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Josh Mellor

@joshmellor.bsky.social
308 followers 726 following 112 posts

Senior reporter at FE Week. Covering all things FE - training, apprenticeships and further education. josh.mellor@feweek.co.uk. feweek.co.uk/author/joshmellor

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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
To address plummeting apprenticeship uptake in young people and by SMEs, govt is funding local 'brokerages' to push numbers back up, but the only criteria for getting this funding is whether the area has a combined authority run by a directly elected mayor. bsky.app/profile/fewe...
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
📚 The government will ‘rebirth’ funding for union learning advisers five years after it was cut by the Conservatives, chancellor John Healey has announced feweek.co.uk/healey-to-re...
feweek.co.uk
Healey to ‘rebirth’ union learning advisors five years after cuts
The government will 'rebirth' funding for union learning advisers five years after it was cut by the Conservatives, chancellor John Healey has announced.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Sadiq Khan, who has a £335m+ training budget for adults, is tightening ‘job outcome’ targets for the training businesses that get about £35m of this big pot each year.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
In 2024 Labour promised to link migration and skills policy by refusing skilled worker visas for jobs in sectors that lack clear plans for increasing the supply of domestic workers. The policy will finally be in place from January 2027. 🧵: feweek.co.uk/migration-ad...
feweek.co.uk
Migration advisers get tough on pleas for foreign labour
Committee tells ministers to block visas for two-thirds of proposed occupations
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
📉 Spending on English and maths training for adults has fallen by about 40 per cent since skills devolution, a think tank’s analysis has found feweek.co.uk/english-and-...
feweek.co.uk
English and maths spending fallen 40% since devolution, research finds
Spending on English and maths training for adults has fallen by about 40 per cent since skills devolution, a think tank’s analysis has found.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Up in Ben Houchen’s Tees Valley, contracts to pay for training for more than 700 unemployed people a month will be delayed for six months. Was it because he wanted to review the specs (as claimed), or was it caused by mid-procurement legal action from local training company Learning Curve?
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
One of the most interesting unanswered questions in this case for me, is what role the independent directors of the employee ownership trust had in governing this company. I’d love to speak to anyone who knows about EOTs, or who worked with or at Prevista in the years leading up to its closure.
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FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
⚠️ Money earmarked for adult education in Tees Valley will not be released for another six months as the region’s mayoral authority reruns a procurement feweek.co.uk/six-month-de...
feweek.co.uk
Six-month delay for Tees Valley adult education
Money earmarked for adult education in Tees Valley will not be released for another six months as the region’s mayoral authority reruns a procurement.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
By far the most convoluted web of ownership and liquidation at a training provider that I have covered.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Here's FE Week's handy list of key takeways from this year's VTQ results.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Subcontracting adult education at a few West Midlands colleges seemed very high this year, with one college planning to sub 95% of its £14m grant, way above the 25% target cap. This came out via an internal audit, which sees ASF subcontracting as high risk. bsky.app/profile/fewe...
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
📈 Mayors with new devolution deals are complaining that targets dictated by Whitehall are limiting their local flexibility, according to a report by the national spending watchdog. feweek.co.uk/whitehall-ta...
feweek.co.uk
Whitehall targets limit flex, mayors tell spending watchdog
Mayors with new devolution deals are complaining that targets dictated by Whitehall are limiting their local flexibility, says national spending watchdog.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Andy Burnham's final move on adult skills as mayor of Greater Manchester was to give further education colleges more per-learner money for training than independent training providers (mostly for-profit businesses). feweek.co.uk/colleges-fav...
feweek.co.uk
Colleges favoured as ITPs get less for adult skills in Greater Manchester
Independent sector seeks answers after mayoral authority ignores them in funding uplift
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Shane Chowen @ukshane.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Coming up in @feweek.bsky.social 0️⃣ Unions & colleges join warn DfE FE staff face possibility of 0% pay rise recommendation 🧑‍⚖️C&G bonuses: We examine the contradictory claims as another inquiry on the sale to PeopleCert is launched 🤝Unite drops dispute against PeopleCert after deal on redundancies
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Proof that the buzzword "hub" has now got out of control. 18 months ago the CITB said it will open 20 purpose-built skills "hubs" for construction training. In fact those 20 hubs won't be new anything, they'll be existing training providers paid £33k grant to train apprentices quickly.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Great local election coverage from the @walthamforestecho.bsky.social at the town hall in Waltham Forest: walthamforestecho.co.uk/2026/05/08/e...
walthamforestecho.co.uk
Election live: 'Ecstatic' Greens win first ever councillor
Counting has begun at Waltham Forest Assembly Hall, with results expected in the afternoon
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
The 'good governance' at charities and non-profits theme has been strong this month. This week FE Week looks at a training charity that plunged from healthy finances in 2022 to debts, dismissals and asset fire sales last year - & what happened when I called the boss? 📵 feweek.co.uk/regulator-pr...
feweek.co.uk
Regulator probes collapse of engineering trainer
The Charity Commission is assessing “governance and financial concerns” at a 60-year-old engineering training charity that closed abruptly last year.
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Shane Chowen @ukshane.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
🚨Members at City & Guilds Foundation have voted in favour of an independent inquiry into the sale of its commercial awarding and training arms Trustees will "consider" their next steps feweek.co.uk/city-guilds-...
feweek.co.uk
City & Guilds members vote in favour of independent inquiry
Members of the City & Guilds Foundation have voted for an independent inquiry into the sale of its awarding business, following pressure from an action group
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
19 new technical excellence colleges confirmed. Where will they be? What are they meant to do? Is the money capital or revenue? Answers in FE Week today:
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Adult education funding isn’t just for adults…
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Really interesting to work on this longer-form piece about the September Guarantee of a post-16 place for every 16 and 17 year old who doesn't have a plan for their next year of education. It looks at why councils can't say whether they organised a place for about 70-80k young people each year.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Ed sec responds to (very predictable) backlash about cuts to funding for college age students with promise that there’s ’more to come’
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FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
🏊‍♂️ A limited pool of awarding organisations will be eligible to deliver the first tranche of V Levels under rules tabled by Ofqual today feweek.co.uk/small-pool-of-awarding…
feweek.co.uk
'Small' pool of awarding bodies eligible for first V Levels - Ofqual
Exams regulator launches quick turnaround consultation for developing new qualifications
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Interesting to see the government’s response to Lincolnshire’s ESOL cutting policy. From @billycamden.bsky.social
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Interesting that NCG’s board signed off the now-Lord Doherty’s resignation and payment in lieu, alongside NDAs for staff, rather than deal with what seem to be legitimate misconduct allegations. Would more junior college staff benefit from the same sort of settlement if facing similar allegations?
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Shane Chowen @ukshane.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
🚨 Breaking: Former NCG CEO Joe Docherty, now Lord Docherty, has been suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he resigned from his college role after conducting sexual liaisons during working hours feweek.co.uk/joe-docherty...
feweek.co.uk
Joe Docherty: Labour peer quit college role over ‘inappropriate conduct’
The former education executive has been suspended by the party weeks after being sent to the House of Lords by Sir Keir Starmer
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FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
🎓 A £5 million degree level short course trial hit a fifth of its student recruitment target, an interim evaluation has found, raising further questions about demand for the upcoming lifelong learning entitlement feweek.co.uk/second-lle-short-cours…
feweek.co.uk
Second LLE short course trial falls short on recruitment
A £5 million degree level short course trial hit a fifth of its student recruitment target, an interim evaluation has found.
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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Keir Starmer has written to all Labour MPs attacking the Green Party for embracing "divisive" and "sectarian" politics I'm picking up concern among Labour MPs about how this letter will come across to people who have voted/are tempted to vote Green, as it could risk further alienating these voters
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
TLDR trial of American style studying of separate bits of degree courses had low uptake
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Jas Athwal leading the debate on value for money for students: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Labour MPs call for urgent action on 'unfair' student loans
MPs criticise
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Given the high NEET rates among 21-24 year olds, it is very curious that the youth guarantee (subsidised jobs, targeted local employment initiatives) doesn't cover that age group.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
In case you missed it yesterday, Greater Lincolnshire's Reform mayor (and her Reform/Conservative council leader supporters) have approved plans to cut off all funding for ESOL lessons from Aug 2027. Full story here: feweek.co.uk/fundamentall...
feweek.co.uk
‘Fundamentally wrong’: Greater Lincs approves ESOL cuts
Plans to cut funding for English language lessons to avoid alleged “segregation” have been approved in Greater Lincolnshire, amid concerns harm to integration
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FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
🗣️ Plans to cut funding for English language lessons to avoid alleged 'segregation' have been approved in Greater Lincolnshire, amid concerns about “serious harm” to local community integration. feweek.co.uk/fundamentally-wrong-gr…
feweek.co.uk
‘Fundamentally wrong’: Greater Lincs approves ESOL cuts
Plans to cut funding for English language lessons to avoid alleged “segregation” have been approved in Greater Lincolnshire, amid concerns harm to integration
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
House of Lords oral questions on prison education today didn’t leave me hopeful the prisons crisis will be sorted any time soon. Peers were clearly engaged, but the scrutiny only brushed the surface of the structural problems: overcrowding, staffing shortages, education cuts, long periods in cells
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 19/02/2026
The media management of this Andrew news… pre-shadowed by an unusually frank interview with the head of the CPS in the Sunday Times hinting there might be action… then BBC getting the story…
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
1/ Thread on questionable levels of transparency in the Department for Education’s financial policing of how the ~£10bn a year it distributes to colleges, training providers and others is monitored (and recovered when things go wrong).
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Is this a taste of Reform UK education policies? Should the taxpayer pay for non-English speakers to learn the language of the country they live in?
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Shane Chowen @ukshane.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
"Responding to the consultation, GLCCA noted that around half of consultation responses were from people “directly involved” in the sector, or experts and specialists, who are “more motivated” to raise concerns" feweek.co.uk/greater-linc...
feweek.co.uk
Greater Lincolnshire to cut ESOL from 2027, mayor confirms
Greater Lincolnshire’s mayor will press ahead with plans to scrap publicly funded ESOL courses, despite consultation responses opposing the move.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
NEW: All funding for ESOL courses in Greater Lincs to be cut from August 2027. Reform UK Mayor Jenkyns wants to redirect funding to more “inclusive” literacy courses for “native” Lincolnshire people, but some are concerned that cutting off the £1m in funding (out of a £15-18m budget) that
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Computer says go
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Stephen Evans @stephenevans.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Labour market stats not great. A worrying 1 in 7 18-24 year olds now unemployed. Retail & hospitality bearing the brunt, with 122k fewer people in payroll employment. Rising employer costs & flat economy taking a toll. But figures subject to revision. Last months 43k PAYE drop now revised to 2k.
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FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
👋 Basingstoke College of Technology principal Anthony Bravo retired on Monday, leaving the college under interim leadership in the middle of the academic year feweek.co.uk/bcot-princip...
feweek.co.uk
BCoT principal Anthony Bravo suddenly retires
Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT) principal Anthony Bravo retired on Monday (Febuary 9), leaving the college under interim leadership mid-year
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
ICYMI: my look into Mayor of London’s flagship adult education training scheme over the last five years. TLDR: offering £400 cash to training businesses if they get adult learners into jobs didn’t work very well because it wasn’t enough for the paperwork required.
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FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
🆕 Ahead of National Apprenticeship Week, the government says it can slash the time it takes to update apprenticeship standards to as little as three months feweek.co.uk/ministers-to...
feweek.co.uk
Ministers to slash update approval times for some apprenticeships
DWP said accelerated processes could cut approval times from 18 to three months
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
It's a shame that the London Mayor and GLA have been so secretive about the impact of their £16m "skills academies" programme that aimed to train adults for jobs in key sectors. Evaluations gathered dust for years and basic KPIs have never been published.
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Shane Chowen @ukshane.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Oh dear. Last week DWP secretary of state McFadden claimed 60+ employers had "committed" to providing jobs for NEET young people through the flagship jobs guarantee scheme Today we learned there was no "commitment" ... just an "interest" feweek.co.uk/mcfadden-ove...
feweek.co.uk
McFadden over-stated employer interest in jobs guarantee
Work and pensions secretary backtracks on claim 60+ employers already 'committed' jobs for NEET young people
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Shane Chowen @ukshane.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Rough week for UCU's Jo Grady next week: Tuesday: Defending accusations of election rule breaches: feweek.co.uk/watchdog-to-... Thursday: Her own staff go on strike (again): feweek.co.uk/ucu-staff-to...
feweek.co.uk
Watchdog to hear claims Jo Grady broke UCU election rules
The general secretary narrowly won the 2024 ballot by 182 votes
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
One of the more convoluted and bizarre FE stories I've covered, involving an insolvent training provider group, its owner (a full time wood scientist in the Argentine government), and his CEO brother's £20m+ collection of London properties. feweek.co.uk/jewellery-ac...
feweek.co.uk
Jewellery academy returns to old owner in cut-price deal
An overseas businessman whose adult education provider went bust has bought a subsidiary jewellery academy back from administrators in a cut-price deal.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Further developments in the City & Guilds sale controversy: the awarding body’s new owner has launched an internal investigation into the CEO and finance director of the business it has just acquired. feweek.co.uk/peoplecert-o...
feweek.co.uk
PeopleCert opens investigation into 'conduct' of City & Guilds execs
City & Guilds’ new owner PeopleCert has launched its own investigation into the conduct of the awarding giant’s top executives, FE Week has learned.
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Josh Mellor @joshmellor.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
This LinkedIn post by West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin is brilliant. Surely made by AI.
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