A safeguarding judgement can now move a college from an inspection report to government intervention in one step. That happened for the first time this week under Ofsted's new framework. It wasn't the only story that came down to records, oversight and whether the system can prove what happened. Safeguarding is a culture, not a folder TEC Partnership became the first college group to receive a safeguarding judgement of "not met", which triggers Department for Education intervention. Ofsted...

A new technical route is supposed to open for young people from the age of 14. They could combine English, maths and science with practical learning, employer projects and work experience shaped around local jobs. It is a bold promise. The awkward bit is that nobody has yet explained who will teach it, what qualifications sit inside it or how colleges will be funded to take part. [GOV.UK] [FE Week] The promise is clear. The delivery isn't The government wants mayors, councils, schools,...

Stop changing the apprenticeship system until we know whether the last changes worked. That is the blunt message from Parliament's Work and Pensions Committee this week. Its report on youth employment says policy is pulling in different directions while more than one million young people across the UK are not in education, employment or training. [UK Parliament] A system that won't sit still The committee supports the aim of giving young people a bigger share of apprenticeship...