York College
‘apprenticeships’
The government went to the trouble of setting a target in 2015 to increase apprenticeship starts for ethnic minorities, but Justine Greening’s claim of a “big focus” in the past two years simply does not stand up to scrutiny. And it’s worth considering what a 20-per-cent increase actually means in terms of actual figures. The […]
Opinion
Andy Wilson, who heads up one of the largest college groups in the country, explains why size does matter Large college groups are too easily dismissed as money-saving exercises, but this attitude overlooks the other benefits of scale. The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London is the latest member of the Capital City […]
Levy-funded apprenticeships at higher and degree-level jumped by a whopping 424 per cent in September, according to the latest experimental Department for Education statistics. The figures, based on commitments made through the apprenticeship service since May, suggest that the sudden rise of management apprenticeships is not slowing down. Commitments at higher or degree apprenticeships – […]
News
Ofsted has rated a major home healthcare employer-provider ‘inadequate’ across the board, in a report that condemns its “woefully low expectations”. Nestor Primecare Services, which was previously rated as ‘requires improvement’ overall, was inspected in September – and today’s excoriating report finds “no key strengths”. The company employs 125 apprentices, of whom “approximately a quarter […]
Much expert research and development has already been carried out into maths in technical education – let’s not reinvent the wheel, advises Paul Glaister The post-16 skills plan refers to a “common core”, “specialisation” and “digital skills requirements”, but what should the maths content of each of these look like? Anyone that chooses to answer […]
The government must urgently address employer resistance to the minimum off-the-job training apprenticeship rule, the AELP has said ahead of its autumn conference. This is one of many actions that the association is asking for, to foster a “more flexible” approach to the apprenticeship reforms and make them a success – and something that apprenticeships […]
The head of Ofsted has acknowledged MPs’ concerns about how few subcontractors used by FE providers are inspected. Speaking at a meeting of the education select committee today, Amanda Spielman accepted that she had a “number of concerns” about apprenticeship provision, and wanted to ensure that “cowboys”, “sharks” and “bottom feeders” do not take advantage […]
The government will review into higher-level technical education – although it’s not yet clear when this will happen or what it will involve. The review, which will look at all education at levels four and five, with a particular focus on technical qualifications, aims to address the needs of learners and employers. This will include […]
The government must rethink how it supports low-achieving, disengaged, and special needs students, as help from local authorities and the European Union continues to diminish. This is one of the main recommendations from the new ‘Educating for our economic future’ report, produced by an independent advisory group of senior figures assembled from the higher and […]
