York College
‘apprenticeships’
Hundreds of learners will be hoping for new providers after the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) said it would tear up two training contracts — forcing the closure of one provider and criticism of the decision to axe funding. Both Four Counties Training Limited (FCT), in West London, and Venture Learning Limited (VL), in Greater Manchester, […]
News
A question mark was today left hanging over the future of Trailblazer apprenticeship standard reviews. Approval has so far been given to 144 standards drawn up by hundreds of Trailblazer employers, which will all have to be reviewed within three years of the date they were originally signed-off by the Department for Business, Innovation and […]
Labour’s pledge to axe apprenticeships at level two came under attack once again when Shadow Junior Education Minister Yvonne Fovargue spoke at NCFE’s policy conference in Central London. Ms Fovargue told delegates at the Delivering on learner outcomes: spotlight on youth employment conference that level two was still “valued” but needed to be “rebranded” to […]
‘Cushioning’ agreement with BIS limits worst of adult skills cuts to 24 per cent The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has struck an eleventh hour deal to ‘cushion’ funding cuts at 24 per cent for the non-apprenticeship part of the adults skills budget (ASB), as opposed to a maximum of 32 per cent in their initial […]
The method used by other European states to recognise English apprenticeships relies on the doomed Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), a senior civil servant has admitted. Angus Gray (pictured), head of the European Social Fund division at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was giving evidence to the House of Lords EU internal market, […]
The two-year apprenticeship funding reform saga in which employers were expected to be handed government money to pay for training today came to an end — with cash continuing to pass directly from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to providers. Number 10 Downing Street, ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, announced that a “digital apprenticeship voucher” would […]
Selling apprenticeships to young people is one thing, and selling them to parents is another. Kirstie Donnelly considers how the FE and skills sector might improve the programme’s chances of being sold. Two reports were launched this month highlighting, in different ways, the fact that there is a desperate need to increase the value of […]
Opinion
Careers advice should be “high up the agenda” in the next parliament, the House of Commons education select committee urged today in a review of its work over the past five years. The committee has published the eighth report of this parliament, which re-caps the work of the committee over the past five years. In […]
The speakers spoke and the audience listened — they even got to pose questions. So with the curtain having come down on the huge success that was the first FE Week annual apprenticeship conference, David Harbourne gives his overview of events. The inaugural FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference was a fantastic opportunity to catch up […]
