Opinion

The apprentice loans battle is won, but the campaign goes on

Business Secretary Vince Cable’s exclusive confirmation to FE Week that the apprenticeship loans system was being dropped was a…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

All I want for Christmas is… a target (for English and maths)

Any preconceived idea that adult literacy and numeracy in the UK was a source of pride will have been…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Eleven months after an Ofsted blow

It’s the nightmare situation that keeps principals up at night and after an Ofsted visit in February, it happened…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Employers can’t do without specialist support from providers

Many employers will struggle to identify and purchase the best possible training packages for their apprentices and providers are…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Get this bit right and you’ll really start to change lives

Getting into schools, where information, advice and guidance is known to be a problem, can be difficult for colleges….

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Casting the Ofsted eye over 16 to 19 work experience

Turning up on time and being presentable are just two of the life lessons a good spell of work…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter


Opinion

The inadequate situation of one rule for colleges, another for indies

Colleges rated inadequate by Ofsted are given a chance to improve before their funding is withdrawn and it is…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Refreshing the Education and Training Foundation’s online learning services

Helen Pettifor explains how the Education and Training Foundation hopes to serve the FE and skills sector with an…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Getting ahead vocationally with Teach Too

How do you take industry expertise into the learning environment while retaining that practical, everyday sector knowledge? It’s an…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Protecting the good name of the FE teaching profession

The case of Newham College’s dance and drama head Dr Mark Walcott is a difficult one for the FE…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Youth unemployment tops the Budget agenda for FE and skills

A host of policy announcements figured in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement. Mick Fletcher looks at those affecting FE….

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Software problems in ‘Lars of the Summer Whine’

Problems with new Skills Funding Agency (SFA) software continue to trouble FE staff as they prepare to attempt submitting…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford