Author: Jude Burke

The number of general further education colleges to have been branded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted since September has hit double figures, exclusive FE Week analysis has revealed. College leaders have blamed the government’s increased focus on English and maths, pinning what they call “unfair” expectations on colleges for the rise in grade fours. Ten colleges have now […]

Almost two thirds of sixth form colleges have registered an interest in converting to an academy, FE Week can exclusively reveal. Around 60 of the country’s 93 SFCs have taken this first step, according to James Kewin (pictured), deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association. Registering an interest with the Education and Skills […]

Three members of Team UK have followed up last year’s success in WorldSkills São Paulo with recognition in the Queen’s Birthday honours list. Beauty therapist Rianne Chester, plumbing and heating competitor Gary Doyle, and cabinetmaker Edward Harringham, winners of Team UK’s three gold medals in Brazil, have all been awarded British Empire Medals for their […]

John Hyde, executive chairman of HIT Training – and FE Week’s regular Raw Hyde columnist – was one of 20 FE and skills figures recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours list. He was given a CBE, along with Margaret Serna, Lincoln College chair, and Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School […]

Skills Minister Nick Boles has reportedly warned that Brexit could put an end to the apprenticeship levy. He spoke out on the issue during a recent event in Westminster, organised by Policy Exchange. A spokesperson for the think tank told FE Week today that Mr Boles had raised concern about prospects for the levy — […]

Principals of general FE colleges in England have been snubbed in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours – as FE governors take the limelight. The lack of recognition is in marked contrast to last year’s birthday honours which saw the principal of City and Islington College, Frank McLoughlin, receive a knighthood. But Margaret Serna (pictured above), […]

The FE Commissioner Sir David Collins will stand down in November — even though the long-delayed national programme of post-16 education and training area reviews will still be ongoing. The move, which was confirmed to FE Week on Tuesday (June 7) by a spokesperson from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, raised concerns over […]

The apprenticeship levy should not be limited to large employers, according to the senior government vocational education adviser who first proposed it. Professor Alison Wolf (pictured), who made the case for an employer levy to fund apprenticeship training in a report published days before the government first unveiled the charge, told MPs that the change […]