Pippa Allen-Kinross | FE Week

Could Hinds’ experience make T-levels work?

Damian Hinds has been appointed as the new education secretary and, with a background including responsibility for youth employment at the Department for Work and Pensions, he could be exactly what T-levels need. The government has said that all T-level students will have to take part in “high-quality” work placements, which should last between 45 […]

Anne Milton stays as minister in latest government reshuffle

Anne Milton will remain as a minister as the latest government reshuffle comes to an end, FE Week understands. Number 10 confirmed that only new appointments had been announced on its official Twitter account today. And with no announcement forthcoming about Ms Milton, it is understood that she remains in her position, though the Department […]

Cabinet reshuffle: Education secretary Justine Greening resigns

The education secretary Justine Greening has quit government after being moved from her post in today’s cabinet reshuffle. She is understood to have made the decision after refusing a transfer over to the Department for Work and Pensions. Ms Greening hinted afterwards on Twitter that a dispute over social mobility, presumably with Prime Minister Theresa […]

Ofsted Watch: ‘Good’ tidings for FE providers before Christmas

Ofsted has delivered an early Christmas present to FE, with six providers climbing up the rankings including one college moving from grade four to grade two in the space of a year. Hereward College of Further Education was deemed to be ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in October 2016, with particular concerns raised over the safeguarding of […]

Delay to Institute of Apprenticeship taking on T-Levels but board expands to ‘bolster expertise’

The Institute for Apprenticeships will take responsibility for T-levels later than planned as it recruits new board members to boost its in-house expertise. According to the minutes of a board meeting on November 15, the IfA will not now adopt T-levels until the end of 2018, rather than in April 2018 as previously expected, as […]

‘Inadequate’ employer provider still on apprenticeship register

A FTSE 100 employer-provider has not been kicked off the register of apprenticeship training providers, even though Ofsted gave it a grade four nearly six months ago. The Compass Group is still permitted to take on new apprentices in its capacity as a subcontractor, and has only stopped recruiting them on a voluntary basis. According […]

Ofsted tells college to ditch ‘outstanding’ label

A college that Ofsted last visited 11 years ago, and which dodged an inspection in 2016 after a merger, has finally been told to stop referring to itself as ‘outstanding’. Bridgwater College received the top grade back in November 2006, its last full inspection. But in June 2016, amid a significant fall in A-level standards, […]

Ofsted warned before annual report of worsening employer provider performance

Ofsted has been warned before the launch of its annual report that it will need to “work hard” to drive up standards among employer-providers, whose overall performance has got even worse. There were 20 employer-providers inspected by Ofsted in 2016/17, and a disappointing 55 per cent received a grade three or four, below the level […]

Hart Learning Group chief executive steps down

The chief executive of the Hart Learning Group has stepped down after three years in charge, it has been announced. Matt Hamnett was appointed head of Hart Learning, which describes itself as a “charitable organisation with a mission to create social and economic value through learning”, in March 2015. The group includes North Hertfordshire College […]