Jude Burke | FE Week

No Birmingham colleges make apprenticeships register

The nation’s second largest city may not have an FE college delivering apprenticeships when the levy launches in April, as none of its colleges has made it onto the new register of apprenticeship training providers. Birmingham Metropolitan College, Bournville College, South and City College and Solihull College were all missing from the list published by […]

Ofsted boss commits to more ‘positive and purposeful’ approach to FE

Ofsted’s new chief inspector was vowed to “reset” the relationship between the education watchdog and colleges, in her first speech to the FE sector since taking over from Sir Michael Wilshaw in January. Amanda Spielman struck a more conciliatory tone than her controversial predecessor at the AoC Ofsted conference this morning in London. But while […]

Colleges delivering hundreds of apprenticeships ‘surprised’ to be left off new provider register

A number of major apprenticeship delivering colleges are “stunned”, “disappointed” and “frustrated” at not being on the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. As reported by FE Week, the Skills Funding Agency yesterday published the full list of providers that will be eligible to deliver apprenticeships from May. Among the colleges with significant current apprenticeship […]

Company shuts down just days before SFA gives them green light for apprenticeship delivery

Update, November 1, 2017: The company has now confirmed to FE Week that it is continuing to operate, following a change of ownership. A private training provider is on the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Provider despite having ‘ceased trading’. Hertfordshire-based Apple Training Academy is listed as a main provider on the list published […]

Ofsted watch: College bounces back from inadequate to good

A college that has bounced back from a grade four to a grade two is leading the charge on a week that has been good almost across the board. Stanmore College was applauded for its “rapid and significant improvement” since it received the lowest possible grade in September 2015, in a report published March 6 […]

Apprenticeship frameworks could be discontinued without SFA approval

The UK’s food and drink frameworks could be switched off against the government’s wishes, FE Week has learned. The Skills Funding Agency is currently deciding on which frameworks it will discontinue from April 2018, but because the new food and drink standards are not yet ready, it hasn’t put them up for consideration. However, the […]

Exclusive: Third largest awarding organisation pulls out of apprenticeship market

Awarding giant OCR has delivered a major blow to the government’s reforms programme by pulling out of delivering final apprenticeship exams altogether, FE Week can reveal. The exam board was previously listed on register of apprentice assessment organisations, as an end-point assessor for the level four network engineer and software developer standards. But an OCR […]

Ofsted watch: Local authority provider leaps two grades

A local authority provider has leapt two grades from inadequate to good and an independent training provider has received a grade two on its first inspection in this week’s Ofsted reports. But otherwise ‘requires improvement’ has been the main story of the week. West Sussex County Council was praised for its progress since it was […]

FE Week asks: FE Commissioner on ‘big success’ area reviews

Richard Atkins has had a very busy four months since he was confirmed as the new FE Commissioner. FE Week’s Jude Burke caught up with him this week, for an exclusive interview on his progress in the demanding role, at the AoC’s Governors Summit With the area review process and college interventions occupying so much […]