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27 April 2026

Author: Nick Linford

Pearce takes the top job at the NUS

The first president of the National Union of Students from an FE background said her election was an “exciting” development that showed the union had “come a long way”. Toni Pearce (pictured), who remains in her current post of NUS vice president for FE until the new academic year, was elected with 62 per cent […]

College leaders refuse to ‘shy away’ from Ofsted inspection blow

England’s sixth biggest college has fallen from good to inadequate in Ofsted ratings. City of Bristol College was visited mid-February and has emerged with a grade four result. College leaders have told of their disappointment with the result, but said they were not “shying away” from the challenges it posed. The Ofsted report gave the […]

Sixth biggest college falls from good to inadequate

The latest inadequate grading from Ofsted has emerged less than 24 hours after the government announced plans for a new FE Commissioner to challenge failing colleges. The 30,000-learner City of Bristol College has fallen from a 2010 good grading following inspection last month. The college, which was the sixth biggest in England, with a turnover […]

No student voice in guild proposals branded a ‘bad April fool’

Proposals for the FE Guild have been criticised as a “bad April fool” by the NUS after it emerged there could be no student representation on the board. A draft guild implementation plan, seen by FE WEEK, suggests seats on the board for the Association of Colleges (AoC), the Association of Employment and Learning Providers […]

FE colleges urged to adopt new flag and anthem

Colleges will be urged to help solve FE’s “Cinderella complex” with a bold new marketing campaign that includes a sector flag. Principals will also be asked to adopt a sector “anthem” for use as their institutions’ telephone hold music and for official functions. The song, a “re-imagining” of S Club 7 hit Reach, has already […]

New FE commissioner could shut failing colleges

A powerful commissioner who can call for a college to be shut down will be introduced under tough new further education rules due to be announced today. The FE Commissioner will be sent in if a college is graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, is in financial trouble or is failing to hit learner success targets. They […]

Report calls for National VET Centre

The creation of a national centre for vocational training has been recommended in a report by the Commission on Adult Vocational  Teaching and Learning (CAVTL), published today. The National Vocational Education and Training (VET) Centre would champion research and development of vocational pedagogy, the report suggested, and would develop a regional network of centres to […]

Schools advice plea as 16 to 18 apprenticeships keep falling

A continued drop in 16 to 18 apprenticeship starts has prompted a call for the government to clampdown on schools that are failing to promote vocational options. The number of under 19 apprenticeships started in the first half of this year was provisionally put at 69,600 — a 12 per cent drop on last year’s […]

Funding rate for 16 to 19-year-olds announced

Providers delivering education to 16 to 19 year olds will receive a national basic rate of £4,000 per full time student the Education Funding Agency has announced. The agency published the national funding rate for 2013/14 in a letter sent out to schools and colleges across the country from Peter Mucklow, national director for young […]