Nick Linford | FE Week

‘We’ve been struggling with adult literacy and numeracy for decades’

An MPs’ committee has been investigating whether England has been failing adults who struggle with numeracy and literacy. Paul Stanistreet looks at the committee’s findings. The House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report on adult literacy and numeracy paints a troubling picture of a society in which those who have been failed […]

Tip of the iceberg for sixth form saviour colleges?

After a school in Cheshire announced it would be closing its sixth form over plummeting learner numbers, local colleges said they would be able to step in to take on the abandoned learners. David Igoe explains why the situation may be more than a one-off. The story, late last month, of Culcheth High School in […]

Improvement plan ‘not fit for purpose’ at grade four-rated Central Bedfordshire UTC

Ofsted inspectors have branded the improvement action plan of an inadequate-rated university technical college (UTC) as “not fit for purpose”. Central Bedfordshire UTC was slapped with the grade four result in June with inspectors criticising the quality of leadership, governance, teaching and the curriculum. They also said learning was “not secure” because teachers “do not […]

Sector responds to MPs’ adult numeracy and literacy report

Key figures from across the FE and skills sector have been poring over the adult numeracy and literacy report by MPs on the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee. Here is a key selection of responses from the sector. Carol Taylor (pictured right), deputy chief executive of the National Institute of Adult […]

Departmental collaboration and high-profile campaign needed to address adult literacy and numeracy issue, say MPs

Greater co-operation across several government departments, a review of funding and a high profile national campaign were among a host of measures put forward by MPs aiming to address poor literacy and numeracy in England. Members of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee also rejected GCSEs as the only qualification by […]

Meeting the direct recruitment challenge — one year on

As participating colleges get ready to take on learners from the age of 14, Graham Towse outlines his experiences as one of the few principals with a full academic year of the policy under his belt. In September 2013 we welcomed our first intake of students to the HCUK 14-16 College. This represented a new […]

Leps need more responsibility and funding to deliver on digital skills, adult education chief tells Lords

Local enterprise partnerships (Leps) should be given more responsibility and funding to point learners in the direction of opportunities to learn new digital skills, a sector leader has told Lords. Addressing members of a House of Lords committee looking at the UK’s digital competitiveness yesterday morning, David Hughes (pictured), chief executive of the National Institute of […]

Filling the newly-formed employability and personal development quals void

Charlotte Bosworth thinks that while the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) removal of funding from a raft of level two qualifications had economic merit, young people must be able to learn employability and personal development skills to prove attractive to potential employers. Earlier this year the SFA announced it was removing funding support for nearly 1,500 […]

AoC and AELP unite in warning BIS FE loan extension plan could hit learner numbers

The proposed expansion of the FE loans system to cover to cover level two qualifications and also younger learners could hit participation levels, the Association for Colleges (AoC) and the Association for Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) have both warned. The associations have issued separate responses to the government’s consultation on extending the 24+ advanced learning […]