• Open University extends free functional skills offer to level 2

    A scheme by The Open University to provide free online functional skills courses has been extended to level 2. Pilots offering the English and maths programmes up to level 1 got under way in February and have been accessed by 12,000 people already, according to the university. Funded by the Department for Education’s flexible learning…

    11.00 May. 10th, 2019 | News

  • English and maths GCSE resit policy helping tens of thousands

    The policy requiring students to continue studying English and maths if they fail the subjects at GCSEs at age 16 continues to bear fruit, as revealed in FE Week’s analysis of the government’s latest attainment figures. The controversial “condition of funding” policy, introduced in 2014, means that colleges must help students who narrowly failed to…

    9.34 May. 3rd, 2019 | News

  • ‘Incredibly unfair’ funding quirk riles colleges

    Colleges have hit out at an “incredibly unfair” flaw in the notorious English and maths condition-of-funding rule – which makes it impossible to achieve 100 percent compliance, and could cost them funding. An Education Funding Agency rule states that any study-programme learners who don’t already have at least a C in English and maths must…

    9.39 Dec. 9th, 2016 | News

  • Breaking: Ofsted annual report says GCSE English and maths resit policy is failing

    Ofsted boss Sir Michael Wilshaw has said the GCSE English and maths resit policy is not working as the government hoped. He raised the issue in his fifth and final annual report as Ofsted chief inspector, published this morning. “While the policy’s intention to improve literacy and numeracy levels is well intentioned, the implementation of…

    10.00 Dec. 1st, 2016 | News