Author: Jude Burke

Colleges are significantly less likely to challenge GCSE and A-level exam grades than schools – and they are more likely to be rejected when they do. The exams regulator Ofqual looked at the number of enquiries about students’ results which were filed by schools and colleges following last summer’s exams. It found that between them, […]

Firms taking on apprentices have been advised to stick “to their core business” — after Citroën UK became the second employer branded inadequate by Ofsted under the common inspector framework. The education watchdog’s damning verdict on the car manufacturer — published on May 27 — means that a quarter of employers inspected under the new […]

Unions have rejected a proposed link-up between Bury College and the University of Bolton — warning it would be more of a takeover than a merger. The University and College Union (UCU) and Unison have joined forces to oppose the move, which is planned for August. In a joint response to the consultation on the […]

A principal who lodged a formal complaint with Ofsted after the education watchdog branded his college inadequate has stepped down, along with his deputy. West Cheshire College told FE Week today that Nigel Davies and his former deputy principal Adrian Humphreys had left. The statement said the pair had both moved on “in order to […]

Application guidance for the new funding pot to support the implementation of area review recommendations has been unveiled today. It comes just a week after the Treasury refused yet again to tell FE Week how much cash is in the pot – sometimes referred to as a restructuring facility – despite repeated enquiries. The new […]

The finalists who will battle it out to be crowned apprentice team of the year in the fifth annual Brathay Challenge have been announced. Eight teams from across the country, each made up of nine apprentices, will take part in the final at Lake Windermere in the Lake District next month. They will represent Apprenticeship […]

Four out of five people doing level two and three apprenticeships are on a level they have already studied at, according to a worrying new report. The figure cropped up in an investigation into the prior qualifications of adult apprentices in 2013/14, which was published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Eighty […]

One of the architects of the controversial deal to set colleges up in Saudi Arabia is now an adviser to the FE Commissioner. John Allen (pictured), who was principal of Lincoln College from 2000 until he retired in 2014, was appointed as adviser to Dr David Collins in December. In his former role Mr Allen […]

Four more mergers involving seven FE colleges and one sixth form college (SFC) have been proposed this week. Three of these link-ups are the result of the Tees Valley area review, which on May 13 became only the second area review to conclude. Meanwhile, three colleges in south-east London have confirmed that previously announced plans […]