York College
‘apprenticeships’
The overall added-value of the FE and skills system in England has fallen from a baseline of 100 in 2012 to just 73, new government data shows. The Department for Education today published for the first time a ‘Skills Index’, which shows how the aggregate value of the skills supplied by apprenticeships and classroom-based learning […]
News
Plans for PhD-level apprenticeships have been thrown into doubt after the Institute for Apprenticeships raised concerns they were not in the “spirit” of the programme. In December the IfA’s approval funding committee had deferred approving the first PhD-level apprenticeship “in order to seek further guidance from the board and the Department for Education on whether […]
Policy-making conducted in a bunker is a poor way to do business, says Ewart Keep. Instead it should be shared to include all stakeholders As the pages of FE Week repeatedly demonstrate, policy finds itself in a bit of a mess. Why did we get to this point? There are a host of reasons, but […]
Opinion
Lower-value programmes, which support the youngest and often most vulnerable apprentices, are at risk of becoming unattractive to deliver, says Sue Pittock After Halfords’ announcement that it plans to scrap its level 2 provision because of a desire “to continue delivering highest quality training”, it didn’t take long for a staff email to reach FE […]
The government has said it may tender for more Institutes of Technology after FE Week shared concerns that there were none planned in the north west and the east of England. Just two of the 12 flagship institutes being taken forward after a two-stage tender process are in the north, with the north west being […]
This week we reveal that an Institute for Apprenticeships sub-committee (that includes four board members) refused to approve the first PhD level 8 apprenticeship. Instead, they asked the full board to rule whether a PhD level is even “in the spirit of apprenticeship policy”. Four months on and the board is still in discussions with […]
The Federation of Small Businesses has raised “serious concerns” about the apprenticeship budget and claims “over a quarter of apprentice employers say reforms have had a negative impact”. In a report published today called ‘Fit for the future: making the apprenticeship system work for small business’, the membership body seeks to influence the forthcoming spending […]
Employers used 22 per cent of their apprenticeship levy funds in the 12 months to the end of January 2019 – a huge fourfold increase from the 5 per cent drawn down in the first nine months of the policy. The skills minister Anne Milton revealed in a parliamentary answer yesterday that between May 2017 […]
A private provider has been hit with the lowest possible Ofsted rating after receiving six consecutive ‘requires improvement’ ratings since opening its doors. Nottinghamshire Training Network was rated ‘inadequate’ today after the education watchdog found the “principles” of apprenticeship provision were not being met, such as apprentices not receiving their entitlement to “well-planned” off-the-job training. […]
