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A Cambridge University professor, Mary Beard, has expressed concern that online open courses are in "danger" of creating divisions in society. Professor Beard has said that these courses risk setting apart the "privileged few", who receive face-to-face teaching from the "unprivileged mass" who learn via a screen. At NCFE, we’re committed to providing learning opportunities to individuals from all backgrounds and we feel that the option of online and blended learning actually helps us to do this by granting a wider access to education and a more flexible approach. That's why we offer distance learning solutions.

As you’re aware, the SFA recently announced changes to its funding rules meaning that a number of adult qualifications may no longer be publicly funded. This story has hit the wider press this month with reports stating that around 5,000 adult vocational courses will be cut in order to "simplify and streamline" the adult skills system in England. Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock took to Twitter to announce that the current system is ‘hard to understand’ and the Government will be binning ‘low-value’ courses such as self-tanning, balloon artistry and instructing pole fitness in order to focus on qualifications that employers value. Nearly £200m of the department's adult skills budget will now be redirected towards what the Government considers to be the ‘most relevant’ qualifications.

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently made some significant changes to the way that secondary school performance is measured, having an impact on schools up and down the country. The aim is to reform the way that schools and colleges are assessed so that all pupils, regardless of background, can make progress and find success across a broad choice of subjects and study programmes. The government’s vision was to reward schools that set high expectations for the attainment and progress of all their pupils, provide high value qualifications, and teach a wide variety of subjects across a balanced curriculum. The focus was to ensure that accountability became “the servant, not the master, of excellent teaching”. In other words, the accountability system should work with and not against teachers’ main objective – to help their pupils gain the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in their future.

Recent research carried out by FE Week indicates that, of the 611 members of LEPs, only 38 have either current or past experience in Further Education. LEPs are often referred to as ‘the new kids on the block’. They are usually quoted as part of an inventory of such bodies – hinting that, they too, will soon be consigned to history and we will have a new three letter acronym to come to terms with. As though we need not take them very seriously.

As we’re all aware, GCSE equivalency plays an important role in many learners’ lives by giving them access to vocational subjects which they can excel in by demonstrating the skills they perform best at. Following on from the government’s changes to these courses and key recommendations by Professor Wolf on 14-19 studies, NCFE decided to create our own new suite of qualifications: V Certs. From September 2013 most vocational qualifications have ceased to hold GCSE equivalency so will no longer count towards your school’s performance tables.

There’s no denying the importance of basic English and maths skills, as they are a mandatory requirement of most employers. The state of literacy and numeracy skills in England however, looks bleak following the Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) October report showing England’s 16-24 year olds ranked 22nd (literacy) and 21st (numeracy) out of 24 countries surveyed. NCFE is offering solutions to this skills crisis and has developed a suite of 130 fundable English and maths qualifications ranging from bitesize, single unit qualifications to certificates. NCFE is focused on tailoring to each learner’s individual needs, and these qualifications can be mixed and matched but also used as pre-GCSE training.

It should be part of a school’s remit to develop pupils’ self-belief, perseverance and resilience, according to advice from a cross-parliamentary group, supported by the CBI. The group suggested that a school needs to be more than just an ‘exam factory’, and that students should leave their education as well rounded individuals, equipped and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of them.

NCFE is raising awareness of Safer Internet Day 2014, promoting safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world. Worrying statistics recently revealed that millions of children are being exposed to a range of online threats, with less than half of parents using parental controls to block unsuitable material. A third of parents confessed to feeling ill-equipped to educate their children about staying safe online, and a quarter said that they never talk to their children about staying safe online, according to research by internet security company ESET. NCFE is currently working with schools and colleges to provide guidance and online protection for young people at risk. The NCFE Level 1 Award in Safeguarding in a Learning Environment covers areas such as establishing safe personal boundaries, staying safe online and cyberbullying in a learning environment. It specifically explores issues such as internet privacy, confidentiality and data protection. Read more here.

As you’re all no doubt aware, this month the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) announced some significant changes to their funding rules (Approval of Qualifications for Public Funding for Adult Learners). These changes may result in the removal of public funding for a number of adult qualifications in 2014/15. We understand that you’ll be concerned about these changes and we want to let you know how NCFE is responding. We’re adopting a number of approaches, looking at each affected qualification individually. There are several courses of actions open to us. For some qualifications, we’ve chosen to appeal. In fact, we’ve already proactively put in an appeal for certain qualifications, where we feel that the loss of public funding will have a strong adverse effect on specific cohorts of learners. Thanks to those of you who’ve helped us with this by providing letters of support for qualifications (with this in mind, we may be getting in touch with more of you in the coming months to support further appeals!)

It’s been reported that shortages of skills in the UK might prevent businesses from being able to take advantage of the economic recovery. Having surveyed 91,000 employers, The UK Commission for Employment and Skills found that more than one in 5 vacancies were due to a poor skills base in potential employees. The problem of inadequate skills, qualifications or experience is worse in some sectors than others, with construction, plumbing and Health and Social Care being some of the areas affected.