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‘apprenticeships’

Unison: New labour market tsar must protect underpaid apprentices

The government’s new director of labour-market enforcement must protect apprentices from exploitation in the workplace, one of the UK’s largest trade unions has said. Unison demanded that Sir David Metcalf urgently find a solution to ongoing problems with illegal apprenticeship wages, shortly after he was appointed to the position on 5 January. The newly created […]

News

Halfon denies picture ‘bleak’ for adult education in ‘night school’ debate

The skills minister has denied that the picture of adult education is “bleak”, as Labour MP David Lammy launched his campaign for a “renewed culture of night schools”. Mr Lammy led an adjournment debate in the House of Commons this afternoon on the future of adult education. He took the opportunity to call for a return to […]

News

How we challenged an Ofsted report and won

Sometimes it’s worth challenging an Ofsted report, says John Evans. One of the many dilemmas that principals must struggle with is when to appeal against an Ofsted decision. You have to balance the emotional response to the feelings of being unfairly treated with the knowledge that Ofsted seldom admits to being wrong. My college was […]

Opinion

Misleading marketing of ‘industry-approved’ provider schemes exposed

Providers are at risk of being duped into believing they need to pay thousands to become “industry-approved” before they can deliver new apprenticeships for the food and drink industry, FE Week has learned. A body called the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink has been accused by industry figures of “misleading” the sector with […]

News

Bailouts for failing colleges reach £140 million says Halfon

College bailouts have cost the UK a whopping £140 million, the apprenticeships minister has admitted. Robert Halfon confessed to the House of Commons that by March the government expects to have dropped “a total of about £140 million on propping up colleges facing extreme financial difficulties”. That money, he added during a debate on the […]

News

FE pays tribute to former SFA director Kim Thorneywork

The FE sector has paid tribute to Kim Thorneywork, the “distinguished” former chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency, who died this week. Ms Thorneywork joined the agency in 2006 and became its leader in July 2012, but the following October she announced that she was stepping down after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Sector […]

News

Investigation launched after former SFA senior manager embroiled in alleged Israeli plot

An investigation has been launched into whether the civil service code has been breached, after a former Skills Funding Agency senior manager was embroiled in an alleged Israeli plot to bring down a Conservative minister. Maria Strizzolo has reportedly departed from the agency, where it is understood she was a key adviser to apprenticeships and […]

News

Qualifications achievement rates dashboard still unavailable after days of problems

The promised new qualifications achievement rates dashboard for apprenticeships, education and training will still be unavailable until at least tomorrow, following almost a week of problems that provoked repeated complaints though online forum FE Connect. The main issue accepted by Skills Funding Agency is that the QAR is incorrectly only including learners as timely, where […]

News

Skills Funding Agency to remain in charge of assessment organisation register

The Skills Funding Agency will stay in charge of the new register of apprentice assessment organisations, despite its slow start, and even though it is not related to funding. The government’s Draft Strategic Guidance to the IfA, unveiled on January 4, controversially confirmed that the SFA would “maintain responsibility for administration” of the register. This […]

News