York College
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Extending free school meals to full-time 16-to-18 year old FE students is a popular move across the political spectrum. Mark Corney puts the case for this applying to part-time students too. Everyone is claiming victory over the decision to extend “free meals” to poor 16-to-18 year olds studying at FE colleges. Costing about £40m per […]
Opinion
More than 1,000 Skills Funding Agency staff are facing an uncertain future after workers were warned of job cuts in response to the “Civil Service Reform Agenda”. The agency is planning to “restructure” in two phases, initially losing at least 17 members of its 44-strong senior team. As part of our response to the Civil […]
News
Schools weren’t the only ones frowned upon by Ofsted when it assessed careers guidance. The National Careers Service came in for criticism too and also needs careful consideration, says Stephan Jungnitz. If you’re working in the commercial sector, perhaps the quickest way to your P45 and the dole queue is to encourage potential customers to […]
Change is inevitable. And preparing for it and adapting to it could lead FE to a bright future despite predictions of government funding cuts and evermore specialised training needs, explains Shaun Hughes. Of all the educational sectors, FE is widely recognised as having to change the most and evolve the fastest. So what are the […]
Further education unions have given a cautious welcome to newly-announced government consultations on zero-hour contracts and apprentice pay. A review of the controversial employment agreements over the summer has finished and Business Secretary Vince Cable said it was being followed up with a consultation, looking closely at “exclusivity” — whether the contracts were being used […]
Q&A with Ofsted inspector Karen Adriaanse, author of the education watchdog’s report Going in the right direction? Careers guidance in schools from September 2012. The report, and Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw, was critical of schools for their careers guidance offering since they were made responsible for the service. Mrs Adriaanse, who is also Ofsted’s […]
Picking up the pieces of school-leavers’ maths GCSE failings is a heavy burden for the FE and skills sector. It is also one in which Alex Falconer thinks improvements are needed. This year more than 550,00 year 11 pupils in England will complete their GCSEs. Most (86 per cent) will go on to training or […]
Ofsted’s criticism of the college sector last year was a bitter pill to swallow and the toughened up common inspection framework offered little hope for sector praise. However, it hasn’t quite worked out like that says Joy Mercer. At this time last year, colleges felt they had not weathered an Ofsted storm but were beached, […]
Two South Tyneside sisters put in first class efforts to succeed at college as they juggled full-time jobs, family life and even debilitating disease. Natalie and Juliet Hodson, from Jarrow, achieved top grades in their leadership, management and organisation degrees at Gateshead College while looking after young families. Natalie, aged 27, who regularly works 45-hour […]
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