JL Dutaut | FE Week

How can we be in financial intervention yet ineligible for Covid relief?

Being turned down twice for relief funding feels like we are losing out partly because of our hard work, writes Chris Malish As lockdown began to really bite in April, the announcement of the ESFA’s post-16 provider relief scheme was welcome. The aim of the extra cash was “to continue to retain capacity within the apprenticeships […]

Lockdown learning actually suits some students better

It’s worth bearing in mind the lessons of lockdown as we all return to the ‘new normal’, writes Amanda Wayling There were some very surprising outcomes from our remote teaching and learning experiences over lockdown – including that some of our learners engaged in ways that we couldn’t ever have predicted. The rapport between teachers […]

Digital must underpin all aspects of college life

Digital learning has shown its potential, and while issues of equity remain now is the time for colleges to make the transition permanent, writes Sally Dicketts Colleges play a significant role in building communities and supporting their local economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought this sharply into focus. Innovative practices were rapidly put in […]

Now we must pick up the pieces of our broken system

The results are in but the work of ensuring students rebuild their confidence has only just begun, writes Liz Bromley This week, teacher assessments plus adjustments by the qualifications regulator have caused GCSE grade inflation by some 20 per cent between grades 6 to 9, with more than 25 per cent more students receiving grades […]

Profile: Nav Chohan

FE Week meets a principal whose small and perfectly formed college provides a fitting platform from which to launch a big recovery The miracle college turnaround. The supersized provider. The super-principal. The disruptor who transformed the system. We’re all guilty of fetishising the big and bold stories. You won’t find that here. Instead, you’ll find […]

Profile: Samantha Knowlton

FE Week meets a principal who has found her place at the intersection of education and industry As we begin our interview with the awkward launch of a video conferencing call, I can’t help but notice a splendid triptych of Earth from space on Samantha Knowlton’s office wall. I want to ask about it, but […]

Profile: Sarah Stannard

FE Week meets a principal with a history of bravely sailing against prevailing winds. Is her ship about to come in? Sarah Stannard learnt resilience young. The principal of City College Southampton, who cut her teeth in the business world before moving into leadership in FE, was brought up by a Navy man and strikes […]

Profile: Michelle Brabner, CEO and principal, Southport College

FE Week meets a new college chief whose fresh and flexible approach may be just what sector needs post-pandemic Taking up your first principalship and walking straight into an Ofsted inspection is no one’s professional dream. Taking up your first principalship, walking straight into an Ofsted inspection and then, within weeks, dealing with a college […]

Profile: Gerard Garvey, principle of Newcastle Sixth Form College

FE Week meets a sixth form college principal who has known what he wanted to do since year 12 “I remember getting to sixth form and thinking vividly, ‘this is what I want to work in. This is the environment for me.’” It may seem quite incredible that as a 17-year-old, Gerard Garvey, now principal […]