Nick Linford | FE Week

Off-the-job training should be a selling point, not a sticking point

It is very clear that many apprenticeship providers are struggling to persuade employers to buy into the new 20-per-cent off-the-job training rule. So it comes as no surprise that it has been a hot topic this week at FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference, where many still single it out as the main barrier to greater […]

Ofsted is vital to good apprenticeship provision – now more than ever

Key6 Group was found to be “not fit for purpose” – and the majority of their 200+ recruits weren’t even aware that they were on an apprenticeship. The inspectorate has really shown what makes it so vital, by visiting so quickly and choosing to make public its first report into a new apprenticeship provider. And […]

Change is coming – but can the apprenticeship market handle it?

Employers are paying too much for their apprenticeships, according to the Department for Education. Officials “expected” employers would negotiate prices below the relevant upper limit they set before April last year, and the Institute for Apprenticeships since then. But instead many employers pay top whack as, apparently, “they do not feel able to negotiate with […]

Apprenticeship starts slip further behind as November flops

There were just 27,000 apprenticeship starts last November according to figures published by the government this morning, 40 percent fewer than in 2016. As the figures above show, this latest update to the monthly starts will come as a huge disappointment following declines of 21 and 24 percent in September and October. The figures from […]

Staff vote to strike over pay at more than a dozen colleges

Staff at more than a dozen colleges have voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay. Industrial action is due to begin in the coming weeks, and the majority of staff are planning a two-day walkout, according to the University and Colleges Union. The dispute follows what a spokesperson for the union described as “a disappointing” pay […]

200,000 FE staff are now trained in Prevent

Over 200,000 people working in FE have completed training to help them understand their duty to prevent the radicalisation of learners, FE Week can reveal. The Education and Training Foundation launched the online support programme in September 2015, when the government first applied the Prevent duty to the sector. FE teachers, trainers, leaders, support staff […]

Let’s maintain the upward Ofsted trend for colleges!

Our analysis of colleges’ Ofsted grades suggests a significant improvement in the past five months. By the end of August last year, the sector’s grades had declined for three years in a row, with only 69 per cent of colleges at ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. But with a flood of college inspections improving from a grade […]

College sector performance continues rapid improvement

Just under three quarters of colleges are now rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, as the sector’s rapid improvement continues into 2018. Two reports published this morning – for Chelmsford College and Craven College – record a crucial step up from grade three to grade two. And Leicester College and Lakes College both achieved the […]

National College for Nuclear launched

A national college planning to train the bulk of the country’s workforce for Britain’s nuclear industry opens today. The National College for Nuclear is based across two hubs, in Cumbria at Lakes College and Somerset at Bridgwater and Taunton College. It is the fourth national college to open, following colleges for high-speed rail, based in […]