We met with the minister again this week to talk about the covid mitigation arrangements for VTQs. It is disappointing to find that once again, the minister is not budging on her position that FSQs have to be taken as an exam. I took the opportunity to point out that we have now entered a dangerous new phase in a public health emergency; the Chief Medical Officer has asked all of us to behave as if we have the virus and to stay home; that AELP members made extraordinary efforts to adapt to the

A new year which was supposed to start with the publication of the FE white paper has turned out to be another dark week for a sector doing its best to support learners, unemployed people and struggling employers. Before I start on this week’s events, let me first congratulate Nicki Hay, Sharron Robbie and Sue Tipton for their thoroughly deserved MBEs in the New Year’s Honours list. AELP’s full reaction is here: AELP congratulates 3 members of the Apprenticeships and Skills sector for their

With so much going on at the moment in what are unique times, it can be difficult to keep track with all that is happening in the sector, especially for providers who are wrestling with the day job to keep delivering high quality training to their employers and learners. Aside from apprenticeships which get a significant amount of airtime, there is also so much going on in the qualification space which will impact both young learners on Study Programmes and adult learners on Adult Education

This will be the last Countdown of 2020 and it gives me the opportunity to reflect on the most challenging year that many of us will remember. Make no mistake; there are many civil servants who have worked flat-out since March to support employers and providers to give the best possible chance for young people and adults to come out of the pandemic unscathed. They understand that this can’t be done without the contribution made on the ground by independent training providers who engage

My predecessor and I have different styles of leadership but in weeks like this, I sometimes feel I am morphing into a female version of Mark Dawe! I am of course referring to the enormous frustration about the government’s continued refusal to agree to a solution on functional skills testing. The same level of frustration is evident in the daily emails which I receive from AELP members who are dealing with angry employers and very depressed apprentices whose career progression has been

As I write this, I am recovering from a nasty bug although I have been tested negative for the virus. The sea air of Penarth is obviously not doing its job properly and I have definitely had better weeks. So Paul Warner had to step in and deliver my speech to the Apprenticeships Conference on Thursday before the keynote addresses by Peter Mucklow and Jennifer Coupland. Our chairman, Martin Dunford, also led for AELP in one of our catch-up calls with Kate Green and Toby Perkins of the shadow