Paul Offord | FE Week

CITB shedding 800 jobs as it pulls out of direct training

The Construction Industry Training Board will shed around 800 jobs over the next three years, in a radical overhaul of how it operates that will see it pull out of direct training. In its 2018-21 business plan, the CITB estimates that its current number of 1,370 employees will fall to around 560. It announced last […]

Apprenticeship payments system malfunctions again

The government’s apprenticeship payments report system has been broken for almost a week – and there’s no fix currently in sight. Complaints about the online system first appeared on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s FE Connect site on April 10. A day later, the agency admitted to “an issue with the apprenticeships monthly payments […]

Ofsted saves £400k with longer grade 2 inspection gap

Ofsted will save around £400,000 during the next academic year by elongating the maximum period between inspections for ‘good’ providers from three to five years, it has told FE Week. This change in inspection policy was revealed in the April edition of the learning and skills inspection handbook. “We estimate that this could potentially save […]

Former adviser to two skills ministers blasts apprenticeship levy

A former senior advisor to two previous skills ministers is the latest figure in FE to insist the levy is in urgent need of reform, in a new report full of stinging criticism of the recent apprenticeship reforms. Tom Richmond, who worked under Nick Boles and Matt Hancock and left the Department for Education in […]

Providers told to declare subcontracting fees by late April

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has finally sent providers long-delayed templates to let them declare their subcontracting fees. Individual lead providers previously had to publish their annual figures by the end of every November every year. But the rules changed for 2016/17, and providers are now expected to inform the ESFA of their figures, […]

ESFA to ‘review’ rules on subcontracting fees and charges

Subcontracting fees and charges will be reviewed to ensure government funding is being used for “recognised costs”, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has revealed. “In the coming months, we will be reviewing… aspects of the subcontracting funding rules,” it said in its announcement, published online last night. This includes “subcontracting fees and charges, so […]

Repayments deferred to next April for loans scandal victims

Debt repayments from hundreds of victims of an FE loans scandal have been deferred for another 12 months. FE Week has been coordinating a campaign to have the advanced learning loan debt written off for blameless former learners whose training providers folded unexpectedly and who have been unable to finish their courses – often leaving […]

Third early monitoring report a success – but provider targeted isn’t ‘new’ to apprenticeships

Ofsted’s third early monitoring visit to a new levy-funded apprenticeship provider has uncovered a “clear focus” on delivering high-quality training. However, it is the second of the three reports to focus on a company that is not a total newcomer to apprenticeships. Inspectors visited Jigsaw Training, which featured on the government’s subcontracting register for 2016/17 […]

Emily Chapman re-elected as the NUS’ head of FE

Emily Chapman has been re-elected as the representative for further education at the National Union of Students. She won 61 per cent of the vote on day two of NUS National Conference in Glasgow, and has retained her position as NUS vice-president (further education) until the end of 2018/19. This is her second year in […]