York College
‘apprenticeships’
University Technical Colleges (UTCs) have been criticised in front of a Lords committee for stepping in where “colleges could already do the work”. In the tenth evidence session of the House of Lords committee on social mobility’s inquiry into the transition from school to work, witness Pat Brennan-Barrett, principal of Northampton College (pictured above), said […]
News
Further Education Commissioner Dr David Collins (pictured above) has ended his involvement at two more FE and skills providers. Lancashire Adult Learning (LAL), which was told by Dr Collins earlier this year to scale down its skills offer, has been told by Skills Minister Nick Boles that Dr Collins’ input was no longer needed. Mr […]
Learning Curve Group has appointed Jac Ingram as its new group operations director. She joins from awarding organisation NCFE where she spent 11 years as director of business operations. Ms Ingram said: “I am proud to have helped NCFE achieve so much over the past decade and to grow into an organisation with international ambitions, […]
Movers and Shakers
Judging an apprentice’s skill and knowledge through an end-point assessment is an approach fraught with issues, explains Simon Reddy. There has been much talk about quality in apprenticeships and the urgent need to improve training and assessment in vocational qualifications. To address these quality issues, end-tests are being introduced on the back of the Richard […]
Opinion
Standing in a courtyard facing the Elizabeth Tower at the north end of the Houses of Parliament, Iain Wright points upwards and insists that Big Ben is “leaning”. A quick search on Google back at the office later corroborates the Hartlepool MP’s comment, which continued: “It is in need of refurbishment as it is starting […]
Profiles
Stewart Segal hits back at Ofsted’s recent report that was critical of apprenticeships. After all the damaging headlines that resulted from the Ofsted report, we can now consider how we take forward some of the issues set out in the report. AELP and providers have been committed to raising the quality of apprenticeships well before […]
Employers are the ultimate test of whether Sir Michael Wilshaw’s criticisms of apprenticeships were justified — and Pippa Morgan thinks the business view might not quite align with the Ofsted chief inspector’s. Sir Michael Wilshaw chose the CBI’s West Midlands Education and Skills Conference to launch an Ofsted report on the state of apprenticeships last […]
The prospect, not to mention the potential cost, of end assessments in Trailblazer apprenticeships has proven a cause for concern for employers and providers. Richard Guy attempts to address these concerns. One of the biggest changes in the apprenticeship reforms is the introduction of independent end assessment for all apprenticeships. It’s clear from recent news […]
Local authorities should be excluded from the large employers’ apprenticeship levy, according to proposals put forward by the Local Government Association (LGA) in response to the Enterprise Bill. In an employment and skills update paper, the LGA encouraged members to raise concerns about the levy with MPs and called on them to highlight other ways […]
