skills | FE Week

New DfE Skills Index shows significant decline since 2012

The overall added-value of the FE and skills system in England has fallen from a baseline of 100 in 2012 to just 73, new government data shows. The Department for Education today published for the first time a ‘Skills Index’, which shows how the aggregate value of the skills supplied by apprenticeships and classroom-based learning […]

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, […]

Colleges can give students a headstart over universities

With their close employer relationships, colleges have a major advantage over schools and universities, says Ronel Lehmann For years there has been discussion around the growing skills gaps faced by UK industry. With Brexit looming, the worry about filling skilled jobs has intensified and many employers are urgently looking at ways to address the issue. […]

Tory conference 2018: what was said about FE and skills?

Brexit is grabbing the headlines. But many debates at the Conservative Party conference concluded that lifelong learning and apprenticeships are central to life beyond March next year, says Stephen Evans There are some great debates at party conferences if you know where to find them. They’re usually away from the main conference halls, though Damian […]

Major DfE research says ‘no evidence’ the £350m Employer Ownership Pilot had impact

A £350 million employer ownership of skills pilot failed to have any impact at all, a damning evaluation report published by the Department for Education today has revealed. The project, which ran from 2012 to 2017, was designed to test the effect that giving employers direct access to public funding had on their own investment […]

Massive subcontracting top-slices finally revealed

Subcontracting top-slices exceeded £100 million last year, and 28 per cent of prime providers were charging more than 20 percent, FE Week can reveal. The long-overdue subcontracting figures for 2016/17 have finally been published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. FE Week’s analysis of the data has shown that just under a third of […]

Queen’s birthday honours 2018: Who got what in FE and skills?

The FE and skills sector is well represented in the Queen’s birthday honours list this year, in which Ofsted’s chief operating officer has been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Matthew Coffey, who joined Ofsted in 2007 and was appointed COO in 2014, has made a “huge contribution” to the education watchdog, […]

IPPR: The apprenticeship levy needs a ‘radical rethink’

The apprenticeship levy needs a radical rethink to double investment in skills, according to a new report from a leading think-tank. The so-called “skills and productivity levy” proposed by the Institute for Public Policy Research would be paid by more employers, and spent on a wider range of training. It’s one of a number of […]

Conservatives announce surprise pledge to let levy pay wages

A surprise move has been made by the Conservatives to allow large firms to use apprentice levy funds to pay wages – in a manifesto retaining the commitment to 3 million starts by 2020. The document, launched this morning, also commits to a major review of tertiary education funding, which it is thought could review […]