Spark Education Trust
‘ofsted’
New Skills Minister Nick Boles admitted to knowing “nothing” about the sector during his first parliamentary appearance in the job, but said he was “keen to learn” about FE and skills. Likening himself to dim-witted Faulty Towers waiter Manuel (pictured right), played by Andrew Sachs in the 1970s BBC comedy series, Mr Boles told a Westminster […]
News
Nine colleges are looking to join the ranks of the existing seven that have been allowed by the Department for Education to recruit 14 to 16-year-olds directly. A year after his own college started direct recruitment, Lee Probert looks at what lessons have been learned. September 2013 saw our Hull and Goole colleges welcome 100 […]
Opinion
Trade union and business leaders are negotiating a joint agreement on traineeships over the issues of pay and work experience quality. Tom Wilson, director of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) learning and skills organisation Unionlearn, revealed that talks had been held with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on the issue. He tweeted: “Joint @unionlearn […]
Nine more colleges could take on learners from the age of 14 next academic year, FE Week can reveal. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has received nine expressions of interest from colleges hoping to start ‘direct recruitment’ of full-time younger learners from September. Seven colleges already recruit 14 to 16-year-olds having gone through the same […]
Former Education Secretary Lord Baker’s University Technical College (UTC) project has come under fire from the 157 Group boss after Hackney UTC announced it was to close. The East London UTC opened in September 2012, and filled 77 per cent of its 100 pupil places in the first year — but it is to shut […]
Ofsted’s plan to introduce separate graded judgements for school sixth forms next academic year has enjoyed overwhelming support in an official consultation. It had already been welcomed by much of the FE sector because it will allow school sixth forms to be directly compared with colleges, and more than 74 per cent of consultation respondents agreed, many of […]
City College Coventry principal Steve Logan started in post just this week, and one of the first items on his desk was a requires improvement inspection result from Ofsted. But with the college having previously received a disastrous report that branded it inadequate, the new grade was welcomed. In an exclusive Q&A with FE Week, […]
Exeter College achieved treble success at the National BTeC Awards. The provider, which was rated outstanding by Ofsted in January and has more than 3,200 learners on level one to five BTec courses, won the outstanding BTec school/ college of the year award at the ceremony run by Pearson UK in London on July 3. […]
Bulletin
A Midland college that overhauled its leadership in the wake of a disastrous Ofsted inspection result has recorded improvement across the board. City College Coventry follows City of Liverpool and City of Bristol to become the third general FE college in less than a month to have improved to a grade three, or requires improvement, […]
