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‘Jobs’

Employers failing the Ofsted challenge — are they fit to take over skills agenda?

The move towards greater employer involvement in FE and skills is gaining momentum. But with employer providers having come in for less than inspiring Ofsted gradings of late, should we be questioning the wisdom of such a shift? It’s just over a year ago that former Dragons’ Den investor Doug Richard (pictured left) said apprenticeship […]

News

All-age apprenticeships in first full-year drop since 2005

The number of apprenticeship starts in England has fallen for the first time in seven years, according to new figures published by the government. The final (rather than provisional) figures in latest statistical first release show that in the 2012/13 academic year, there were 10,400 fewer apprenticeship starts than in 2011/12 — a fall of […]

News

Baker defends UTC under-recruitment

Former Education Secretary Lord Baker has defended University Technical College (UTCs) after it was revealed that some were running at less than a third of capacity. He said figures showing the 150-pupil Central Bedfordshire UTC was just 30 per cent full for the last academic year, while the 480-pupil Black Country UTC, near Birmingham, was […]

News

Two rounds of college funding unleash £232m in government cash

The government is to release £232.7m of funding to revamp more than 50 colleges who will match-fund with £250m of their own cash. An extra £330m will be made available for skills capital investment through the Local Growth Fund in 2016-17. Business Secretary Vince Cable, speaking at the Association of Colleges (AoC) annual conference, said: […]

News

Up to 50,000 teenagers studying dead-end courses, claims think-tank

Tens of thousands of 16 to 18-year-olds are taking dead-end courses that will end with no job and will turn them off education and training, a policy think-tank has warned. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claimed huge numbers of late teens were facing the Neet (not in education, employment or training) scrapheap by […]

News

Do colleges train too many hairdressers?

Plenty of apprenticeship starts and a high public spend on training would suggest a wealth of hairdressers, but an employer survey has indicated a lack of trained staff. Michael Davis investigates the apparent “disconnect”. Our company intranet recently saw a lively discussion about the acceptable price of a man’s haircut. A rift sharper than a […]

Opinion

Employers prepare to take wheel of new Career Colleges

Career Colleges will set their 14-year-old learners off on the path of a career with the aim of getting them into a job anywhere from the ages of 16 to 19, explains Ruth Gilbert.   As a previous college principal who has spent the last ten years working on quality improvement and business turnaround in […]

Opinion

Gill Alton, principal, Rotherham College of Arts and Technology

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology had never been graded higher than a level three by Ofsted inspectors before Gillian Alton arrived. But the institution achieved its first good inspection result this summer, three years after she was appointed principal. “It’s just fantastic news that it’s now good,” says Doncaster-born Alton. Given that the college […]

Profiles

Arbitration judge clears ‘ruined’ provider over fraud allegations

A Berkshire provider left in ruins after the Skills Funding Agency terminated its contract amid allegations of fraud has been cleared by an arbitration judge. The agency severed its funding of NTQUK in March last year, saying it had “not submitted the requisite evidence” to support funding claims. The move resulted in almost the entire […]

News