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1 May 2026

Tag: apprenticeships

A culture of inclusion can drive more women into STEM apprenticeships

UK business needs to create a virtuous circle of positive change, says Ben Farmer, with successful women becoming inspirational role models for the next generation of builders, innovators and inventors The UK’s ongoing STEM skills shortage is a key issue for employers such as Amazon. Vacancies for highly skilled technical roles will double over the […]

Ofsted watch: Two providers straight in with ‘good’ in uneventful week for FE

One specialist college and a private provider received a grade two rating in their first ever Ofsted inspections, in what was otherwise an average week in the FE sector. The only critical report came in for an NHS trust, after inspectors found it was making ‘insufficient progress’ in an early monitoring visit of its apprenticeship […]

IfA launches recruitment drive for more route panel members

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is looking for around 25 new experts to join its 15 sector-based route panels. The members are responsible for deciding the readiness of apprenticeship standards in development in the different sectors, reviewing and approving new standards and technical qualifications. The panels, created two years ago, decide what issues […]

National Apprenticeship Awards 2019 open for applications

Entries to this year’s National Apprenticeship Awards are now open, where employers and individuals who champion apprenticeships will be honoured for the 16th year running. Apprentices and businesses from all sectors and industries, from agriculture to arts and science and maths, are invited to enter the awards by the May 25 deadline. The awards will […]

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 […]

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 […]