Nick Linford | FE Week

Warwickshire College’s Madelyn McAlpine a World Cup winner just like German stars

The name of Warwickshire College’s Madelyn McAlpine can be listed with World Cup-winning German stars such as Mesut Ozil, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer. The PR and communications officer also proved World Cup winner, when it came to the FE Week prediction fundraiser in aid of the Helena Kennedy Foundation (HKF). With Germany crowned champions and Argentina the losing […]

New family learning group set for FE members

A new national forum for family learning which met this month for the first time looks set for membership from FE sector bodies. The National Family Learning Forum, launched by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), met for the first time on July 2 in London. It was formed to look at boosting family learning, and […]

Hackney UTC closure prompts tough 157 Group leader criticism for Lord Baker project

Former Education Secretary Lord Baker’s University Technical College (UTC) project has come under fire from the 157 Group boss after Hackney UTC announced it was to close. The East London UTC opened in September 2012, and filled 77 per cent of its 100 pupil places in the first year — but it is to shut […]

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City College Coventry principal Steve Logan discusses Ofsted improvement

City College Coventry principal Steve Logan started in post just this week, and one of the first items on his desk was a requires improvement inspection result from Ofsted. But with the college having previously received a disastrous report that branded it inadequate, the new grade was welcomed. In an exclusive Q&A with FE Week, […]

Government hopes for late summer rush on FE loans after applications plummet

The government said it was expecting a late summer rush for FE loan applications for 2014/15 with the number of applications having more than halved on the same period last year. Figures released by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) showed there had been 1,270 FE loan applications for next academic year by […]

Ofsted praise for college that revamped leadership after disastrous grade four result

A Midland college that overhauled its leadership in the wake of a disastrous Ofsted inspection result has recorded improvement across the board. City College Coventry follows City of Liverpool and City of Bristol to become the third general FE college in less than a month to have improved to a grade three, or requires improvement, […]

Labour plans technical degrees in learning and training ‘revolution’

Labour leader Ed Miliband has unveiled plans to “revolutionise learning and training” with new technical degrees delivered by the country’s top universities and designed with leading businesses. Speaking at a vocational education summit in London this morning, he told how “those who have excelled in vocational education and training” would be given the opportunity to […]

SFA in discussions with Ofsted about having a greater focus on large subcontractors

BBC Radio 4 will today broadcast an interview with the Skills Funding Agency during which they confirm they are in discussions with Ofsted about the possibility of having more focus on the large subcontractors. The interview will feature on the BBC’s consumer affairs programme Face the Facts which has carried out an investigation in to […]