From September 2026 new reforms mean student finance will be available for retraining later in life and shorter courses, for the first time in its history. West Thames College in Isleworth is one of first 130 universities and colleges approved to offer new bite-sized courses, with applications opening this September. The change means people across Hounslow can gain qualifications over time, instead of facing the choice between a three-year full-time degree or nothing, opening

THE NATIONAL PICTURE Following the English council, Scottish Assembly and Welsh Senedd elections, I joined over 100 Labour MPs in a letter to Keir Starmer saying he should remain as Prime Minister. The election results were clearly poor for the Labour Party, and I felt that our party needs to listen and take serious efforts to fix the problems behind these poor results. But I felt it was not the right time to change Prime Minister because the events in Iran, the war in U

Ruth Cadbury MP has welcomed the announcement that the Department for Education will provide extra funding for improvements on three local school- Brentford School for Girls, Heston Community School and Lampton Academy. This funding is part of the £450 School Condition Improvement Fund 2026-2027, the results of which were announced at the end of May this month. This funding is part of the Governments efforts to re-invest funding into school buildings and to ensure schools a