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11 April 2026

Level three 19 to 23 entitlement remains

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has given more details of its plans to extend FE loans, as announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget. He said loans would be made available to level three and four learners aged 19 to 23, and to level five and six learners aged 19 and above. “The […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in bid to keep London colleges apart

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has tried to warn City and Islington College governors against plans to merge with Westminster Kingsway College, branding the proposals “too accepting of the government’s agenda”. In a letter to the board, Islington North MP Mr Corbyn (pictured right) said he sympathised with views put forward by college unions, including the […]

Skills Show 2015 sees record number of visitors — up 44 pc

Record numbers of young people, teachers and parents visited the Skills Show in Birmingham last week, with figures for Saturday showing a 44 per cent rise on last year. A total of 78,324 people visited the show over the three days, with 20,597 of those on the Saturday, according to figures released today by organisers […]

Golden night for City of Glasgow College as Skills Show competition winners announced

City of Glasgow College emerged the big winner from Skills Show 2015 in Birmingham as it claimed eight medals, including four golds — the most for any provider. The Saturday closing ceremony, which marked the culmination of national skills competitions finals, also saw the announcement of most of the long squad (pictured above) ahead of the next […]

Apprenticeship starts up after two years of decline

Official figures released this morning show the number of apprenticeship starts for 2014/15 was up by 59,500 from the previous year – reversing the decline of the previous two years. The final (rather than provisional) figures in today’s Statistical First Release show there were 499,900 apprenticeship starts in 2014/15, an increase of 13.5 per cent […]

Long wait for FE Chartered Status membership ends

The long wait for FE providers to sign up for Chartered Status ended today with applications for membership finally open. Colleges and independent learning providers can apply for membership to the Chartered Institution for Further Education (CIFE), set up in 2013, in the latest “significant step” on the route to chartered status for the FE sector. […]

‘Fill your classrooms and don’t spend money on marketing to compete with neighbouring colleges,’ FE Commissioner tells principals

Too few learners per classroom and marketing strategies that pit college against neighbouring college are among the issues preventing the sector from being “sustainable”, according to FE Commissioner Dr David Collins. In a letter to all chairs and principals of FE institutions, dated October 30, Dr Collins said that, with the sector as a whole having […]