FAB | FE Week

A FAB time for Nitsch careering from the army to FE

Former forces commander chief Rob Nitsch reveals how his commitment to public service took him from warzones to vocational qualifications via a stint developing apprenticeships at IfATE. Right now, around 750,000 people are doing apprenticeships based on standards Rob Nitsch personally approved when he was the de facto number two at the Institute for Apprenticeships […]

Awarding bodies may call for new independent funding approval process citing ‘lack of transparency’

Awarding organisations are considering calling on the government to create an independent process for qualification funding approvals in a bid to stop decisions being driven by short-term political goals. Their representative association, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, has floated the idea of setting up an “Independent Commission for Qualification and Apprenticeship Funding Approvals”. The federation […]

IfA and ESFA in listening mode about apprenticeship concerns at FAB conference

The bosses of the Institute for Apprenticeships and the Education and Skills Funding Agency were in listening mode today, as they acknowledged there were points they needed to “learn from” about apprenticeship assessment. Sir Gerry Berragan and Eileen Milner’s speeches on the second day of the Federation of Awarding Bodies conference followed a panel discussion […]

On the eve of the controversial T-level tender – when, how and why?

On the eve of the launch of the government’s first ever tender for a single awarding organisation for a qualification, FE Week takes a look at the twists and turns of the tangled T-levels procurement process to date. The controversial full tender process to find awarding organisations to offer the first T-levels qualifications is due […]

Ascentis named as awarding organisation of the year

Ascentis has been crowned awarding organisation of the year on an exciting night for the sector. The Federation of Awarding Bodies held its annual awards presentation at a special dinner during the organisation’s annual conference in Leicester. This featured finalists for awarding organisation of the year, qualification of the year, team of the year, individual […]

Federation of Awarding Bodies appoints new chair and vice chair

A new chair and vice chair have been appointed at the Federation of Awarding Bodies, the membership organisation for vocational awarding bodies in the UK. The appointments of Paul Eeles (pictured above) and Terry Fennell (pictured below left) were announced today at the first day of the Annual FAB Conference, at the Marriott Hotel in […]