Blog posts for tags:Funding, Funding, adult education

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What will the National Funding Formula bring?

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Monday 18 April 2016

David Grailey

In March the Department for Education (DfE) published the long anticipated ‘stage one’ consultation into the National Funding Formula (NFF) for schools. The DfE believe a change to the way schools are funded will create a“fair, transparent funding system where the amount of funding children attract for their schools is based on need and is consistent across the country”. The consultation essentially proposes a transition so that by 2019-2020 “a pupil would attract the same amount of funding to his or her school no matter where they are in the country”. As the amount each pupil at a school would attract is determined on a national level, there would be less of a role for Local Authorities under these proposals.

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Saving vocational qualifications

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 23 March 2016

David Grailey

The Further Education sector may have avoided additional cuts in the Budget 2016 announcements, but we’re not out of the woods yet. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) could end full funding for 524 qualifications – around 20% of the total qualifications currently fundable. The SFA held a consultation between 10 and 29 February on removing full funding from a number of qualifications for 19-23 year olds; this was met with criticism from the sector, including the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) because 5 of those working days fell during half term. FAB has complained directly to the SFA, as the timescale made it difficult to garner the required support from colleges and training providers. 

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Budget 2016: The outcomes for education

By Michael Lemin, Policy and Research Manager, Wednesday 16 March 2016

michael blog.jpg

Chancellor George Osborne today announced the Budget 2016. The key education headlines related mainly to schools, with the news that the government intends to turn all state schools into academies confirmed after being leaked last night. The Chancellor said that by 2020, all schools either will be an academy, or will be in the process of becoming an academy. This has been a key focus of the government’s time in parliament, including during its coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

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Budget 2016: A High Stakes Game

By Michael Lemin, Policy and Research Manager, Friday 04 March 2016

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2015 was a peculiar year for politics, and there were few areas impacted more than education and skills. There were two Budgets, and a combined Comprehensive Spending Review and Autumn Statement. Announcements included the Apprenticeship Levy, the extension of learners loans to those aged 19+, and the much maligned review of post-16 education and training institutions. It's a mark of how difficult times have been that the sector breathed a collective sigh of relief at funding cuts in the Autumn Statement, simply because we all expected much worse. 

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Further Education is "crucial" and must be protected

By , Thursday 18 February 2016

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has voiced his support for lifelong learning and the vital role that Further Education colleges play in this. Speaking at the University and College Union’s (UCU) Cradle to Grave conference, Mr Corbyn highlighted the necessity of access to education at any age, in a time when the UK faces a troubling skills gap crisis.

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Will Apprenticeships measures put Public Sector employment at risk?

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Tuesday 16 February 2016

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

This month saw the publication of the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ (IFS) Green Budget. The report looks at the issues and challenges facing the Chancellor as he prepares for his Budget in March. The study has highlighted the risks threatening the government’s spending plans, including how key aspects of the Apprenticeship reform programme, intended to create growth and increase productivity, may actually challenge it.

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Apprenticeship reforms - What's the deal?

By , Tuesday 09 February 2016

The government states that it wants to improve recognition and quality of Apprenticeship programmes. It intends to achieve this by involving employers more heavily in Apprenticeships and giving them control over the standards, content and funding of an Apprenticeship. This, it argues, will ensure that all Apprenticeships suitably prepare learners for employment while also ensuring employers’ needs are met in terms of skills gaps. Another government plan is to protect the term ‘Apprenticeship’ in legislation to safeguard the brand and ensure high quality outcomes. Furthermore, in an effort to drive up the number of Apprenticeship starts, the upcoming Enterprise Bill will require at least 2.3% of public sector businesses with a workforce of 250 people or more to hire apprentices.

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Policy Corner - 19 January 2016

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Tuesday 19 January 2016

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

1 January 2016 The biggest change to the schools system in 50 years (p8) - Ministers are considering publishing a whitepaper that will formalise its plans to convert every remaining state school in the country into an academy.

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What did the Skills Minister's letter reveal?

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Wednesday 13 January 2016

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Every year, the Skills Minister writes to the Chief Executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), setting out the government's vision for skills funding priorities for the forthcoming funding year. It sets out in headline terms how 19+ funding will work from August 2016. One of the major changes to previous years is the appearance of a new budget line; the Adult Education Budget (or, because we love our Three Letter Acronyms, the AEB).

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Economic Forecast: Disruption ahead?

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 13 January 2016

David Grailey

6 short weeks ago, in the November 2015 Autumn Statement, George Osborne promised some respite from the anticipated cuts for the non-protected aspects of the Education and Skills sectors for the foreseeable future – with the caveat that these would depend upon growth in the UK economy. Following the terrible weather conditions at the beginning of the year, George Osborne recently set out his vision of equally turbulent economic conditions the UK economy will be facing in 2016. The crux of his argument was that the economy faces a series of challenges to continued growth, and we can infer that these challenges may threaten the levels of spending he has set out.

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