Author: Nick Linford

London’s High Court has rejected a government attempt to stop strike action taking place at sixth form colleges across the country tomorrow. The ruling comes after FE Week reported on Friday that the government had launched court action to challenge the planned National Union of Teachers (NUT) action. It means that the strike action will […]

Nine out of ten apprenticeship sector leaders who took part in an exclusive FE Week survey fear quality will suffer as the government drives towards 3m apprenticeship starts by 2020. It was carried out ahead of the FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference (AAC) – which will be attended by nearly 1,000 staff from colleges, independent training providers and […]

The national minimum wage rate for apprentices will increase from £3.30 to £3.40 from October 1. The announcement was made by Sajid Javid (pictured), Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, in a written statement to parliament this morning, the first day on National Apprenticeship Week 2016. He explained that the Low Pay Commission’s […]

Apprenticeships and students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have traditionally made uncomfortable bedfellows — but improving the situation has been made a key priority for post-16 education and training area reviews. Skill Minister Nick Boles’ updated guidance, released earlier this month, called for “sufficient access to high quality and relevant education and training […]

The Government’s Enterprise Bill — currently making its way through parliament — contains a number of measures designed to set minimum standards for apprenticeships, including legally protecting the term ‘apprenticeship’ and setting public sector targets. However, reporter Jude Burke found that these pale in comparison to the first time government legislated on minimum standards for […]

The government is launching court action to challenge National Union of Teachers (NUT) strike action planned at sixth form colleges across the country on Tuesday (March 15). The hearing will be at London’s Royal Courts of Justice on Monday. It comes after FE Week reported on February 29 that NUT members had backed the strike […]

Local authorities have recorded a nationwide increase in the proportion of young people in education or training across England. Data to be published on Wednesday shows that 91.2 per cent of 1,170,630 16 and 17-year-olds known to local authorities across the country were in some form of education or training at the end of 2015. […]

A former employee who defrauded Leeds City College of almost £500,000 has been jailed. Julia Hogg (pictured) pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent activity against the college, between August 2011 and September last year, before she was jailed for three years and eight months. Leeds Crown Court heard she had been in charge of […]