Opinion

FE needs better support to help post-16s pass maths and English

The government, schools, trade unions, parents and carers all need to work together in a new drive to improve…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Learners are going to need techno-maths skills to cope in the modern workplace

Steve McCormack concedes teachers haven’t always succeeded in demonstrating how maths skills will be relevant to students after they…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

If employers are from Mars and young people are from Venus… better literacy can bring them into same orbit

Young people need to learn from employers why they need better literacy skills to thrive in the workplace, says…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Government must not ‘tie hands’ of college staff who want to help struggling 49pc

The FE sector wants to play a key role in improving literacy and numeracy levels, but it could be…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Functional skills can deliver what employers need

Parity should be maintained between how GCSEs and functional skills are valued by the government, says Stella Turner With…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Self-improvement in an age of reduced resources

Self-improvement, not improvement, is the order of the day for new FE body the Education and Training Foundation it…

Nick Linford
Nick Linford


Opinion

Ofsted director Coffey wins praise for prison talk

Prison education and training came under the spotlight last week in a critical speech by Ofsted’s FE and skills…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Escaping the prison education past

Prisons came under fire in a speech by Ofsted’s FE and skills director Matthew Coffey, who pointed out how…

FE Week
FE Week
Opinion

What happens when the money runs out?

With allegations of shoddy practice, revelations of low pay and little training for apprentices, along with concerns about limited…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Planting and pruning course ‘not for leisure’

With Skills Minister Matthew Hancock wanting the 24+ Advanced Learning Loan System used to fund courses with a “direct…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Much talk of reform, but plenty left unsaid in conference season

Further education featured prominently among the policy proposals outlined by the three main political parties at the recent conferences….

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter
Opinion

Unemployment ‘should not be an option’ for 18 to 24s

Learning for Life is the Liberal Democrats’ policy paper for education and skills. Lady Brinton explains some of its…

FE Week Reporter
FE Week Reporter