Jess Staufenberg | FE Week

UTCs could survive by extending year groups beyond age 18

Many struggling UTCs are lowering their age of entry, but they could have more impact by going the other way, writes David Phoenix Technical education is critical for filling the UK’s huge skills shortages, raising productivity and giving students opportunities to learn and build successful careers. But holes in our education system are restricting students […]

Talking about a ‘middle-class’ grab on apprenticeships could send the wrong message

The claim suggests a scarcity of apprenticeships and that only working-class people should do them, writes David Gallagher Gillian Keegan, apprenticeship and skills minister, recently highlighted her concerns about a middle-class “grab” on apprenticeships. She outlined government fears about degree apprenticeships growing in popularity and said that “people who would have gone to university anyway… […]

The Church of England wants to serve a new generation as we have always done

The Church of England isn’t trying to infiltrate FE colleges in some secret plan, as suggested by two secularists, writes Nigel Gender Further education institutions transform lives by preparing people to enter the workplace, go on to further study, retrain or change careers and provide the skilled workforce we need for the future. Their importance […]

Here’s what you need to know about staff with ‘gender critical’ views

A landmark judgment has ruled that it is lawful to hold a belief that may offend or shock others, writes Jane Hallas It is unlikely that Miss Jean Brodie would have cared very much whether she could express her admiration for Mussolini as often as she does in the classic novel by Muriel Spark. But […]

This is why a ‘digital Baker clause’ is needed

Students will expect to access all the information about their future options in one place online, writes Katie Bell This week, the education select committee recommended that schools be limited to a ‘requires improvement’ grade if they do not allow training providers to speak to learners. It’s an effort to ensure they are in line […]

The Interview: Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor, the former chair of Ofqual, who oversaw the grades fiasco last summer, has spent much of his life thinking about transparency and data. Here he says no algorithm would ever have worked ̶ and why BTECs were not the main focus “An unsolvable problem.” That is how Roger Taylor, former chair of […]

The DfE is focused on learning but a tsunami of need is upon us

At the Westminster Insight SEND conference, Sonia Blandford says the government is ignoring a worrying rise in SEND and CAHMS referrals that we are not prepared for Strange. Challenging. Unprecedented. Just a few of the words we have all used to describe the period since COVID-19 has impacted on all of our lives. But while […]

Should length of tenure for CEOs and chairs be limited?

College leadership failings continue to prove costly, and the education secretary is now seeking greater powers to take more direct action through the Skills Bill. But could one solution be to limit the time bosses are at the helm? FE Week takes a look… Most experts in the sector say the old days of a […]

The U-turn on randomised control trials is bad news for FE

Randomised control trials are the answer to FE’s biggest questions, writes Ben Gadsby I have a confession: My name is Ben and I am a fan of randomised control trials (RCTs). Take two similar groups of people, give one a skills bootcamp, one not-a-skills-bootcamp, and then compare the outcomes. It’s hardly life or death – […]