Author: Jude Burke

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has appointed former shadow education minister Pat Glass as shadow education secretary following the resignation of Lucy Powell. Ms Glass, MP for North West Durham, is one of a number of new appointments following  the continuing mass resignations of Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet yesterday and today. It comes after Thursday’s referendum […]

The government’s director of levy implementation has sought to reassure AELP delegates over the new register of apprenticeship providers, telling them it will be open to providers that are “best placed” to deliver. But Keith Smith, who heads up the levy implementation team at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, was unable to give […]

The government has been accused of “distorting the market” against independent training providers with its post-area review support package for colleges by a sector leader. Mark Dawe, the new boss of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, has now demanded a “level playing field” for public and private providers alike, on the eve of […]

The Sheffield City area review has completed proposing just two mergers, almost nine months after it started. Dearne Valley College will join forces with the RNN Group – which is made up of Rotherham and North Nottinghamshire Colleges – while Barnsley and Doncaster colleges are also set to link up. The outcomes were announced by […]

AoC blames programme design after analysis shows they’re responsible for barely a quarter of starts AELP claims independent training providers best placed to make a success of under-fire scheme Barely a quarter of traineeship starts over the past three years were with colleges, analysis by FE Week has revealed. This startlingly low figure, which was […]

Two colleges in Somerset have completed a merger — but still appear to be struggling to agree on a new name. Somerset College and Bridgwater College officially became a single body on Tuesday (June 14). But a joint statement indicated that co-operation between them could still be improved upon – as no new name had […]

The government should work with the FE sector to create a network of digital skills colleges across the country, a group of MPs has said. This is one of a number of recommendations made by the Commons science and technology select committee in its Digital Skills Crisis report, published on Monday (June 13), based on […]

The chair and vice-chair of troubled Amersham and Wycombe College have both stepped down – but the college is refusing to say why. Jenese Joseph (pictured) was appointed chair of the college’s governing body in May 2014, but her name is now no longer listed on the college’s website, and nor is that of the […]

Lewisham Southwark College has seen its Ofsted rating go up a grade from its previous inadequate rating, with inspectors praising the “highly capable” new leadership team for turning around its fortunes. The education watchdog’s overall verdict of ‘requires improvement’ comes after the college had the dubious honour of being the first FE and skills provider […]