Jude Burke | FE Week

ESFA misses own deadline to update providers on T-levels

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has missed its own deadline to let providers know if they will be among the first to deliver T-levels. Providers who wanted to deliver the prestigious planned new qualifications in 2020/21 were invited to submit an expression of interest to the agency in January. According to that invitation, all […]

Apprenticeship provider’s ban lifted after just two months

An apprenticeship provider whose training was branded “not fit for purpose” just two months ago has been allowed to continue recruiting apprentices. Key6 Group was the subject of Ofsted’s first early monitoring report on newcomers to the apprenticeship market, published in March. The inspectorate’s criticism of a provider new to government-funded apprenticeships when it joined […]

Bitter pay dispute between unions and AoC escalates

An argument over pay between unions and the Association of Colleges has worsened, after the latter refused to enter negotiations while industrial action is ongoing. The various FE teaching unions insist that the body which represents the sector has told them it is “not minded to consider” a pay claim for 2018/19 while University and […]

Employers clash with Institute for Apprenticeships over FE teacher funding bands

The group developing three long-delayed FE teaching standards is in a bitter stand-off with the Institute for Apprenticeships, claiming the funding bands on offer represent just half what these standards would cost to deliver. The three standards, ranging between levels three and level five, have been in development since 2015. They were recently assigned funding […]

National Audit Office slams DfE oversight of Student Loans Company

The Department for Education has been heavily criticised for its oversight of the Student Loans Company during the tenure of its disgraced former chief executive, in a new report from the National Audit Office. The watchdog looked into how the DfE monitored the company while Steve Lamey, who was dismissed for gross misconduct last November, […]

Ofsted watch: Ambulance trust fares well in early monitoring visit

The first employer provider to have received an apprenticeship early monitoring visit resulted in a positive report, in this week’s Ofsted watch. North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust was found to be making reasonable progress in all three theme areas, in a report published May 1 and based on an inspection on April 12. The […]

Governors ‘abrogated’ responsibilities at inadequate Medway UTC

The governors of a university technical college have been slammed for “abrogating” their responsibilities, in yet another damning Ofsted report into one of the 14-to-19 schools. Medway UTC was branded ‘inadequate’ across the board in a report published this morning and based on an inspection in early March. The verdict, which comes in the same […]

College with huge bailout debt pays principal over £265k

A college owes the government almost £14 million in emergency bailout cash alone, but it still managed to scrape together the funds to pay its principal an eye-watering £266,000 last year. Latest accounts show that the grade three Birmingham Metropolitan College owes more in exceptional financial support than any other college, yet Andrew Cleaves’ (pictured) […]

Special investigation: The fallout from mass exam reversal

Thousands of young people are having their recent exam failures reversed, thanks to a change in the design of certain qualifications. FE Week looked into what’s going on: who’s making the change, why it has happened and how many learners are affected. More than 1,300 learners who failed courses last year are now being told […]