Jude Burke | FE Week

Conservatives announce surprise pledge to let levy pay wages

A surprise move has been made by the Conservatives to allow large firms to use apprentice levy funds to pay wages – in a manifesto retaining the commitment to 3 million starts by 2020. The document, launched this morning, also commits to a major review of tertiary education funding, which it is thought could review […]

Breaking: Conservative manifesto pledges for FE and skills published

The Conservatives’ long-awaited general election manifesto, called ‘Forward Together’, has just been launched, outlining its plans for FE and skills. Click here to download the full document. Key pledges include: National Productivity Investment Fund, including £250 million in funding for skills by 2020 to boost productivity Double the Immigration Skills Charge for business employing skilled […]

Exclusive: Providers finally successful in apprentice register applications

Hundreds of providers including a college from the nation’s second largest city, which largely missed out last time, have made it onto the register of apprenticeship training providers at the second time of asking. FE Week understands providers have been finding out this morning if they’ve been successful or not, in the second round of […]

Colleges scrap merger plans less than 3 months after announced

Two colleges have scrapped merger plans less than three months after they were announced. Stanmore College and West Hertfordshire College formally declared their intention to join forces in February, following the West London area review. But both have now confirmed the merger has fallen at the first hurdle. Gill Morgan, West Herts College principal, told […]

Long-distance merger cleared despite council concerns

A controversial long-distance merger has been signed off by college governors, despite grave concerns from a London borough council. Lewisham Southwark College will now join forces with NCG, based in Newcastle, on August 1, after the governors from both agreed cleared the move. This is despite the controversial nature of the plans, due to the […]

Campaign launched to protect vulnerable learners from Brexit cuts

A campaign has been launched today to prevent huge Brexit-induced cuts to FE funding, which supports learners who “fall between the gaps” of mainstream provision. European Social Fund investment, worth £2.4 billion though the 2014 to 2020 allocations round, pays for hundreds of projects geared at boosting skills and helping those out of work find […]

Breaking: AoC manifesto calls for employer levy funding restrictions

The Association of Colleges’ manifesto has called for new levy funding restrictions on employers. The document was unveiled this afternoon by the AoC, led by chief executive David Hughes (pictured). Of key interest is the commitment to “reduce the proportion of the levy available to employers to 75 per cent”. It added the “available resources” […]

Support Our Sixth-formers campaign launched

An extra £200 funding per sixth form student should be given to improve the support providers can offer these learners, the Sixth Form Colleges Association has urged. It made the call as part of its Support our Sixth-formers campaign and as the key demand in its 2017 general election manifesto, both launched today. The additional […]

Area review transition fund shrouded in secrecy

Confusion reigns over the £726 million fund earmarked to help colleges make changes recommended by the area reviews, after the government refused to say how much of it has been handed out. The Department for Education is also refusing to reveal who has been appointed to run the unit responsible, even though the application deadline […]