Windsor Learning Partnership
‘Jobs’
John Mountford, AoC international director, defends colleges’ foreign recruitment In recent weeks criticism has been levelled at colleges for their hugely beneficial work abroad. This very paper reported a turn of phrase by Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s chief inspector, which appeared to question the benefits of FE’s international work. In his speech to an […]
Opinion
Hundreds of providers are failing to hit a government target for keeping a check on whether new apprentices have got jobs. Learner records for an estimated 30,000 students were returned to the Information Authority (IA) with “not known”, “not provided” or “missing” in the employment status box last academic year. The National Union of Students […]
News
Matthew Hancock, the MP who took over from John Hayes in the reshuffle, says he’s “delighted” with his rapid move through the parliamentary ranks to a junior ministerial post. The new joint Parliamentary Under Secretary for Business Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education is in his first term as an MP. He was […]
It’s impossible to ignore the challenges faced by unemployed people in the UK. We seem to be confronted with an almost daily stream of bad news related to the issue. Only this week Ofsted published its report Skills for Employment. The report was a direct response to the government’s plans for FE providers to offer […]
Matching students with a course that will lead to employment is “not a high enough priority” for FE providers, according to a report published by Ofsted today. Their Skills for Employment report found that too many courses focused on the achievement of qualifications and did not extend to training that led to job specific skills. […]
The inadequate focus of FE providers on the job outcomes of students was a critical talking point at Ofsted’s annual learning and skills lecture today. Matthew Coffey, the national director of learning and skills at Ofsted, discussed in detail the Skills for Employment report published by Ofsted this morning. The report found that too many […]
During a recession it would make more sense for people to be supported to learn new skills in further education than paid to look for jobs that don’t exist. That is the simple headline message of a new report prepared by the 157 Group to be published this week. Colleges maintain that there are many […]
David Cameron has created a National Childcare Commission in the wake of Professor Cathy Nutbrown’s review of qualifications for the Early Years workforce. Nutbrown wants tougher entry requirements, starting at level 3, to raise the quality and status of childcare workers. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Truss MP, in a recent report for the think tank Centreforum, calls […]
The publication of the recent Local Government Association (LGA) report on a so-called “skills mismatch” in further education is deeply disappointing. It represents a backward step to outdated and discredited approaches to labour market planning and threatens to undermine moves towards a more fruitful strategic co-operation between colleges and local authorities that we in the […]
