Skills England launches Level 4 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation Practitioner Apprenticeship

A new apprenticeship will help businesses and their workforce to reap maximum benefit from incredible new and emerging AI technology.  Skills England worked with employers…

MPs ‘deeply alarmed’ by Grok AI images, says Education Committee Chair

MPs are “deeply alarmed” by recent reports of the Grok AI chatbot being used to create undressed and sexualised images of women and children, the…

What Could V Levels Take From The T Level Experience?

It’s very early days for V Levels and there is much to absorb and understanding from the announcements of yesterday. The launch of T Levels…

ONS Labour Market October 2025: 75.1% Employment Rate and Vacancy Numbers Fall For the 39th Consecutive Period

The latest Office for National Statistics Labour Market Information was released today for the period of June to September 2025. Employment Rate, Unemployment Rate and…

Prime Minister To Transform Further and Higher Education and Invest Nearly £800M Extra Funding For 16–19 Year Olds Next Year

Young people across the UK are set to gain the cutting-edge skills needed to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce, as the Prime Minister today announced a…

DHSC Has Agreed Mitigation Funding, For Level 7 Apprenticeships In Five Health Professions

The Department of Health & Social Care has agreed funding, over three financial years, to supportLevel 7 Apprenticeships in 5 health professions. These are: Ring-fenced…

New Transport Committee Inquiry Examines Critical Skills Needs In UK Transport Manufacturing

Transport Committee launches new inquiry on how to build a thriving transport manufacturing sector A new parliamentary inquiry has launched to tackle the skills crisis…

Why AI Agents and Frontier Firms Mean We Need An Urgent Rethink on Skills and Assessment

We live in interesting times! Personally, this is one of the most exciting times in history that we are living, working and facilitating learning and…

Where is the Interdisciplinary and Intersectionality Skills Plan for Change?

I was asked by Ben Smith to give a talk at the AO Forum in London this week. Ben was great as he gave me…

Empowering FE Learning

Welcome to Episode 1 of Empowering FE Learning. This is a brand-new live stream season, in partnership with Hachette Learning. This is a five-part live…

Sector Reaction to the Spring Statement 2025

The Chancellor gave her Spring Statement today and referenced two major announcements from the past two weeks on £600M for Construction Skills and the Welfare…

£600 Million Construction Training Funding Package To Train 60,000 More Construction Workers

Up to 60,000 more specialist Construction workers will be trained by 2029 to tackle Construction Skills shortages. £100 million of new investment to fund 10…

Curriculum and Assessment Review Interim Report - Sector Reaction

The Interim Curriculum and Assessment Review Report has been released. Last year the government launched a Review of the curriculum and assessment system, led by Professor Becky…

Scottish Graduate Visa proposed

First Minister outlines plans to help grow Scotland’s economy. A dedicated visa for international graduates from Scottish universities or colleges who want to stay in…

ONS Labour Market Data: Vacancies continue to fall indicating a cooling jobs market. Employment rate is 74.8%

The latest ONS Labour Market Information has just been released. Top note figures indicate: Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK decreased by 32,000 (0.1%)…

DfE reveal more detail on how £300M funding from Autumn budget can be utilised

The Autumn Budget provided an additional £300m revenue funding for further education for financial year 2025 to 2026 to ensure young people are developing the…

New Year Honours list 2025 for FE, Skills and Training

More than 1,200 recipients receive honours this year across all sectors, with particular commendation to role models in sport, healthcare, academia and voluntary service. Prime…

ONS Labour Market Figures for Dec 24: 74.9% Employment rate and 137,000 fewer vacancies than a year ago

The latest ONS Labour Market figures have been released today. The UK employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 74.9%…

Education and Business Secretaries Meet with Business Leaders to Discuss Skills Reform and Growth Plan

The government will enlist the help of business to help it develop skills opportunities to meet the government’s mission to kickstart economic growth under the Plan…

What Will The new Devolution White Paper Mean for Local Skills and Jobs?

Deputy PM Angela Rayner launched the new Devolution White Paper today. Significant plans to make devolution the default setting across a range of government policy…

Captiva Learning Appoints Robert Halfon as Chairperson to Advance Apprenticeships in Education

Captiva Learning, a leader in skills development and apprenticeships, is proud to announce the appointment of Robert Halfon, former MP and Chair of the Education…

Rob Nitsch discusses Collaboration and Professionalisation at FAB2024

We catch up with Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB), Chief Executive, Rob Nitsch at the FAB Annual conference. Rob discusses the importance of collaboration as…

Unlocking Opportunities - Ep1 - Labour's first 100 days in office

Welcome to Episode 1 of Unlocking Opportunities, a new livestream season in partnership with FE News and NCFE. Episode 1 is exploring Labour’s first 100…

University tuition fees to rise in England next year

The government has today (Monday 4 November) unveiled a significant package of measures to support students and stabilise the university sector.   Students facing cost of…

Children's Commissioner launches university support handbook for care leavers

The Children’s Commissioner has launched a handbook full of tips and practical solutions to improve the experience of moving into higher education for young people…

ONS Labour Market Stats for October 2024. Economic Activity numbers double the number of people who are unemployed

Office for National Statistics released their latest Labour Market stats today (15th October 2024), top level figures are: The UK employment rate (for people aged…

The Government launches the first Industrial Strategy in seven years

The next generation of British industry has been fired-up and readied to reignite our industrial heartlands and kickstart economic growth, as the Government launches the…

Tesla's Optimus Robot: How Could it Reshape The Future of Work and Skills?

10th October 2024 was a big day. Not only was it the FE + Skills Collective, Elon Musk had a cool event as well, called…

FE +Skills Collective Reflective- Bridging Policy and Pedagogy

Yesterday, 10th October 2024, was one of those days when you realise… yep, this is why I do what I do. The FE + Skills…

IfATE bill paves the way for Skills England

Today, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill was introduced in the House of Lords. This Bill will transfer the…

Amy Ogan from Carnegie Mello University discusses AI and Lifelong Learning

Amy Ogan, Associate Professor from Carnegie Mello University discusses AI and Lifelong Learning at GLLS2024 in Singapore. Amy discusses AI, Lifelong Learning and Pedagogy, the…

Renee Tan from Institute for Adult Learning Singapore, discusses AI, Work Based Learning and Rethinking Assessment

We catch up with Associate Professor Renee Tan, Director of the Research Division at the Institute for Adult Learning Singapore at the GLLS2024 conference. Renee…

Unesco's Daniel Baril on the importance of Training AI and the Crucial Role of Lifelong Learning

Daniel Baril from ICEA and Unesco Governing Board discusses transforming from Digital Divide to Digital Dividends at the Global Lifelong Learning Summit in Singapore. He…

Tan Kok Yam Chief Executive at SkillsFuture SG, discusses AI and LifeLong Learning at GLLS2024

Tan Kok Yam Chief Executive at SkillsFuture SG shares an update on the latest developments in lifelong learning in Singapore, particularly for mid career learners.Tan…

OECD's Glenda Quintini discusses AI Literacy and Productivity at GLLS2024

Glenda Quintini, Head of Skills and Future Readiness Division at the OECD discusses AI and Lifelong learning at the Global Lifelong Learning Summit in Singapore.…

Columbia's Isabel Segovia Ospina discusses turning Digital Divides into Digital dividends in Bogota

Isabel Segovia Ospina is the Secretary of Education in Bogotá, Columbia. Isabel discusses transforming Digital Divides into Digital dividends at the Global Lifelong Learning Summit…

Professor Fredrik Heintz of Linkpoing University discusses Neuro Symbolic AI at GLLS2024

Professor Fredrik Heintz of Linkpoing University discusses Neuro Symbolic AI at GLLS24. Fredrik discusses AI and Lifelong Learning at the Global LifeLong learning Summit in…

Keir Starmer announces new Foundation Apprenticeship at the Labour Party Conference

New foundation apprenticeships announced by the Prime Minister Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced new Apprenticeship reforms at the Labour Party Conference. With new…

GCSE and VTQ Level 1 and 2 Results Day. Significant Rise in English and Maths GCSE entries for Older Students.

JCQ publishes GCSE and Level 1 and 2 Vocational and Technical Qualification results for biggest ever assessment series with 6.5 million results issued. DfE highlighted…

Katerina and Gavin discuss how you can make a difference at the FE and Skills Collective

Dr Katerina Kolyva, CEO of Education and Training Foundation and Gavin O’Meara, CEO of FE News discuss the upcoming FE + Skills Collective. What they…

Bridget Phillipson is confirmed as the new Secretary of State for Education - Sector Reaction

Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister has begun to announce his cabinet after the Labour Party’s Landslide General Election victory last night. The strap line…

General Election: Labour have won a landslide victory. What does this mean for FE & Skills?

The Labour party has had a Landslide Victory in the General Election. The Labour Party needed to secure 326 seats in the General Election to…

ONS Labour Market data June 24: Unemployment highest for 2 years and Economic inactive rate is at 22.3%. Sector Reaction

The ONS Labour Market data has been released for June 2024. With more than a fifth of working-age adults (22.3%) in the UK are not…