Author: Jess Staufenberg

The funding set-up, not the qualifications themselves, is to blame for a lack of take-up, writes Mary Osmaston When we think of entry level, people with degrees or vocational skills probably don’t come to mind. But there are many such learners studying from entry to level 2 purely because they don’t yet speak English well […]

There are now more questions than answers about the national skills fund, writes Simon Parkinson The WEA gave a cautious welcome to the news that the national retraining scheme would be integrated into the new “national skills fund” As many of you will remember, the national retraining scheme pilot was announced to much fanfare in […]

The sector is shooting itself in the foot if we don’t argue that colleges getting financial help should be transparently listed, writes Stuart Rimmer Should the names of colleges getting bailouts be made public? Well, the simple answer to that simple question is – yes! Of course they should. Towards the end of last month, […]

Providers are stuck in a vicious cycle of ignorance and avoidance that frustrates both learners and Ofsted, writes Chris Quickfall If apprenticeship providers were offered a way to reduce dropout rates, improve the learner experience, satisfy Ofsted and were paid to do so, it would be reasonable to assume that most would jump at the […]

Too many colleges and employers have a ‘diversity and inclusion’ policy but go no further, writes Jeremy Crook Will 2020 mark a turning point in how employers and the FE sector deal with racial inequalities? Those of us working with black and Asian young people are still waiting to see. There has been some progress […]

The technical qualifications we end up with must have value for employers and universities, writes Ruth Gilbert As a sector, we have been working hard for many years to raise the parity of esteem between vocational or technical qualifications and academic qualifications. Progress has undoubtedly been made, with the government recognising the important part that […]

Off-the-job training in apprenticeships is clearly critical, while GCSE resits need to be rethought, writes Anne Milton When I attended WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, I was privileged to be the first government minister to witness WorldSkills on foreign soil. It was an experience I will never forget. I was left in complete awe of the […]

Bootcamps are a step in the right direction – but lessons need to be learned from pilots like ours, writes Clare Hatton The prime minister’s recent funding announcement for digital skills “bootcamps”, which will deliver short IT courses to boost employability, forms part of the government’s commitment to improve the UK’s digital capabilities and to […]

FE has some of the most diverse classrooms around and should be setting an example when it comes to representation, writes Teresa Carroll Teaching and learning at its best should reflect the diversity of our learners’ worlds. Covid-19 has brought into focus the disparity in learners’ experiences from a social and economic perspective. Meanwhile, movements […]