York College
‘apprenticeships’
The motion: This house believes the fall in apprenticeship starts since last May and the unspent levy proves urgent policy changes are needed The first in a series of FE Week and Pearson Great Debates was held in parliament this week, with nearly 300 sector leaders arguing over whether further reforms are needed to the […]
News
It was a poor week for providers who received full inspections, as one failed to improve its grade three and two university technical colleges were hit with damning grade four reports. People and Business Development Ltd, an independent provider based in Suffolk, was rated ‘requires improvement’ across the board – which was worse than its […]
The government has for the first time concluded they have “no concerns” about subcontracting fees, despite more than 10 providers charging an average of over 30 per cent last year, FE Week can reveal. This is completely at odds with the view of the last skills minister Robert Halfon, who now chairs the education select […]
An investigation is being carried out by government officials into apprenticeship giant Aspire Achieve Advance, after claims made by a whistleblower. FE Week revealed last week that Ofsted’s latest inspection of 3aaa – which holds the largest ESFA apprenticeship allocation – had been declared “incomplete” following intervention from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. We can […]
The Department for Education has drawn criticism for not knowing whether more than a third of its apprentices were new or existing civil servants. As of May 10, the department had 186 employed apprentices. Through a freedom of information response, the DfE revealed that 76 of these were existing civil servants and 36 were new […]
The 10 per cent apprenticeship contribution rule for non-levied employers remains a lively issue. It is frequently cited by training providers as a barrier to engagement, and the calls for its removal by leading sector bodies such as the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and others remain strident. An air of suppressed anticipation awaited […]
Opinion
Steve Frampton will be the next president of the Association of Colleges, taking on the reigns from Dr Alison Birkinshaw in August. We chatted to him about his career to date, and how he came to be so committed to including the student voice in decision-making. As chair of his school’s student council in the […]
Profiles
A follow-up review of apprenticeships has been launched by the National Audit Office, which will focus on whether the reform programme is delivering value for money. The NAO is requesting submissions, with a key theme being whether the Department for Education is ensuring that the system is not being abused by stakeholders. This comes after […]
A second delay to when the Institute for Apprenticeships will take responsibility for T-levels has been confirmed. According to the institute’s business plan for 2018/19, published today, it only expects to have agreed a “full implementation timetable” for taking on the new technical qualifications by next March. It was originally meant to take control of […]
