digital skills

Closing the digital divide: Beyond devices to true inclusion

Covid forced colleges online overnight. But years later, too many still confuse digital access with digital inclusion, and learners…

Jessica Hill
Imran Mir
Skills reform

The post-16 white paper has the potential to deliver for businesses

Last week’s white paper comes as Make UK’s latest research shows that three-quarters of manufacturers struggle to fill vacancies…

Shane Chowen
Robert Halfon
V Levels

New V Levels qualification must build on the best of BTECs

V Levels must build on BTEC’s proven strengths if they’re to deliver the workforce the UK needs

Jessica Hill
Freya Thomas Monk
AI

AI is reshaping our minds, not just our jobs

AI is reshaping the very fabric of human cognition and unless leaders act, workers will face a crisis of…

Jessica Hill
Perry Perrott
V Levels

V Levels can streamline, but beware a re-badging exercise

The government’s vision for a simpler skills system is welcome, but real reform means tackling deep-rooted issues like staffing,…

Jessica Hill
Robbie Maris
Ofsted

Thriving providers are the ones who’ve stopped performing for Ofsted

Too many providers let data sit in dashboards instead of using it to shape strategy. National Grid’s forensic, forward-looking…

Jessica Hill
Kerry Boffey and Daniel Tingle


Skills reform

We saved a social care workforce pathway cut off by level 3 reforms

Around 31,000 learners were potentially left without a route into social care, but NCFE’s intervention could be the lifeline…

Jessica Hill
David Rowley
Politics

FE is no longer Cinderella, it’s the government’s Fairy Godmother

The post-16 white paper shows that even fairy dust can’t hide the lack of a clear purpose behind yet…

Jessica Hill
Holly Papworth
Legal changes

Candour becomes law – what Hillsborough Law means for colleges

Borne from the tragedy of the Hillsborough disaster, the new duty of candour will make ethical conduct a legal…

Jessica Hill
Smita Jamdar and Kamal Chauhan
V Levels

V Levels: a victory for vocational education, or another V sign to the FE sector?

The government’s new V Levels promise a third pathway alongside A and T Levels. But are they a genuine…

Jessica Hill
James Scott
Adult education

White paper misses the mark by omitting adults

The post-16 education and skills white paper could have been the defining moment for a genuine lifelong learning revolution….

Jessica Hill
Dipa Ganguli and Caroline McDonald
Colleges

White paper is a long-overdue vote of confidence in colleges – let’s make it count

The new white paper signals real belief in FE, with funding, new pathways and a bigger role for colleges….

Jessica Hill
David Hughes