AoC | FE Week - Part 5

High transport costs are letting SEND learners down

It has become all too clear this term that learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who want to study further education are being badly let down. The local government ombudsman warned in October that growing numbers are missing out on places at colleges, because of delays with local councils producing their education and […]

Weston College takes two gongs at the AoC Beacon Awards

The AoC Beacon Award winners, which recognise innovative and outstanding activities in colleges across the UK, have been announced. The ceremony took place this evening on the opening day of the AoC annual conference at the ICC in Birmingham. Among the winners was Weston College, which achieved a double success, winning awards for improving functional, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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” […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]