York College
‘Jobs’
The troubled merger of two colleges in the Midlands has been given the nod of approval by Skills Minister Matthew Hancock, who had told them to take the plans back to the drawing board. Proposals by Stourbridge and Birmingham Metropolitan to form “one of the largest and most significant further education providers in the country” […]
News
Two Midland colleges are set to merge less than two months after Skills Minister Matthew Hancock told them to go back to the drawing board with the plans. Proposals by Stourbridge and Birmingham Metropolitan to form “one of the largest and most significant further education providers in the country” have been okayed by governors. They […]
The increased freedoms and flexibilities that study programmes will allow are to be welcomed, says Dean O’Donoghue. But how they will be judged by Ofsted? From September all post-16 providers will introduce 16 to 19 study programmes, coinciding with the raising of the participation age (RPA) and a revised funding methodology. The overall move to […]
Opinion
It’s the mid-1970s. You’re a pupil in Northern Ireland, at the height of the Troubles, nervous about the careers advice you’re about to receive. You’re told there simply are no jobs . . . anywhere. “There was high unemployment and, I don’t think I’m exaggerating, Northern Ireland was like a war zone,” says Deirdre Hughes, […]
Profiles
The world of FE is dotted with strong female role models. There’s Dame Ruth Silver, chair of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, 157 Group executive director Lynne Sedgmore and, of course, Toni Pearce who has blazed the FE trail to preside over the National Union of Students. Meanwhile, the Association of Colleges has its […]
Plans for a new Tech Bacc were announced by the government today. It will be introduced for courses beginning in September 2014 and be reported for the first time in the college and school sixth-form performance tables in January 2017. The Tech Bacc will be a performance measure marking achievement by young people aged 16 […]
ERS practitioners can now have their skills and expertise properly acknowledged. About time too, says Helen Richardson FE colleges are playing a greater role in the delivery of employment related services (ERS) to jobseekers claiming Jobcentre Plus benefits (more than 200,000 unemployed people undertake education or training at colleges). The introduction of a single adult […]
Skills Minister chooses Manchester meeting to ‘launch’ programme The 11-month wait for an outline of the government’s plans for traineeships appears to be almost over, just as youth unemployment figures nudge the one million mark. Skills Minister Matthew Hancock is due to speak this week at an event hosted by the Greater Manchester Chamber of […]
The lack of female politicians responsible for FE has been criticised following a mini-reshuffle. The departure of Karen Buck, junior Shadow Minister for education, will leave no women in senior posts affecting the FE sector in either the Government or Opposition. Ms Buck, who spoke at the Assocation of Colleges annual conference in November, is becoming […]
