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Chelmford’s Writtle College has a new governors’ board chair in Julia Smith. Ms Smith, who has served as a governor since July 2010, took over from Lise-Lotte Olsen, who finished her term of office after eight years in the Essex college role. “I very much look forward to this challenge as we enter an exciting […]
Movers and Shakers
Gazelle has been dealt a major blow with news that a key founding college has announced it is “no longer an active member,” FE Week can exclusively reveal. Fintan Donohue said he was “naturally disappointed” that North Hertfordshire College (NHC), where he was principal and chief executive when he set up Gazelle in around 2011, […]
News
Pearson has stopped registering higher national certificate (HNC) distance learning students at a second general FE college delivering the provision with support from private firm Acquire Learning (AL), FE Week can reveal. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) was critical of the HNC in business course, launched at South and City College Birmingham […]
Ofsted’s decision to scrap graded lesson observations for FE inspections has been described as the “right way to go” by Principals’ Professional Council (PPC) chair Sue Rimmer. A spokesperson for the education watchdog said on Friday (May 22) that it had consulted with FE providers and “conducted numerous pilot inspections to test the changes” before […]
The FE Commissioner has praised progress being made at two colleges following revisits. Dr David Collins checked up on the 6,800-learner East Kent College, which had taken over the Dover and Folkestone campuses from K College. His revisit, in November, came after grade four Ofsted-rated K College was broken up last summer after falling at […]
Hull College has given up its sponsorship of a formerly failing local school having guided it to top marks from Ofsted. Hull College stepped into take over Pickering High School Sports College in 2008, when just 18 per cent of learners were gaining the benchmark five GCSEs at A* to C grades and government officials […]
Ofsted has denied “jumping the gun” on an impending funding condition after a report appeared to criticise a college that fell from a ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ judgement for failing to meet it. From August, any learner aged 16 to 19 on a study programme with a grade D in GCSE English or maths has […]
As a former Ofsted inspector, FE consultant Phil Hatton has probably seen some of the best and worst practices that teaching can offer. He’s very keen to talk about his experiences — whether that’s the freedom of having left an organisation you’ve been part of for years, or the glee of being able to give […]
Profiles
Eight University Technical Colleges (UTCs) have been listed among England’s worst providers for overall absence. The Department for Education statistics, for last autumn, show how Elutec, in Essex, is the worst of the UTCs with a figure that put it at eighth in the list of shame among providers which recruit pupils aged five to […]