York College
‘legit’
The government has given Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) “sign-off” on granting colleges and training providers chartered status. Skills Minister Matthew Hancock told FE Week that LEP approval was needed for providers to be given the stamp of quality. His decision has been criticised by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), which said it […]
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The Skills Funding Agency has “hardened it’s position” on fees charged to fully-fund- ed learners over 19. Kirsty Evans, director of funding policy at the agency, told delegates at Lsect’s autumn finance conference held at Morley College on November 6, that it now tried to avoid “might” in its documents, using “must” and “have to” […]
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With the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report highlighting a number of apprenticeship issues, FE Week deputy editor Chris Henwood met chairman Adrian Bailey MP to discuss where he thinks the government is getting it wrong. Are you critical of the government’s aims on apprenticeships? The government has interpreted this programme as being a […]
An Ofsted probe into subcontracting has uncovered lead contractors charging management fees “as a way of generating income for doing little work”. The Ensuring Quality in Apprenticeships report highlights how subcontractors felt they were getting “poor value for money” from management fees and reveals many lead contractors were overcharging according to Skills Funding Agency (SFA) […]
Forty providers are exempt from funding rules that ban introductory apprenticeships where more than 10 per cent of learners are out of work, FE Week can reveal. The 40 were over the limit before its introduction this year and so were told to carry on — although they have been ordered to try to hit […]
The government has conceded that under 19 apprenticeships were proving a “major challenge” after official figures showed a 10 per cent fall in the number of starts. The number of 16 to 18-year-olds who started apprenticeships in the final quarter of the last academic year dropped 5,200 from the previous year to 22,000. The figures, […]
Plans for a government clampdown on “rip-off” provider fees have been shelved as industry leaders look at self-regulation. The Skills Funding Agency had said providers who subcontracted would need to prove they weren’t charging excessive management fees. But its plans to introduce stricter controls, revealed in FE Week in July, were dropped in favour of […]
Colleges and other training providers could be given the chance to gain “chartered” status as a mark of quality, FE Week has learned. A new “chartered community college” grade would be introduced, with institutions assessed against a range of criteria possibly including the levels of qualifications of their staff, learner feedback and community involvement. The […]
Lead providers charged more than £175 million in management fees to subcontractors in the 2011/12 academic year, an analysis by FE Week suggests. A Skills Funding Agency (SFA) spreadsheet published on the agency website suggests that contract holders took an average “top-slice” of 23 per cent from subcontractors. It also suggests that subcontractors earned about […]
