On 28 March I was pleased to announce the first 145 consortia (groups of schools, colleges and training providers) across 97 local authorities that have been given approval to offer one or more of the first five 14 to 19 diplomas from September 2008. A total of around 40,000 places are forecast across the country. Approved consortia delivering the diploma from 2008 were banded into two categories.
Category 1: recommended to go through for 2008 delivery with no conditions;
Category 2: recommended to go through for delivery from September 2008 with conditions that will need to be met within three months.