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26 April 2026

AEB procurement at a time of reform – what we now know

The nationally procured adult education budget contracts with the Education and Skills Funding Agency come to an end in July this year, so a new £80 million procurement round will take place, as reported by FE Week in October. On 16 December the ESFA published an early engagement notice on the Contract Finder website, “to […]

Army ‘on standby’ to support schools and colleges with Covid testing

The government told the media last night that the military will be “on standby”  to support secondary schools and colleges with Covid-19 testing from next week. Details on how to request the support has not yet been published. What FE Week has been told is a deal has been agreed by the Ministry of Defence […]

DfE publishes 8 college intervention reports on a Friday after lengthy delay

The Department for Education has this morning published eight intervention reports based on FE Commissioner visits that in some cases took place more than a year ago. These are the first reports to be published since Gillian Keegan (pictured) was appointed as minister in March 2020. The reports were accompanied by a letter from Keegan, […]

Confirmed: Exams watchdog to takeover apprenticeship assessment quality checks

Exams watchdog Ofqual is to take the lead in a  “new simplified external quality assurance (EQA) system” for apprenticeships it has been confirmed this afternoon. The Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education (IfATE) had been consulting on ending the current complex arrangements in which employer bodies and even the IfATE themselves are responsible for oversight […]

Revealed: Rules for new apprenticeship employer incentives

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has this afternoon published details of the eligibility rules for the new apprenticeship employer incentives. Cash “bonuses” for new hires that start an apprenticeship were first announced by the chancellor as part of the summer statement last Wednesday. From August 2020 until the 31 January 2021, businesses taking on […]

Plan to triple traineeships with £111m to include £1,000 employer ‘bonus’

The chancellor is expected to announce on Wednesday a £1,000 employer incentive funded from an injection of £111 million into the flagging traineeship programme, says the Treasury. A Treasury spokesperson said the £1,000 bonus will be limited to 10 trainees per employer and the budget increase will also pay for a 55 percent increase in […]