Jess Staufenberg | FE Week

Here is a 7-point checklist to make sure the impending FE White Paper doesn’t fail

If the long-anticipated White Paper doesn’t recognise the needs of 2021, then it will fail like so many initiatives before it, write Mark Dawe and Tim Blackman We have both spent our careers working in education and training – from primary schools to PhD researchers – and there is no doubt that the Covid crisis […]

We must steady the ship after the government’s half U-turn

After a week at sea like no other, the next big challenge is teacher-assessed grades, writes David Hughes This week we’ve seen another lockdown, confusion, dismay and anxieties raised – and that’s just in education. The prime minister’s third lockdown announcement on Monday night incorporated the surprising decision to go ahead with the January series […]

Thank you to everyone in FE for your extraordinary efforts

Virtual visits during lockdown have revealed many excellent practices to tackle Covid-19 in colleges, writes Gillian Keegan There has never been a better time to applaud the extraordinary efforts of everyone who works in the FE sector. For colleges and FE providers, this term has presented many challenges, but what is even more remarkable are […]

‘We will not be the same because of this’: How colleges coped with Covid

After a gruelling first term, college staff spill the beans on how they have dealt with a period in education like no other It has been an unprecedented time for college staff. Since the first lockdown in March they have stayed open for vulnerable learners, “bubbled” students, coped with their own health anxieties, ramped up […]

Staff must share their new resources with the whole sector

We need to identify and pool the ‘gems’ that staff have drummed up under lockdown, writes Linsey Taylor Prior to the pandemic, in my experience it was not unusual to find teaching staff who were reluctant to upload their materials to their institution’s virtual learning environment, and who rebelled at the suggestion of putting up […]

Decade-long projects can truly make changes for BAME staff and learners

Funding projects with long-term goals have a better chance of improving diversity and inclusion, writes Janet Curtis-Broni As we draw to the end of our first term of this year, it’s worth reflecting on one of the biggest events that happened during the first lockdown in May. Black Lives Matter movements exploded across the world […]

We must not confuse competition with choice

For most other European countries, education is deemed too important to leave to market forces, writes David Corke Today we published a report showing that excessive competition has led to worse outcomes in 16-19 provision in terms of Ofsted grades, financial health and course choice. We used various data sets including performance and participation data […]

Introducing…David Phoenix

David Phoenix, a scientist who heads a group bringing together FE, HE and academies, shows why experimenting with a new model is critical for technical education Quite how long education secretaries in England have been banging on about “breaking down” the divisions between technical and academic education and their respective sectors is anyone’s guess. At […]

This is why we should delay the white paper even longer

The government should start again with a green paper for an FE strategy that stands the test of time, writes Stephen Evans The much-anticipated FE white paper may now be delayed into 2021, we’ve found out. But is there a case for waiting even longer? Last week, ESFA chief executive Eileen Milner said the white […]