Author: Paul Offord

The new deputy director of assessment for the Institute for Apprenticeships, a role likened to “a hand grenade with the pin removed”, has been unveiled. Shadow chief executive of the IfA Peter Lauener revealed today, at the Association of Colleges Governance Summit, that the job has gone to head of education and skills at British […]

Hull College Group has announced the departure of its chief executive Gary Warke, bringing to an end weeks of speculation after the FE Commissioner exposed a £10 million deficit there over four years. A statement was sent to FE Week 15 minutes ago on behalf of the chair of governors Pat Tomlinson. She said: “On […]

More than 200 passionate supporters of lifelong learning packed-out the official launch of FE Week’s #SaveOurAdultEducation campaign in the Houses of Parliament today. The event saw powerful speeches from influential politicians, including apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon, and FE sector leaders. #SaveOurAdultEducation is demanding three things from the government. First of these is that […]

New Institutes of Technology could be based at “wholly new” institutions, not just existing FE providers, a Department for Education briefing document leaked to FE Week has revealed. In January, the release of a green paper called ‘Building Our Industrial Strategy’, confirmed that £170 million of capital funding would be spent on IoTs. At the […]

The government is remaining tight-lipped over whether results of a surprise second allocation window for the register of apprenticeship training providers will be unveiled before the key reforms go live. The first round of applications for the new register, which providers have to be on if they want to deliver apprenticeship starts from the start […]

The government has launched a consultation questioning the future role of construction industry training boards and their own employer charges, after the apprenticeship levy launches in April. It was launched by the Department for Education today, with responses required by March 21. Respondents are asked for views on the effectiveness of the two organisations, and […]

A new Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network was launched by skills minister Robert Halfon this morning. The organisation, chaired by Nus Ghani MP (pictured right), will be geared at promoting diversity among employers and encouraging more people from underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities, women, and members of the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, onto […]

Lord Baker has won a major concession in the House of Lords which will force all schools to give FE providers access to their pupils, a move which he concedes will likely be universally hated by them. The move to amend the government’s Technical and Further Education Bill, put forward by Lord Baker and his […]