Christine Gilbert set to be appointed Ofsted chair

Former chief inspector Dame Christine Gilbert is set to be appointed as the new chair of Ofsted, FE Week’s sister title Schools Week understands.

Gilbert, who served as chief inspector of Ofsted between 2006 and 2011, last year led the independent review into the watchdog’s response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.

FE Week also understands Ofsted will now delay publishing its consultation response until the start of September – rather than in the summer as originally planned.

Ofsted had mulled pushing back inspections, but decided to maintain rolling out new report cards in November. 

But delaying the consultation response – which will outline formalise inspection plans – means education providers will have even less time to see how inspections work before they face being inspected – a move likely to face strong criticism from unions.

Gilbert’s appointment is likely to be welcomed. Her damning report, published in September, found Ofsted’s response to Perry’s suicide was “defensive and complacent”.

Her appointment will begin on September 1, 2025 and will be for a period of three years. She will be paid £55,000 a year for working two days a week in the role.

Gilbert said: “It’s a privilege to accept this appointment as chair of Ofsted. I’m very much looking forward to supporting Sir Martyn Oliver and Ofsted in their determination to raise standards, increase opportunities and improve lives.”

Gilbert called for Ofsted board to be ‘strengthened’

Gilbert made a string of recommendations for Ofsted. The watchdog is currently carrying out a widespread overhaul of the way it carries out inspections. 

She found the Ofsted board “had little or no involvement in determining the strategy for dealing with the crisis and communicating to the media and stakeholders”. 

The board’s role “appears curiously limited, apparently leaving some of Ofsted’s most critical activities outside of its control”, she said.

“This degree of autonomy and entitlement for HMCI does not make for effective governance.”

Gilbert urged Ofsted to review its governance framework to “strengthen the role of the board with the aim of establishing constructive challenge to support Ofsted in its learning and reform”.

The chair role was previously held by Dame Christine Ryan, who left at the end of March following four-and-a-half years.

Star Academies chief executive Sir Hamid Patel has since been serving as interim Ofsted chair.

Gilbert previously spent 18 years working in schools as a teacher and headteachers. She has also served as director of education at Harrow council and at Tower Hamlets council, where she “led the dramatic turnaround in performance and quality of local schools” and rose to the role of chief executive.

She is also chair of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), and has been a visiting professor at UCL Institute of Education for more than a decade.

Gilbert has led and taken part in several service reviews, mostly in education but also including Baroness Casey’s damning 2023 review of the Metropolitan Police.

She was made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.

Cambridge sixth form college scores Ofsted ‘outstanding’ hat-trick

A large sixth form college in Cambridge has been awarded a third consecutive Ofsted grade one for its “exceptional” quality.

Hills Road Sixth Form College was given top marks by inspectors after they found high exam achievement rates and “outstanding” support for high needs learners.

The large sixth form had 2,902 students on a combination of A-level subjects alongside the extended project qualification (EPQ) during its April 1 to 4 inspection.

The college was first awarded an overall ‘outstanding’ judgment in 2007 and then again in 2022. The result comes in time for the college’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Ofsted’s latest report said that students enjoy their studies “greatly” and take pride in the challenging and “stimulating” lessons.

Inspectors found attendance was high, even to the extra voluntary lessons to prepare learners for maths exams.

“Students attend well, arrive promptly to lessons and are eager to learn. They routinely go beyond what is expected of them,” the report added.

As a result, a “very high proportion” of students achieve A* to B grades in A Level exams and nearly all progress to further or higher education or employment. 

Principal Jo Trump said: “This report is a lovely recognition of all the fabulous staff and students who make up the Hills Road community.

“We are lucky to benefit from the dedication and care of our staff and the energy and enthusiasm of our students. We are proud of the outcome, and prouder still of our community that makes it all possible every day.” 

Curriculums are of “exceptional quality”, Ofsted said. 

They found that making students study the EPQ allows them to “showcase both their creative and academic potential” which prepares them well for university.

Meanwhile, teachers were highly praised for thoroughly checking learners’ understanding and reinforcing foundational knowledge before moving onto more complex topics.

Inspectors also pointed out that teachers at the college use “highly effective” questioning.

For example, psychology teachers use probing questions to support students to improve their understanding of the theories of attraction.

“Students then use their improved understanding to explain the limitations of each of these theories fluently and with confidence,” the report added.

For the 21 SEND students, Ofsted was wowed for teachers’ “outstanding” support, using inclusive teaching techniques in class, well-thought-out seating plans and specialist staff where needed. 

Inspectors were also impressed with the range of wellbeing services students have access to, such as drop-in session, a therapy dog and internal and external counselling sessions.

The watchdog also found the sixth form college made a “reasonable” contribution to meeting skills needs.

The report said leavers and governors have a good understanding of local skills needs and have put in place “strategic targets” to improve their contribution.

Governors were found to hold leaders to account “exceptionally” well and support them in the development of colleges policies like safeguarding practices and staff wellbeing initiatives.

AI guidance for colleges: 9 key findings for leaders

Colleges could use AI to help monitor attendance patterns, generate tender documents and come up with ideas for lessons, new government toolkits have said.

The guidance, published today and drawn up by the Chiltern Learning Trust and Chartered College of Teaching, also says college should plan for “wider use” of AI – including to analyse budgets and help plan CPD.

Government said the toolkits are part of a new “innovation drive”, which has also includes investment to “accelerate development” of AI marking and feedback tools.

A new pilot has also been launched today to trial tools in “testbed” FE providers.

The government has also previously produced guidance on “safety expectations” for the use of generative AI – artificial intelligence that creates content – in education, along with policy papers and research on the subject.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “By harnessing AI’s power to cut workloads, we’re revolutionising classrooms and driving high standards everywhere – breaking down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive.”

Here’s what you need to know on the new toolkits (which can be viewed in full here)…

1. Marking feedback and ideas for lessons

For teaching and learning, the documents state generative AI may be able to support ideas for lesson content and structure, formative assessments, analysis of marking data and creating “text in a specific style, length or reading age”.

On assessments, the guidance says this could include quiz generation from specific content or offering feedback on errors. AI could also “support with data analysis of marking”.

It can also produce “images to support understanding of a concept or as an exemplar”, exam-style questions from set texts, and visual resources, like “slide decks, knowledge organisers and infographics”, a slide in one of the toolkits adds.

2. Draw up an AI ‘vision’

The guidance stressed “it’s essential” colleges “are clear with staff around what tools are safe to use and how they can use them”. Those included on the list should “have been assessed” and allows colleges “control over” them.

It recommended college leaders lead by example and use AI tools responsibly themselves and set boundaries for AI use so users can safely play around with tools.

When exploring AI use, the guidance encouraged colleges to invest in staff training and to collaborate with industry as well as creating an AI culture within the college community.

Chris Loveday, vice principal at Barton Peveril 6th form College, said his college used inset days to train staff in AI.

He said: “The public large language models were available and I think if we didn’t have clear guidelines to support staff, it would have been easy for them to think it would be okay to put a class set of data into the open source models without truly understanding that that was training the large language model that it was available in the public domain. So the first INSET was focused on AI safety.”

As part of this, the report also warned about two issues “inherent” in AI systems: hallucinations and bias.

The former are “inaccuracies in an otherwise factual output”. Meanwhile, bias can occur if “there was bias in the data that it was trained on, or the developer could have intentionally or unintentionally introduced bias or censorship into the model”.

It recommended to always have a human in the loop to double check what AI systems produce.

3. Reducing administrative burden

The toolkits also say technology could support cutting down time spent on admin, like email and letter writing, data analysis and long-term planning.

One example given for school leaders was producing a letter home for parents about an outbreak of head lice.

The toolkit also said policy writing, timetabling, trip planning and staff CPD were other areas in which it could be used.

A 2024 user research report by the DfE said teachers were most keen on using time saving AI tools for marking, data entry and analysis of pupil progress or attainment.

Colleges can also reduce the administrative burden by using AI to analyse attendance patterns and supporting home communications, whilst “bearing in mind that all outputs need to be checked for accuracy.”

4. Plan for ‘wider use’, like budget planning and tenders

But leaders have been also told to plan for AI’s “wider use”. 

The writers of the report said some “finance teams [are] using safe and approved” tools to analyse budgets and support planning. Business managers are also using it to generate “tender documents based on a survey of requirements”.

“By involving all school or college staff in CPD on AI, you can help improve efficiency and effectiveness across operations – ultimately having a positive impact on pupil and student outcomes.”

The guidance suggested “integrating AI into management information systems”. This can “can give insights that may not otherwise be possible, and these insights could support interventions around behaviour, attendance and progress”.

5. Adapt materials for pupils with SEND

According to the DfE, the technology “offers valuable tools to support learners with SEND by adapting materials to individual learning needs and providing personalised instruction and feedback”.

For example, it can “take a scene and describe it in detail to those who are visually impaired”.

But specialists and education, health and care plans (EHCPs) should be consulted to “help identify specific needs and consider carefully whether an AI tool is the most appropriate solution on a case-by-case basis”.

Meanwhile, many programmes are multilingual and “could be used with pupils, students and families who have English as an additional language”.

6. Critical thinking lessons, mending digital divide

As the technology becomes more prevalent, “integrating AI literacy and critical thinking into existing lessons and activities should be considered”. For example, AI ethics and digital citizenship could incorporated into PSHE or computing curriculums.

Some schools and colleges have promoted “AI literacy within their curricula, including through the use of resources provided by the National Centre for Computing Education”.

This ensures young people understand how systems work, their limitations and potential biases. Approaches to homework may also have to be considered, focusing on “tasks that can’t be easily completed by AI”.

The guidance added many systems “will simply provide an answer rather than explain the process and so do not contribute to the learning process”.

Loveday added that Barton Perveril is piloting its own bespoke large language model which has “enhanced safeguards” built into it that will not answer questions on misogyny or violence.

He said that provided the pilot is successful, it will be rolled out to all 5,000 students free of charge so there is equality in students’ access to the same model.

“If you give that same student access to a premium large language model, that’s no longer a digital divide, that’s a digital chasm, and we’re trying to make sure that we can help our students bridge that,” he added.

7. Transparency and human oversight ‘essential’

Colleges should also “consider factors such as inclusivity, accessibility, cost-effectiveness” and compliance with internal privacy and security policies.

A “key consideration” listed in the guidance is whether its “output has a clear, positive impact on staff workload and/or the learning environment”.

It is also “essential that no decision that could adversely impact a student’s outcomes is based purely [on] AI without human review and oversight”.

An example of this is “generating a student’s final mark or declining their admission based on an AI-generated decision”.

The guidance said: “Transparency and human oversight are essential to ensure AI systems assist, but do not replace, human decision-making.”

The toolkits also warned over mental health apps, which they said “must be regulated by the medicines and healthcare products regulatory authority”.

8. Beware AI risks: IP, safeguarding and privacy

There were also broader warnings about using AI.

The guidance notes that learners’ “work may be protected under intellectual property laws even if it does not contain personal data”.

To safeguard against this, colleges should be certain AI marking tools do not “train on the work that we enter”.

Copyright breaches can also happen if the systems are “trained on unlicensed material and the outputs are then used in educational settings or published more widely”.

Colleges should ensure AI systems comply with UK GDPR rules before using them. If it “stores, learns from, or shares the data, staff could be breaching data protection law”.

Any AI use must also be line with the keeping children and young people safe in education guidance.

Most free sites “will not be suitable for student use as they will not have the appropriate safeguards in place and the AI tool or model may learn on the prompts and information that is input”.

Child protection policies, including online safety and behaviour policies, should “be updated to reflect the rapidly changing risks from AI use” as well.

The guidance also said newsletters and school websites could “provide regular updates on AI and online safety guidelines”. Parental workshops “can extend the online safety net beyond school or college boundaries”.

9. Be ‘proactive’ to educate young people on deep-fakes

The “increasing accessibility of AI image generation tools” also presents new challenges to schools, the guidance added.

“Proactive measures”, like initiatives to educate students, staff and parents about this risk, have been identified as “essential to minimise [this] potential harm”.

Colleges have also been told to conduct regular staff training “on identifying and responding to online risks, including AI-generated sexual extortion”. These sessions should be recurring “to address emerging threats”.

“Government guidance for frontline staff on how to respond to incidents where nudes and semi-nudes have been shared also applies to incidents where sexualised deep-fakes (computer-generated images) have been created and shared,” the guidance continued.

FE providers wanted to become edtech ‘testbeds’

Ministers are asking schools, colleges and training providers to step forward to become edtech “testbeds” and help find scalable solutions to cut teacher workload.

Officials say the nine-month pilot – for which expressions of interest have opened today– has been launched to “build the evidence base on the impact and scalability of promising technologies”.

As part of a so-called innovation drive, government has also announced a further £1 million will be handed to AI firms to fund the development of classroom tools.

National Association of Headteachers general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “Government investment in future testing and research is vital as staff need reliable sources of evaluation – supported with evidence – on the benefits, limitations and risks of AI tools and their potential uses.”

Participants to receive ‘benefits’ 

The Department for Education said its “edtech impact testbed pilot” will “identify and evaluate innovative educational technologies that can enhance teaching and learning and reduce workload in schools and colleges”.

It will test tools that aim to reduce teacher and administrative workload, improve pupil outcomes and boost inclusion for children with SEND.

Staff in the participating schools and colleges “will receive training and support to effectively implement and use” the systems and connect with other institutions. Those trialling the software will “be able to access a set of benefits”.

DfE hopes the trial will “build the evidence base on the impact and scalability of promising” tech to help leaders “make informed decisions” on which to use.

The government expects up to 100 education providers to take part. It is inviting applications, open until August, from all primaries and secondaries, special schools and all FE providers.

DfE also revealed today that it is investing an additional £1 million to develop AI marking and feedback systems. This is on top of the £1 million split between 16 firms earlier this year to develop similar tech by April.

This comes as the government published earlier today teacher and leader toolkits detailing how to use AI in schools and colleges.  

Devolve FE to ‘maximum possible extent’, MPs urge

Power over post-16 technical education should be devolved to the “maximum possible extent” to mayors and leaders of new strategic authorities, MPs on parliament’s business and trade committee (BTC) have said.

The committee has also urged the government to transfer skills funding and policy at a national level to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to “attune” it more to the needs of employers and align with the upcoming industrial strategy.

And the minister for skills role should be a joint ministerial job across the DBT and Department for Education (DfE) to ensure better coordination between the “disconnected” departments.

The committee made the recommendations following an inquiry into the industrial strategy, which is set to highlight key sectors of priority to drive growth. This will be the first industrial strategy for eight years. 

Ministers were set to present it this week along with a multi-year spending review, but reports suggest the release of the strategy has been delayed to the end of June.

The BTC’s inquiry heard that “substantial” skills shortages across the economy are “acting as a barrier to growth and are deterring investment in the UK”.

Expert evidence suggested there is a “strong case to further devolve responsibility for skills to local leaders”.

Around 60 per cent of the government’s adult education budget has been devolved to mayoral combined authorities since 2019. The government has already proposed further devolution of adult skills funding to more areas through the English devolution white paper.

Mayors have repeatedly called for control of more skills pots, including apprenticeships and 16 to 19 education.

While the white paper did not commit to devolution of different types of skills funding, skills minister Jacqui Smith told the BTC there was “potential for further devolution” as she admitted to “tensions” with mayors over skills funding powers.

Multiple mayors said the full responsibility for education and training post-16 should be devolved.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “You can create stronger technical education pathways when you can work with the actual employers in your city region who will be employing the young people or older workers who will come through. We are the only ones who can create those meaningful pathways and who can commission colleges according to the actual sectoral strengths of our economy, yet that is still being resisted.”

Sector experts have however warned that releasing further budget lines to mayors would lead to more “bureaucracy” and “inequalities”.

The BTC concluded that skills shortages are “holding back growth and deterring investment across large parts of the economy, including within the UK’s growth-driving sectors”, adding that the skills system is “too fragmented and inflexible”.

Local leaders are “best placed to know the needs of local employers and work with training providers to adapt provision accordingly”, the committee claimed.

It called on the government’s plans in the devolution white paper to “go further”, specifically that “responsibility for technical education and training post-16 should be devolved to the maximum possible extent to mayoral combined authorities and newly created strategic authorities, once they have demonstrated capability to manage local systems”.

Tackling ‘fiefdoms’

The business and trade committee’s inquiry also heard there is “a real disconnect in government”, adding that departments like the Treasury are treated like “fiefdoms” as they “close their doors and they are not interested in listening to other departments”.

There is also concern over “different soundings” from the DBT and the DfE on areas like apprenticeships and there is “still a little bit of government thinking that becomes quite siloed along departmental lines”.

Alan Johnson, a senior vice-president at Nissan Motor Corp, told the BTC there is a need for the industrial strategy “to provide a framework that can be properly deployed and cascaded, such that you get consistency across the different departments”.

Brian Holliday, managing director for digital industries at Siemens plc, echoed this plea for cohesion and called for the DfE’s new agency Skills England to sit “directly alongside” other topics of “innovation, energy, energy prices, and access to finance as critical enablers to deriving growth from the industrial strategy”.

To tackle this, the BTC said responsibility and funding for skills policy at a national level should be transferred to the DBT and the minister for skills “should be a joint ministerial role across the DBT and the DfE to ensure there is a coordination between the two departments, as people transition from school to post-16 education and training”.

Responsibility for FE and skills was under the remit of the former Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) until then prime minister Theresa May moved them to the DfE in 2016.

First area chosen to trial new jobs and careers service ‘pathfinder’

Wakefield is the first place in the country to trial a pilot scheme that aims to “personalise” a jobs and careers service for jobseekers.

A new “pathfinder”, which will work with employers to provide a “pathway into good jobs”, has been designed by leaders from West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Wakefield Local Authority.

Mayor Tracy Brabin said the city is a “test-bed” for new ideas like a coaching academy for Department for Work and Pensions staff that will be rolled out across the country this year as part of its Get Britain Working plan.

DWP secretary Liz Kendall announced last year the National Careers Service will be merged with jobcentres across the country to tackle economic inactivity.

Close to 1 million young people are classed as not in education, employment or training (NEET). Estimated figures fell nationally by 7,000 in the last quarter to 923,000.

Government data shows that over 3,000 16 to 17 year olds were classed as NEET in 2024 in the six constituent councils that make up WYCA. Wakefield recorded 371 NEETs and a 3.5 per cent NEET rate, the third highest rate in the region behind Leeds and Calderdale.

The autumn budget announced £55 million will be spent to develop and test the new service in 2025/26.

It is not yet clear how much funding has been allocated to the Wakefield pilot.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority last week greenlit a £37 million plan to “guarantee a healthy working life” by linking up NHS services with employment support providers like jobcentres and councils.

DWP employment minister Alison McGovern will face MPs later this week to give oral evidence on the merger .

The new services to be piloted will include a new coaching academy, which will train up DWP staff to provide better support, and changes to DWP appointment services to give jobseekers “more personalised” for job seeker claimants.

Wakefield will also test a series of careers events to link up jobseekers with local employers. Officials said more events in the coming months involving the local manufacturing and technology sectors will be open to the public, not just jobseeker claimants.

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said: “People stand a better chance of landing a good job when they are treated with dignity and respect at a trusted local Jobcentre. 

“Working with the government, we’re investing almost £40 million to help guarantee a healthy working life to everyone in our region, and as the test-bed for the new national Jobs and Careers Service, Wakefield will lead the way on transforming our welfare system to get Britain working.”

Councillor Denise Jeffery, leader of Wakefield Council, said: “Everyone in our area deserves to be supported to access great employment opportunities. But for too long we’ve had an outdated, national approach to employment support which doesn’t take individual circumstances into account and isn’t tailored enough.

“By being part of this Pathfinder, we can help design the next generation of public employment services. Support more local people to access secure, well-paid jobs. And unlock more of the potential we’ve got in our district to build a stronger local economy for everyone who lives in Wakefield.”

McGovern added: “Our one-size-fits-all, tick box approach to jobs support is outdated and does not serve those looking to better their lives through work.

“We are building a proper public employment service in partnership with local leaders that truly meets community challenges and unlocks opportunity.”

Burnham boosts cash to solve FE capacity crisis 

Andy Burnham will use £10 million from his combined authority’s coffers to double the value of a special government grant to boost post-16 student capacity next year. 

The Greater Manchester mayor has approved plans to tackle the 16 to 19 population bulge that many major cities are facing. 

In April the government announced £10 million in capital funding for both Greater Manchester and Leeds to create “additional capacity” from September. 

According to a Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) report, the mayor will put forward £10 million in “recycled” local funding, amid concerns the government’s £10 million for 2025-26 is only a “partial” solution to population growth that is projected to continue until 2028. 

GMCA plans to use its own money to either “flexibly” top up Department for Education capital funding in later years or to pay for workforce and equipment needs. 

The authority will also give half of the post-16 funding to Manchester City Council, one of the region’s 10 boroughs, after identifying high demand for providers from learners travelling from elsewhere in the region. 

Meanwhile, Leeds City Council told FE Week it was “continuing to work” on how the funding will be spent locally and hoped to confirm plans “over the coming weeks”. 

What’s the problem? 

Most of England’s largest cities are under pressure to increase education places as the number of 16 and 17 year olds is projected to grow by 8 per cent, or 110,000, between 2023 and 2028. 

Leeds City Council told FE Week its projection for its own area was a rise from 18,000 in 2023 to 20,000 in 2028. 

In response, its schools, sixth forms and colleges have created 900 extra places in the last three years. 

But Colin Booth, chief executive of Leeds’ main college group Luminate, said the city “urgently needs” around 2,500 more places by 2028 to cover technical level 3 courses and “almost all” subject areas below level 3. 

Projections for Manchester suggest an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 extra education and training places will be needed “in coming years”, on top of the 2,000 places created by post-16 capacity funding in 2023-24. 

According to the GMCA report, those places “mostly focused” on level 3 provision in sixth forms such as A-levels, while technical education places at lower levels were “stretched to their limits”. 

Most for Manchester 

Greater Manchester said the “very welcome” £10 million from the government would likely be used for urgent “repurposing [of] existing facilities” or “converting unused space”. 

To decide which parts of the region funding goes to, officials have devised a formula that combines projected population change, numbers of young people not in education, employment or training, and “travel to learn” ratios between Greater Manchester boroughs. 

As a result, colleges in the Manchester City Council area will share £5 million, while providers in Salford will get £1.2 million. Other boroughs will receive as little as £224,000. 

The council appeared to win much of the funding after an analysis of its post-16 provision last year found it was about to run out of space. 

After raising the issue repeatedly with DfE officials since 2022, the city council had “no option” but to “formally” declare a gap in provision, in the hope this would persuade the department to fund about 2,000 extra places. 

The department had “no strategy, mechanism or funding” to address post-16 capacity issues in the same way as schools, Manchester City Council complained. 

Is £10 million enough? 

Leeds and Greater Manchester have welcomed the £10 million in capacity funding but other cities are understood to be facing similar population pressures. 

But both cities agree funding is needed beyond the DfE’s capital grant, which cannot pay for revenue elements like equipment or staff wages, and may not address continued population growth up to 2028. 

Leeds City Council said that while the extra £10 million was a “major boost” in filling the projected gap in physical spaces and learning environments, additional funding was needed for infrastructure and teaching “given the scale of provision required to meet demand in the city”. 

Nikki Davis, principal of Leeds College of Building, told FE Week: “It’s not just about creating space, recruitment of staff has been notoriously difficult for years.  

“Because of a lack of funding going in [to further education], rate rises are not keeping up with the costs of employment, so we’re not getting people into the industry.” 

College planning to axe 100 staff faces strike

A college that is planning to cut 100 people from its workforce amid a financial crisis is facing three days of strike action and “significant disruption” during the exams season.

The University and College Union (UCU) today announced members at Havant and South Downs College (HSDC) will walk out on June 13, 18 and 19 over the “devastating” situation.

It comes days after HSDC’s long-standing principal Mike Gaston announced his retirement and follows government intervention due to “serious cashflow pressures”.

The college warned of “substantial” redundancies last month following a financial notice to improve.

A UCU spokesperson today claimed that the college wants to cut staff by 29 per cent at its Alton campus, 30 per cent at the Havant site and 33 per cent at its South Downs campus.  

HSDC said the proposals affect “around 70 full-time equivalent roles (approximately 100 individuals), representing 12.5 per cent of our workforce”, and added: “Our extended consultation process with local trade unions has resulted in most staffing reductions occurring voluntarily, with only about 30 FTE roles still under review.”

UCU said staff will be picketing at all three sites from 8am to 10am on each day of the proposed strike action.

HSDC’s spokesperson said the college “acknowledges the right of staff to take industrial action”, but added: “We are deeply disappointed that planned strikes over the next few weeks coincide with critical exam periods and key taster sessions for prospective students.

“This timing risks significant disruption to students at a crucial point in their academic journeys, as well as to those considering their future studies with us.”

HSDC teaches around 7,000 students.

UCU has 145 members at HSDC. Turnout for the strike ballot was 61 per cent of total members, and 64 per cent backed strike action. UCU also claimed that members of the National Education Union at the college will join the action.

UCU’s spokesperson added that college management has offered talks with the union and NEU next week to discuss how the strike can be avoided and the trade dispute resolved.  

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “UCU and NEU members will be on picket lines this month because the savings management is trying to achieve would result in devastating job cuts and learning and support provision being slashed. It is hard to imagine how the college can continue to function, and students can continue to thrive with such severe cuts.

“HSDC is a college which has had outstanding teaching and learning, but staff and students have been let down by poor leadership and catastrophic failures in financial management. We now urgently need financial stability. The executive leadership team and board of governors must change course and work with the recognised unions to find a solution that protects provision and the college’s future.”

HSDC, rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, was deemed to have ‘inadequate’ financial health by the year ending July 2024 and its audited accounts warned of “material uncertainty”.

The financial statements show a £550,000 deficit, a negative EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) and a high staff-to-turnover ratio of 72 per cent – 7 percentage points above the FE Commissioner’s benchmark.

HSDC’s spokesperson said: “Whilst we respect the concerns raised by staff, we are also aware of the need to right-size the college and ensure our staffing resource is fully utilised. As we address overstaffing during this difficult time, we urge all parties to consider the long-term effects of strike action on students and the wider college community. 

“Open communication and constructive dialogue has been in place with trade unions throughout this process, and remains essential in finding resolutions that support both our valued workforce and the learners who rely on us.”

Parents win payout after council SEND transport failure

A local council has been ordered to pay thousands to three families for failing to help SEND learners get to college.

Derby City Council has agreed to pay £4,240 after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigated three complaints that the council’s transport offer for vulnerable students was “impractical and unaffordable”.

The investigation, published yesterday, found that the council had applied its post-16 SEND transport policy “too rigidly” and one mum had “no alternative” but to give up work to drive her child to school.

Derby City Council said it does not comment on individual cases but has taken “swift action” to implement all the Ombudsman recommendations.

Cash-strapped councils have increasingly introduced annual charges to families to contribute to post-16 SEND transport in a bid to fill their financial black holes, a previous FE Week investigation found.

Councils also alternatively offer personal travel budgets, which provides fixed regular payments to families to arrange suitable transport for their children with specialist needs. 

But a number of specialist colleges have previously raised serious safeguarding concerns of the safety of the actual transport provided, with safety breaches such as blind students abandoned by taxis reported.

The complaints

The investigation report outlined each of the three complaints to the council over its offer of personal travel budgets (PTB).

The first was from a parent named Ms X, who criticised that Derby council’s personal travel budget of £1,600 per year was an “unaffordable” contribution towards the cost of her child’s transport. Ms X said the only viable transport option was a taxi, which was £80 per day. 

As a result, she told the ombudsman that she had “no alternative” but to give up work and to take her child to school, causing her to rack up debt and lose her support network at work.

The second parent, Ms Y, also complained the PTB was “too low” for her fourth child to take a taxi to college so they were dropped off late and collected early, causing anxiety and the learner missing out on special education.  

Ms Y also complained to the education secretary who found the council applied the policy “too rigidly” and asked it to reconsider how it applies exceptional circumstances. 

The council eventually organised a taxi after the start of the 2024/25 academic year and offered to reimburse Ms Y’s mileage and retain the PTB as a financial remedy. She told the Ombudsman it does not reflect the “level of injustice” caused over a whole school year.

Meanwhile, Ms Z’s complaint said the council wrongly applied a policy that did not cover the age group of her child, who was an adult learner. 

She also complained that the annual PTB of £4,240 offered did not cover shared transport, which cost £144 per day – a shortfall of over £11,800 per year. The council full reimbursed her costs and offered to pay for a taxi.

The investigation

The Ombudsman found in all three complaints that the council had decided it was necessary for it to provide support, but did not then check whether the solution offered “did the job” of actually getting students to school or college.

The council failed to consider whether the PTBs were affordable for each family, it ruled.

It recommended the council apologise and offer compensation to all three families. 

It ordered Derby City Council to pay Ms X £1,000 for the distress it caused. It advised Ms Y to be paid £250 for the distress, £1,240 for the extra time spent taking her child to college, and £1,600 for the learners’ missed attendance.

The council was also made to pay £150 to Ms Z for the distress.

Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said: “Councils must demonstrate they have considered the options offered to individual families, who are entitled to transport support, that actually provide a practical, safe and affordable solution to allow them to attend. They should not be given a simple ‘one size fits all’ blanket offer.

“Derby City Council has now accepted my recommendations to improve its service, including revising its policy. I hope this will mean it properly considers families’ applications in future.”

Councillor Paul Hezelgrave, Derby City Council cabinet member for children, young people and skills, said: “While the council is unable to comment on individual cases, we accept the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s findings in these three cases and have taken swift action to implement all recommendations set out in the report.

“The council offers high-quality home-to-school travel assistance to more than 1,000 children and young people every day. Through ongoing service and delivery improvements, we’re committed to making sure all eligible children, young people, and their families consistently receive excellent support.”