Fraser Whieldon | FE Week

Hadlow Group suspends principal and deputy pending investigations

The principal and deputy principal of the Hadlow Group have been suspended as multiple investigations are launched into their financial dealings. A spokesperson for the group told FE Week today that principal Paul Hannan, who went on sick leave last week, and his deputy Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, who resigned in January to take effect from March 1, […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 271

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Colin Davey, Performing & Production Arts Subject Leader, Plymouth College of Art Pre-Degree Campus. Start date: January 2019 Previous job: Performing Arts Lecturer & Play It Again Theatre Company Actor & Workshop Facilitator, Exeter College Interesting fact: Colin was born with a vocal defect that meant he […]

Accounting irregularities investigated at Hadlow Group colleges

Hadlow Group is under intense scrutiny from the FE commissioner for accounting irregularities relating to land sales, FE Week can reveal. The deputy principal, Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, resigned from the group at the end of January, and this week it was announced that the group principal and chief executive, Paul Hannan, is on sick leave following […]

Ofsted watch: Week of extremes for FE providers

Results from this week’s Ofsted reports for FE have ranged between the very worst and the very best. Independent specialist college Strathmore College was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in four out of five themes, making ‘reasonable progress’ in the other area. The inspector noted that, since their last inspection returned a grade three, […]

Hadlow Group appoints troubleshooter as interim principal

A troubled college group whose boss has gone on sick leave following intervention from the FE Commissioner has appointed an interim principal. On the morning of the commissioner’s second visit to the group this month, the board issued an all staff email announcing the appointment of Graham Morley. Mr Morley will commence duties today and […]

‘High quality’ apprenticeships at risk from policy blind spots

This week we expose four oversight gaps that have emerged since the implementation of apprenticeships. They each put the credibility of the programme at risk, and need sorting, and fast. Blind spot 1: Office for Students has still not committed to monitoring the quality of the rapidly expanding level six and seven ‘non-degree’ apprenticeships. Incredibly, […]

Greater London Authority pulls part of European Social Fund tender a week before submissions close

The Greater London Authority has pulled part of the tender for a £60 million European Social Fund contract – a week before the submissions window was due to close. Bidders received correspondence this morning informing them the GLA is withdrawing lot two of the European Social Fund from competition with immediate effect. The tender for […]

John Ruskin College commended by FE Commissioner’s report

A sixth-form college that has fallen into trouble in recent years has been commended by the FE commissioner for turning itself around before a merger. Richard Atkins’ team visited John Ruskin College in October after it emerged its financial health had declined rapidly, and it had dropped two Ofsted grades to ‘requires improvement’ in 2017. […]

DfE confirms ban on recruitment of apprentices at BPP University months after Ofsted warning

The government has finally confirmed that a huge private university has been stopped from recruiting new starts months after an Ofsted monitoring visit warned it was making insufficient progress’ in its apprenticeship provision. Managers at BPP University faced criticism for being “too reliant on subjective information from assessors on the progress of their apprentices, which […]