York College
‘ofsted’
Making providers get insurance will solve neither incompetence nor fraud, writes John Hyde “Taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut” was how Lord Aberdare, speaking at the second reading of the Skills Bill, described the decision to require independent training providers to buy insurance and pay to join a new register. He warned such […]
Opinion
Shane Chowen, currently an area director at AoC, will become FE Week’s new editor in August. He talks to Jess Staufenberg about his vision for the paper Shane Chowen, incoming editor of FE Week, remembers the “activation moment” which switched him on to issues in the sector. He’d had some practice speaking up for his peers […]
Profiles
Owners of a new apprenticeship provider that quickly raked in £6 million have had their contract terminated after hundreds of apprentices were found to be unemployed. Personal Track Safety Ltd, which trades as PTS Training Academy, began recruiting in May 2018 and within two years had started more than 2,500 apprentices in sectors such as […]
News
Apprenticeship sector leaders have attacked a new funding rule concerning apprentices’ learning difficulties assessments, slamming it as “totally wrong”. The new rule, due to take effect from August, would mean providers will not be able to assess apprentices for funding for any learning difficulties as a standard part of enrolment. “Providers must not put apprentices […]
A private provider has been suspended from taking on new learners after Ofsted found a “few cases” of apprentices who did not know they were enrolled on an apprenticeship. Inspectors also claimed that a “minority” of employers who work with NextStep Training Limited are not aware that apprentices should have time in work for off-the-job […]
News, Ofsted
The training providers and colleges chosen to deliver the remaining national skills bootcamp programmes have finally been named. FE Week can today reveal that 24 organisations have won funding in the government’s £18 million tender. Among them are 13 independent providers, six colleges, four mayoral combined authorities or local enterprise partnerships, and one university. FE […]
Inspectors will review sexual abuse records and consider how colleges handle related incidents when Ofsted returns to routine inspections in September, the watchdog has confirmed. Ofsted has today updated its FE and skills handbook to reflect the changes it promised to introduce following a recent review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. The review […]
Students will expect to access all the information about their future options in one place online, writes Katie Bell This week, the education select committee recommended that schools be limited to a ‘requires improvement’ grade if they do not allow training providers to speak to learners. It’s an effort to ensure they are in line […]
Several major retailers have turned their backs on delivering their own apprenticeship training, with one blaming the costs of training as the reason for their exit. Sixty-four providers made “unplanned exits” from publicly funded provision in 2019/20, as revealed in the impact assessment for the government’s landmark Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, published in May. […]
