Paul Offord | FE Week

Anne Milton launches £22m construction skills fund

The skills minister has launched a new £22 million fund to help tackle construction skills shortages. The 18-month scheme will be overseen by the Construction Industry Training Board and funded by the Department for Education. For our economy to thrive we need everyone, regardless of their age or background, to be able to get the […]

Essex council protests college merger with London group

A council in Essex has come out firmly against merger plans for its financially stricken local college, fearing it will lose its community focus if it joins a giant college group. London-based New City College is preparing to merge with the financially stricken Epping Forest College from August 1, after the latter was placed in […]

Metro mayors demand control over unspent levy

The metro mayors overseeing skills budget devolution have joined forces to demand control of apprenticeship levy cash that employers fail to spend. The devolved adult education budget will come into effect from 2019/20. In a joint statement, they insisted that with Brexit approaching it is more important than ever to ensure local workers have the […]

Leading charity sector figure to lead London’s largest college group

A leading figure from the charity sector will take the reins at London’s largest college group. Roy O’Shaughnessy, who is currently chief executive officer of the Shaw Trust, will start his new role at the Capital City College Group next term. Outgoing boss Andy Wilson is retiring, but will stay on for the time being […]

Rye Studio School to close over low pupil numbers

The Rye Studio School in East Sussex will close this summer after it failed to recruit even half of the pupils it needed. It is the 24th studio school – 14-to-19 institutions with a vocational curriculum – to close or announce plans to close since the inception of the project. According to trustees, the school […]

‘Outstanding’ Ofsted result for Redbridge Institute of Adult Education

A local authority provider has been rated outstanding by Ofsted for the first time since 2015. Redbridge Institute of Adult Education has received top marks in all headline fields. The report was full of praise for the organisation, which teaches at a main adult education campus in Gants Hill and 47 other community settings in […]

Scrap the Institute for Apprenticeships, says Lords report

The Institute for Apprenticeships should be scrapped, according to an influential committee that sits in the House of Lords. The Lords economic affairs committee has also poured scorn on the government’s target of three million apprenticeship starts by 2020. “The IfA should be abolished,” it said in a new report. The role of the institute […]

Council accused of SEND transport discrimination

A local authority has been accused of breaking government guidelines on college transport charges, and parents of children with special educational needs or disabilities are worried about discrimination. St Helens council provoked an angry response from local families, after it announced that 16- to 19-year-old SEND learners will have to pay over £1,700 every year […]

Colleges recognised for outstanding higher education provision

Two colleges have received gold medals recognising their outstanding higher education provision in the latest Teaching Excellence Framework ratings. Sparsholt College and Myerscough College both received the highest possible rating, meaning they deliver “consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes”. They are among 46 colleges to have received recognition for the quality of their HE provision […]