Jess Staufenberg | FE Week

Give us coherence, not competition, please chancellor

Employers are growing disillusioned as Kickstart, traineeships and apprenticeships all compete, writes Sharron Robbie The announcement on Monday by the chancellor of the exchequer at the Conservative Party conference of a £500 million jobs support package has had a mixed response from training providers across the West Country. In the main, the extension to the […]

Why aren’t the early careers of FE teachers given proper attention?

Mentors who support trainees need much more investment, write Dan Williams and Kayte Haselgrove Here’s a quote for you from the Early Career Framework for schools, as published in 2019: “Teachers are the foundation of the education system – there are no great schools without great teachers. “Teachers deserve high quality support throughout their careers, […]

Here’s what the HGV driver shortage tells us about the wider skills system

The government gave away many of its levers for reacting quickly to a skills shortage, writes Julian Gravatt On Sunday, the government announced £10 million for heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver “skills bootcamps”. This is understandable given current driver shortages across England, which have been linked to the fuel crisis. Ministers wanted to act quickly […]

Introducing… Louise Bennett

Chambers of commerce are in the spotlight. Meet Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire chamber of commerce – a businesswoman, trained psychotherapist and foster parent You could say chambers of commerce are at a pivotal moment in their history. If all goes to plan, they could become a deeply ingrained part of […]

Colleges owe it to their students to get involved with the Turing Scheme

There are some logistical challenges to an international placements scheme during the pandemic, but they’re solveable, writes Sam Parrett With Brexit spelling the end of the successful Erasmus scheme for the UK, the launch of the Turing Scheme as a replacement was positive news. Under the scheme, the government funds international placements between two weeks […]

Don’t scrap BTECs. Raise the rate. Leave us alone.

Here is a 16-19 manifesto in nine words. Follow it, and ministers can’t go wrong, writes James Kewin It is important for membership bodies to talk to their members, but it is much more important to listen to them. And even over the din created by Covid and exams, concerns about three issues have been […]

Introducing… Shaid Mahmood

Shaid Mahmood has been an FE governor for 20 years. Now he’s launching a review of the work of the Association of Colleges Across the road from where Shaid Mahmood grew up in Moss Side, inner-city Manchester, there was a Christian missionary man with whom his mum was good friends. He remembers coming home one […]

Don’t always assume inappropriate behaviour is sexually aggressive

Learners are sometimes being wrongly labelled as sexually aggressive, writes Jennifer Wilkinson Teaching in the 21st century is no small feat. Not only are we now educators, the list of “professional responsibilities” just keeps growing. One of the hot topics in FE at the moment is sex. Now I know what you’re thinking: yes, […]

Goodbye Keegan – hello Burghart

The departing skills minister did well to lead in a pandemic but was too college-focused, writes Jane Hickie There is no doubt that Gillian Keegan brought prominence to the FE agenda as minister for apprenticeships and skills. Indeed, she was the first former apprentice to hold the office. Leading on the FE white paper and […]