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The government’s Emergency ‘Summer’ Budget was announced this week; the first Conservative-only budget since 1996. The key announcement for education and skills was that the government’s target of 3 million apprenticeships by 2020 will be funded through a levy on employers. The levy will support all post-16 apprenticeships. This is likely to incentivise employers and encourage them to employ more apprentices. There are a plethora of advantages to businesses hiring apprentices and it’s good to see that employers are being encouraged to include apprenticeships in their business plans.

The sector seems to be holding its breath in anticipation of George Osborne’s ‘Emergency’ Budget, due to take place on the 8 July. It will come as no surprise that this budget will set out additional cuts across Government departments, with Further Education and Skills in line for greater restrictions on spending.

At NCFE, we’re always on the pulse with policy, funding, and everything else affecting the education sector. I recently attended the Meet the Minister event, hosted by FE Week, where Shadow Minister for Young People John Woodcock debated the FE sector, the growth of Apprenticeships, and other hot topics in the world of education.

Since beginning my GCSEs in Year 10 at secondary school, I’ve been focusing on where I want to be and what I want to do when I leave school. I’m currently in sixth form now and have a lot of options ahead of me. At school, we needed something to work towards; a goal. With the help of certain partners, my school’s attempt in guiding us in the right direction didn’t go down as a success in my opinion.

Don’t cut allocations to meet savings target, pleads sector (p2) – according to Treasury announcements, both the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are facing a £450m cut this financial year, with FE and Skills earmarked for specific savings. A BIS spokesperson stated that they’d be "asking the SFA for advice on how savings can best be achieved in line with ministers’ priorities around Apprenticeships and priority FE participation funding…and whilst safeguarding the resilience of the sector."

The power of social media in today’s world cannot be underestimated. Social media is a tool used by people of all ages, but it’s something that young people especially have adopted and use day-to-day, around the clock.

It’s that time when the academic school year begins to draw to a close – I’m sure you’re all looking forward to a well-earned break over the summer. However, the hiatus doesn’t need to mean a break from learning altogether and in fact provides a great opportunity to run short qualifications with relatively low Guided Learning Hours, which can help get your pupils ready for life and work and educate them on important Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) topics.

Adult Learners’ Week 2015 began on Saturday, a week dedicated to celebrating the opportunities education can present to adults looking to upskill, further themselves in their career, or train in a completely new area. The government recently announced an imminent 24% cut to adult education funding for 2015-16; in an economy rife with spending cuts, adult education of often one of the first areas to experience harsh cuts. The Association of Colleges (AoC) has estimated this will result in the loss of a staggering 200,000 adult education places.

Today (10 June) we’ll be celebrating the eighth annual VQ Day (Vocational Qualification Day), which highlights vocational achievement and the many benefits of practical and vocational learning. Here at NCFE we’re strong supporters of VQ Day, because it provides a platform to give vocational learning – which has long been a robust alternative option to traditional academia for many learners – the recognition it deserves in the education sector.

The Sector speaks in the FE & Skills Survey and funding is key issue (p4/5) - The news for this week is dominated by the findings of the FE Week FE & Skills survey, which finds the key concerns from people in the sector are funding, the volume of change and workload, English and maths and the ‘broad direction of travel for the sector.’ 90% of respondents were concerned about levels of funding, both for individuals and institutions, while 92% were concerned about the pace & volume of changes, and 96% were concerned at perceived levels of external bureaucracy.