Pippa Allen-Kinross | FE Week

Battle to save college campus near Grenfell Tower gets FE commissioner support

The FE Commissioner has become embroiled in the battle to save a college campus for residents dealing with the fallout of the Grenfell Tower fire. Richard Atkins visited Kensington and Chelsea College this week to review its proposed merger with Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College, which had been set for January 2018. It is […]

Ofsted Watch: Tough week for FE as grades fall

Two FE providers have seen their ratings tumble, and two others have received ‘requires improvement’ grades, in the latest reports released by Ofsted. The independent training provider London Skills and Development Network (LSDN) fell from a grade two to a grade three, with its apprenticeship provision described as ‘inadequate’, in its most recent inspection on […]

Special interview: Minister speaks to FE Week about careers strategy

The long-awaited careers strategy was revealed to the world in a conference hall in Solihull earlier today. FE Week was there for the first exclusive interview with the skills minister who brought it – at last – to fruition. Anne Milton admitted that there will be those in the sector who still think that more […]

Who will run the FE centres of excellence for maths?

The autumn budget brought with it a commitment from the government to invest £40 million in new further education centres of excellence for maths. FE Week looks at where these new maths hubs might be built. Plans to spend money to address the government’s forced GCSE resits policy were widely welcomed last week, including the […]

Colleges’ Ofsted grades bounce back

England’s colleges are showing signs of turning a significant corner in their Ofsted performance. Seven have managed to dig themselves out of failing grades in the early part 2017/18 – where none managed the same feat during that period last year. Frustratingly however, this success will not be recognised in the education watchdog’s imminent annual […]

Almost 200 T-level panel members announced

The full membership of the first six T-level panels has been announced by the Department for Education. The 187-strong membership encompasses a range of employers, training providers and college staff across 16 panels in the categories of ‘digital’, ‘education and childcare’, ‘construction’, ‘health and science’, ‘legal’, ‘financial and accounting’, and ‘engineering and manufacturing’. This represents […]

National retraining partnership outlined in new industrial strategy

The government has published its industrial strategy white paper this morning, with details of a national retraining partnership unveiled. The document, called Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain for the future, has just been published on gov.uk, following up on the green paper published in January. It elaborates on what is planned for the “ambitious rational […]

Maths GCSE investment adds up

The extra £48.5m in the budget to support college students pass their GCSE maths is to be celebrated – and it’s an important signal. It’s to be celebrated because it’s recognition that colleges need investment to make new policies succeed. Too frequently, new policies, like the English and maths condition-of-funding requirement, are thrust upon colleges without a thought to the cost of successful implementation. […]

AAC Apprenticeship Awards launched by FE Week and AELP

FE Week and AELP are proud to announce the launch of the inaugural AAC Apprenticeship Awards, which will be held at the next Annual Apprenticeship Conference to recognise the very best in apprenticeship provision. The awards mark the fourth year of the apprenticeship sector’s biggest conference, run in conjunction with AELP and the Department for […]