Windsor Learning Partnership
‘apprenticeships’
New further education minister Matthew Hancock has told for the first time of his “exciting agenda” for change when he spoke exclusively to FE Week. The joint Parliamentary Under Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills also took time out from his first ministerial visit to insist colleges would be given more freedom to meet the […]
News
An online system for rubber-stamping apprenticeships is in line for a “substantial upgrade” after less than a year. Students, providers and employers have been using the Apprenticeship Certificates England (ACE) system run by The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils since January. The system, which cost £120,000 to develop, processes applications for apprenticeship approval and has […]
The chief executive of Holts Group of Companies and author of the independent review into apprenticeship for small and medium-sized companies talks to FE Week Jason Holt always wanted to run his own company and started to hone his entrepreneurial skills at an early age. Having worked out that baking horse chestnuts in the oven […]
Profiles
A dying breed of business link-ups offering their own apprenticeships could hold the key to bridging the country’s skills gap, an inquiry has concluded. Group Training Associations (GTAs) came under the spotlight of an independent commission headed by Professor Lorna Unwin, from the Institute of Education. Her report has called for more use to be […]
The big conversations in FE at the moment are all around functional skills. Most providers are positive about the qualifications, and arguably they are more rigorous than the key skills qualifications they have replaced. Every year, the CBI bemoans the English education system – employers keep telling us that young people are leaving school with […]
Opinion
Jason Holt’s review sets out what we can do to encourage many more smaller businesses to become involved with apprenticeships; it is a chance to refresh and streamline the service that we provide. In particular, the report has highlighted that we need to make businesses more aware of the support that the National Apprenticeship Service […]
Hundreds of providers are failing to hit a government target for keeping a check on whether new apprentices have got jobs. Learner records for an estimated 30,000 students were returned to the Information Authority (IA) with “not known”, “not provided” or “missing” in the employment status box last academic year. The National Union of Students […]
Entrepreneur Jason Holt has told of his disappointment that the government has not taken heed of his recommendations that schools promote apprenticeships. In a comment piece published today in FE Week, Mr Holt said he was worried the government’s response to his review of apprenticeships would not lead to the changes “desperately needed” in schools. […]
I am passionate about the role apprenticeships have to play in helping to re-energise our economy. They are a great way to bring new blood into a business and to ensure that new opportunities are seized and important skills are not lost. It has been gratifying, therefore, that the recommendations I put forward in my […]
