Blog posts for tag:apprenticeships

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Policy Corner - 21 May 2015

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Thursday 21 May 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

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.

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Vocational education following the general election

By , Tuesday 19 May 2015

The big news of the past month has of course been the General Election – the surprising outcome of which is continuing to be a hot topic of discussion. I’m sure you’ll agree that a majority Conservative government – and the resulting potential impact on the FE sector – was not what most of us were expecting, whatever your political views. The full details of the Conservatives’ spending plans will be outlined in a spending review, expected to take place in June. However, we’re likely to see further cuts to adult skills funding, which will continue to have a significant impact on our sector. The loss of Liberal Democrat Vince Cable – a key ally as a champion of FE – is a particularly significant blow. Despite the inevitable cuts, we’ve retained funding for many of our important qualifications, and we’re delighted that so many of you have told us that you want to retain or grow this provision.

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An update on adult skills funding in 2015-16

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 22 April 2015

David Grailey

The cuts to funding for adult skills in 2015-16 have been widely documented in the last month as the Association of Colleges warns that up to 190,000 adult education places will be lost next year. However, the government has stated that although overall funding is being cut, high quality apprenticeships and English and maths are being prioritised to ensure that learners are literate and numerate, with vocational qualifications of prestige.  At NCFE, we have been working hard to ensure that our popular and valued vocational qualifications have their funding protected and we’re pleased to say that we now have almost 100 funded qualifications available for 15-16 with further qualifications pending approval. These qualifications include courses within Health and Social Care such as Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of Dementia Care, Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of the Prevention and Control of Infection in Health Care Settings, as well as substantial qualifications such as Level 1, 2 and 3 Diplomas in Entry to the Uniformed Services and many more.

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Consumers trust employers delivering Apprenticeships

By , Thursday 26 March 2015

Apprenticeships is the topic on everyone’s lips at the moment, with cross-party pledges to increase the number of young people undertaking Apprenticeships following the General Election, and a successful Apprenticeship Week highlighting the benefits of the scheme to businesses, educational institutions and learners. The evidence supporting Apprenticeships as a viable education path to take continues to grow, as research has shown customers favour businesses with Apprentices over those who don’t use Apprenticeship schemes at all.

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Apprenticeships - the week that was

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Tuesday 17 March 2015

David Grailey

Last week we celebrated the eighth National Apprenticeship Week, which saw more than 600 events held across the country, shining a national media spotlight on Apprenticeships; a spotlight which was only intensified by the build up to the general election. With a year of change behind us and a great deal of uncertainty still ahead in terms of the future for Apprenticeships, the week provided a welcomed opportunity to take stock and appreciate the true value that Apprenticeships have on the lives of learners, businesses and our economy. Co-ordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service, the week aims to help inspire more young people to become apprentices, whilst encouraging business to unlock the potential of Apprenticeships.

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National Apprenticeship Week 2015

By Marcus Ridley, Communications Assistant, Monday 09 March 2015

Marcus Blog

At NCFE, we see first-hand the benefits Apprenticeships bring to lives of learners, and the opportunities they offer to young people looking to succeed in the workplace. It’s our hope that this week’s spotlight on Apprenticeships will help inspire more young people to achieve their potential through work based training. What’s more, it should help encourage more business to take on apprentices by providing them with a greater understanding of the value that Apprenticeships can bring to their organisation.  

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Policy Corner - March 2015

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Sunday 08 March 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Government scraps ‘deterrent’ apprentice rule (p1) – the government has ‘scrapped’ the rule that requires Apprentices to re-sit any English & maths GCSEs they sat more than 5 years before the Apprenticeship start date. The “Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) confirmed it had removed the rule — in place since 2009 — from the latest version of the specification of apprenticeship standards for England (SASE), but individual frameworks will need to be amended to reflect the change.”

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Reflections on the Autumn Statement

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Thursday 29 January 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

The key piece of political theatre this quarter was the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. This now annual event outlines the government’s spending plans for the remainder of this parliament, and gives us the best indication of their plans following the 7 May election next year. Due to a combination of lower than expected income tax receipts (due to the increase in low quality and zero hours contracts), an increase in the National Insurance thresholds, low oil and gas revenues and corporate tax avoidance, the treasury has less money than it planned for at this point in the parliament.

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Policy Corner - 29 January 2015

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Wednesday 28 January 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Apprenticeship reforms ‘not in long grass’ — Boles (p3) – The Skills Minister is under pressure as it was confirmed this week the government has gone back to the drawing board with plans to route apprenticeship funding through employers. Boles has had a tough week, he was in front of the Education Select Committee following the publication for the government’s plans for Apprenticeship funding, where he admitted that time was running out for the funding reforms, and that any announcement might be delayed until after the General Election (which, as you all should know by now, is 7 May).

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Policy Corner - 14 January 2015

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Wednesday 14 January 2015

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Government say less is more as qualifications fall (47) – the overall number of qualifications being awarded has fallen by 7%, linked to cuts to funding for qualifications that the government said did not offer ‘quality education.’ 654,100 fewer vocational qualifications were awarded in 2013-14 than in 2012-13, and there was a drop of 10.7% of adults undertaking Further Education, with the government stating that "we feel the rigour and relevance of vocational qualifications is more important than numbers [achieved] alone." The government wish to focus on those qualifications 'which deliver most benefit to learners and are of the most value to employers.’

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