York College
‘apprenticeships’
The government expects to spend at least £12.5m on delivering its new Digital Apprenticeship Service, FE Week can reveal. The budget will cover both costs to the Skills Funding Agency and suppliers of services such as web development and user research, according to the Department for Education. A DfE spokesperson told FE Week: “The cost of building […]
News
While change is always unsettling, the apprenticeship reforms will do the sector a world of good, says Graham Howe. Change is unsettling, significant change is scary, and apprenticeships are going through significant change. It is worrying that the sector is being forced to move to new standards for which the end assessment is unknown, and […]
Opinion
The government welcomed the Sainsbury Review recommendations, but will they deliver on implementation, asks Catherine Sezen? From a college perspective, there is a lot to be positive about in the Sainsbury Review of Technical Education, and the government’s response to it in the Skills Plan. These documents, published in early July, outline a new structure […]
I was of course pleased when the government listened to mounting calls through our SaveOurApprenticeships campaign for a rethink on apprenticeship funding cuts. Credit should go to FE’s new minister Robert Halfon for taking on board the findings of our initial analysis showing how younger learners in deprived areas would have been worst hit, and […]
Jaguar Land Rover, the British car manufacturer regularly lauded by ministers for its apprenticeship scheme, has been hit with a shock grade three rating after an Ofsted inspection. The Indian-owned firm received a ‘requires improvement’ score across the board for its dealership apprenticeship programme, for which it is an employer provider. The report will raise […]
As it turned out, my exclusive interview with the new apprenticeships minister Robert Halfon was conducted just hours after the Independent, Guardian and Mirror had all reported a major government U-turn on apprenticeship rates. “People are saying this is a U-turn, but actually I would describe it as listening with elephant-sized ears,” he volunteered – […]
Plans to cut the number of recipients of Skills Funding Agency cash have been shelved in an attempt to increase the provider base for degree and higher-level apprenticeships, and advanced learner loans. A total of 1,023 providers received direct SFA funding this academic year, up from 984 at the start of 2015/16. The SFA first attempted to introduce a […]
The entrepreneur Lord Alan Sugar could be about to quit his role as the country’s apprenticeships champion after receiving no contact from government officials after six months on the job, FE Week can reveal. The businessman, best known for his role in the hit TV show The Apprentice, was appointed “enterprise tsar” by former prime […]
Despite the very public “U-turn” the government made on proposed apprenticeship cuts on Tuesday, funding is still due to be cut from key frameworks by up to 50 per cent, exclusive analysis by FE Week has shown. In August, this newspaper discovered that cuts proposed by the Department for Education would cause framework funding rates […]
