Nick Linford | FE Week

Colleges face threat of further strike action as UCU looks to ‘next steps’ in AoC pay row

Colleges face the threat of further strikes after the University and College Union (UCU) told FE Week it planned to consult members about the “next steps” in its dispute with the Association of Colleges (Aoc) over pay. A UCU spokesperson said that 207 colleges had been affected by the strike action on Tuesday (November 10), […]

‘Re-inspect us’ — West Cheshire College principal’s fury over inadequate Ofsted rating

Cash-strapped West Cheshire College has lodged a formal complaint over its inadequate Ofsted rating and called on the education watchdog to send inspectors back in to look again. Inspectors said teachers at the college, which has a Skills Funding Agency (SFA) allocation of £6.8m, did not expect enough of learners, who were also not given enough […]

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 […]

Pearson Banner 12.11.15 – 12.12.15

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 […]

London principal hit with first inadequate GFE college rating under new Ofsted inspection regime

London’s Stanmore College has been handed the ignominious honour of being the first general FE college to be branded inadequate under Ofsted’s new common inspection framework (Cif). It slumped from requiring improvement in its previous inspection report in May last year, to the grade four result with principal Jacqui Mace (pictured below right) and her governors […]

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 […]