• Ex-minister calls subcontracting fees 'scandalous', but DfE has 'no concerns'

    The government has for the first time concluded they have “no concerns” about subcontracting fees, despite more than 10 providers charging an average of over 30 per cent last year, FE Week can reveal. This is completely at odds with the view of the last skills minister Robert Halfon, who now chairs the education select…

    9.39 Jul. 6th, 2018 | News

  • Public Accounts Committee wants more DfE action on bad apprenticeships

    The Department for Education must “weed out” poor apprenticeship provision, the Public Accounts Committee has said. A new report by the group of influential MPs also presses the department to look into whether financial incentives for teacher training deliver value for money, and to increase the number of women studying science, technology, engineering and maths…

    0.01 Jun. 22nd, 2018 | News

  • Ex-schools minister proposes DfE shake-up to stop schools and HE favouritism

    Education ministers’ portfolios need a major shake-up if the historic favouritism shown to schools and universities is to change, according to a former schools minister. David Laws, who served as schools minister under Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan between 2012 and 2015, believes the current approach is “corrosive of good policy”. In an exclusive interview…

    17.00 Jun. 21st, 2018 | News

  • Anne Milton launches £22m construction skills fund

    The skills minister has launched a new £22 million fund to help tackle construction skills shortages. The 18-month scheme will be overseen by the Construction Industry Training Board and funded by the Department for Education. For our economy to thrive we need everyone, regardless of their age or background, to be able to get the…

    12.33 Jun. 18th, 2018 | News

  • Digital and science engineering UTC to open in Doncaster in 2020

    A new university technical college is being created in South Yorkshire despite mounting problems with the programme, the Department for Education has confirmed. Doncaster UTC will train up to 750 learners in the “latest rail engineering techniques, as well as coding and 3D design skills”. It is scheduled to open in September 2020, and the official announcement explained that it aims to complement the…

    10.46 Jun. 18th, 2018 | News

  • Open letter sees government on defensive before apprenticeship figures announced

    The government is on the defensive one day before the latest apprenticeship figures appear, expected to show a continued year-on-year drop. An open letter signed by skills minister Anne Milton, Institute for Apprenticeships boss Sir Gerry Berragan (pictured above) and dozens of senior figures from business schools, businesses and other organisations wants the sector to…

    0.01 Jun. 13th, 2018 | News

  • Institutes of Technology hit by mystery delays

    The Institutes of Technology have already fallen behind schedule, and providers who applied to open one still don’t know if they have been successful. According to the original competition invitation, applicants should have been notified by early May whether their bids for a share of £170 million had made it to stage two. But no…

    11.30 May. 18th, 2018 | News

  • 20% funding uplift for 16-to-18 apprentices stays another year

    Extra payments to providers training the youngest and most disadvantaged apprentices will remain in place from August, the Department for Education has confirmed. The 20-per-cent uplift for 16- to 18-year-old apprentices on frameworks, with additional cash for those in disadvantaged areas, were introduced in 2016 as a transitional measure. Today’s announcement confirms they will remain…

    13.09 May. 17th, 2018 | News

  • 95% of apprenticeships agreed at full cap price, despite negotiation 'experiment'

    The government should drop its “experiment” with negotiated apprenticeship prices, after it emerged that almost every single one is currently being agreed at full cost, the boss of the Association and Learning Providers has said.   Mark Dawe wants “fixed pricing” for all apprenticeships, both for the new employer-designed standards and for the older frameworks. Every…

    18.04 Mar. 12th, 2018 | News

  • DfE 'plain sloppy' at policing apprenticeship minimum wage adverts

    Providers on the government’s apprenticeship search site are not being effectively policed to ensure they advertise legal wages – and the shadow skills minister has accused it of being “plain sloppy”. The apprenticeship national minimum wage is rising from £3.50 to £3.70 per hour in April, but FE Week has discovered that this detail is…

    12.00 Mar. 2nd, 2018 | News

  • Change is coming - but can the apprenticeship market handle it?

    Employers are paying too much for their apprenticeships, according to the Department for Education. Officials “expected” employers would negotiate prices below the relevant upper limit they set before April last year, and the Institute for Apprenticeships since then. But instead many employers pay top whack as, apparently, “they do not feel able to negotiate with…

    10.21 Feb. 23rd, 2018 | Opinion