Windsor Learning Partnership
‘apprenticeships’
The government looks likely to miss its apprenticeships target while running out of the money it set aside to meet it. Action is needed now, says Joe Dromey, because bigger problems are lurking Two years ago the government introduced the apprenticeship levy in an effort to boost employer investment in skills and deliver their target […]
Opinion
University technical colleges’ deficits have more than doubled over four years, a damning National Audit Office report has revealed. The government’s audit watchdog found that total deficits for the embattled 14 to 19 technical providers now constitute nearly a tenth of the total for every academy trust, after rising from £3.5 million in 2014/15 to […]
News
Small employers are likely to be capped on the number of apprentices they can employ, as part of the government’s plan to enable all providers to access funding for non-levy payers from January. Keith Smith, the director of apprenticeships at the Education and Skills Funding Agency, announced today that every firm on the register of […]
It has been a mixed week for FE providers amid a flurry of new reports published on Friday by Ofsted, including the first 13 under the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF). Nine providers were found to be ‘good,’ out of a total of 23 reports released today. Those with grade two included six independent learning […]
The first provider to receive grade four under Ofsted’s new inspection regime has appealed. Independent learning provider Mercia Partnership (UK) Ltd, which delivers a range of apprenticeships and adult learning programmes, was found to be inadequate by Ofsted inspectors. It received grade four in every assessed area except adult learning programmes, which received grade three. […]
Apprenticeships may have cleared one storm, but new clouds are already gathering on the horizon. Simon Ashworth charts the troubled seas that could sway ESFA apprenticeships director Keith Smith’s appearance at the AELP autumn conference on Tuesday I can see the headlines now: “Apprentices let down by poorly performing providers”, providing meat and drink for […]
Charlotte Bosworth is quite happy to be known as the “end-point assessment woman”. Jess Staufenberg meets the very determined champion of apprenticeships The managing director of the small apprenticeship assessment body, Innovate Awarding, has the ear of the Department for Education. How? She has a history of turning up when no one tells her to, […]
Profiles
If Gavin Williamson seriously wants the UK to match the technical and vocational education opportunities offered by Germany by 2029, he needs to address the persisting stigmatisation and stereotyping of apprentices, says Niamh Mulhall As an apprentice I am all too aware of the perceptions and misconceptions surrounding apprenticeships. Young people are not just active […]
Ofsted’s new-style inspections have been much publicised, but some AELP members have been surprised by the new format. Simon Ashworth sets out what providers should expect and how to prepare. The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has been hearing from its members that inspections under Ofsted’s new framework (EIF) was not what they […]
