Nick Linford | FE Week

Older and wiser on inspection

Ofsted’s criticism of the college sector last year was a bitter pill to swallow and the toughened up common inspection framework offered little hope for sector praise. However, it hasn’t quite worked out like that says Joy Mercer. It this time last year, colleges felt they had not weathered an Ofsted storm but were beached, […]

Conflict of interest group’s no show

Plans for a Skills Funding Agency-led panel to investigate potential conflicts of interest where awarding organisations also deliver education have been shelved, FE Week can reveal. The government said in January that a task-and-finish group was being “convened” following an 11-month review by the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee. But it has now […]

The hunt for an FE Commissioner goes on

The new FE Commissioner post is due be re-advertised next week with an appointment expected before the first Ofsted inspections reports in October, FE Week can reveal. The role was advertised in May, but no-one was appointed despite a number of interviews. A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) confirmed new […]

Apprentice hopefuls face GCSE barrier

Colleges and training providers who “rigidly” demand higher grade GCSEs for the most basic of apprenticeships have come in for criticism from government vocational training adviser Professor Alison Wolf. An apparently growing number of adverts for intermediate apprenticeships are asking for maths and English GCSEs of at least grade C or D, FE Week research […]

College turns down 16 to 18 traineeships

A York college that will be running traineeships for 19 to 24-year-olds has said no to putting the programme on for 16 to 18-year-olds because of a lack of government funding, FE Week can reveal. The 2,000-student Askham Bryan College was rated as good by Ofsted early last year and so can run the government’s […]

Two in every three colleges using zero-hour contracts, research suggests

Nearly two out of every three colleges have teachers on controversial zero-hour contracts, research from the University and College Union (UCU) has suggested. It asked 275 colleges about the contracts and said that around 61 per cent of the 200 who answered employed teaching staff on contracts that offered no guarantee of work. The government […]

Skills Funding Agency warnings on the rise

The number of notices of concern slapped on colleges rose by 25 per cent in 2012/13 from nine notices in 2011/12. Notices of concern are triggered by inadequate Ofsted results or fears over the college’s financial health or controls. A Freedom of Information request by FE Week has uncovered that that as of May 15 […]

Parliament debate on apprenticeship funding reform

Proposals to use the tax system to fund apprenticeships won tentative approval in a House of Commons vote organised by FE Week. More than 120 people from across the FE and skills sector attended the debate on the government’s three proposed apprenticeship funding reforms, with the option of employers recouping the costs of training through […]

Underpaying apprentice bosses face increased name-and-shame threat

Underpaying apprentice bosses will be publicly named and shamed under government plans to make it easier to clamp down on rogue businesses. Employment Relations Minister Jo Swinson has announced new rules as part of efforts to toughen up enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The clampdown, which will come into effect from October when […]