Nick Linford | FE Week

Call for ‘heads to roll’ amid SFA software delays

College and training provider data staff have demanded action after struggling to submit accurate data because of problems with Skills Funding Agency software. An FE Week survey on Thursday, November 7 — the day after the deadline to submit the return, known as R03 — found that just five providers out of 159 (three per […]

Government ‘not doing enough’ over apprentice illegal wage investigations

Just five per cent of complaints made over the summer about bosses paying apprentices below the National Minimum Wage (NMW) had been fully investigated by the government by late last month, FE Week can reveal. Eight of the complaints, all registered between July and September, had been closed, prompting a scathing attack from Shadow Skills […]

Royal seal of approval for Skills Show

The Skills Show will be given the royal seal of approval by Princess Anne through her role as president and patron of the awarding organisation City & Guilds. The Princess Royal, a member of Great Britain’s 1976 Equestrian team, will attend the event at the NEC Birmingham on November 15, midway through the three-day event […]

Intervention inquiry welcomes FE Commissioner but calls for ‘better early warning signals’

A six-month inquiry into FE intervention has welcomed the government’s plan for an FE Commissioner, but called for “better early warning signals…to allow early and pre-emptive interventions”. The Skills Commission was funded by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) to look at “examples of intervention best practice across the wider public sector to highlight […]

Now that’s what I call a cabinet! – Triumphant Team UK in exclusive Whitehall reception

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg clearly appreciated this piece of fine furniture by award-winning young craftsman George Callow. The 21-year-old cabinet maker, from East Wittering, West Sussex, gave Mr Clegg the wooden bureau that earned him gold at WorldSkills Leipzig 2013, in July. It will be on display at Whitehall’s Dover House, where it was […]

Elmfield Training purchased in pre-pack after going into administration

The majority of Elmfield Training’s business and assets has been sold to EQL Solutions Limited, which is one hundred per cent owned by CareTech Holdings plc. The sale, which excludes the Morrisons contract, came shortly after Deloitte, the business advisory firm, were appointed Joint Administrators of Elmfield. FE Week understands the acquisition has been completed […]

Learners are going to need techno-maths skills to cope in the modern workplace

Steve McCormack concedes teachers haven’t always succeeded in demonstrating how maths skills will be relevant to students after they leave education. Yet numeracy skills are needed more than ever when dealing with fast developing technology at work. Go on, admit it! You’ve taken a peek at Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire on Thursday nights. And whatever […]

Penny Petch, president, Institute for Learning

Former nurse and midwife Penny Petch had a dramatic start to her full-time teaching career. In the late nineties, Petch left midwifery to look after her three young children, and volunteered to help with an evening adult literacy class at North Herts College, to “get out of the house”. Many of the students had troubled […]

The rise of the amateur — a primary tale

Former House of Commons Education Select Committee specialist Ben Nicholls is head of policy and communications at London’s Newham College. He writes exclusively for FE Week every month. The recent resignation of Annaliese Briggs from her Pimlico Primary headship has proven perfect material for dinner party-ranters everywhere. Her appointment, at the age of 27 and with […]