DfE | FE Week - Part 17

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 […]

DfE slammed for refusal to investigate defunct Manchester UTC as paperwork fails to materialise

Auditors were unable to properly scrutinise the finances of a failed University Technical College because important data was missing, but the government chose not to investigate this issue. Accounts for the Greater Manchester UTC for 2016-17, finally published last month and over a year late, reveal that auditors gave a rare “disclaimer of opinion” on […]

Treasury took back over £300m despite small employers being turned away

The government has for the first time admitted the vast majority of the £400 million underspend from the Department for Education’s apprenticeship budget was taken back by the Treasury. In an interview with FE Week editor Nick Linford, the skills minister Anne Milton was asked how much cash the Treasury clawed back in the financial […]

Government to fully-fund college pension cost increase

The Department for Education has today revealed it will provide extra funding to cover the rise in pension contributions for colleges. The announcement followed a consultation launched in January, where the department asked feedback on its proposals to support certain education institutions with the increase to pension scheme in 2019/20. The DfE had previously said […]

Bidders remain in the dark as DfE delays Institutes of Technology tender results

The Institutes of Technology tender has fallen behind schedule, with the final 16 providers left waiting to be told if they have been successful. The Department for Education released the final stage two of the £170 million competition in October last year, and said it expected to announce the outcome in March 2019. But FE […]

Revealed: The 34 colleges with £270m of government loans and bailouts last year

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has revealed the colleges with millions in government loans and bailouts. According to documents released by the ESFA and analysed by FE Week, a total of 34 colleges across the country received £270 million in Exceptional Financial Support and Restructuring Funding loans and grants by July 2018. This […]

Revealed: The winners and losers in the £170m Institutes of Technology competition

The Department for Education has today unveiled the colleges and universities in line for a share of £170m in capital funding and a licence to be named an Institute of Technology. One day after FE Week reported delays in its competition process, due for announcement last month, the department revealed the names of the first […]

It’s FE Week wot won it: 5 month mystery of missing £300k levy ‘resolved’ by ESFA

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has finally returned £300,000 to a large high-profile employer within hours of FE Week asking for an explanation. The employer, that did not wish to be named, saw the money mysteriously disappear from their apprenticeship levy pot in November without warning or reason. After reporting the missing funds to […]

Minister admits a lot ‘we don’t know yet’ about Treasury backed national retraining scheme

The government still doesn’t know how the national retraining scheme will work or how much it will cost, even though the programme is expected to be rolled out from the summer. Despite the scheme being mooted in June 2017 and the Department for Education being pushed to share more information about it three months ago, […]