Author: Billy Camden

The ESFA is extending the non-levy tender’s 10-day standstill period to December 28, meaning no contracts will be given to successful providers next week, FE Week understands. Results of the procurement, which has frustrated the sector all year after being plagued with delays and an aborted first attempt, were finally released on December 7. The […]

An organisation that went out of business two months ago has been awarded a contract in the non-levy tender – even while several high-profile colleges ranked ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ missed out. PTM Group, which incorporated in May 2015 but has never held its own direct contract with the ESFA to deliver apprenticeships, last week became […]

Two ‘inadequate’ training providers in Essex are making “reasonable progress” in improving their grades, but still have a long way to go in pulling themselves away from Ofsted’s lowest possible rating. In what was a quiet week for FE inspections, Epping Forest College and Essex County Council each had their third monitoring visit reports published […]

The National Audit Office has today published its report into the circumstances surrounding the monitoring, inspection and funding of Learndirect. The nation’s biggest FE provider was given an ‘inadequate’ rating by Ofsted in a report published in August, and the government offered it special treatment by allowing it to retain its contracts for almost a […]

Learndirect’s multimillion-pound contract to deliver the Home Office’s Life in the UK test is to be put out to tender for a “new” provider, FE Week can reveal. The nation’s biggest FE provider has since November 2014 held the contract to operate the tests, which are a crucial component for obtaining British citizenship, on behalf […]

The public accounts committee has scheduled a hearing to review the Learndirect saga on January 15 in the New Year, FE Week understands. The meeting will dissect the findings of tomorrow’s National Audit Office report, which was called for by the PAC’s chair, Meg Hillier (pictured above), and looks into the circumstances surrounding the monitoring, […]

The special treatment afforded to Learndirect after its infamous grade four from Ofsted was actually a ministerial decision, even though the ESFA’s former boss attempted to take “personal responsibility” for it, the National Audit Office has revealed. The country’s public spending watchdog has this morning published its much-anticipated report into the circumstances surrounding the monitoring, […]

The AELP wants the education secretary to review the “controversial” outcome of the non-levy tender before ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers are “wiped out”. Results of this much-delayed procurement were released last week, and many Ofsted grade one and two providers were denied an ESFA contract to continue delivering apprenticeships for smaller employers until April 2019. […]

The first annual Ofsted report delivered by Amanda Spielman has warned that the ignominious fall of Learndirect shows that “no provider is too big to fail”. The chief inspector unveiled her report for 2016/17 this morning, confirming FE Week’s predictions that it would warn of declining performance for both general FE and sixth-form colleges. It […]