Bids have opened for an eight-figure pot of government cash to boost delivery of level 4 and 5 higher technical qualifications. The Department for Education today opened the applications for the £32 million Higher Technical Education Skills Injection Fund, which is to be used for investing in equipment and resources for providers delivering approved higher technical courses. To read the article click here

What does QAA walking away from being designated quality body mean for universities? David Kernohan of Wonkhe tries to make sense of it all.

The reasoning is straightforward – the work that QAA does in England, on behalf of the OfS, is no longer compliant with recognised quality standards – namely the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) as monitored by the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

For this reason, the QAA registration with EQAR was recently suspended – a decision that highlights international concerns about procedures in England, but has an impact in the many other nations (including Scotland and Wales) where QAA needs that EQAR registration in order to fulfil a statutory quality assurance role. To read the Wonkhe Blog click here

Analysis shows a steady growth in the awarding of higher degree classifications, especially first class degrees, at universities and colleges. This effect was established before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has led to concerns that degrees have lost their value over time. This Insight brief looks at the evidence for this, and at what universities and the Office for Students are doing and plan to do to address the implications for future cohorts of students. The brief does not constitute regulatory advice, but summarises the issue and the actions related to it. To read the posting click here

Suggestions that training spend should be limited to those with the lowest qualifications are misguided, writes Mandy Crawford-Lee

In the past couple of months, there has been some very useful analysis out from the Learning and Work Institute (LWI). This includes one of its most recent reports called ‘Raising the Bar’, on the lack of employer investment in skills. To read the article click here