Opinion

Helping apprenticeships achieve their full potential

The government is pushing hard on promoting apprenticeships, but five key areas still need to be looked at, including…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Celebrate apprentices with better pay and more respect

While National Apprenticeship Week rightly celebrates the programme, we shouldn’t forget the problems those on it face, says Joe…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Apprenticeships: matching supply and demand

It was recently reported that apprenticeship providers have under-delivered on their allocated number of funded apprenticeships for 16 to…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Is linking funding to outcomes more trouble than it’s worth?

Using learner destination data to determine funding for FE is “fraught with difficulty,” according to Geoffrey Stanton. The recent…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Speaking the right language on Esol funding

The funding of courses to help foreign people speak English is currently organised through three ‘entry’ levels. Stephen Hewitt…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Different takes on putting ‘employers at the heart’ of FE reform

Putting employers at the heart of FE and skills reform gives it an air of authority under the current…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter


Opinion

Making technology work for employers

The Education Innovation conference and exhibition takes place in Manchester on Thursday and Friday. Here, speakers Bob Harrison and…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Further education’s digital future

The Education Innovation conference and exhibition takes place in Manchester on Thursday and Friday. Here, speakers Bob Harrison and…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

To the defence of colleges over Leps

Ofsted director of FE and skills Matthew Coffey told the Education Select Committee last week how colleges needed to…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Could another nosedive in apprentice numbers be around the corner?

Government figures this month indicated advanced apprenticeship starts had plummeted since the introduction of FE loans and with more…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

A plea for cuts caution after unannounced qualifications cull

Vocational education seems to be viewed as a soft option for public funding cuts, but it’s a view that…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Skill shortages may not be what they seem

The employer skills survey pointed out, in general, how skills shortages were threatening to undermine any economic recovery. Mick…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter