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How training can help you develop the skills for survival

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Investing in staff training might not be top of the agenda for businesses struggling to survive the recession, but perhaps it should be. Research shows that firms which cut out training are two and a half times more likely to fail than those that don't. After all, it's competent, committed staff who enable companies to secure a competitive edge.

John Bingham: 'Governors are having more impact and reporting greater job satisfaction than before'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Often, people who are thinking about becoming a college governor spend little time considering how the institutions work and are directed before they decide to join a board. Most become governors because they want to put something back in to their community. They possess knowledge or skills that will benefit staff and the students they serve, and quite understandably they don't focus their thoughts too much on the intricacies of further education and the instruments and articles of governance.

Recipe for a great career: How college gave one man the ingredients to succeed in the restaurant business

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Restaurateur James Thomson didn't like school. Much of his time was spent looking out of the windows at the old buildings of Edinburgh, fantasising about their history and the people who had lived there. What Thomson did like was working. Aged 12, he became a dishwasher at Crawford's tearooms on North Bridge. "My grandmother had a cashier job there, and they were always short of dishwashers, so I was called in. I loved the theatre of the place – they served morning coffee, lunches and high tea, and had old-fashioned cake stands and waitresses who all mothered me and gave me strawberry tarts to eat. I also helped the chef. I loved things like the smell of the coffee and cheeses, and the whole ambience of the place."

A-Z of Courses: Glass-blowing

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

New chapter: How college are helping to change people's lives

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With college alumni ranging from Baroness Boothroyd, the former Speaker of the House of Commons, to the author and academic Andrea Ashworth, the prevailing myth that colleges don't cater for the academically gifted is not a little surprising. But that's the thing with UK colleges – the sector appears to be burdened by outdated stereotypes.

Rise to the challenge: Stand out from the crowded jobs market with a Masters in business management

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With one in 10 of this summer's graduates expected to be unemployed six months after leaving university – a sharp rise on previous years – applications for postgraduate courses have jumped. It seems that recent graduates, frustrated by the toughest jobs market in more than a decade, are taking to heart recent findings from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showing that holders of postgraduate degrees are likely to get higher paid and better jobs than those with only one degree.

A clearer future: Why sustainability graduates are in hot demand

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It's not a word you would have seen in course titles 10 years ago, but Masters courses in sustainability have been popping up in many universities and business schools over the past few years. One of the first was at the Centre for Research Into Sustainability at Royal Holloway, University of London, which offers an MSc in sustainability and management. The course, taught between the management and geography departments, was first offered in 2004.

With distance learning, not being in the same country as your university isn't a problem

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Bought anything on eBay recently? A flight booked online, perhaps? Or maybe surfed around looking at insurance premiums? We do so much of our own business online these days that it's hardly a revolutionary idea to learn about business via the internet. That explains the healthy supply of online and distance-learning postgraduate courses in the field of business education. The Association of Business Schools (ABS) lists higher-education institutions offering one or other model of distance learning, leading to a management-related Masters.

Degrees of comfort: Where to find smaller classes and caring lecturers

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Vicky Payne, 21, quit university after one year. It wasn't that she had struggled academically or made no friends. She just felt held back – something that completely changed when she started the same degree in hospitality management at Westminster Kingsway College.

John Bingham: 'This reform will improve the support that governors need'

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

People who are thinking about becoming a college governor often spend little time considering how the institutions work and how they are directed before deciding to join. Most become a governor because they want to put something back into their community – they possess knowledge or skills which they know will be of benefit to staff and the students they serve – and understandably they don't focus their thoughts too much on the intricacies of further education and the instruments and articles of governance.

The joy of studying without moving

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

What should a business do in a recession: make people redundant or invest money in training staff? According to training provider MOL, British businesses are choosing the latter option, while students are attracted by newer, more flexible ways of learning.

Instead of going on holiday stay in a Gothic mansion and study

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Holidays are usually defined narrowly as an escape from work, but, an increasing number of people are seeking something constructive to do in their free time and signing up for a residential course instead of a lazy beach break, according to the Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA).

Master the job market: Give your career an edge with further qualifications

Wed, 20 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Whether training for a specific career, indulging in academic research, or simply sitting tight to avoid the fierce graduate recruitment market, more and more university leavers are choosing to extend their studies. The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (Hecsu) expects that of the near 300,000 students who graduate this summer, 30 per cent will enrol on a postgraduate course – an extra 30,000 students on the recent average.

Forget agricultural training - today's trendy subjects are horticulture and pets

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Its name may not roll off the tongue easily but medicinal horticulture is the course to be on since the BBC began its series Grow Your Own Drugs this year.

A-Z of courses: Farriery

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Formula for fun: Salford City College takes a lighter approach to attract young scientists

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It's a question that has business, industry, educationalists and politicians scratching their heads: why isn't the UK producing more maths, science and engineering graduates? Not enough students are studying these key disciplines at university, A-level and GCSE, with young people consistently being turned off by poor teaching, dull classrooms and the common misconception that these are difficult subjects leading to "geeky" professions.

Radio Ga Ga: Students air their views on the airwaves

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

When Sheffield City College decided to trial its own radio station earlier this year, it quickly became a magnet for students. "To think that I was worried about how I'd come up with a regular supply of current shows," laughs Matt Hine, digital media lecturer. "From the start, students at all levels and of all ages were requesting to come in and record shows at lunchtimes and after classes. Many of these students would previously be off just as soon as class was over."

Enterprising minds: Surge of interest in courses for budding entrepreneurs

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

With the repercussions of the global credit crunch no longer confined to the Square Mile and ordinary households tightening the purse strings amid fears for their jobs and pensions, it may seem perverse to call this a time of opportunity. Yet a period of upheaval can also be a time of renewal, with new business ideas arising from the ashes of the old.

John Bingham: It's time to recognise the value of sixth-form colleges - and create more of them

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Sixth-Form Colleges are a better choice than school sixth- forms for many of our young people – yet there appears to be no proactive Government policy to propel the creation of sixth-form colleges where the need is greatest. There are pockets of the country where these institutions abound, but equally in some regions they are very thinly spread.

The world's your oyster: College students are being given the opportunity to live and work abroad

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:01 GMT

By his own admission, Dan Buckland, 21, was a trying student when he arrived at London Leisure College. He'd had a bad experience of school and although he was looking forward to training to be a rugby coach at the college – which works in partnership with other London colleges including Greenwich Community College – his confidence was low. Little did he realise that a three-week trip to Zambia with the college, in which the students coached Zambian schoolchildren, would turn his life around.

Art colleges lose research cash as ministers opt to protect science

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Some of London's top art colleges are seething about cuts that mean that the University of the Arts London is losing £3m and the Royal College of Art £500,000 of research money next year. The cuts have come as a shock because the colleges actually did better in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), but this improvement was not reflected in cash.

English sixth-form college league tables

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:01:06 GMT

New year, new you: Upgrade your life with a short course

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:00:01 GMT

For 40 years, Sandra Walton worked as a primary-school headteacher. "My life was dominated by learning," she says. "I knew everything about assessments, curriculum and management, but it wasn't learning the way I'm learning now – this is like a reawakening for me." Walton has just signed up for a 10-week course in the Chinese martial art t'ai chi.

New Year, New You: Put your green fingers to work

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Credit-crunch blues making you think of sharpening up your CV? Or fancy something to hone the mind, spark a new interest, or build on an old one? If you don't want to wait until next September, it's worth thinking of applying to one of the many January- or February-start courses now on offer round the country – take your pick from full, part-time or even home study.

Eyes on the prize: Specialist officers are giving students a better experience of sport

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

When Kevin Hamblin took over as principal of Filton College in Bristol, only 14 students took part in any timetabled sporting activities and just one sports coach was employed on a part-time basis. "Those 14 did football on a Wednesday afternoon and there wasn't even a goalkeeper among them," says Hamblin.