Pippa Allen-Kinross | FE Week

Ofsted Watch: Difficult week for FE as providers hit with low grades

FE has faced a difficult week in Ofsted inspections as three providers were hit with ‘inadequate’ ratings. Three others were graded as ‘requires improvement’ in a week which saw 15 inspection reports published for FE and skills providers. Norfolk’s Easton and Otley College was hit with its second grade four rating in a row in […]

Early monitoring visits find a quarter of apprenticeship providers are ‘insufficient’

A quarter of apprenticeship providers that have received early-monitoring visits from Ofsted so far have been rated as making ‘insufficient progress’. The inspectorate has published 90 of its new early-monitoring visit reports since they began in March this year, and 22 of these have been found to be ‘insufficient’ in at least one category. Of […]

Ofsted’s full inspections plummet by a third

Ofsted has denied cuts to its budget have affected the number of FE inspections it carries out, despite analysis by FE Week finding full inspections plunged by a third in just one year. Inspections with an apprenticeship grade saw the most dramatic fall of over 40 per cent, leading to the shadow secretary of state […]

Three quarters of colleges rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted

More than three quarters of colleges are now rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ and none are deemed ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted as further education continues its ascent into excellence. FE Week analysis of Ofsted results shows that an impressive 76 per cent of all general FE colleges are now rated in the inspectorate’s top two categories, up […]

Labour accuse government of ‘slipping out’ damning Ofsted report during Brexit announcements

Labour has accused the government of “slipping out” a damning report that raises huge concerns about the security risk posed by a government apprenticeship provider on the same day as the Brexit announcement. The cabinet office approved provider, which trained hundreds of apprentices in offices including the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and […]

Ofsted’s focus on new providers should be an extra, not an instead

The Ofsted annual state-of-the-nation report is due for publication next month and I’ve spent much of this week crunching the figures. The first thing that stood out was the stark decline in full inspections, overall falling by nearly a third, despite the rising number of FE and skills providers. Naturally a lot of focus has […]

ESFA terminates levy contract for apprenticeship provider after Ofsted report critical of government departments

A cabinet office approved apprenticeship provider to government departments has had its levy funding terminated after a damning Ofsted report found it was ‘insufficient’ across the board, FE Week can reveal. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has taken the unusual step of ending the levy agreement with Premier People Solutions Limited, after inspectors warned […]

Glowing Ofsted report for first national college to be inspected

The first of the new national colleges to be inspected by Ofsted has received a glowing report. The National College for Digital Skills was highly praised by the inspectorate for its effective teaching, “enthusiastic” learners, “excellent” careers advice and focus on increasing diversity in the digital sector. The college, which is known as Ada after […]

FE loan-funded provider with copy and paste assignments slammed by Ofsted

A provider with learners not writing their own assignments has been rated ‘inadequate’ across the board in a damning Ofsted report. Inspectors warned that students at the private company, Impact College based in Manchester, “do not use their own words” in assignments and had been given high grades even when awarding organisations identified malpractice. Leaders […]