Pippa Allen-Kinross | FE Week

Employer satisfaction falls across FE, but ITPs still edge ahead of colleges

Employer satisfaction levels have fallen across the FE sector this year, but private providers are still outperforming colleges. The latest government research, based on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s 2017/18 employer satisfaction survey, shows a small decline in satisfaction with every type of provider. The survey of almost 55,000 employers revealed that 87.8 per […]

Apprenticeships by industry characteristics data: The 5 things we learnt

New research on apprenticeships by industry characteristics has revealed which sector is the most popular, what is preferred by each gender and where in the country apprenticeship starts are lowest. The Department for Education has compiled statistics focusing on the five academic years between 2012/13 and 2016/17, and published them today. Here are five things […]

Ofsted watch: Good week for colleges but private providers heavily criticised

In a week that celebrated colleges two improved to ‘good’, but it’s been difficult for apprenticeship training providers with three more damning monitoring reports published. Both Bury College and Middlesbrough College have improved from a grade three to a grade two while apprenticeship providers Construction Gateway, NSL and Invisage all received ‘insufficient’ results from Ofsted, […]

FE destinations and earnings data: The 5 key findings

The government has today released figures for outcomes of FE learners, showing stark gender pay gaps, differences in earnings and future employment and learning across the sector. The data covers the destinations of 1.1 million learners who completed an FE course between 2013-14 and 2015-16, and the earnings of those who studied between 2010-11 and […]

DfE launches consultation on fully-funded digital skills training

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the new national standards for digital skills, including plans for new qualifications at two levels. The consultation sets out the government’s plans to overhaul the current national standards, which set out core digital skills, as well as improving basic digital skills with qualifications at ‘beginner’ and […]

Three schools removed from T-levels 2020 delivery but one college added

Three schools will no longer deliver the first wave of T-levels after one received a low grade from Ofsted and two others “decided not to” take part. But Suffolk New College has been added to the list of those delivering the technical qualifications from 2020, after the government went back out to find providers when […]

ESFA overhaul of their register of apprenticeship training providers is more urgent than ever

It all seemed so sensible when the ESFA first announced at the FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference in March 2016 that they would be launching a Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). Employers would be able to choose from a list of “high-quality” providers and everyone would have confidence that the annual £2bn of public […]

Another boss of huge college group in financial trouble resigns with immediate effect

The principal of one of the biggest college groups in the country has stepped down with immediate effect. John Connolly, who heads up the RNN Group, is leaving by “mutual agreement” with the group’s board, after year in which the group has faced criticisms over its leadership, the quality of apprenticeship provision and planned for […]

Ofsted on hunt for more apprenticeship inspectors

Ofsted is on the look out to recruit 10 FE experts as inspectors while it ramps up its workforce to carry out early monitoring visits of every new apprenticeship provider. The inspectorate has been given £5.4 million in government funding to help with the mammoth task of carrying out visits at as many as 1,200 […]