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17 April 2026

Professor Brian Cox on hand for £20m new Middlesbrough College Stem centre

Celebrity Professor Brian Cox was guest of honour at Middlesbrough College to open a new £20m science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) centre. The TV presenter said the centre — which has facilities including process operations and maintenance, an advanced manufacturing centre, and logistics and warehousing to replicate a real industrial environment — was “an […]

Ten-point plan for apprenticeship success laid out by government official Jennifer Coupland

A ten-point plan to help deliver the government’s 3m apprenticeships target has been issued by senior apprenticeship official Jennifer Coupland (pictured above). Ms Coupland, head of the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation (BIS) and Department for Education (DfE) apprenticeship unit, reeled off the points at a seminar themed ‘Where next for apprenticeships’ on Wednesday […]

David Pollard, chair for education, skills and business support, FSB

Like father like son is a fitting phrase to sum up the first career step of David Pollard who followed the footsteps of dad Bert into the Royal Air Force. At the age of 18, Pollard found himself applying for numerous jobs after leaving King James’s Grammar School in Huddersfield, but what he wanted most […]

Thinking up a future for FE and skills

The FE and skills sector has never been more in need of clear-minded leadership and focus. Ayub Khan outlines how Fetl hopes to help develop such thinking. There is no doubt that the FE & skills sector has reacted and to some extent adapted to the changes required of it by government. Its strength in […]

EXCLUSIVE: SFA reveals ‘tight’ timetable for delayed £650m ESF launch

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) today unveiled its “tight” timetable for handing out £650m of delayed European Social Fund (ESF) cash — with delivery completed in just 18 months, FE Week can exclusively reveal. It is planning to run a “sequence of procurement” that must be finished by the end of September next year at […]