Opinion

Why colleges should be wary of university mergers

Merging with a peer in further education is now the most sensible option for colleges wanting to cut costs,...

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MARTIN VINCENT
Opinion

What to do if your college is running into financial problems

Skills minister Anne Milton explains what the government is doing to support colleges in financial difficulty   A college...

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ANNE MILTON
Opinion

Quality of apprenticeship policy suffers from ‘insufficient progress’

Two years ago FE Week exposed thousands of apprentices on standards without any approved end-point-assessment organisations. At the time,...

Nick Linford
NICK LINFORD
Opinion

Functional skills is more relevant to the workplace than scraping a GCSE

It is vital that functional skills count towards the 20 per cent of time required to be learning off...

Mark Dawe
MARK DAWE
Opinion

Bonfire of the qualifications – is that what’s next?

Take the politics out of funding vocational qualifications and trust in the technical expertise of the bodies that have...

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TOM BEWICK
Opinion

What does the budget mean for FE?

This was certainly not a budget for FE or education generally. No additional money was given or promised (apart...

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SANDRA MCNALLY
Opinion

Why is the sector celebrating greater dependence on the public purse?

In the past, the government paid 50 per cent of the costs towards the training of apprentices aged 19...

Nick Linford
NICK LINFORD
Opinion

Adults are still being trapped in low-paid work

The recent technical reforms still do little to help young people stuck in low levels of education or adults...

Expert Contributor
ANDY NORMAN
Opinion

Can national colleges overcome their recruitment and funding challenges?

Clair Mowbray explains how the first incorporated college to open in 30 years is responding to its funding and...

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CLAIR MOWBRAY