Skills reform

The skills bill is the blueprint for transforming the country

Apprenticeships are extraordinarily popular – and more progress is being made from the skills bill, writes Alex Burghart Skills…

Jess Staufenberg
Alex Burghart MP
The Staffroom – opinion

We must dispel the image of a male coder sitting in a dark room all night

A career in tech isn’t all about coding – there are multiple other roles for young people too, writes…

Jess Staufenberg
Sukvinder Kathuria
Opinion

I wish FE offered a broader range of subjects to study

Students should be able to study what interests them, instead of the subjects the system prefers them to pursue,…

Jess Staufenberg
Aaliyah Kennedy
Opinion

Why the delay to mental health teams reaching all colleges?

Colleges are reporting more suicides and eating disorders – they need better support now, writes Richard Caulfield Over a…

Jess Staufenberg
Richard Caulfield
Skills reform

Remove the universal credit rules blocking people from education

‘Conditionality’ rules are forcing people to give up their training courses, writes Peter Aldous Like all MPs, I am…

Jess Staufenberg
Peter Aldous MP
Opinion

Providers are confused about how to record sex and gender

Collecting data on sex and gender separately is important for tackling inequalities, writes Sarah Hope Suppose you’re asked to…

Jess Staufenberg
Sarah Hope


Opinion

7 steps to having ‘guerilla careers hotspots’ around your college

Providers should be more creative about inspiring students into the labour market, writes Andrew Bernard Imagine you’re just queuing…

Jess Staufenberg
Andrew Bernard
Opinion

The government must pay young people to enter traineeships

Traineeships are getting good outcomes but are being crowded out by other subsidised programmes, writes Jane Hickie As we…

Jess Staufenberg
Jane Hickie
Opinion

We need huge new initiatives to support new skills and retraining

Writing off stranded learners’ debts is a good start, but there’s more to be done on access to adult…

Gordon Marsden
GORDON MARSDEN
Opinion

How important is FE to ‘levelling up’?

In the 2021 Queen’s Speech, the government stated that it intended to “level up opportunities across all parts of…

Billy Camden
DAVID RUSSELL
Opinion

Omicron: Colleges need to draw up contingency plans

Time spent now on that planning could be invaluable in the weeks to come

Billy Camden
DAVID HUGHES
Opinion

Behaviour management requires a united staff front

Even if you’re being shouted at, don’t raise your voice, writes Errol Ince Having worked in FE for over…

Jess Staufenberg
Errol Ince