Author: Pippa Allen-Kinross

Prime providers should demand a higher top-slice from “risky” subcontractors to reflect the extra work that comes with them, according to new subcontracting guidance from a leading FE body. The Association of Colleges’ guidance, published on October 22, tells main providers that “risk is a key assessment factor when determining fees and charges” and should […]

Mystery surrounds a “confidential” review of further education in Cornwall as pressure grows on the region’s two colleges to work more closely together. Glimpses into the workings of the secretive review have come as Cornwall College Group announced the resignation of its principal amid an ongoing struggle to secure emergency government funding. The review, which […]

The FE commissioner has criticised “serious corporate failure”, lack of oversight and a “financial crisis” at West Nottinghamshire College in a damning report. The intervention report, published today but written in back in August, warned the college’s board and then-principal Dame Asha Khemka had “overseen a serious business failure which will impact on the whole […]

A new tool to let employers directly post apprenticeship vacancies is being launched by the Education and Skills Agency. From this month, levy paying employers with an apprenticeship service account will find a ‘recruitment’ link on their account homepage, which will give direct access to the ‘recruit an apprentice’ tool. The service will let employers […]

A huge private university is expected to be banned from recruiting new apprentices after Ofsted warned it was making ‘insufficient progress’, mainly by managers being unaware of the “slow progress” learners make. BPP University, part of the global BPP Professional Education Group, was criticised in its early monitoring visit report for making poor headway in […]

A charity which supports people with special needs has been rated ‘inadequate’ in every category in a damning Ofsted report, after inspectors found apprentices were not released from their job roles to complete training. Creative Support has been heavily criticised by the inspectorate, which warned the provision offered by the nation-wide employer provider “does not […]

Health Education England has written to NHS trusts encouraging them to use or transfer their apprenticeship levy funds after finding their annual £200 million pot is not being spent fast enough. A joint letter from HEE’s chief executive Ian Cummings and NHS Improvement’s executive director of nursing Ruth May warned that a “large amount of NHS […]

Four more apprenticeship providers have been banned from taking on new starts after facing criticism from Ofsted – bringing the total number barred up to 16. The latest update to the register of apprenticeship training providers, on Friday, shows the four new providers which will be facing the penalty after being deemed as making ‘insufficient […]

It has been a mixed week for independent learning providers, after four were found lacking in Ofsted inspections – one of which fell from ‘outstanding’ to ‘requires improvement’. However, it was more positive news for four other ITPs and a general FE college, which were found to be making good headway in their own monitoring […]