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11 April 2026

Author: Paul Offord

BREAKING: Non-levy £650m tender results finally shared

The long-awaited non-levy tender results, for funding apprenticeships with small (non-levy) employers, have been revealed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency this evening. It follows a worrying few days for providers, after it was announced on the Bravo tendering site last Friday that after a temporary ‘postponement’ they would be out some time this […]

High transport costs are letting SEND learners down

It has become all too clear this term that learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who want to study further education are being badly let down. The local government ombudsman warned in October that growing numbers are missing out on places at colleges, because of delays with local councils producing their education and […]

Complaints over apprenticeship payments system breakdown

The government has been swamped with complaints about its malfunctioning apprenticeship payment systems, which are incorrectly demanding cash from levy-funded employers. Numbers providers have been leaving anguished and irate messages on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s online FEConnect forum. One of many to leave a message is Chris Bradley, who showed FE Week an […]

Breaking: Non-levy tendering funding decisions to be revealed next week

The government has announced that it finally expect to issue notices of decisions to providers next week, on the long-delayed non-levy tendering process for funding apprenticeships with small employers. The message on the Bravo tendering site has gone out to those waiting for results. It says: “Further to the agency’s Bravo message on November 17, […]

Government delays on subcontracting charges

The government has been accused of double standards on subcontracting charges, after it missed its own deadline for issuing templates for providers to submit their figures. Colleges and independent training providers had since 2013 been obliged to publish the amount of government cash they withheld before paying subcontractors to run training by the end of […]

Industrial strategy confirms delay to adult education budget devolution

The devolution of the adult education budget has been delayed by a year. In its industrial strategy white paper the government announced today that it “will devolve the adult education budget to mayoral areas in 2019”. The former Skills Funding Agency previously said that seven regions were supposed to get devolved AEB budgets from August 2018. London […]

Third of employers unaware of off-the-job rule

The government should make sure employers are aware of the 20-per-cent off the job training rule, sector figures have said, after nearly a third were shown to be oblivious. In a survey of just over 800 employers with apprentices currently on their books, the Learning and Work Institute found 32 per cent did not realise […]

Sheffield College chief executive resigns

The chief executive of a large general further education college in the north of England has resigned. The Sheffield College confirmed today that Paul Corcoran “has decided to resign” from his senior role, which he had held since June 2015. A spokesperson for the 16-000-learner college said it had accepted his resignation, and installed principal […]

£76m available for adult retraining in digital and construction

Plans to invest £76 million into retraining adults who want to work in the digital and construction sectors have been explained ahead of the budget. The Treasury will roll the fund out in a new “formal partnership” with the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, which will oversee a new national retraining […]