Making apprenticeships a recovery route is creating more productivity problems When support comes after young people disengage, barriers are harder to overcome – and apprenticeships are left carrying a burden they were never designed for
Smaller steps could transform English and maths resits A more inclusive approach to post-16 qualifications may help students overcome the stigma of failure and re-engage with learning
Inside the booming business of high-tech exam cheating Student fraud has moved beyond AI abuse in coursework – it includes invisible earpieces and smart glasses in exam halls. Jessica Hill investigates new trends in cheating driven by unregulated technology and social media influencers who make dishonesty feel normal
LSIPs are closing the skills gap, but the system’s still out of sync LSIPs are bringing employers and educators together like never before, but funding pressures and policy contradictions threaten progress
Shakespeare for ESOL? It turns out it works In ESOL classrooms in Bradford, Shakespeare is helping young people who’ve lost everything rebuild confidence, community and ambition
V Levels won’t fix vocational education – T Levels didn’t A new post-16 qualification won’t change a system that still undervalues technical routes and lacks the employer infrastructure to make them work
AI is a mirror. FE must decide what it reflects As we enter the ‘intimacy economy’, educators are no longer just teaching with technology – they are safeguarding reality itself, ensuring AI amplifies human growth rather than replacing it
We can’t tackle NEET numbers without fixing 16-19 funding We expect young people to stay in education until 18, yet the system removes targeted disadvantage funding at 16, creating a gap that leaves many at risk of disengagement when it matters most
AI leadership apprenticeship units: right ambition, wrong delivery model Ministers want AI-ready leaders, but their own training model risks holding them back