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‘apprenticeships’

DfE publishes indicators for potential fraud in education providers

Working “unusual” hours and claims in excess of actual expenses have been listed as indicators for training providers that staff may be committing fraud in new government guidance. The document from the Department for Education, published today, also warns that signs that employees are potentially committing fraud include aggressive responses to questions and “too much […]

News

Scrap GCSEs and A-levels in favour of ‘holistic baccalaureate’ says education committee chair

GCSEs and A-levels should be scrapped and replaced with one “holistic baccalaureate” for 18-year-olds which recognises academic and technical skills and personal development, a senior Conservative MP has said. Robert Halfon, a former skills minister who chairs the parliamentary education committee, wants to mimic the international baccalaureate, which requires students to sit subjects from six […]

News

DfE admits lack of action to enforce Baker clause in schools

The Baker clause has been labelled a “law without teeth” after it emerged the government did not take any action against schools for non-compliance in the first year of its existence. The Department for Education also admitted it only wrote to half of the trusts it originally claimed to have contacted in relation to non-compliance. […]

News

If it works for apprentices and employers, it works for Ofsted

Over a six-year period, our college rating for apprenticeships improved from ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’ – and we weren’t even focusing on inspections, says Jacqui Canton. Do the right things for the right reasons and good results will follow It’s not often that I gain management inspiration from cult films of the 1990s, but Ofsted definitely […]

Opinion

Ofsted watch: Another positive week for providers

It has been another positive week for new apprenticeship providers, with many scoring encouraging results in their early monitoring visits from Ofsted, while a university technical college was rated ‘good’ in its first inspection. The only poor report came in for Bishop Auckland College which fell from a grade two to a three. UTC South […]

News

Why are providers charging the maximum apprenticeship price?

The apprenticeship levy brought with it a radical overhaul of provider funding, dispensing with fixed rates set by the funding agency. Instead, the ESFA listed maximum values for apprenticeship frameworks and standards, up to £27,000, but “expected to see employers and providers negotiating on price below the funding band upper limit”. But, as FE Week […]

Opinion

DfE commission research to review high prices for apprentices with prior learning

The government is looking into whether apprenticeship delivery is being adjusted to account for apprentices’ prior learning, a sign that funding overclaims could soon be clamped down on. A tender was launched by the Department for Education last week for suppliers to research if and how providers and employers are adapting training and the associated […]

News

Providers turning apprentices away as non-levy cash dries up

Training providers’ non-levy funding is running dry and some are even having to turn apprentices away – but the government can’t offer more cash as it doesn’t have any left in the system. The unprecedented issue, which one sector leader has described as “market failure”, comes just weeks after the Department for Education launched a […]

News

FE bosses criticise ‘ridiculous variability’ of external quality assurance charges

Sector leaders have hit out at the “ridiculous variability” in approved external quality assurance charges, ranging from a free service to a whopping £179 per apprentice. There are currently 18 approved external quality assurance (EQA) bodies that monitor end-point assessment organisations, to ensure the process is “fair, consistent and robust”. The EQA bodies are allowed […]

News