Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, writes that more sixth-from colleges should consider sponsoring academies and forming their own multi-academy trusts (article free for subscribers). He says that colleges have what it takes to raise standards in a “self-improving” system.

Quite understandably many colleges have significant and understandable reservations. There are risks and rewards to every decision, Watkin writes, but in the case of sponsoring an academy, be believes that the advantages - such as the ability to learn from a new relationship, share resources, and alleviate recruitment and retention difficulties - are plain to see.

Exclusive: Disability jobs gap

In an exclusive report, TES reporter Julia Belgutay reveals that the government’s pledge to halve the disability employment gap and help more than 1 million extra people with disabilities into work will take more than 200 years at the current rate of progress. The £500 million in funding allocated for the Work and Health Programme - the policy designed to tackle the problem - is “far too low to make inroads into the disability employment gap”, research by the Learning and Work Institute concludes. The data also reveals that the employment rate between people with a disability and the rest of the population is wider in the UK than in the majority of European countries.

This will be one of the issues being discussed at the IntoWork Convention in Birmingham, which starts on Monday. TES is media partner for the event, so you may well see us there!

Vocational graduation ceremonies: yay or nay?

This week, TES columnist Sarah Simons finds herself attending an apprenticeship graduation ceremony. These ceremonies are becoming increasingly popular, she writes, but not everyone’s convinced they are a positive development. Tracey Waterfield, an apprenticeship hub manager at Leicester City Council, says that it is important to put a learner in a cap and gown in order to get that parity of esteem and recognition. But Jayne Stigger, an interim FE manager, says that vocational education is different (but equal) to academic routes. So why should apprentices follow the tradition of their academic peers?

FErret

This week, FErret has taken a keen interest in Tory post-referendum treachery (article free for subscribers) - particularly the Machiavellian machinations of FE’s very own Nick Boles. FErret pondes whether the skills minister may be playing a very savvy political game, switching sides continuously to give himself the best possible chance of landing a more high-profile job (although given that his latest pick, Michael Gove, is now out of the reckoning, perhaps not...)

Apprenticeship levy ‘isn’t going to deliver for businesses’

Stephen Jones, a lecturer at a further education college in London, casts a wry eye over the practice of learning walks (article free for subscribers) and points out why even one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays struggles to tick all the boxes.

Meanwhile, Neil Carberry, director for employment and skills at the CBI, takes aim at the apprenticeship levy (article free for subscribers). He writes that, without a radical rethink, the apprenticeship levy isn’t going to deliver for businesses. The incentives for firms “just don’t work”, he says, and this imbalance is encouraging companies to view the levy as a tax, not as a skills system.

The resident reverend

Meanwhile, Reverend Kate Bottley has been troubled by her students’ lack of meaningful political engagement (article free for subscribers) during the European Union referendum, ranging from high levels of apathy to low levels of political literacy. We need to inspire students to engage, she writes - not just at the ballot box but in independent thought, too.

All this and much, much more in this week’s TES Further.

FE SPECIAL OFFER: click here to try out a TES Further Education subscription for just £1 for four weeks.

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES FE News on Twitter, like us on Facebook and follow us on LinkedIn