York College
‘apprenticeships’
A scheme which provides employers with grants of up to £1,500 for each apprentice they train has been extended to 2016. In his budget today, Chancellor George Osborne announced the apprenticeship grants for employers (AGE) scheme would be funded with £85m in both 2014/15 and 2015/16. It had originally been due to end in December. […]
News
Further education providers face a 15 per cent cut in their adult skills budget allocations, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has revealed. In a letter to providers, SFA chief executive Barbara Spicer said although funding for apprenticeships and traineeships was being “prioritised”, remaining funding would be cut by 15 per cent. It provides the first […]
The Deputy Prime Minister has called for a “UCas-style” admissions system for FE, but Gina Bradbury says that one already exists. A ‘UCas-style’ system for young people making post-GCSE choices is already here — and UCas itself is powering the service. When Nick Clegg stressed the need for such a service last month, it was […]
Opinion
With statistics this month having shown a rise in the number of unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training, Nansi Ellis looks at whether the government’s policy of raising the participation age is working. Statistics this month showed that the number of unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds rose over the last three months […]
Nearly eight month since the government raised the participation age, Mark Corney evaluates a policy that will next year mean young people up to the age of 18 — increased from 17 — must remain in education or be in training. No one seems to care about 16 and 17-year-olds. Perhaps the reason is that […]
For many small firms, the thought of taking on more than one or two apprentices at once is overwhelming. But that’s no reason to ignore their views on reforms to the programme, warns John Allan. A year ago we published our apprenticeships manifesto outlining what the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) wanted to see from […]
Further education has a key role to play in promoting diversity, says Toni Fazaeli, who calls for an independent commission to report on current sector practices. Nearly 12 years after the publication of Challenging racism: further education leading the way, and six years after Niace published From compliance to culture change: Disabled staff working in […]
Having left school at 15 to become an apprentice plumber, Charlie Mullins now sits as managing director of Pimlico Plumbers. He outlines his view of the apprenticeship system and how it should be used to tackle youth unemployment. After leaving school at the age of 15, I took on a plumbing apprenticeship and that opportunity […]
The National Minimum Wage for apprentices is set to rise by 5p an-hour to £2.73, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced. The 2 per cent rise will come into force on October 1. The move, which was recommended by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) after the government asked how it could […]
