Author: Fraser Whieldon

It’s been a promising week for new apprenticeship providers, with only one ‘insufficient progress’ finding from six monitoring visits. One of the reports, for LDN Apprenticeships Ltd, even scored a clean sweep of ‘significant progress’ findings. Inspectors found that the provider’s managers “use progress tracking systems and frequent discussions with the provider’s learning and development […]

An independent training provider due to deliver the first T-levels from next year has warned it might have to pull out of the programme after being frozen out of infrastructure funding. The “ridiculous” decision by the Department for Education to exclude all ITPs was revealed on Wednesday when it launched a £38 million capital fund […]

The motion: This House believes the devolution of the £1.5bn adult education budget will prove to be a successful policy More than 150 FE sector leaders came to the Houses of Parliament on Monday, January 28, for the third FE Week-Pearson Great Debate. The previous two debates were on apprenticeship reforms (July) and T-levels (September). […]

A flagship university technical college had to be bailed out by the government with a £650,000 loan, after being stung by funding rate cuts and delays to its apprenticeship programme. FE Week reported last week that the JCB Academy – the first UTC to open, in 2010 – was one of six 14 to 19 […]

Strikes went ahead at 13 colleges but were suspended at three others this week in an ongoing dispute over pay. Members of the University and College Union from across England walked out for two days from Tuesday, but action was called off at Hugh Baird College in Liverpool, New College Swindon and Coventry College after […]

The Department for Education has released a guide to the £38 million capital fund for providers to use in wave one of T-levels. The cash is being offered to help build new classrooms, refurbish buildings and upgrade equipment next year in readiness to deliver the new technical qualifications from September 2020. The fund is split […]

Irene Lucas has been named the new chair of the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s management board. Ms Lucas is currently a non-executive board member of the Department for Education and was previously a director-general of the Department of Communities & Local Government. She received a CBE in 2008 for services to local government, having […]

It’s been an up-and-down week for the FE sector, which saw a return of three ‘good’ ratings, but two ‘insufficient’ monitoring reports. There was also disappointment for five other providers that got grade three reports, including a grade one college falling two ratings. Holy Cross College in Manchester has improved on its last inspection, going […]