apprenticeships | FE Week

New DfE Skills Index shows significant decline since 2012

The overall added-value of the FE and skills system in England has fallen from a baseline of 100 in 2012 to just 73, new government data shows. The Department for Education today published for the first time a ‘Skills Index’, which shows how the aggregate value of the skills supplied by apprenticeships and classroom-based learning […]

As the wheels fall off plans for the first PhD level apprenticeship, have employers been ejected from the driving seat?

This week we reveal that an Institute for Apprenticeships sub-committee (that includes four board members) refused to approve the first PhD level 8 apprenticeship. Instead, they asked the full board to rule whether a PhD level is even “in the spirit of apprenticeship policy”. Four months on and the board is still in discussions with […]

Small businesses outline ‘serious concerns’ with stretched apprenticeship budget

The Federation of Small Businesses has raised “serious concerns” about the apprenticeship budget and claims “over a quarter of apprentice employers say reforms have had a negative impact”. In a report published today called ‘Fit for the future: making the apprenticeship system work for small business’, the membership body seeks to influence the forthcoming spending […]

How to be an apprenticeship ‘ultra-negotiator’ and prove it…

Apprenticeship funding rules require that we demonstrate our negotiations. Lucy Ottewell-Key outlines the core principles to consider The new apprenticeship world can be confusing and unfamiliar to the education sector. Negotiate? How? What does it mean to be in a commercial and competitive market? What indicators, funding rules, features, benefits and unique selling points support […]

Creeping complexity has reached critical levels in FE

There is a theme across four stories in FE Week today which combined might suggest there is a critical business problem with funding rules and data requirements – complexity. Let’s look at the stories in turn. 1. ESFA finds achievement rate data ‘unreliable’. Behind the scenes the ESFA audit teams continue to grapple with providers […]

Ofsted watch: Mixed results for FE providers

It has been a varied week in the FE sector, with three providers receiving ‘good’ grades from Ofsted while three others were told they require improvement. The education watchdog also published four monitoring visits, where two providers were found making ‘significant progress’. Good news came in for the Open University and the University of Sheffield, […]

AAC Awards 2019 winners crowned

The country’s best apprenticeship providers, employers and champions have been honoured at the Annual Apprenticeship Awards 2019. More than 500 people celebrated the winners at a glittering gala dinner at the Annual Apprenticeship Conference, held in Birmingham. This is the second year of the awards. Organised by FE Week and the Association of Employment and […]

Blow your own trumpet and shake off your victim mentality, providers told

FE providers have been urged to “blow their own trumpet more” after research found they have developed a “victim mentality” because they have been “unfairly blamed for deficiencies in a highly complicated system”. A study, conducted by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), found that […]

Incentivise the apprenticeships that actually boost productivity

Apprenticeship funding mechanisms should be weighted to favour those standards that boost employability and earnings, argues Nicole Gicheva The best apprenticeships provide an alternative entry route into employment to academic education. They make it easier for people to reskill and change career. High-value apprenticeship programmes also increase skill levels, enhance productivity in firms and in […]