York College
‘apprenticeships’
A data protection expert has urged colleges to revise their privacy agreements after a union raised concerns about the safeguarding and legal implications of reusing recorded lectures. In the aftermath of the pandemic, when in-person provision was shut off and virtual delivery became the norm, the University and College Union (UCU) is worried that colleges […]
News
Forty-five colleges delivering the government’s flagship T Level qualifications from next year have won a slice of £50 million capital funding to prepare their facilities. Further education and sixth form colleges are being funded to, for example, build a mixed reality suite to teach coding, and a ward where students can practice health skills, the […]
More than 1,300 penalties were issued for cheating in vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) in 2019/20 – with the majority handed out for plagiarism as more students took internal assessments due to Covid-19. But the exams regulator Ofqual, which published the figures today, says it is “pleased” with the overall number because it is “small” […]
The government has been accused of using the adult education budget tender process to “manoeuvre its hidden agenda” of shrinking the private provider market – as leaders spoke out about “horrendous” bid rejections. Several long-running providers told FE Week they were left “infuriated” after their applications were denied owing to “missing” documents that were in […]
News, AEB
Awareness of apprenticeships has declined, mental health has deteriorated and pass rates for adults from BAME communities took the biggest hit during the pandemic, according to a government-commissioned review of the FE sector. The International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO) published a rapid evidence review yesterday which pulled together studies on the harm done by Covid-19 to […]
News, Covid-19
The Department for Education has been asked to find savings of “at least” 5 per cent, leaving it facing cuts that could amount to £4.5 billion and prompting fears of an impact on FE budgets. The Treasury announced this week that the spending review, a plan for public spending over the next three years, will […]
The Department for Education is ditching the multi-million pound ‘Fire It Up’ campaign meant to boost apprenticeship numbers, amid the lowest levels of take-up by young people since at least the 1980s. An update from the Education and Skills Funding Agency today revealed the government will instead focus on promoting every option available to people […]
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has echoed calls for extra college funding to abate an “immense” resourcing challenge caused by a boom in student numbers, falling apprenticeship places and insufficient funding. A new IFS briefing on further education and sixth form spending in England, published today, reveals FE and sixth form colleges’ funding per 16-18-year-old […]
Students and parents have picketed a London sixth form over accusations the college leadership unfairly altered their A-level grades. The protesters claim grades handed to students at Havering Sixth Form College were not those set by teachers and were instead changed down by senior managers at the college’s parent group, New City College London. Protest […]