Ahead of the Assocation of Employment and Learning Providers’ (AELP) annual conference next week, chief executive Mark Dawe writes in this week’s TES Further that it is the smaller companies - not the larger ones - that the government needs to focus on in order to make the apprenticeship levy a success (article free for subscribers). You might be able to find a Boots in Bridlington, but for the vast majority of young people across the country a local apprenticeship opportunity is only going to be available at small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “We need to keep SMEs (non-levy payers) engaged if the reforms are to be a success,” he writes.

GCSE resits special investigation

In this week’s TES Further we also have a special investigation into this year’s GCSE resits. Julia Belgutay reveals that the number of GCSE English and maths resits in colleges has topped 200,000 for the first time this summer, with entries rocketing up by 40 per cent from last year. Overall, there were 235,400 entries for GCSE English and maths in colleges - up from 166,570 last year, according to figures compiled for TES by the Association of Colleges.

The mammoth task faced by colleges in accommodating these resits is perhaps no more evident than at City College Norwich. FE editor Stephen Exley went behind the scenes on one of the exam days to see its students being taken to the nearby Norfolk Showground on double-decker buses. The venue, more accustomed to hosting fairs and agricultural trade shows, was the only space big enough to accommodate the number of students taking exams. From transporting the students to recruiting invigilators, the operation cost the college around £50,000.

In his editorial, Stephen writes that it wasn’t until he saw the queue of double-deckers lined up at the college that he began to take stock of the sheer scale of what is being asked of FE providers around the country. Colleges are being expected to unravel and correct literacy and numeracy problems - in just one year - that schools have previously failed to resolve over 11. “While it seems churlish to apportion blame, it is indisputable that the lion’s share must lie with schools,” he writes.

FErret

This week, FErret tries to gets his head around how much impact public consultations have during a college merger (article free for subscribers). Not a great deal, it seems. In the case of the merger between Nottingham’s two colleges - New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham - the consultation process received a measly 241 responses (this for a decision that will have massive implications for the future of FE in the city). It could have been worse, though: the consultation on plans to merge Somerset College and Bridgwater College attracted a spectacular 32 responses. Quite the turnout.

The holy grail of FE

Dan Williams, an FE practitioner in the Midlands, attempts to locate the holy grail of FE: the truth about how students learn (article free for subscribers). From intuition and experience, to CPD sessions, articles and education journals, Dan takes us through a mass of competing claims to find out what actually works - and what can be used to better your classroom practice.

Stress-free FE

Stuart Rimmer, chief executive of Great Yarmouth College, is a firm believer that staff happiness is key in FE (article free for subscribers). According to the Health and Safety Executive, stress cost the economy nearly 10 million working days last year, while a University and College Union survey found that nine out of 10 members thought that their jobs were stressful. With many FE staff members facing the high levels of pressure and job insecurity that come with college mergers, he writes, the time is right to redouble efforts to protect staff wellbeing.

Who you gonna call?

TES Further’s resident reverend, Kate Bottley, is excited about seeing the new Ghostbusters movie. Although she admits she is not entirely convinced by the existence of ghosts, she was visited by one of her own recently - a former pupil, who had retaken his GCSEs after failing them the first time. Many FE learners have done the same thing (article free for subscribers), she says, and this summer she hopes that their past failures can be laid to rest, and never haunt them again. 

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

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