Three FE colleges have won a share of an £80 million government fund to increase defence-related education places and improved facilities.

The Treasury is “actively looking into” a controversial freeze to free meals funding for college students, while ministers are continuing to review FE’s long-running VAT dispute without committing to a decision timetable.

Applications have opened for organisations to deliver the government’s national jobs guarantee, with ministers expecting the scheme to support more than 90,000 long-term unemployed young people across Great Britain.

An innovative employment support pilot spanning Medway to Merseyside has shown promise reaching social housing residents who are out of work but do not typically access mainstream support.

Population pressures, staffing challenges and overcrowding have undermined staff and prisoner safety and the effectiveness of rehabilitation across the prison estate in England and Wales, the Welsh Affairs Committeewarns in a report published today.

A construction skills quango has launched an “accelerated apprenticeships” grant programme that will fund its network of 20 training “hubs” first promised in late 2024.