The Department for Education will not rely on specific Ofsted grades to place poorly-performing apprenticeship training providers in intervention for the next 12 months.
Training providers found to offer poor quality training to apprentices currently face a range of sanctions, including contract termination, if inspectors judge them to be ‘inadequate’.
Apprenticeship bosses have been waiting to know what the new intervention triggers will be under Ofsted’s new inspection regime, which begins next week, and does away with single overall headline judgments ‘inadequate’, ‘requires improvement’, ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’.
New report cards will instead grade provision along a new five-point scale ranging from ‘exceptional’ to ‘urgent improvement’.
And where there was previously one grade for apprenticeships, there will be a grade each for: curriculum, teaching and training; achievement; and participation and development.
Under the government’s current apprenticeship accountability framework training providers judged ‘inadequate’ for apprenticeships or overall effectiveness can lead to “contractual action”. Ofsted grades are one of several measures taken into consideration.
DfE confirmed this afternoon it will not use Ofsted grades in the first 12 months of “transition” between the old and new inspection model. It will instead decide whether or not to take action on a case-by-case basis.
It said today: “We understand the sector’s concerns about the framework’s complexity and timing. We will evaluate each case according to its own circumstances and take a proportionate approach, particularly during the first 12 months of transition.
“Ofsted judgments are just one part of the apprenticeship accountability framework. We will continue to take a holistic view of provider performance, using multiple data sources with the learner experience central to our decisions.”
The first further education and skills providers to undergo a new-style inspection have been notified this week, ahead of inspections commencing next week.
It is not yet known whether DfE’s case-by-case approach will also apply to DfE’s other accountability regimes. Colleges are currently placed in FE Commissioner intervention if they are judged ‘inadequate’.
A revised apprenticeship accountability framework is due to be published by November 28.
Your thoughts