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‘ofsted’

Employers failing the Ofsted challenge — are they fit to take over skills agenda?

The move towards greater employer involvement in FE and skills is gaining momentum. But with employer providers having come in for less than inspiring Ofsted gradings of late, should we be questioning the wisdom of such a shift? It’s just over a year ago that former Dragons’ Den investor Doug Richard (pictured left) said apprenticeship […]

News

Exempted — trainees freed from Job Seeker’s Allowance 16-hour rule

Traineeships are to be exempted from a benefits rule that was “compromising” the programme. The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) 16-hour rule, which limits the amount of time Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants can train every week, will no longer apply to traineeships — the government’s flagship youth unemployment policy. The move came as […]

News

Wheels come off Kwik Fit traineeships

Kwik Fit has stopped running its controversial traineeship programme after Ofsted inspectors said it was no longer an outstanding employer provider. Only providers rated as outstanding or good (grade one or two, respectively) can run traineeships — the government’s flagship youth unemployment policy, which launched in August for 16 to 23-year-olds. And inspectors gave Kwik […]

News

Software problems in ‘Lars of the Summer Whine’

Problems with new Skills Funding Agency (SFA) software continue to trouble FE staff as they prepare to attempt submitting key recruitment information by 6pm tomorrow (Thursday, December 5). Known as the R04 submission, the data could be used by the Education and Funding Agency and SFA for both funding and performance management purposes. Ian Pryce […]

Opinion

The AoC chief executive shares his thoughts after the three day conference

After an exhausting few days, Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel shared his thoughts with FE Week editor Nick Linford. The pair talked all things conference in a 45-minute webinar, sponsored by Tribal. Here are some of the key moments. Nick Linford: So, we heard from the president of the Association of Colleges, Michele […]

News

Aiming high on ‘real’ work experience

Colleges run their own ‘business’ to allow learners to gain experience and 157 Group executive director Lynne Sedgemore said last week that such ventures could be seen as providing a realistic taste of the workplace. However, Iain Mackinnon says they are too few and far between to offer a viable alternative to experience of a […]

Opinion

2013: A (Further Education) Policy Odyssey

Former House of Commons Education Select Committee specialist Ben Nicholls is head of policy and communications at London’s Newham College. He writes exclusively for FE Week every month. A year ago, when I was appointed to Newham College, I didn’t know all that much about FE (it’s okay, I said so at my interview — […]

Opinion

Mark Brickley, principal, Kensington and Chelsea College

Despite passing the 11-plus, Mark Brickley says he wasn’t a particularly academic child. For reasons neither he nor his 81-year-old father, Derek, can recall, he chose not go to grammar school. So when he left school at 16, the year of the Falklands War “and when unemployment was through the roof,” he was keen to […]

Profiles

Number of traineeship starts ‘disappointing’

Uptake on the government’s flagship traineeship scheme is failing to reach expectations, according to senior FE figures. It is too soon for Ofsted to report on the quality of traineeships in any detail… Skills Funding Agency boss Keith Smith (pictured) said colleges would deliver 57 per cent of projected 19 to 23 traineeships, while Ofsted […]

News