Jude Burke | FE Week

Movers and Shakers: Edition 252

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving Peter Robinson, vice principal, Blackburn College Start date: August 2018 Previous job: Assistant principal, Heart of Worcestershire College Interesting fact: Peter once walked for 24 hours non-stop to raise money for charity. Mary Curnock Cook, former chair, Kensington and Chelsea College Resigned: July 2018 (replaced by […]

The IfA want a reputation for honesty. Well, here’s mine…

The Institute for Apprenticeships wants to develop “a reputation for providing honest, evidenced and high-quality leadership when developing opinion on apprenticeships and technical education”. It also says it wants to use its “unique perspective to develop its authority and reputation as an expert and trusted source for information”, according to its five-year strategic plan published […]

Public sector apprenticeships on the rise, new figures suggest

New figures published today suggest that public sector apprenticeships are on the rise, after the government introduced a recruitment target of 2.3 per cent. According to the latest provisional monthly Education and Skills Funding Agency apprenticeship statistics, 43,400 out of a total of 338,400 starts between May 2017 and April 2018 – or 13 per […]

Monthly update: apprenticeship starts down 39 per cent in April

Apprenticeship starts for April are down 39 per cent, compared with the same period in 2016. There have been 24,100 starts recorded so far in April 2018, compared with around 39,400 in April 2016 according to the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s monthly apprenticeship statistics update, published this morning. The 2016 figures are final, whereas the […]

Chair of college embroiled in bitter merger row resigns

The embattled chair of a London college that was at the centre of a bitter row with staff and local residents over its merger plans has dramatically resigned. Mary Curnock Cook (pictured above), chair of Kensington Chelsea College, was said to have walked out of a governors’ meeting last night after announcing she was stepping […]

IfA yet to review duplicate and low-skill standards

The Institute for Apprenticeships has yet to carry out any formal review of duplicate, narrow or low-skill standards – two years after being urged to do so by influential peer Lord Sainsbury. Demands are growing for the institute to “take stock” and focus on quality rather than numbers, with 300 standards now approved for delivery […]

DfE should be concerned about rip-off subcontracting fees

Just when you think the government is finally going to act to stop the practice of rip-off subcontracting fees, they provide a statement expressing “no concern”. I’d be lost for words, if it wasn’t for the fact this editorial demands I write them. FE Week has been reporting on the huge topslices ever since we […]

Three ‘inadequate’ UTCs in a week as Lord Baker blames Ofsted

Ofsted has dealt a series of devastating blows to university technical colleges this week, with three of the 14-to-19 technical and vocational institutions rated “inadequate” in a week. Inspectors were damning in their criticism of UTC@Harbourside, Derby Manufacturing UTC and Health Futures UTC in grade 4 reports published between June 28 and July 4. The […]

Inadequate Ofsted report exposes racial bullying at doomed UTC

Bullying – some of it racial – is rife at a university technical college that announced closure earlier this week, according to its damning ‘inadequate’ Ofsted reporting published this morning. UTC@Harbourside is also accused of “too often” breaking “too many promises”, in a report that gives the 14 to 19 technical institution the lowest possible […]