ESFA | FE Week

Dozens made redundant as ‘good’ apprenticeship provider goes bust

A training provider has gone bust after being “hit hard” by the government’s apprenticeship reforms, putting nearly 40 staff out of work. FNTC Training and Consulting Limited, a provider rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and based in Southampton, was forced to close after suffering from losses of over £200,000 last year and ongoing losses this year. […]

Statistics watchdog ‘content’ with DfE including unreliable data in achievement rate tables

The country’s national statistics regulator has given the DfE achievement rate data a clean bill of health but called for greater transparency. FE Week reported last month the 2017/18 national achievement rate tables included a list of more than 30 apprenticeship providers with data the DfE had admitted was unreliable. The DfE said at the […]

Ofsted finds learners unaware they are on an apprenticeship programme

An experienced commercial training provider has been heavily criticised by Ofsted after it found a “high proportion” of learners not knowing they are on an apprenticeship programme. Manatec Limited, which had 550 apprentices at the time of inspection and is based in Grimsby, received two ‘insufficient’ ratings in its first monitoring visit since it started […]

Revealed: The 19 winners of the Liverpool City Region AEB tender

The names of the 19 training providers that have won contracts with Liverpool City Region to deliver its devolved adult education budget (AEB) have been revealed. The combined authority will take control of an annual £50.35 million budget to deliver adult education from September. Up to 30 per cent – or £15.11 million – of […]

Despite the extra bureaucracy, ESFA right to require more data on every apprentice

This week the ESFA announced that, from August, apprenticeship providers would need to report the planned off-the-job hours for all new starts. With bureaucracy a constant bugbear in FE, it is rare that a new field is added to the Individualised Learner Record (particularly a late change) but this is an attempt to address stinging […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]