• David Hughes and the AoC are wrong about degree apprenticeships

    David Hughes is wrong to criticise the rise in management apprenticeships – they are opening opportunities to people who’ve never had them, argues Mandy Crawford-Lee The University Vocational Awards Council believes in the vital role of colleges in delivering college and work-based training programmes for young people and adults. We also want to champion HE…

    18.40 Nov. 13th, 2017 | Opinion

  • Martin Doel, FETL Professor of Leadership in FE and Skills, Institute of Education, UCL

    After eight years at the helm of the Association of Colleges, Martin Doel left in 2016 to take up the world’s first university chair in FE leadership. FE Week paid him a visit in his new post at UCL to find out how his life as an academic is shaping up. Since leaving the Association…

    5.00 Oct. 16th, 2017 | Profiles

  • T-levels funded work placement plans criticised

    New guidance on T-level work placements has been criticised by the Association of Colleges, which fears providers will struggle to fit in the minimum 45 days per learner. The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s guidance has fleshed out Justine Greening’s announcement in July, which said £50 million would be available from April 2018 for “high-quality”…

    10.00 Oct. 7th, 2017 | News

  • AoC boss expresses regret over 1 per cent pay offer

    The Association of Colleges has expressed regret for offering staff a one-per-cent payrise – and has come in for heavy criticism from the unions for its trouble. “We wish we were in a position to make a better recommendation today, but current funding levels for colleges do not allow us to do so,” claimed AoC…

    13.11 Sep. 20th, 2017 | News

  • Colleges 'deeply concerned' about £650m non-levy tender

    The Education and Skills Funding Agency was accused of plunging the relaunched non-levy apprenticeship funding tender process into chaos last night, as new “clarifications” and document updates were sent out. David Hughes reflects on college concerns below. Colleges are very frustrated and deeply concerned about the timing and the details of this procurement. Concerned because…

    11.12 Sep. 1st, 2017 | Opinion

  • EXCLUSIVE: DfE's decision to defend small school sixth form cost £76,000 in fees

    A legal challenge brought against the government by the Association of Colleges over the opening of a small-school sixth form last year has cost the tax payer over £75,000, FE Week can reveal.  According to a Freedom of Information we submitted to the Department for Education in July, it paid out a huge £60,000 for…

    17.10 Aug. 21st, 2017 | News

  • Association of Colleges restructure plans approved

    The Association of Colleges has approved restructuring plans designed to help prevent a £1 million overspend in 2017/18 – which include terminating long-running agreements with associate bodies to run three regional offices. Word first emerged of a consultation on proposed changes in early February, when chief executive David Hughes discussed a revamp of membership fees,…

    10.00 Jul. 8th, 2017 | News

  • Colleges in dark over data reporting rule

    Many colleges aren’t managing to fulfil their legal duties to publish 16-to-18 performance data – apparently because they don’t know they’re required to. The Department for Education decreed last year that, from March 2017, all providers – including colleges and sixth form colleges – had to publish five new ‘headline accountability measures’ on their websites.…

    14.37 Jun. 23rd, 2017 | News

  • Glacial progress exposed for colleges’ apprentice delivery

    Colleges deliver just one in five apprenticeships last year, meaning virtually no progress has been made in the 18 months since they were told to get more involved by the minister at the time. This figure, based on FE Week analysis of data obtained by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers through a freedom…

    0.01 May. 19th, 2017 | News

  • Breaking: AoC manifesto calls for employer levy funding restrictions

    The Association of Colleges’ manifesto has called for new levy funding restrictions on employers. The document was unveiled this afternoon by the AoC, led by chief executive David Hughes (pictured). Of key interest is the commitment to “reduce the proportion of the levy available to employers to 75 per cent”. It added the “available resources”…

    16.53 May. 10th, 2017 | News

  • Decision to retain forced maths and English GCSE resits ‘extremely’ disappointing

    A government move to continue insisting on widespread GCSE maths and English resits – through the heavily criticised condition of funding rule – has left sector bosses “extremely disappointed”. All 16 to 18-year-old students with a near-pass (previously grade D, now grade three) GCSE in the subjects have since August 2015 had to continue studying…

    12.35 Apr. 10th, 2017 | News