Unionlearn, the education arm of the TUC, is launching a campaign to help employers understand more about dyslexia.

Events and assessments designed to help make workplaces more dyslexia friendly will take place during Dyslexia Awareness Week.

An online survey carried out by Unionlearn found that over half of their learning support representatives said workers with a learning disability had come across barriers while being trained for their job role.

Eighty per cent of representatives said they were aware of colleagues and workmates who had dyslexia, but almost two thirds had received no training in how to support them. 

One representative said: “Often dyslexia isn’t recognised for what it is. Managers seem to think that it is purely a difficulty with reading, when it can also lead to organisational difficulties.”

A series of documents will be provided during the campaign to help negotiate dyslexia-friendly polices with managers and HR staff, and there will be an information toolkit available online.

The British Dyslexia Association estimates that ten per cent of the population are affected by dyslexia and research has found that more than 50 per cent of them keep it a secret.

The awareness week runs from October 31- November 6 and there are lots of events going on around the country to celebrate individual achievements, and encourage nationwide understanding.

Since FE Week launched in early September our website has had over 100,000 page views. On average that means 2,131 visits to our site and article reads per day!

So far the FE Week team has delivered extensive coverage of key events, profiled influential figures, delivered exclusives and given expert advice.

By reporting from behind the scenes of FE, we’ve aimed to provide a newspaper that is connected with the sector’s most pressing issues.

Paul Head, principal of the college of Haringway, Enfield and North East London certainly agrees.

He said: “FE Week is really showcasing the best that FE has to offer and tackling in detail, the issues that affect our sector.”

FE Week now has a strong following that’s been growing every day. We owe a huge thank you to our readers for keeping the dream alive and can only hope our success is a sign of things to come.

Sixth-form spending is expected to fall by 15.8 per cent in the next three years, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The IFS estimates that the Department for Education’s (DfE) Deparmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) for sixth-form funding will drop from £2.4 billion in 2011-12 to £2.2 billion in 2014-15.

The report, titled ‘Trends in education and schools spending’, says that this is equivalent to a 17.6 per cent reduction in ‘real terms’.

A spokesperson from the DfE said: “Whilst we have had to make some difficult decisions in order to reduce costs and secure greater efficiency – including by removing the historic gap in funding between school and college funding – our priorities have been to protect funding for the core education programmes for young people as well as targeting more help and support on the students with greatest needs.”

They added that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, didn’t dispute the figures in the report when interviewed on the BBC this morning (October 25).

The IFS report states: “It seems clear that spending on the education of 16- to 19-year-olds will receive a disproportionately large cut, as evidenced by planned real-terms cuts to all areas of spending in 2011–12 and expected cuts to sixth-form spending by 2014–15.

“These cuts will take place at a time when the education leaving age is due to start rising (from 16 to 18) from 2013, which is likely to make the pressures on individual providers even greater.”

The statistics were calculated using spending plans published by the DfE, the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), and those in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) and the 2010 Spending Review.

The IFS says that the figures are “not exhaustive”, but are “the most comprehensive assessment published to date.”

The IFS said they expected the total cuts to 16-9 edcuation to be “of a similar magnitude” to the 20 per cent spending reductions estimated for the early years and youth services.

Cuts to the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was later attributed to the expected 4.1 per cent fall in total spenditure for 16-19 education in 2011-12.

A study on reducing bureaucracy in further education (FE) is due for release next month.

The study, conducted by the National Audit Office (NAO), will examine the efforts of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to reduce the bureaucracy faced by FE colleges.

NAO say reducing bureaucracy is a key part of the approach to freeing up the sector and supporting structured cost reduction and they will “seek to assess if the Department’s plans, and those of its agencies, to reduce bureaucracy are likely to be effective.”

FE Week today spoke to NAO, who revealed the study will be released in November, subject to the timing of parliamentary recess.

John Hayes visited Jaguar and Landrover apprentices as part of the ‘See Inside Manufacturing’ initiative earlier this week.

The Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning visited Halewood Operations to meet some of the company’s first qualified apprentices.

Mr Hayes said: “By inspiring and training the new generation of highly skilled technicians we need to fuel growth and build prosperity, Jaguar Land Rover is setting a fine example to British business.

“To help more firms open their doors to our young people, the Government is funding the biggest and best apprenticeships programme our country has ever seen.”

John Hayes was given a tour of production lines that included the Evoque, a new car which has allowed the company to hire 1,500 new employees.

Richard Else, Operations Director at Jaguar Land Rover, Halewood, said: “The automotive industry has a critical role to play in supporting a manufacturing led economic recovery. Our business is experiencing a period of growth thanks to investment and innovation and we need to ensure that we have the next generation of engineers lined up to carry us forward.”

Mr Else added: “Initiatives such as ‘See Inside Manufacturing’, will help us to get the message out that manufacturing is an exciting industry, excellent career choice, with high quality training and a bright future.”

Mr. Hayes also visited the Land Rover Experience Centre and Jaguar Land Rover Education Business Centre, meeting more than 30 local school children who were visiting the company.

‘See Inside Manufacturing’ is a collaborative initative designed to promote British manufacturing and dispel the myth that companies no longer ‘make anything’.

Newham College is giving out around 1,500 free meals to students each week in a bid to tackle cuts in government grants.

Managers have said that hundreds of learners would be unable to study at the college if they were not given luncheon vouchers.

Denise Brown-Sackey, Principal of Newham College, said: “The lunch is making a big difference. We want east Londoners to take part in a learning revolution and it’s one of our options to help young people in difficult financial times.

“We’ve put a lot of thought into the nutritional balance of the food and I’m pleased that to date we’ve provided over 5,000 meals to our young students.”

The scheme was implemented in September following an Association of Colleges (AoC) survey that blamed the scrapping of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for a drop in student numbers.

The meals, which benefit more than 1,000 students,  are available to all learners under 18-years-old and to under 16s using the College for part of their school work.

Colleges and training providers say employers should pay towards apprentice training programmes.

A survey conducted by Lsect asked if employers should continue to be allowed to contribute nothing towards the training for their apprentices.

Nearly three quarters of the people who replied – 73 per cent – said the employer should pay something towards training their employees.

Fiona Davis, funding and registry manager at Boston College, said: “Some employers are seen as using apprentices for cheap labour and this will only increase if the employer no longer has to make a financial contribution to the training.”

She said that a small contribution from the employee may make them more likely to complete a course, but if the apprentice is on minimum wage to expect them to fund the apprenticeship is unaffordable.

Funding for apprenticeship training has been a source of controversy following the government’s further education reform programme.

The employer is expected to make a 50 per cent contribution to the fees but they are currently allowed to make no contribution at all.

This means that in some cases the learner will be expected to fund their own training.

Apprentices over the age of 24 are going to be charged for studying their first level 3 qualification and loans will be offered to those who cannot afford to pay fees upfront.

The maximum loan that can be taken for studying is £4,000 but there is no limit to what colleges can charge for the qualifications.