Jessica Fino | FE Week

IfA rejects level 2 business admin apprenticeship leaving employers ‘disappointed’ and ‘upset’

A proposal to create a level 2 business support apprenticeship has been rejected outright by the government, with officials claiming the standard is “not viable”, FE Week can reveal. In a move that has “disappointed” sector leaders, the Institute for Apprenticeships’ deputy director of approvals, Ana Osbourne, has written the trailblazer lead for the wished-for […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 286

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Stuart Blackett, Board member, Stockton, Riverside College Group Start date: June 2019 Concurrent job: Director of finance and strategy, RPMI and vice chair of the Railway Housing Association Interesting fact: As a child, he was the lead vocalist in a choir and would be paid 50p […]

Introducing… Julie Mills

From school drop-out to college chief executive, Julie Mills has not done things in a conventional way When Julie Mills was a 16-year-old in the early 1980s, she quit her sixth-form college and started working in a job centre where she dished out unemployment benefits. Now principal and chief executive of Milton Keynes College and […]

Ofsted’s new framework is not a good fit with FE providers

With just over two months to go until the new education inspection framework comes into action, Ofsted has found its model for assessing the quality of lessons “does not fit” FE providers. In what one adviser to a former skills minister called an “extremely worrying” admission, the education watchdog said it needs to come up […]

There is no point ignoring the looming overspend – employer apprenticeship levy usage needs to be restricted

At the AELP annual conference this week the skills minister, Anne Milton, outlined options being considered to restrict employer usage of their apprenticeship levy. Given the fall in starts since the apprenticeship reforms began in May 2017, you would be forgiven for wondering why the government would be looking at restricting employer demand. Any new […]

Could private training provider cash-in after college sell-off?

A national training provider could step-in to become the only education provider in Stourbridge, after the area’s FE college is sold-off. Skills Training UK, which currently trains more than 2,000 learners across London, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Brighton, said it would launch the new the centre for 16-18-year-olds “subject to demand”. Cash-strapped Birmingham Metropolitan College […]

Government warns colleges as email ‘phishing’ scams inflict financial losses

FE colleges and other “educational institutions” are being warned about new cyber-attacks which have already claimed some victims and resulted in financial losses. The latest Education and Skills Funding Agency update, published today, contains information about a “phishing” scam – where a fraudster disguises as a trustworthy source in an electronic communication to trick people […]

What makes a UTC ‘outstanding’?

Why is UTC Reading successful while other colleges are shutting or struggling? It has a grade one Ofsted rating, but that’s only one secret to its success If Lord Kenneth Baker could take a blueprint for the beleaguered university technical college (UTC) and multiply it across the country, it’s likely that he would choose UTC […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 285

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Amy Ammar, Regional manager for South West England and South Wales, Association of Accounting Technicians Start date: June 2019 Previous job: National account manager, Pearson PLC Interesting fact: She once did a tandem skydive from 13,000 feet Richard Harris, Acting Principal and Chief Executive, City of […]