The FE Week Podcast

Come and inspect the inspectorate with The FE Week Podcast!

Education journalist Jess Staufenberg speaks to former inspectors, current HMIs, FE providers and staff about the role and relationship of Ofsted in FE.

What is its history in the sector?

How does Ofsted improve FE?

What could be improved about Ofsted?

After travelling thousands of miles, facing extremely dangerous situations, often stuck in legal limbo – refugee and asylum-seeking students arrive in the classroom.

What are the stories they bring with them?

What systems are they facing here?

And how can FE unleash their skills and experience?

Join education journalist Jess Staufenberg as she speaks to students and the staff working with them, from all over the world.

After travelling thousands of miles, facing extremely dangerous situations, often stuck in legal limbo – refugee and asylum-seeking students arrive in the classroom.

What are the stories they bring with them?

What systems are they facing here?

And how can FE unleash their skills and experience?

Join education journalist Jess Staufenberg as she speaks to students and the staff working with them, from all over the world.

Is device use seriously negatively affecting student learning?

How can devices be used well?

And what is the situation with device poverty?

Tune in to the third podcast with investigative journalist Jess Staufenberg as she chats to psychologists, staff and students on the frontline as they spill the beans and shine a light on this big, under-discussed topic in FE.

In this episode, Jess explores disability, as an important identity to both staff and students in FE, ahead of the long-awaited SEND review.

Are staff struggling to make ends meet? Are they on unstable contracts?

In the first of a new investigative series, journalist Jess Staufenberg takes a closer look at the state of pay in further education - where staff get on average £9,000 less than their colleagues in schools.

Frontline lecturers, HR managers, college principals, the sector's union and membership association all join Jess to discuss this red-hot topic, as living costs keep climbing.

In this episode, Shane is joined by deputy news editor Billy, commissioning editor Jess, and senior reporter Fraser to discuss their top story picks from the last year.

We wish you a merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

In this bonus episode, FE staff on the frontline put their tough and tricky classroom scenarios to two behaviour management experts.

How can a lecturer deal with a student who persistently turns up late to lessons?

How to be sympathetic - but not ruin the rest of the class' experience - to a student's difficult home circumstances?

And how can staff ensure they don't take particular 'assumptions' into the classroom with them?

Answering the questions are Tom Bennett, lead DfE behaviour adviser and Jayne Lowe, former headteacher of a pupil referral unit and behaviour consultant - with host Shane giving the staff in the podcast the chance to return their own thoughts afterwards.

In this episode, Shane is joined by Mary Curnock Cook, chair of Pearson and former chief executive at UCAS, Eddie Playfair at the Association of Colleges and Asfa Sohail, principal at Lewisham College.

Are adult training reforms happening fast enough?

Are universities struggling to deliver degree apprenticeships?

And with a new shadow education secretary, what next for Labour's skills policy?

This week Shane is joined by three guests, to cover three particularly interesting topics: Ed Reza Schwitzer, former DfE civil servant, Sue Pember, adult education guru, and Catherine Sezen at the Association of Colleges.

Has the government got it right with its plans to involve universities more in student outcomes?

How can the sector drive up adult participation in further education?

And why did Ofsted get into a row with a mayoral combined authority?