Freddie Whittaker

  • Government Kickstart minimum vacancy rule to be scrapped, hitting hundreds of 'gateway' providers

    The chancellor is to scrap the minimum 30 vacancy requirement for the government’s Kickstart scheme, scuppering the plans of organisations that had become so-called “gateways” to help smaller employers access the programme. FE Week understands that some organisations have been told by ministers that the vacancy limit will be scrapped, meaning any business will be…

    11.45 Jan. 23rd, 2021 | News

  • Leo Shapiro steps down as OCR chief executive

    Leo Shapiro, the chief executive of major awarding organisation OCR, has stepped down after less than two years in post. FE Week understands that he left the post on Friday, but will continue to work for the Cambridge Assessment Group, OCR’s parent company. The exam board said Mr Shapiro’s move is “part of a planned change…

    10.48 Apr. 24th, 2018 | News

  • DfE doubles 'advanced maths premium' funding incentive

    The government has doubled the amount of money on offer to encourage more schools and colleges to offer maths at A-level. The new “advanced maths premium” announced in last year’s autumn budget was originally going to be worth £600 for every additional student studying an ‘advanced maths’ qualification, such as an AS or A level.…

    0.00 Feb. 28th, 2018 | News

  • Damian Hinds becomes education secretary

    Damian Hinds has been named as the new education secretary. Mr Hinds was previously the government’s employment minister, serving in the role since July 2016. Prior to that he was exchequer secretary to the Treasury. He sat on the parliamentary education committee between 2010 and 2012 and chaired the all-part parliamentary group for social mobility. Mr…

    20.15 Jan. 8th, 2018 | News

  • Milton wants flexibility, not 'the dead hand of the state'

    The skills minister has admitted she’s heard serious concerns about the government’s apprenticeship reforms, but claims there is “just enough time” to ensure that the enthusiasm, energy and time put into the project is not lost. Speaking at an Apprenticeships Forum fringe event at the Conservative Party conference this morning, Anne Milton said successive governments…

    12.16 Oct. 3rd, 2017 | News

  • Greening announces 27 new degree apprenticeship projects, but no new money

    UPDATE: HEFCE has now announced details of the 27 projects on its website.  We’ve alerted the DfE ———————————————————————————————————— Justine Greening has announced 27 new degree apprenticeship projects, but the FE sector may have to wait a while to find out what they are. In her speech to the Conservative Party conference, the education secretary heralded the…

    18.31 Oct. 1st, 2017 | News

  • DfE confirms HE fee policy change WILL apply to FE loans

    The government’s proposed rise in the repayment threshold for student loans will apply to FE loans, it has been confirmed. At the Conservative Party conference this weekend, Theresa May will announce that the amount people will have to earn before starting to pay back their student loans will increase from £21,000 to £25,000. The announcement…

    13.44 Oct. 1st, 2017 | News

  • General election result: what does it mean for FE?

    The Conservatives look set to continue with their skills agenda after Theresa May managed to secure a deal to form a new government after a disastrous election for her party. As FE Week went to press at noon on Friday, the Conservatives had 318 seats while Labour had 261, meaning that neither party had an…

    11.15 Jun. 9th, 2017 | News

  • Election night 2017: The constituencies to watch if you work in FE

    It’s been one of the most eventful and uncertain election campaigns in recent history, and now it’s almost over. The polls will close at 10pm tonight, and this will be closely followed by exit polls before constituency results start to trickle in from around 11.30pm. In case you were worried we hadn’t done something really nerdy…

    15.39 Jun. 8th, 2017 | News

  • General Election 2017 | a closer look at election pledges

    When I wrote my last general election supplement in 2015, I never thought I’d be doing another over two years. But that’s the world we live in now, so here we go again. Click here to download the supplement Education is once again a key issue on the campaign trail and in these 20 pages,…

    16.30 May. 25th, 2017 | Supplements

  • Greater Manchester UTC is seventh to announce closure

    The Greater Manchester University Technical College (UTC) will close at the end of this academic year, becoming the seventh of the institutions to shut its doors as a result of recruitment problems. Leaders at the UTC told students this afternoon that the college had been unable to recruit enough pupils in Oldham “and further afield”…

    17.56 Feb. 7th, 2017 | News