Jude Burke | FE Week

Ofsted watch: Impressive week for FE colleges

It’s been an outstanding week for general FE colleges, with one awarded a grade one and a second going up to ‘good’. But the picture for sixth form colleges has been less positive, with two having slipped from their former grade one ratings. Wirral Metropolitan College went up from grade three to grade two overall […]

Area review restructuring fund shortfall prompts extension

Around £600 million of the cash available to colleges for post-area review restructuring remains unallocated – prompting the Department for Education to extend the application deadline. Just 10 colleges have so far been allocated a combined total of £120 million from the restructuring facility, and the Association of Colleges has blamed the slow take-up on […]

ESFA boss Peter Lauener to lead Student Loans Company

Peter Lauener will take over at the Student Loans Company later this month, after its chief executive departed suddenly under a cloud According to a statement on the SLC’s website, the outgoing boss of the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Institute for Apprenticeships will start in an interim capacity on November 27. He will […]

Richard Atkins – an interview with the FE commissioner

Richard Atkins completed his first year as FE commissioner in October. In a special interview to celebrate his anniversary, FE Week asked him about his expanded role, including the new £15 million fund to help failing colleges improve their education and training. Almost exactly a year to the day since he took the torch from […]

WEA Awards recognise achievement against the odds

Eight people who overcame all sorts of barriers to take their first steps towards teaching other adult learners have been crowned ‘the best student group’ at this year’s Workers’ Educational Association awards. Now in their fifth year, the awards celebrate the people – including learners, tutors and WEA staff – who have transformed their own […]

Huge spike in higher level apprenticeship commitments

Levy-funded apprenticeships at higher and degree-level jumped by a whopping 424 per cent in September, according to the latest experimental Department for Education statistics. The figures, based on commitments made through the apprenticeship service since May, suggest that the sudden rise of management apprenticeships is not slowing down. Commitments at higher or degree apprenticeships – […]

Breaking: Government to review higher-level technical education

The government will review into higher-level technical education – although it’s not yet clear when this will happen or what it will involve. The review, which will look at all education at levels four and five, with a particular focus on technical qualifications, aims to address the needs of learners and employers. This will include […]

£10m adult flexible learning fund launches

Up to £10 million is now available to help providers develop new ways of supporting adults to progress or retrain, the Department for Education has announced. The flexible learning fund, launched today, is part of a £40 million package piloting new approaches to lifelong learning that were announced in this year’s spring budget. The pilot […]

Report: Urgent rethink needed on NEETs and SEND learners

The government must rethink how it supports low-achieving, disengaged, and special needs students, as help from local authorities and the European Union continues to diminish. This is one of the main recommendations from the new ‘Educating for our economic future’ report, produced by an independent advisory group of senior figures assembled from the higher and […]