York College
‘apprenticeships’
Ofsted is looking to put “less emphasis” on achievement rate data in its proposed new inspection framework. The education watchdog will today launch its consultation on a refreshed inspection framework for further education and skills providers, as well as schools and early years settings. Scrapping the current “outcomes” grade and introducing a new “quality of […]
News
The Department for Education is consulting on plans to provide extra funding to cover the estimated £80 million rise in pension contributions for FE colleges in 2019-20. It was announced last year that the amount colleges and other public-funded FE training providers must contribute to staff pensions is to rise from the current rate of […]
One of the most popular – and controversial – apprenticeship standards is celebrating its third birthday today. The chartered manager degree apprenticeship’s anniversary is being marked with an event in parliament, hosted by the Chartered Management Institute – with speakers including the boss of the Institute for Apprenticeships. Starts on the standard have grown massively […]
A top government academies official has been appointed as the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s new director of funding. Kate Josephs (pictured), currently director of national operations for academies and regional delivery at the Department of Education, will start in the new role in April. She will head up a new funding “operations centre of […]
It has been a mixed week for FE in Ofsted reports, as some providers celebrated ‘good’ first inspections while others experienced a drop in their grades. Eastleigh College lost its ‘outstanding’ rating after an inspection in December downgraded the Hampshire college to ‘good’, and deemed its 16-to-19 study programmes ‘requires improvement’. Inspectors said leaders “review […]
The Education and Skills Funding Agency is preparing to move towards a “single Funding Operations Centre of Excellence” as it appoints its first overall director of funding. The agency is expected to announce who has been given the coveted position in the coming days. The successful candidate will be responsible for the “development, implementation and […]
Employers are reducing their training effort. But how can the government talk to them about it, says Ewart Keep, when it has abolished the organisations that would have provided a structured way to engage on skills policy Employers’ attitudes towards skills present huge challenges for the government’s ambitions on skills. Since 2010 policy has encouraged […]
Opinion
A college has called in the lawyers to recover a long-running £1.4 million debt held up in Nigeria, after a secretive technical education project in the country went pear-shaped. Highbury College, which recently sold one of its prime learning centres in Portsmouth for a hugely reduced price to balance the books, has launched a number […]
2019 is set to be a big year for the FE and skills sector. While it’s still not clear what impact the biggest event of the year – Brexit – will have (on anything!), we’ve taken a look ahead at some of the other key developments expected over the coming 12 months – including the […]
