Jess Staufenberg | FE Week

This is how evaluation practices lead to better governance

Assessment of the board improves the performance and engagement of its members, writes Fiona Chalk I had the pleasure recently of listening to Ralph Schubert talking about creating a high-performing culture in the boardroom. Ralph previously worked in winning Formula One teams and now applies his insights and learning in boardrooms across Europe. Like many […]

Focus feature: Student safety and criminal exploitation

What happens after a serious violent incident plays out in a college? How can colleges best support students and communities around criminal exploitation? Jess Staufenberg looks at whether safeguarding responses and violence reduction units are working On a Friday afternoon in February, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed outside Milton Keynes College. He wasn’t a student […]

Bootcamps should become a firm fixture of the national skills fund

Digital skills such as cyber security are more important than ever, and bootcamps are a good delivery model, writes Caroline Fox As well as reporting the tragic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the ground, the media carries regular stories of a propaganda war being conducted in cyberspace. Teams of IT experts are trying […]

Are you tackling cultural poverty among students?

Ofsted is inspecting for ‘cultural capital’, but limited experience of the world is still holding learners back, writes Josh Spears Have you ever felt like more and more learners are struggling to answer essay-style questions, not because they don’t know the facts, but because they lack good analysis? Maybe, like me, you teach GCSE English […]

I’ve seen cancel culture first hand in FE

There is an intolerance in the sector for people with views contrary to the prevailing ideology, writes Tom Bewick The minister for higher and further education, Michelle Donelan, gave a really important speech recently. She set out the government’s plans to legislate to protect free speech. Controversially, she also delivered a critique of so-called ‘cancel […]

Are you lonesome tonight? Check how your colleagues and students are feeling

Social, emotional and existential loneliness may be affecting more of your colleagues and learners than you realise, writes Stuart Rimmer Amid busy college corridors and offices, it might seem strange to talk about loneliness. This week a charity that the FE sector has supported for many years, the Mental Health Foundation, has placed the focus […]

DfE – go through employers to promote the lifelong loan

The lifelong loan entitlement won’t drive behaviour change unless the public know about it, write Ed Reza Schwitzer and Patrick Thomson During both our times in government we have seen countless policies falling at the final hurdle, whether under Labour, the coalition or Conservatives – implementation. Typically, the bigger the policy, the more that can […]

T Levels will make the qualifications system less confusing

But other qualifications, including BTECs, will continue to play an important role alongside T Levels and A levels, writes Alex Burghart The skills and post-16 education act becoming law last month was a watershed moment in bringing our skills system into the future. From our clear-eyed analysis of what works here and abroad, we found […]

Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, chair, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, who became chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education in August, is overseeing 280 staff and huge responsibilities. What makes her tick? Jess Staufenberg finds out Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith is telling me a story. She remembers being chief executive of Mitie, a facilities management outsourcing company, and talking to a […]