The National Minimum Wage for apprentices is set to rise by 5p an-hour to £2.73, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced today.
The 2 per cent rise will come into force on October 1.
The move was recommended by the Low Pay Commission after the government asked how it could increase the lowest wages without affecting employment.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “The recommendations I have accepted today mean that low-paid workers will enjoy the biggest cash increase in their take home pay since 2008.
“This will benefit more than one million workers on National Minimum Wage and marks the start of a welcome new phase in minimum wage policy.
“The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the government about the minimum wage. This is why I asked them to look at how we could restore the real value of the National Minimum Wage as the economy recovers.
“The LPC’s new forward guidance gives us a much better understanding of how an economic recovery can be translated into faster and significant increases in the National Minimum Wage for low paid workers, without costing jobs.
“The experts will continue to advise government on future wage rises to help the low paid, and in the meantime I urge businesses to consider how all their staff — not just those on the minimum wage — can enjoy the benefits of recovery.”
The LPC also recommended bigger increases in future than have been seen in recent years.
The adult National Minimum Wage is to rise 19p (3 per cent) to £6.50 an-hour; 10p (2 per cent) for 18 to 20-year-olds to £5.13; and, 7p (2 per cent) for 16 and 17-year-olds to £3.79.
Representatives from firms including John Lewis, Estee Lauder, Toyota and Google attended the official launch of Croydon College’s new employability hub.
Students can visit the hub, which is situated on the ground floor of the main college campus building and cost £30,000 to set up, to search for vacancies, arrange work experience, get careers advice, and receive coaching for interviews.
Its official launch dinner was attended by students, college staff, and seior staff from several major employers, which have agreed to support the hub by for example offering work experience, interview coaching workshops and tours of their offices to learners.
Diners also heard a speech praising the scheme by Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick Airport.
Level two hospitality and catering student James McGuire, aged 17, said: “All the employability support and guidance will ensure that I am well on my way to becoming a qualified and skilled sous chef. I’m making the right contacts now for my future.”
Caption: Students James McGuire and Ryan Rhagoo, aged 17, at the launch event
Adult skills funding rates in 2014/15 are to remain the same as this year, despite a 19 per cent reduction to the adult skills budget (ASB) over the next two years.
The Skills Funding Agency has published its Funding rates and formula document for the next academic year.
It shows rates, which are set per academic year, will remain at the same level as this year, in contrast to Department for Education’s full-time education funding rate for 18-year-olds. It is slashing the rate to 17.5 per cent less than that of 16 and 17-year-olds.
The ASB, which is set per financial year, currently stands at £2,467,875 and is expected to fall 11 per cent to £2,258,311 next year, and then by 19 per cent on the current budget in 2015-16 to £2,004,547.
The document also says that details of monthly cap on earnings, announced in the Skills Funding Statement, “will be published in due course”.
West Suffolk College principal Nikos Savvas was arrested and locked up in a police cell — to raise money for a local hospice.
Police handcuffed Mr Savvas in his office before leading him to a police van outside.
He was driven to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre, where officers took his fingerprints and a mugshot before locking him in a cell for around an hour.
Mr Savvas was released after handing over around £700 to St Nicholas Hospice Care, in Bury St Edmunds.
The money had been raised through his JustGiving internet fundraising page and a bucket collection around the college.
He said: “Being arrested, even in fun, was a sobering experience. The high security police investigation centre is a very harsh environment and the microwaved all-day breakfast I was given was a punishment in itself.”
Mr Savvas was one of a dozen people arrested as part of a fundraising event, called Jail and Bail, for the hospice.
Caption: Nikkos Savvas being handcuffed in his office
Golden girl Charlotte Evans credited MidKent College with helping her triumph in the winter Olympics.
Charlotte, aged 22, was the guide for visually impaired skier Kelly Gallagher, 28, as they finished first in the super-G super-giant slalom event in Sochi, Russia.
The former sport and exercise sciences student has kept in close contact with her former tutors since graduating in 2009 and received £500 sponsorship from the college in the build-up to the games to help fund her training.
She has agreed to return to the college later this month to talk to students about her experiences in Sochi.
Charlotte said: “My time at MidKent College was the happiest of my life. The staff there helped me to compete at the highest level I could.”
Charlotte Evans on the slopes in Sochi
The college gave Charlotte its prize for outstanding achievement in sport and exercise sciences in 2009.
Principal Sue McLeod said: “We are all immensely proud of Charlotte for winning a gold medal.
“She was a model student and deserves nothing less than the tremendous success she is currently enjoying.”
Caption: Golden girl shows life after college is anything but downhill
From archaeology and belly dancing to a degree in contemporary history and lessons on the First World War, the adult education path of mum-of-four Amanda Scales is nothing if not varied. And it has culminated in her appointment as ambassador for adult learning at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, writes Paul Offord.
Shaking hands with Princess Anne, Amanda Scales could have been forgiven for taking a moment to reflect on her journey from belly dancing classes nine years ago to adult learning ambassador for the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace).
She was given the role in recognition of her commitment to adult learning, including the completion of a degree and training to be a teacher, all the while single-handedly raising a family-of-four.
And 49-year-old Amanda’s royal exchange happened during her first high profile ambassadorial appearance at a special event promoting adult education at Buckingham Palace.
She said: “Who would have thought my journey through adult education would lead to me visiting the palace and meeting the princess?
“She was keen to hear from people like myself about the barriers faced by people who want to go back into education, so she can use her influence to help.
“The more I have learned, the more I have realised how much a lack of education can be a disadvantage. I now feel like a warrior fighting for fairer access to education for everyone who desires it.”
Amanda’s initial education journey ended when she dropped out of an archaeology diploma at the University of Sussex in 2005.
She said: “I couldn’t afford childcare for my two youngest kids while I attended lessons and felt there was a lack of understanding of the pressures I was under.
“I was devastated when I had to give it up.”
Amanda Scales clutching a history textbook
But she enrolled on a belly dancing course a few months later at Whitehawk Inn community learning centre, in Brighton.
She added: “I went on the course to allow myself time to be Amanda and not just a mum for a couple of hours a week.”
An adviser suggested she enrolled on its year-long new career options for women course. She completed it in June 2007.
Amanda said: “They raised my aspirations and suggested I should do a degree. I really wasn’t sure, as no one from my family had gone to university before.”
The journey continued with a degree in contemporary history before Amanda focussed on becoming a teacher, spending a year studying for a maths GCSE at Portslade Community College then 12 months working as a teaching assistant at Varndean School, in Brighton, where she sat an English GCSE with pupils.
She then returned to the University of Sussex to do a year-long teacher training course, which she completed last year.
She is now working as a freelance teacher for East Sussex Records Office and also developing a history course on the First World War for people who have learning difficulties or have been out of education for many years for local libraries.
She said: “Learning is hard work and there were times I thought I might quit, but I’ve achieved so much, and I’m very proud.”
A spokesperson for Niace said: “Amanda is an exceptional success story. Our ambassadors have first-hand experience and are the best advocates for the value of learning as an adult.
“We want to empower Amanda to reach as many people as possible with her stories.”
Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones and Skills Minister Matthew Hancock launched a new business apprenticeship scheme at Westminster Kingsway College.
The new level five higher apprenticeship in business innovation will be run by the college and the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, which was founded by Mr Jones in 2009.
The apprentices will work with a range of prestigious companies, including Grant Thornton UK, Jessops and Waltham Estates.
Mr Jones, who gained fame through BBC TV show Dragons’ Den, attended the official course launch with Mr Hancock.
Mr Jones said: “There is a real need for people to learn how to run a business and we are incredibly proud to launch this higher apprenticeship.”
Mr Hancock said: “It is great to launch this with the Peter Jones Enterprise. Westminster Kingsway College is at the leading edge of delivering these programmes”
Cap from left: Apprentice Sophie Whitelock, aged 20, Skills Minister Matthew Hancock, chief executive of the Peter Jones Foundation Alice Barnard, Peter Jones, assistant principal of Westminster Kingsway College Geoff Booth, and apprentice Rhys Huggett, 19
