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12 April 2026

Tag: traineeships

Traineeships – remember them? Well, they could be in for a welcome boost

Something of a surprise this week from the Department for Education – a press release about traineeships in which the skills minister, Anne Milton, was “thrilled”. The surprise for me wasn’t the good news – that research found the majority of the first trainees in 2014 progressed into work or further training. The surprise was […]

Special investigation: Why are colleges turning their backs on traineeships?

Colleges delivered less than a quarter of traineeships last year and nearly half across the country had no starts whatsoever, according to FE Week analysis of government figures. In fact, the Education and Skills Funding Agency is aware that only 24 per cent of traineeships were delivered by general further education colleges. That works out […]

Urgent government action needed to save traineeships, AELP claims

Traineeships are in decline and could die without more support from the government, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers has warned. Alongside the shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, the body hosted a special Westminster debate on the future of the scheme in Parliament this afternoon. Panel members, including AELP’s chair Martin Dunford and chief executive […]

How to simplify traineeship funding

The traineeship funding processes could be simplified to help successful providers grow their provision more successfully, writes Joe Crossley Providers are pulling out of the traineeship market with alarming regularity and it is not hard to see why: the funding methodology is complicated, growth is hard to achieve, and the client group is one of […]

Don’t cut allocations to meet savings target, pleads sector

The government has been warned against looking to FE allocations to help meet Chancellor George Osborne’s aim of a £900m cut by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE). Each is staring down the barrel of £450m cuts this financial year — with FE budgets specifically earmarked for […]