Government to ‘formally intervene’ at 35 providers with achievement rate failures

More than 30 private training providers, colleges and councils have been slapped with a notice of concern or serious breach, for falling below qualification achievement rate thresholds.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has today published an update list of providers given the notice, which for the first time lists those providers now subject to formal intervention for failing 2015/16 achievement rate minimum standards. Twenty private training providers have been given a notice of serious breach and 15 colleges and councils a notice of concern (see list compiled by FE Week below).

The Approach to Intervention document states for training providers: “We will identify the colleges and other training organisations that have failed to meet minimum standards in apprenticeships or classroom and workplace provision. We will then decide whether to intervene formally.”

It adds: “If we issue a notice of serious breach, it will set out the conditions necessary to continue to receive public funds. Failure to meet the conditions in the notice will lead to contract termination.”

For colleges and local authorities that receive the notice of concern, it says: “We would not usually refer a college or institution to the FE commissioner for review if the only trigger it fails is minimum standards, but we reserve the right to do so.”

The qualification achievement rate minimum standard qualification achievement rate thresholds for 2015/26 for can be viewed here, and are repeated below.

No information has been published as to whether the notice was issued for apprenticeship and/or classroom delivery, nor if it relates to the revised achievement rate calculations that led to an overall fall, as reported in FE Week.

The National Achievement Rate Tables should have been published last month, which includes the rates for qualifications at providers. When asked this week about the 2015/16 NART publication delay, the Department for Education would only say they would be published “in due course”.

See next edition of FE Week for more information and reaction.

 

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5 Comments

  1. Jobwise Training – This was a programme of 13 classroom learners, which we ceased to run last year (2% of our contract). We have been told the ESFA cannot lift this until 2018 and there is no appeals procedure.

    We are in receipt of an email from the ESFA confirming the above and the fact this does not reflect the quality or success rate (presently at 84%) of our apprenticeship programmes. We are sending this email to all our clients and are happy to share this with FE Week.

    • Peter Cobrin

      Well said!!! This shows the mockery that the obsession with league-table type judgements brings about. I know the energy and commitment that these guys bring to working with young people that some other providers carefully ignore.

  2. Crusader

    Less that a month after RoATP was announced (which was supposed to confirm to employers that providers on this list are quality providers), some of those have now been hit with Notice of Serious Breach?

    This is making a mockery of the whole reforms process!

  3. LRoding

    Interesting that providers only start whining about qualification achievement rate failures when they’re affected. The deafening silence up until this point is rather telling IMO