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11 April 2026

Author: Jude Burke

Lewisham Southwark College to become two separate colleges

Lewisham Southwark College is set to become two separate colleges again, just six years after it was formed through a merger. The move was announced today by Joe Docherty, chief executive of NCG, which the college joined in 2017. “This decision will allow the newly-established colleges to develop curriculum programmes that better meet the needs […]

Hinds quick to show IfA support but fails to name employers in agreement

The education secretary was unable to name a single employer who supported the Institute for Apprenticeships in an interview with FE Week editor Nick Linford this week. Damian Hinds had arranged the interview while on his fact-finding trip to Germany and the Netherlands. He was asked if the English version of employer ownership was working, […]

AELP calls for March 2020 end to non-levy transition period

Any transition period for moving small employers onto the apprenticeship service should only last until March 2020 to avoid another “unnecessary procurement exercise”, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers has said. It’s one of a number of proposals the AELP has put forward for the non-levy transition period and creating a sustainable apprenticeship system, […]

Education secretary in Germany in search of inspiration

Education secretary Damian Hinds this week followed in the footsteps of many a government minister before him and jetted off for a fact-finding mission to our neighbours on the continent. His visit to Germany and the Netherlands was intended to “discover how they educate their young people to have the practical and technical skills needed […]

IfA launches first content review of apprenticeship standards

The Institute for Apprenticeships has begun its first statutory review of apprenticeship standards since it began operating more than a year ago. It’s inviting feedback from employers, apprentices and training providers on 12 standards in the digital sector, all of which were approved before April 2017, via an online consultation which runs for four weeks. Sir […]

Ofsted DOES soften 3 year full inspection rule – after sector backlash

Poorly performing new apprenticeship providers will now only be left in no new business limbo for up to a year – not three, as Ofsted had previously said. The U-turn was confirmed today by Paul Joyce (pictured above), the education watchdog’s deputy director for FE and skills. “Where providers are judged to be making insufficient […]

Ofsted to receive cash to visit all new apprenticeship providers

Ofsted will be carrying out early monitoring visits to all new apprenticeship providers, after the Department for Education agreed to give it extra funding.  The news was announced this morning by Sean Harford, the education watchdog’s national director for education, and comes almost four months after the plan was exclusively reported by FE Week. “Great […]

Revealed: The 6 apprenticeship providers banned from taking new recruits

Six new apprenticeship providers have been barred from taking on new apprentices after early monitoring visits found them to be making ‘insufficient progress’, the Education and Skills Agency has confirmed. The penalties are revealed in the latest update to the register of apprenticeship training providers, dated September 10, which now includes a column titled ‘provider not […]