Opinion

Why I’m striking: a list of austerity’s devastating impacts

Since 2010 there has been a 16 per cent cut in funding for sixth-form colleges. Here, Andy Stone spells…

Billy Camden
ANDY STONE
Opinion

Transforming how funding levels are set for training apprentices

The way apprenticeship funding levels are set will be overhauled following complaints from employers. The new chief executive at…

Billy Camden
JENNIFER COUPLAND
Opinion

It’s time to take on the subcontracting profiteers

Subcontractors account for more than 10 per cent of ESFA funding. They need overseeing properly, says Simon Ashworth It…

Expert Contributor
SIMON ASHWORTH
Opinion

The levy: change should be evolutionary – not revolutionary

As an employer of apprentices that has made full use of the levy, I have sometimes found it difficult…

Expert Contributor
SHARON BLYFIELD
Opinion

How we fought to save our local college – and won

When the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea sought to sell off a local college, they reckoned without the…

Fraser Whieldon
Samantha Batra
Opinion

Providers and the government need to better manage subcontracting

This week the ESFA published 10 subcontracting proposals in a consultation document. The FE sector is encouraged to respond…

Fraser Whieldon
Peter Mucklow


Opinion

Let’s celebrate the many apprenticeship successes

Jennifer Coupland took over as chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education last November. She reflects…

Fraser Whieldon
Jennifer Coupland
Opinion

Perverse incentives and tangled pathways

If the new government is serious about its proposals, it must address the many problems with the levy, plus…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
EMMA HARDY
Opinion

Changing perceptions, raising aspirations, making improvements

The new secretary of state for education introduces National Aprenticeship Week with his vision for how the sector will…

Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
GAVIN WILLIAMSON
Opinion

Who will gain this time from apprenticeship reform?

National Apprenticeships Week is now in its thirteenth year; launched in 2007 by the then Labour government as an…

Fraser Whieldon
Nick Linford
Opinion

At Ofsted we find little evidence apprentices are actually moving up the levels

The inspectorate for the quality of apprenticeships is concerned young people “aiming to step onto the career ladder are…

Billy Camden
PAUL JOYCE
Opinion

To be critical of colleges for running the courses learners want is bizarre

Blaming colleges for simply recruiting students to course subjects they want to study is weird and not the solution…

Expert Contributor
ADRIAN PERRY