Author: Fraser Whieldon

Serious governance failings and financial inexperience are in the spotlight at The Hadlow Group as the board goes into meltdown. As previously revealed by FE Week the Department for Education has launched several investigations into the finances of the group – consisting of a board for Hadlow College and a separate one for West Kent […]

Up to 50 jobs are on the line at a college group which last year received a £30 million government bailout to help with its merger, a union has said. The University and College Union reacted angrily to the news at Stockport College and Trafford College, which merged in April 2018 and are planning to […]

Government officials have revealed they are actively looking at ways to make the 315-hour minimum industry placement in T-levels more flexible. Senior leaders such as David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, have long expressed concern that young people, especially in rural areas, will be unable to pass the T-level owing to a […]

Labour is planning to use National Apprenticeships Week to attack the government on their commitment to their own public sector apprenticeship recruitment target. Over the last week multiple MPs from the party have submitted a series of questions to ministers asking for the number of apprentices working in their department. The questions have all been […]

Awarding organisations could soon have to conduct surprise audits to colleges and training providers as Ofqual seeks to tighten controls on the controversial direct claims status practice. The qualifications watchdog has today launched a consultation on changing the way awarding bodies manage and oversee centre assessments. Ofqual has identified a risk with so many assessments […]

An independent specialist college has been hit with an ‘inadequate’ rating after Ofsted found students with high needs were being placed in “potentially harmful situations,” in a less than impressive week for FE providers. Elsewhere two out of five early monitoring reports for new apprenticeship firms resulted in ‘insufficient’ verdicts, while one private provider was […]

The Education and Skills Funding Agency will reduce the £27,000 digital and technology solutions professional apprenticeship standard by £2,000. In an update published today, the agency announced the band cap for the level six standard, with a typical duration of 36 months, would be reducing from the £27,000 maximum to £25,000, from May 19. The […]

A new apprenticeship provider has been judged to be making ‘insufficient progress’ after Ofsted found it did not take into account learners’ previous qualifications when putting them on programme. Inspectors reported that many of Agincare Group Limited’s 173 apprentices already had a high depth of knowledge and experience prior to starting their apprenticeship and the […]

The government is developing a tool to risk assess independent training providers, as part of “strengthening” oversight. The plan, which was revealed in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s management board minutes from January, comes as the agency ploughs more resources into its capacity to audit and intervene in training firms. In September FE Week […]