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‘apprenticeships’

Celebrate apprentices with better pay and more respect

While National Apprenticeship Week rightly celebrates the programme, we shouldn’t forget the problems those on it face, says Joe Vinson, vice president, further education, National Union of Students. National Apprenticeship Week is dedicated to the thousands of apprentices across the UK and it is a celebration of the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses […]

Opinion

Helping apprenticeships achieve their full potential

The government is pushing hard on promoting apprenticeships, but five key areas still need to be looked at, including employer engagement and maths and English, explains David Russell, chief executive of the Education & Training Foundation. I have been heavily involved in shaping national apprenticeships policy over much of the last five years. But the view […]

Opinion

Apprenticeships: matching supply and demand

It was recently reported that apprenticeship providers have under-delivered on their allocated number of funded apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds in their August 2012 allocations. Education Funding Agency figures show that 769 colleges and training providers were going to be funded around £827m for 16 to 18 apprenticeships, but 524 providers had under-delivered by a […]

Opinion

A view from the US on England’s apprenticeships, via Switzerland and Germany

Bob Schwartz, professor of practice in educational policy and administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was appointed to Pearson’s qualifications expert panel earlier this year. He has studied vocational training around the world and FE Week reporter Paul Offord spoke to him to find out what he thinks England can learn from other […]

News

Young Neets rise draws RPA questions

The government’s raising of the participation age (RPA) policy has been questioned after figures showed the number of unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training (Neet) had actually increased since it came into force. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), between October and December, 38,000 16 and 17-year-olds […]

News

Apprentice scheme for 14 to 16-year-olds back before MPs as wage increase proposed

Plans to revive the Young Apprenticeship Programme, offering 14 to 16-year-olds a work-based alternative to the classroom, are to reappear before MPs. Conservative MP Dominic Raab’s (pictured) Young Apprenticeship Bill seeks to bring back the programme first introduced by Labour in 2004, but phased out around 2010 following concerns it cost £3,000 per learner more […]

News

Different takes on putting ‘employers at the heart’ of FE reform

Putting employers at the heart of FE and skills reform gives it an air of authority under the current political climate. Mick Fletcher looks at the differing viewpoints that could be taken on this theme. All the headlines about the long-awaited Skills Funding Statement were understandably about the 19 per cent cut to adult FE […]

Opinion

McDonald’s education head gets bite at UK apprentice job

The appointment of McDonald’s education chief Sue Husband as England’s new apprenticeships boss has been welcomed by FE sector leaders. Ms Husband, national education manager at McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd UK, will fill the shoes of David Way, who stepped down as director of the Skills Funding Agency’s apprenticeship division in August. Stewart Segal, chief executive […]

News

Corruption warning on funding proposals

The boss of a leading independent training provider has hit out at the government’s apprenticeship funding reform proposals warning they could lead to large scale “corruption”. John Hyde (pictured), executive chair of HIT Training, laid out his opposition at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers-organised Apprenticeship Debate with a scathing attack in which he […]

News