14-16 enrolment

Meeting the direct recruitment challenge — one year on

As participating colleges get ready to take on learners from the age of 14, Graham Towse outlines his experiences as one of the few principals with a full academic year of the policy under his belt. In September 2013 we welcomed our first intake of students to the HCUK 14-16 College. This represented a new […]

Co-operation is key to taking on school-age learners full-time

Bromley College was one of nine colleges given permission to enrol 14 and 15-year-olds full-time this September, in addition to six from last year. Sam Parrett outlines how the college went about preparing for the task. When the government announced in 2012 that FE colleges could recruit from the age of 14, I knew this […]

Listen to BBC Radio 4 Today programme discuss FE recruitment at 14

At 06:50 this morning the BBC Radio 4 Today programme interviewed Mike Hopkins, Principal of Middlesbrough College, and Professor Ann Hodgson, Institute of Education, about the direct recruitment of full time 14 year-olds to colleges from this September. Listen to the interview below, and you can read more about direct recruitment to FE at 14, […]

EFA name first seven colleges allowed to recruit full time 14 and 15-year-olds

Seven colleges will be taking up the opportunity, for the first time, to directly enrol full-time 14 and 15 year olds in September. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has now confirmed the seven colleges which “meet the entry criteria as at 15 July 2013 to commence delivery from September 2013″ are: Central territory: Halesowen College. Local authority: Dudley North […]

Landmark decision on under-16s

Colleges will be able to directly recruit full-time 14 to 16-year-olds for the first time from the start of the next academic year. Earlier this month, FE Week exclusively revealed that the Skills Minister Matthew Hancock had written to two members of the 14 to 16 College Implementation Group, confirming that from September colleges could […]

Exclusive: Colleges given green light to recruit full-time 14 and 15 year olds

FE Week can exclusively reveal that the Minister for Skills (above) has written to two members of the 14-16 College Implementation Group, confirming that “from next September we will now make full time 14-16 enrolment available as a new avenue” for FE and sixth form colleges. Matthew Hancock made this landmark decision in his letter dated 6 […]

Funding for FE colleges to teach 14-16 year olds

The Department for Education (DfE) have referred to plans to fund colleges for teaching 14-16 year olds in their School funding reform: Arrangements for 2013-14 document. The report states: “In March, we explained how we would fund Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges which make full-time provision for 14-16 year olds. Our intention is to fund these settings […]

Further Education: the heart of post 14 learning?

When Professor Wolf published her report in March 2011 she made a number of key recommendations that would crystallise the role of further education colleges in becoming a real option for young people at 14. Of course the caveats that there should be a focus on quality, that the curriculum should be balanced with meaningful […]