Skip to content
17 April 2026

Early years employers on DfE collision course

Trailblazer employers in the early years sector are on a collision course with the government over the GCSE exit requirements for their new standard. The Early Years Educator (EYE) Trailblazer group resubmitted its apprenticeship standard and assessment plan on November 10, asking the government to accept ‘reasonable equivalents’ to the GCSE English and maths requirements […]

Skills Minister Nick Boles speech at AoC conference 2015

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We meet in a sombre context. After this morning’s session I’ll be returning to London and I hope you will agree on your behalf we will be travelling to the French Embassy to the sign the book of condolence after the terrible attacks on Friday night. And I am sure […]

Colleges that ignore apprenticeships criticised

– Apprenticeships account for less than 5 per cent of Adult Skills Budget for some large FE colleges – AoC says colleges ‘see significant role’ in hitting 3m target and should ‘start planning strategic response’   The college sector’s performance on apprenticeships has come under attack after exclusive FE Week analysis uncovered budgets with as […]

Labour MPs secure Opposition Day debate to call for 16 to 19 budget protection

Labour has secured an Opposition Day debate to propose that the 16 to 19 education budget be given the same protection as that of schools. The debate takes place tomorrow and will see Labour MPs argue that government should “protect the education budget in real terms, from the early years through to 19 years old”. It […]

College mergers on cards in Shrewsbury and East London

Two further mergers have been proposed for the college sector. Shrewsbury College, Shrewsbury Sixth Form College and New College in Telford have announced plans to discuss a proposal to merge, creating a single sixth form college group. In a joint statement, the principals of all three — Steve Wain, Martin Ward and Fiona O’Brien, respectively […]

Sixth Form College Commissioner Peter Mucklow shares area review load with new advisers

These are some of the faces in Sixth Form College Commissioner Peter Mucklow’s new team as he shares the growing workload of post-16 area reviews. They include an academy trust chief executive, a former sixth form college umbrella organisation executive director, an ex-Ofsted inspector and, of course, some old sixth form college principals. The six […]

Concern at ‘tight’ 18-month ESF delivery timescale

Sector leaders have reacted with concern to a “tight” Skills Funding Agency (SFA) timetable for handing out £650m of delayed European Social Fund (ESF) cash — with delivery completed in just 18 months. It was exclusively revealed on feweek. co.uk that the SFA was planning to run a “sequence of procurement” that must be finished […]

Network for Black and Asian Professionals to close ‘due to lack of funding’

The Network for Black and Asian Professionals (NBAP) is to close “due to lack of funding,” FE Week can exclusively reveal. Its chief executive, Rajinder Mann OBE (pictured above), delivered the blow to members today and said closure was the “result of the current political environment and the austerity cuts in the public sector”. In a […]