Nick Linford | FE Week

Optimism in Ofsted report comes with warning of providers not meeting local economy needs

Local employer needs are not being met by the FE and skills sector, according to this year’s Ofsted annual report. Despite higher expectations of students and improved teaching and learning providing “grounds for optimism” about the sector, it was delivering “too much provision that is not responsive to local employment needs”. “This provision is therefore […]

Funding cut in pipeline for full-time 18-year-olds as Spending Review bites

The Education Funding Agency has announced plans to save £150m by paying 17.5 per cent less for the full-time education of 18-year-olds in comparison with 16 and 17-year-olds. The current, unweighted, funding rate for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds is £4,000. The new rate for 16 and 17-year-olds is expected to be announced in March, but […]

Confirmed — employers will take ownership of apprenticeships in a new HMRC funding system

Apprenticeship funding will be redirected from providers to employers — but they will have to make a “significant” cash contribution towards training costs for the first time. Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement a new funding model would use Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) systems to route funding directly to employers. The […]

Exempted — trainees freed from Job Seeker’s Allowance 16-hour rule

Traineeships are to be exempted from a benefits rule that was “compromising” the programme. The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) 16-hour rule, which limits the amount of time Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants can train every week, will no longer apply to traineeships — the government’s flagship youth unemployment policy. The move came as […]

Stress rockets as SFA software fails

Further education data staff have spoken out about the stress and extra work caused by continued problems with Skills Funding Agency (SFA) software. Management information system (MIS) officers responding to an FE Week survey hit out at the SFA over the strain and financial burden of preparing the fourth month funding data return (known as […]

All-age apprenticeships in first full-year drop since 2005

The number of apprenticeship starts in England has fallen for the first time in seven years, according to new figures published by the government. The final (rather than provisional) figures in latest statistical first release show that in the 2012/13 academic year, there were 10,400 fewer apprenticeship starts than in 2011/12 — a fall of […]

Warning of more strikes over pay

More pay strikes could be set to hit colleges following industrial action on Tuesday (December 3), the University and Colleges Union (UCU) has warned. It said further industrial action could “not be ruled out” having overseen national demonstrations after rejecting the Association of Colleges’ (AoC) 0.7 per cent pay rise offer. According to UCU, around […]

Wheels come off Kwik Fit traineeships

Kwik Fit has stopped running its controversial traineeship programme after Ofsted inspectors said it was no longer an outstanding employer provider. Only providers rated as outstanding or good (grade one or two, respectively) can run traineeships — the government’s flagship youth unemployment policy, which launched in August for 16 to 23-year-olds. And inspectors gave Kwik […]

Traineeships exempted from 16-hour benefits rule

The government is to allow job seeker’s allowance (JSA) claimants to do more than 16 hours’ study a-week as part of traineeships and keep their benefits. The ‘16-hour rule’ is being dropped as part of today’s Autumn Statement. “The government will ensure that the benefit rules do not impede the take-up and effectiveness of traineeships by […]