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12 April 2026

Tag: Robert Halfon

A break with tradition: the crafts fighting for survival

The biggest losers in the government’s mission to boost apprenticeships are traditional crafts for whom the term “apprenticeship” was initially intended. We investigate how longstanding training going back to the Middle Ages is now under threat. Crafts passed on since England’s original national apprenticeship scheme was introduced in 1563 are now considered too small in […]

Interview: Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee

Robert Halfon, the chair of the education select committee, isn’t always a fan of the great and good, admitting that he is more interested in people with frontline experience When I ask Robert Halfon, the chair of the education committee, to name the witness who has affected him most, I’m expecting a big-hitter. Andreas Schleicher, […]

Pressure mounts on Hinds to explain £500m apprenticeship ‘alleged overspend’

The chair of the influential education select committee has urged the government to be “open and transparent” about a projected £500 million overspend on this year’s £2 billion apprenticeships budget, after the education secretary dodged a question about it in parliament yesterday. Robert Halfon asked Damian Hinds to confirm the figure – first raised by […]

Give nursing degree apprenticeships special treatment, education committee urges

The NHS will not meet its apprentice recruitment target unless nursing degree apprenticeships are given special treatment, an influential group of MPs has warned. The education select committee’s report, ‘Nursing degree apprenticeships – in poor health’, based on its inquiry over the summer, was published today. It highlighted a series of obstacles to the delivery […]

Revealed: vast majority of loans-only providers are less than good

A massive 80 per cent of providers that only deliver provision funded by advanced learner loans have been rated less than good by Ofsted, FE Week analysis has revealed. But despite this “shocking” statistic – which covers provision worth millions and affects thousands of learners – the education watchdog was tight-lipped on whether it was […]

Kick poor-performing new providers off RoATP, education committee urges

Poor-performing apprenticeship providers should be kicked off the government’s register – not just barred from taking on new starts, the education select committee has urged. It made the call in its new report, ‘The apprenticeships ladder of opportunity: quality not quantity’, published today, based on the findings of its recent inquiry. The report outlines a […]

In pursuit of parity: degree apprenticeships expand into the Russell Group

Although seen by some as controversial, degree apprenticeships are central to the government’s plans to put technical education on a par with academic education. The Department for Education has repeatedly referred to the number of Russell Group universities signed up to the register of apprenticeship training providers as a sign that it’s succeeding in this […]

DfE in firing line with former skills minister for ‘misrepresentation’ and ‘discourtesy’

Chair of the education select committee Robert Halfon has accused the Department for Education of misrepresentation and discourtesy. Yesterday afternoon the DfE published a blog, aimed at journalists, that claimed the former skills minister gave inaccurate apprenticeship figures in an interview with the BBC Today programme that morning. Mr Halfon says this clearly misrepresented what […]