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in ensuring learners make good […]

The deadline for the 2020 FE Week and AELP AAC Apprenticeship Awards has been extended due to demand. The application window is open for another seven days for entries to the route awards category and the national awards category; which includes apprenticeship diversity, outstanding contribution to the development of apprenticeships, and apprentice provider and employer […]

Colleges and independent learning providers are prospering under the new Ofsted inspection framework, with most scoring “good” grades in the initial run of reports. The first inspection reports conducted under the new framework, which came into effect from 1 September, were released last Friday. A total of 18 have now been published and almost three […]

A former college principal has topped a list of the most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender role models working in the public sector. Ann Limb, who is now chair of The Scout Association, was ranked first in the OUTstanding list of 30 LGBT+ public sector executives for 2019. WorldSkills UK chief executive Dr Neil […]

University technical colleges’ deficits have more than doubled over four years, a damning National Audit Office report has revealed. The government’s audit watchdog found that total deficits for the embattled 14 to 19 technical providers now constitute nearly a tenth of the total for every academy trust, after rising from £3.5 million in 2014/15 to […]