Jessica Hill | FE Week

A break with tradition: the crafts fighting for survival

The biggest losers in the government’s mission to boost apprenticeships are traditional crafts for whom the term “apprenticeship” was initially intended. We investigate how longstanding training going back to the Middle Ages is now under threat. Crafts passed on since England’s original national apprenticeship scheme was introduced in 1563 are now considered too small in […]

Skills and training: the centrepiece of Brabin’s northern project

The mayor claims to have used her adult education budget to target areas where change was needed most, but is keenly eyeing more powers to make a difference

Ian Pryce, chief executive, Bedford College Group

Ian Pryce believes FE “hasn’t been good” at telling the story of how 30 years of college independence from government changed it “out of all recognition”. The chief executive of the Bedford College Group, is determined to redress that in his final FE Week interview as he approaches retirement. There is a perfect synchronicity to […]

Destination defund: the fight to save travel and tourism courses

High-profile workforce shortages in the travel industry haven’t stopped the government’s plans to defund rafts of popular courses. Jessica Hill investigates what’s next for travel and tourism training. When stories about long queues at UK airports hit the headlines last summer, travel woes were blamed on staffing shortages across the industry. But with the government […]

Munira Wilson, Lib Dem education spokesperson

As a coalition government seems increasingly likely, FE looks to the Lib Dems’ Munira Wilson to see if the party really is “the party of education” as its education spokesperson claims it to be. The central command of Munira Wilson’s party has avoided speaking on education issues lately. The “latest news” section of the Lib […]

Is FE really meeting its goals when it comes to diversity?

In the wake of the shocking murder of George Floyd by a police officer on the streets of Minneapolis nearly three years ago, businesses and public institutions pledged to redouble their efforts to tackle racism and discrimination. Pledges, diversity charters and steering groups were launched to show that action was being taken. Representative organisations in […]

Chris Claydon, CEO, JTL

Chris Claydon has a biography better suited to James Bond than to the chief executive of a training provider for building service engineers. He has flown Apache military helicopters, briefed cabinet ministers on evacuations from the Arab Spring uprisings, and helped save lives by designing countermeasures to the roadside bombs used in Afghanistan. Oh, and […]

Investigation: Why care training is in crisis, and the solutions are falling short

The social care system is at breaking point with more than 165,000 vacancies. The government wants more apprentices to fill the gaps but, as Jessica Hill reports, it’s a tough market for providers

Neil Bentley-Gockmann, WorldSkills UK

Neil Bentley-Gockmann is extremely proud of pivoting the focus of WorldSkills UK’s from one big showstopping annual competition event to loftier ambitions around “tackling vocational snobbery”. But he still misses the buzz the big national skills competition final used to give him in the pre-pandemic years. Bentley-Gockmann, who is stepping down as chief executive at […]