Long read, Young people

How one FE college is turning the tide on NEETs

Jessica Hill visits a former branch of Debenhams, where Blackburn College has created the Launchpad hub to re-engage the...

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
FE workforce

Teachers need work experience too if new pathways are to succeed

Regular, structured opportunities for teachers to refresh and develop their subject knowledge is vital

Jessica Hill
Jo Swindells
Colleges

WCG exits intervention

The college has agreed loans and campus sales to rebalance the books

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Colleges, Young people

Population-spiked colleges scrabble for cash ahead of real-terms funding cut

Real-terms base rate cut of 0.5% could force principals to reevaluate provision and staff pay

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Colleges

Free meals funding frozen in FE while schools rate rises

College leaders bite back at ‘insulting’ DfE decision

Josh Mellor
Josh Mellor
Young people

Our learners can’t wait years to see the fruit of their labour

Our reward systems are built for adults, not teenagers, and it’s sometimes unrealistic to expect them to understand attendance...

Jessica Hill
Daniel Waterhouse
Teaching

How we’re using Brown’s empathy strategies to improve teaching

As Ofsted sharpens its focus on inclusion, a strategy rooted in US academic Brené Brown’s work shows empathy can...

Jessica Hill
Clair Priest
The Staffroom - opinion

Careers guidance isn’t an add-on, it’s the basis of NEET prevention

Treating careers guidance as a leadership priority rather than a compliance exercise helped us drive NEET rates below the...

Jessica Hill
Kathryn O’Neill
Colleges

Having a four-day teaching week provides a fifth day for real life

Our learners had the qualifications, but not always the work skills. By redesigning our timetable we treated preparation for...

Jessica Hill
Martin Twist