York College
‘apprenticeships’
More than 200 passionate supporters of lifelong learning packed-out the official launch of FE Week’s #SaveOurAdultEducation campaign in the Houses of Parliament today. The event saw powerful speeches from influential politicians, including apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon, and FE sector leaders. #SaveOurAdultEducation is demanding three things from the government. First of these is that […]
News
The government exams watchdog has voiced fears that responsibilities within the current apprenticeship system have become “blurred”. In its response to the operational plan for the Institute for Apprenticeships, published this morning, Ofqual branded the “responsibilities and accountabilities” in the system “blurred”, adding that it was “crucial” to make the landscape “clear and easy to […]
The government has shut down the trailblazer group for early years educator apprenticeships, in a move described by sector insiders as “very disappointing”. The employer-led Early Years Apprenticeship trailblazer group was disbanded by the Department for Education last week, due to what a spokesperson described as “slow progress” in developing its apprenticeship standard. FE Week […]
The government launched the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network this week. One of its key aims will be to increase the proportion of apprentices from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities by 20 per cent. FE Week’s Alix Robertson went along to the opening event to find out more. A new employers’ network designed to promote […]
Colleges are using the new subcontracting rules to regain some of the ground lost to independent training providers accused of nicking their lunch, FE Week can reveal. Just a third of apprenticeship funding is currently allocated to colleges – and a significant proportion of that is actually delivered by independent training providers acting as subcontractors. […]
FE Week is calling on the government to make three key policy changes to #SaveOurAdultEducation as part of a massive new campaign. First of all, we want to introduce FE maintenance grant loans for adult learners, which would make retraining possible for many more older people, by helping cover their living costs while studying, something […]
Reporting on outcomes will not be mandatory, which risks undermining the status and quality of apprenticeships, says Shane Chowen Back in November, when I first wrote about the Technical and Further Education Bill, it had only just begun its journey through the Houses of Parliament. By the time this goes to press, the bill will […]
Opinion
Ofsted could re-inspect providers for questionable achievement rates that have come to light following a recent Skills Funding Agency crackdown. Last week the Department for Education admitted to a loophole in the SFA’s qualification achievement rates calculation, which it said “artificially” boosted the scores for around a tenth of all providers, with some benefiting by […]
As FE Week launches #saveourapprenticeships, our editor Nick Linford explains why he passionately believes loans should be written-off for undeserving victims where training providers go bust FE loans are a relatively new way to fund courses, but through no fault of their own adults are already being left with large government debts for cancelled courses. […]
