Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu | FE Week

Perverse incentives and tangled pathways

If the new government is serious about its proposals, it must address the many problems with the levy, plus the accessibility of courses for those outside towns and cities, writes Emma Hardy Apprenticeships should be the perfect vehicle for meeting the challenges of social mobility, bridging the skills gap and raising productivity. However, the government’s […]

Williamson offers his reassurance that apprenticeship system will be fixed

Days after Ofsted criticised the government for locking young people out of the apprenticeship system, education secretary Gavin Williamson has offered his “reassurance”. “I’m determined to make sure the apprenticeship system works for the people that can benefit the most”, he said. Williamson made the comments whilst writing in FE Week’s National Apprenticeship Week 2020 […]

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 305

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving. Mo Dixon, Principal, Tyne Metropolitan College Start date: January 2020 Previous job: Vice principal, New College Durham Interesting fact: She is a big fan of Newcastle United and a frequent winner of FE Week Spot the Difference. Sarah Houghton, Assistant principal for land-based education, The Cornwall College […]

Ofsted watch: Major energy company among swathe of ‘good’ results

A major energy firm was among six training providers to be rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in a positive week for the sector. SSE Services PLC, the national utility company which providers energy to nine million households, kept its ‘good’ rating following a short inspection. The employer provider has just over 150 apprentices who “benefit from […]

Coupland: ‘Public funding for management apprenticeships is perfectly legitimate’

The new chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has given her backing to scarce levy funding being spent on controversial management qualifications. Jennifer Coupland also stood up for the employers that the quango represents, warning the Treasury and Department for Education that the £2 billion budget “is not government money, it […]

Crackdown on 16-18 residential data in wake of cladding concerns

The government will write to all colleges and universities with residential learners aged 16 to 18 after officials found “data inaccuracies” which have prevented Ofsted from conducting inspections. It follows an FE Week investigation that revealed how a tower block with Grenfell-style cladding that houses students at Highbury College and failed a fire safety test […]

Baroness Wolf tipped for role as skills adviser to Prime Minister

FE expert Baroness Alison Wolf is set to become the skills and workforce policy adviser to the Prime Minister, according to news website Politico Europe. The King’s College London professor of public sector management will join the Downing Street policy unit with initial focus “on skills and apprenticeship policy across all government departments”. Wolf is […]

Chair follows principal and quits at college with shock £6m deficit

A former deputy FE commissioner has been drafted into a college that is currently investigating an unexpected £6 million deficit after its chair resigned. John Hogg today replaced John McCabe, who was appointed as chair of Gateshead College just six months ago. The high-profile college, which uncovered the shock shortfall after its finance director went […]

Ofsted watch: ‘Outstanding’ week for sixth form college

A sixth form college was lauded as ‘outstanding’ in a mixed week for FE, which saw one private provider plummet to ‘inadequate’ while another dropped two grades to ‘requires improvement’. Godalming College was given the top rating by Ofsted in its first inspection since converting to a 16 to 19 academy in January 2018. The […]