Jess Staufenberg | FE Week

Can the government fix the ‘confusing’ careers landscape?

The skills white paper sets the lofty ambition of a “clear, all-age careers system”. Will a former academic be the man to deliver it? Jess Staufenberg reports In 2013 Michael Gove had something of an outburst in an education select committee hearing. He’d just axed Connexions, the national careers advice service for young people aged […]

We must tackle the worrying trend in digital skills and qualifications

Our latest report reinforces findings that the digital skills gap is gendered and has regional biases, writes Emma Roberts Essential, and in demand. This is the stark message from employers about the absolute necessity of high-quality digital skills. Yet a worrying trend is emerging. While employer demand for digital skills is set to continue to […]

Why are numeracy skills in adults still so low?

Despite interventions and investment, maths ‘phobia’ continues to hold learners back, writes Dipa Ganguli Are you a parent, or do you know any, who dreads having to help with maths homework? In a restaurant, do you hate having to calculate the tip on a bill? Does understanding your mortgage interest payments seem like an insurmountable […]

For its ‘national recruitment campaign’ the DfE should look to the Armed Forces

Recruitment of service leavers with the skills to rise through the ranks in FE makes sense, writes Campbell Christie When reading through the FE white paper I was particularly struck by the announcement of a “national recruitment campaign” to attract high-calibre teaching staff to the sector. The paper pledges to “work with the sector […]

The DfE has failed to work the industrial strategy into the skills white paper

It looks like the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy aren’t talking to each other, writes Graham Hasting-Evans Do you remember the “industrial strategy”? Back in 2017 the government developed an overarching economic plan spanning up to 2027. From this has flowed a number of sector industry strategies. These industrial strategies, […]

This is why we need an Association of Apprentices

Apprentices are often isolated from their peers, and a mentoring and networking service can help reduce drop-out, writes David Marsh At the start of this month the Association of Apprentices was launched ̶ a membership organisation aimed at providing apprentices with a stronger support and guidance network. While the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical […]

Overworked staff need clear guidance around teacher-assessed grades this year

Staff don’t need to provide cartloads of evidence for teacher-assessed grades, just enough to form a professional judgment, says Jill Duffy It is widely agreed that teachers and college leaders are facing an unprecedented workload. Not only are you welcoming students back, identifying learning gaps and doing Covid testing, but results for your students taking […]

The Chancellor did broadly the right thing with the Budget – now to delivery

The government will need to be much quicker delivering what it announced in the Budget last week than its record so far, writes Stephen Evans Times have changed. Last week, we already knew most of the measures in the Budget in advance through Treasury press releases. But in 1947 Hugh Dalton resigned as Chancellor because […]

This is how I brought Swedish ‘fika’ to FE in England

If staff are skipping lunch and only talk about work, they and their principals need to hear about fika, writes Victoria Grimberg Having lived in both Sweden and England, I have seen many notable differences in work culture first-hand. One that has really struck me is the difference in staff stress levels. According to the ‘OECD […]