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22 April 2026

Tag: AoC

Lord Sainsbury criticised over ‘retail assistant’ comments

Lord Sainsbury has been branded an “elitist” after he claimed in a speech to the Association of Colleges’ annual conference that certain jobs, such as retail assistant, should not be counted as technical education. His comments prompted Mark Dawe (pictured), the boss of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, to hit out at him […]

Richard Atkins: The FE sector ‘is doing pretty well’

The FE sector is not doomed, the new commissioner has insisted during upbeat speech dismissing claims that it was “failing”. In his first major address to sector leaders since he took over from Sir David Collins in October, Richard Atkins told a packed reception for governors’ at the Association of Colleges annual conference that “the […]

Ministers need to fund technical education, says Lord Sainsbury

Ministers need to take a more realistic view of the cost of high-quality technical education and increase funding to it accordingly, Lord Sainsbury has said, as the government begins to implement his recommendations for a slimmed down system. His influential report on technical education has heavily informed the government’s new skills plan, which will see […]

Court date set for AoC judicial review over new sixth form

The court start date has been set for the Association of College’s first judicial review against the government in more than a decade. The AoC revealed a month ago that it was going to take legal action over the Department for Education’s controversial decision to fund a new sixth form at Abbs Cross Academy and […]

Exclusive: AoC India to close after 25 colleges quit

A college partnership network set up by the Association of Colleges to provide UK vocational education and training programmes to India is to close after losing over three quarters of its members. AoC India was established in 2012 as a partnership of 33 FE colleges, but after being left with just eight members this year […]

How colleges can keep up with apprenticeship reforms

If colleges wish to continue to deliver apprenticeships, they will need to adapt quickly, writes Teresa Frith We are sitting in the middle of a maelstrom of reform in apprenticeships. But what should be at the forefront of our minds is that whatever apprenticeships we provide, they must be high quality. We will be doing […]

Employers more satisfied with private training providers than colleges

Private training providers will be patting themselves on the back this week, following Skills Funding Agency research that revealed they are significantly more popular with employers than general FE colleges. Training providers scored a massive 83.9 per cent for employer satisfaction according to the results of the latest SFA employer satisfaction survey, while colleges’ rating […]

What FE can expect from the autumn statement

If the prime minister’s vision of a fairer economy with better opportunities for everyone is to become reality, says Julian Gravatt, the government needs to carefully review FE funding. The Treasury’s next autumn statement on November 23 this year will be Philip Hammond’s first as chancellor. The statement matters for everyone in FE because treasury […]