York College
‘apprenticeships’
The education secretary has been accused of putting more talk than action into growing apprenticeships amongst ethnic minorities. Justine Greening repeatedly told the education select committee that the Department for Education has had a “big focus” on encouraging “a higher proportion of BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] young people going into apprenticeships”, during a […]
News
The head of the Commons education select committee wants a “wholesale review” into why Ofsted is yet to inspect a single subcontractor more than a year after the rules changed. Robert Halfon, a former skills minister, made the demand days after chief inspector Amanda Spielman admitted that she too was worried by this lack of […]
Leading voices in FE have joined forces to demand more funding for the sector ahead of the autumn budget. An open letter to the chancellor and signed by the heads of 10 unions and major learning bodies is calling for investment to create a “stable and well-resourced further education sector” that will boost social mobility […]
The government’s strategy to increase BAME participation in further and higher education ignores important differences between ethnic groups, argues Safaraz Ali It is critical for all of us in the post-16 education sector to take action to widen BAME participation in apprenticeships across England, but it is only by recognising missed opportunities that we can […]
Opinion
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 […]
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 – […]
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 […]
