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7 August 2026

Latest news from FE Week

How Ofsted are changing their approach to ‘requires improvement’ providers

While around 80 per cent of further education and skills providers are good or outstanding, the number requiring improvement has increased over time. For these providers, inspectors conduct ‘support and challenge’ visits to help them improve.

We want to do all we can to be a force for improvement through intelligent, responsible and focused inspection and regulation. With this in mind we are proposing to make some small but important changes to the way we conduct these visits and are consulting on our proposed new arrangements.

I believe it will help providers that find themselves stuck to improve more quickly.

What we currently do

Currently, these providers get one or two support and challenge visits. After these visits, Ofsted sends an improvement letter to the institution. This sets out what has improved and how, and what more has to be done. At the moment that letter is not published.

What we are proposing

We propose that providers graded as requires improvement will receive a single monitoring visit after the inspection. This would take place between seven and 13 months after the inspection. The next full inspection would be between 12 and 24 months after the original inspection, as it is now.

We propose to publish the findings of the monitoring visit, as we do for school visits presently. This report will include the provider’s achievements since the last inspection and will have progress judgements. It will show what changes they’ve made to improve weaknesses. And it will highlight any improvements that are still needed.

To be clear, this is not a full inspection report. It will not mean any change in overall judgement.

 Why we think change is needed

So why are we proposing these changes? Well, we know that learners and employers are interested in the quality of education, training and improvements being made by a college or other provider. A published report makes this clear and available to all and shows what progress is being made.

This report will provide a clear sense of direction for providers. By reducing the time between the inspection and the monitoring visit, and by publishing the monitoring letter, providers will get better, faster. And everyone will be better informed.

The consultation is now live and runs until 22 December. I would encourage all providers, learners and employers and all those with an interest to give us their views. We know that providers want to move to good and we expect that this new way of working can help them in that journey.

The consultation can be found on the gov.uk website. Please let us know what you think.

Paul Joyce is Ofsted Deputy Director for Further Education & Skills

‘Inadequate’ Ofsted blow for Tees Valley college

A college in the Tees Valley has received the lowest possible Ofsted rating, facing particular criticism for “inadequate” leadership and management and “very weak” finances.

Redcar and Cleveland College was also singled out for poor quality-assurance processes, low attendance and achievement rates, poor teaching, learning and assessments and a lack of detailed information provided to governors.

The troubled college was given grade threes across the board at inspections in February 2013, July 2014 and November 2015, and received a notice of concern for financial health from the ESFA in March 2015.

The report, based on an inspection in October, acknowledged the college had faced a “period of significant instability in senior leadership” that was now beginning to improve, but said leaders and management had not taken “rapid enough action” to improve the performance of teaching staff or make sure the curriculum meets “local needs”, which has lead to a decline in the recruitment of learners.

FE Week reported four months ago that merger talks between it and Middlesbrough College had broken down back in February, despite the fact that it had only been taken out of its previous intervention in October last year on the specific condition that the merger went through.

Today’s Ofsted report also said that “too many learners” failed to get qualifications, the achievement of apprentices “remains too low”, and teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement “in too many curriculum areas”.

“The financial position of the college is very weak,” inspectors wrote. “This presents very significant challenges for the college’s sustainability and its ability to maintain a broad and responsive curriculum.”

Although Ofsted commended the college’s governors as “highly committed”, they criticised leaders for providing them with insufficient information about the college’s performance .

Ofsted did recognise that “very recent actions” were beginning to show “early signs of improvement” in the progress of learners, including new opportunities to gain additional qualifications and work experience, a recently strengthened governing body and new quality assurance system.

But it is a “matter of urgency” that the college provide appropriate training for staff to ensure all learners recognise the “risks of extremism and radicalisation”. It must also “take immediate and sustained action to ensure more learners and apprentices stay on their programmes and make good progress”.

The college has been allocated £2.3 million for 2017/18 by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. 

Redcar and Cleveland College’s acting principal, Ed Heatley, said they were “disappointed” with the result from Ofsted but that “measures are already being put in place to ensure improvements across the board. 

“While Ofsted highlighted a number of areas of concern in their report, they also recognised that recent actions have resulted in the early signs of improvement, and that the college has a clear focus and strategy going forward.”

He added that providing further education opportunities in Redcar remains the college’s “priority” and said they were committed to continuing providing “high quality” work experience and guidance for students and ensuring learners continue into employment or higher education. 

 

 

Update – 11am

Redcar and Cleveland College and Stockton Riverside College have announced plans to merge.

According to today’s announcement, both colleges are confident that a merger – set to go through by August 2018 – would help to boost quality at struggling Redcar.

Mark White, Stockton Riverside chair, said: “With a shared vision and passion for our local communities and the wider Tees Valley, both colleges are confident that the partnership will create greater opportunities for learners, employers, staff and stakeholders.”

Redcar and Cleveland College’s acting principal Ed Heatley said the move “will help us to alleviate the concerns Ofsted has raised. 

“As one organisation, both colleges will benefit from shared expertise, resources and best practice along with enhanced opportunities for future growth. The delivery of an excellent learner experience is at the heart of the merger as is the growth and performance of both colleges.” 

And Sue Jeffrey, Redcar and Cleveland College chair, added: “This is a really positive development both for the colleges and the area.”

The two colleges both took part in the Tees Valley area review, but came out of that process with separate merger proposals – both of which subsequently fell through.

Grade two-rated Stockton Riverside had been planning to join forces with Darlington College, while the breakdown of talks between Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough College earlier this year led to the FE commissioner’s involvement to find a new partner for Redcar.

Corbyn threatens independence of colleges

Colleges’ status as independent corporations could be at risk under Labour’s plan for free lifelong learning, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

The service, which Mr Corbyn compared to the National Health Service, would offer “cradle-to-grave education free at the point of use”.

The party leader outlined plans for a National Education Service during his keynote address on the first afternoon of the Association of Colleges annual conference in Birmingham on November 14.

And speaking to FE Week after he came off stage, he revealed that this could see colleges changing their status.

“We feel there’s a danger with the independent model of college education that they get too far away from local communities and local education authorities,” he said.

“And what we’re looking to is a model that will bring them closer to that, but not removing the important connection with local industry,” the Labour leader continued.

He and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner will be working on their proposals “over the next few months”, after which they would have a clearer picture of the role colleges could play in the education service, he said.

Mr Corbyn was also asked about colleges’ accountability during a Q&A with the audience after his speech.

He harked back to the time before colleges were incorporated, in 1993, when he described them as “very much the production of local education authorities”.

“They’re not anymore, they’re often very, very separate – often far too separate,” he said.

But he insisted he is “not trying to destroy the independence that’s there”.

“It’s about having an effective relationship that does maintain the links with LEAs, central government and the employers who are often very involved in the management of colleges,” he added.

During his speech Mr Corbyn said the National Education Service would offer free courses to allow people of any age to upskill or retrain at any point, based on the idea that both “the whole of society” and the individual benefit through education.

“It will be a realisation of the fact that every child and adult matters, and that all areas of skill and learning deserve equal recognition,” Mr Corbyn told delegates.

The service was one of the Labour party’s main FE pledges during this year’s general election.

Included was a pledge to scrap upfront fees and advanced learner loans for adult learners wanting to upskill or retrain by increasing the adult skills budget to £1.5 billion.

On the question of funding, posed by conference host Steph McGovern, Mr Corbyn said the cash would come through “increased taxation on corporations and the wealthiest” at a level similar to that in other European Union countries.

Mr Corbyn also asked the chancellor for “investment in infrastructure, new technologies and people” ahead of next week’s budget announcement.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that education is in a perilous state: funding has been cut year upon year,” he said.

“The government must wake up to the damage these cuts are causing to colleges and the entire educational system, the damage it is doing to students’ learning, and the damage it is doing to staff morale.

“Next week’s budget is an opportunity to break with that damaging record – and it must be taken.”

Mr Corbyn spoke about the country’s productivity crisis which he said was evidence of the “damaging failure” of the Conservative government’s austerity drive.

“Consider the fact that in mid-2017, productivity levels were lower than they were a decade ago, despite the huge technological advance of the last 10 years,” he continued.

 “Increasing productivity is not about squeezing out every last drop of energy from working people,” he said.

“It’s about investing in people’s lives, investing in their education, their skills and their futures – as well as the infrastructure and technologies of the future.

“With increased automation in the workplace, we need to be offering more opportunities than ever before for people to take on the jobs of the future.

“In the 21st century, the economies that succeed are those that invest, most of all in people.”

FE Week is the premier media partner at this year’s AoC Conference. There will be more coverage of the conference in our 16-page supplement sponsored by NOCN, and the next edition of FE Week.

Caption: FE Week senior reporter Jude Burke interviewing Jeremy Corbyn. Inset: Mr Corbyn speaking at conference

Education select committee launches inquiry into apprenticeships and skills training

A new inquiry into the quality of apprenticeships and skills training has been launched by the House of Commons education select committee.

Former apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon, who now chairs the committee, will confirm this during a speech at The Skills Show in Birmingham today.

A spokesperson for the committee said: “While many independent training providers and further education colleges are providing excellent training, too much provision is poor. For example, Ofsted last year reported that 37 per cent of apprenticeship providers were less than good.”

The inquiry will look into whether employers, learners and tax payers are getting sufficient value for the time and money invested in training, and whether more needs to be done to detect poor-quality provision.

The inquiry will also look to uncover barriers faced by the socially disadvantaged in accessing skills training and consider how government funding can be used to remove these barriers.

Mr Halfon said: “Social justice and productivity is at the heart of the work of the committee and high quality apprenticeships and skills training should play a key part in helping people climb the ladder of opportunity.

“Encouraging more people to pursue training is vital to the future health of our economy, but too much of what is on offer does not live up to the standards that people deserve and will do little to boost our productivity. I am particularly concerned about the quality of training provided by some subcontractors.”

He added that through this inquiry, the committee will examine not only the quality of training but also how effective the current monitoring system is at rooting out “those courses which are not up to scratch”.

“We will also be looking at how government funding should be distributed to ensure we’re filling skills gaps, rewarding great providers and punishing poor ones,” he added.

“Finally, amid worrying reports that pursuing apprenticeships and other forms of training is prohibitively expensive for some, we will be looking at what can be done to ensure that they are truly open to everyone, regardless of background.”

The committee’s inquiry will look at all forms of government-funded apprenticeships and skills training funded by the Education & Skills Funding Agency.

The committee is inviting written submissions on the following issues:

  • The quality of current provision, how this varies by sector, level and region, and the impact of this on learner outcomes;
  • The effectiveness of the quality monitoring system, in particular the role and capacity of Ofsted;
  • The role of the ESFA in ensuring value for money, and the impact of different funding models;
  • Quality and oversight of training provided by subcontractors; and
  • Quality of training received by the socially disadvantaged, and barriers to them undertaking this training

The deadline for submissions is January 5. This link can be used to submit written evidence.

Weston College takes two gongs at the AoC Beacon Awards

The AoC Beacon Award winners, which recognise innovative and outstanding activities in colleges across the UK, have been announced.

The ceremony took place this evening on the opening day of the AoC annual conference at the ICC in Birmingham.

Among the winners was Weston College, which achieved a double success, winning awards for improving functional, vocational and transferable skills amongst the disadvantaged and for those with disabilities.

The college was praised for initiatives that helped to reach the most disenfranchised learners.

Its ‘Creating brighter futures’ initiative reflects “the best in adult further education within the community” and “inspires the most educationally disadvantaged to engage, improve their skills, discover and fulfil their potential and increase their life and work opportunities on release or repatriation”.

The judges were impressed by its commitment to “a safe learning environment where all learners are valued and thrive regardless of background and level to meet individual needs, which if not addressed can impose a lifelong sentence of reoffending, underachievement, frustration and continued disadvantage for themselves and their families”.

“The benefits extend beyond individuals and families to the wider community and society in general as providing the aspiration and aptitude to seek and gain legitimate employment.”

 

 

Portsmouth College took home the award for effective use of technology.

The college’s ‘Curious and creative’ project was based on providing all full-time 16- to 18-year-old students with an Apple iPad Mini, “creating a sophisticated yet personalised learning experience”.

“This was combined with a radical change to the college timetable, redesigned learning spaces, high density wi-fi across the campus and the ability to mirror iPads to classroom projectors and large-format display screens,” an AoC spokesperson said.

City of Wolverhampton College was recognised for its careers education and guidance.

The college’s ‘Hub’ project “focused on developing effective careers information, advice and guidance for all young people in the city”.

What impressed the judges was the way it is “directly transferable to other colleges and providers, and the lessons learnt from implementing the project are valuable to other providers working with this range of young people in the further education and skills sector”.

Abingdon and Witney College was also handed the award for practical teaching and learning.

The college was recognised for preparing students to become “effective employees of the future”.

The judges were “particularly impressed by the college’s commitment to developing a moral and social code with the aim of improving employability prospects and leading to an ethos of respect and responsibility”.

 

The full list of winners:

Edge Award for Practical Teaching and Learning – Abingdon and Witney College

Award for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities – Weston College

JISC Award for the Effective Use of Technology in Further Education – Portsmouth College

Award for the Promotion and Delivery of Successful Apprenticeships – Gloucestershire College

City & Guilds Award for Staff Development – Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education

RSM Award for Leadership and Governance – Bridgend College

AoC Award for Mental Health and Wellbeing – Truro and Penwith College

AoC Award for College Engagement with Employers – Sunderland College

Skills and Education Group Award for Transition into Post-16 Education and Training – Cardiff and Vale College

The Careers and Enterprise Company Careers Education and Guidance Award – City of Wolverhampton College

Gateway Qualifications Widening Participation in Learning Award – Weston College

Chief executive standing down from troubled college group

Bradford College has confirmed that its group chief executive is stepping down after it received both a financial notice to improve and an Oftsed grade three in short succession.

Andy Welsh, who became group chief executive in August 2014, is stepping down at the end of this academic year.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency financial health notice to improve was published this afternoon, a day after Ofsted released its ‘requires improvement’-overall verdict on the college – which has fallen one grade from its previous inspection in 2014.

The chair of the college corporation, Richard Wightman, thanked Mr Welsh, and praised his contribution.

“We are grateful for the support Andy has provided in his time as group chief executive and his contributions as a member of the senior team in the previous decade,” he said.

“In his role as CEO Andy has made significant efforts to improve and raise the college’s external profile and has fostered strong links with businesses and local communities.

“We are confident our executive team is wholly committed to addressing the issues facing the college and supporting and guiding our ongoing journey.”

In his own statement, Mr Welsh said he was proud of the work he had done.

“I have completed three years as CEO, and 14 years at the college in total. I feel it is now time to move on to pursue other goals,” he said.

“During my time in post, I have been proud to see the college position itself as a true partner of business, communities and individuals in Bradford.

“It has been great to see the increasing esteem in which the college is held and that the brilliant work of our students and staff is well recognised.”

A spokesperson for the college would not confirm whether there would be redundancies as a result of the college’s financial problems or the related intervention from the FE commissioner Richard Atkins.

But she conceded that the college “must now make significant financial savings, the timescale of which is yet to be determined”.

“The college is committed to mitigating the impact on staff and students, and has assured staff it will provide open and honest communications, consultation and support during this difficult period,” she said.

The college appointed a new director of finance and central services at the start of this academic year.

Chris Malish joined after almost nine years at the University of Bradford, in roles including interim finance director.

“Chris will now lead the college’s financial recovery plan and operational implementation working with the ESFA and FE commissioner,” she said.

The college, which enrolled just over 15,000 learners last academic year, was allocated around £14.7 million for 2017/18 by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, as of November.

According to the financial notice to improve, the college “must work with the ESFA and the FE commissioner and his advisers to undertake an independent assessment of the college’s capability and capacity to make the required changes and improvements”.

Authorities must undertake regular reviews of potential cashflow requirements, and must supply the ESFA with monthly management accounts.

Earlier this academic term the college informed senior managers that financial savings would need to be made. Predicted savings in 2016/17 were not fully realised, while other factors, including lower-than-expected HE student numbers, capital repayments and the need to increase cash holdings alongside predicated inflation rates, have led the college to seek financial support from the ESFA.

Kirklees College, rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted, was also issued with a financial notice to improve at the same time, which said it had been referred for FE commissioner intervention. 

Oftsed confirmed in a report published yesterday that Bradford College had slipped from ‘good’ overall to ‘requires improvement’.

Only its adult learning programmes and apprenticeships were considered to be grade two.

Inspectors said that leaders and managers needed to ensure that learner attendance improves “especially in English and maths lessons”, and that they should “assess the quality of teaching, learning and assessment more realistically”.

“Too few learners make the progress of which they are capable from their starting points,” it warned.

BREAKING: Institute for Apprenticeships appoints board member as chief executive

The new chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships is military man Sir Gerry Berragan, who was previously unveiled as a board member.

He was a career soldier for 37 years, finishing as adjutant general, responsible for all army personnel matters, serving between August 2012 and August 2015.

Sir Gerry had been appointed the army’s apprentices ambassador in 2008, to lead the effort to make the army the largest apprenticeships provider in the country, offering more than 45 schemes.

He was unveiled as one of the IfA’s board members in January, when it was also revealed that former Barclays chief executive Anthony Jenkins had been appointed as shadow chair.

Anne Milton, the skills and apprenticeships minister, said she was “delighted that Sir Gerry has been appointed”.

“He will drive the Institute to meet the challenges ahead, and I look forward to working closely with him. Having met Sir Gerry, I know that he will make sure that high-quality apprenticeships, available for everyone, will be at the heart of the Institute’s work,” she said.

“I am honoured to have been appointed as chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships,” said Sir Gerry, who will start in his new role on November 27. “I was closely involved in delivering high-quality apprenticeships during my army career and I have been an Institute board member from the outset earlier this year, so I understand the challenge.

“I look forward to working with employers to deliver high-quality apprenticeships to meet their needs, while providing excellent opportunities for people and employers across the country.”

The search for a full-time successor to outgoing IfA boss Peter Lauener, who is also coming to the end of his stint as chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, began in April.

The original closing date for applications was in late May.

It was revealed at the time that the position would be on a fixed-term contract of up to five years, with a salary of up to £142,500.

The initial recruitment round proved to be fruitless, with apparently no suitable candidates identified, so the IfA turned to headhunters in July.

They carried out a second round of interviews over three weeks up to the end of the first week of October.

The IfA has many important responsibilities, including developing and maintaining quality criteria for the approval of apprenticeship standards and assessment plans, which it also publishes, and quality-assuring the delivery of end-point assessments.

The DfE announced in October last year that Mr Lauener had been installed as the IfA’s shadow chief executive.

He had been planning to retire after permanent replacements were found to all three of his senior jobs, but it emerged last week that he will take over at the Student Loans Company later this month, after its chief executive departed suddenly under a cloud.

According to a statement on the SLC’s website, he will start in an interim capacity on November 27.

He will remain in the post until a permanent replacement for Steve Lamey is recruited.

Spielman: Ofsted to begin hunt for ‘scandalous’ apprenticeship providers

Ofsted will conduct early monitoring visits at new providers entering the apprenticeship market to sniff out any “scandalous” attempts to waste public money, the chief inspector has said.

In front of hundreds of college leaders at the AoC Conference this afternoon, Amanda Spielman announced new measures to ensure that situations like the Learndirect debacle are not repeated.

She was speaking just six months after the launch of the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, where hundreds of new providers, some with no experience of running apprenticeships at all, were put in a position to receive millions in public cash.

“While it is early days in terms of understanding the volume of new providers entering the apprenticeship market, I do want to reassure you, our existing and experienced providers, that Ofsted will be monitoring these newcomers closely,” she said.

“I can tell you today that I have asked my inspectors, over the coming months, to conduct early monitoring visits to a sample of new providers. This will allow us to evaluate how well prepared these providers are.

Ofsted will be monitoring these newcomers closely

“With the recent experience of Learndirect fresh in all of our minds, I have no doubt all of you are acutely aware of the risks faced when large sums of money appear to be washing around the system, with insufficient quality control.

“We surely all remember the lessons of the Train to Gain initiative and the problems that were encountered with Individual Learning Accounts. Insufficient oversight and quality assurance undoubtedly resulted in too many poor outcomes for learners, not to mention the scandalous waste of public money.”

She added that when it comes to the new apprenticeship programme, the sector can be “confident that Ofsted will do all within our power to bring any such practice to light”.

And with all of the apprenticeship reforms, she expects that some providers will “adopt different approaches” to delivering qualifications. She told delegates that she had already launched “some pilot inspections” to “test these new ways of working”.

She also announced that the inspectorate was changing its “presentation and use” of performance data.

Ofsted chief stresses ‘real challenge’ with apprenticeships register

“I realise that the college sector is full of different measures and that, depending on the provision you offer, some are more useful than others,” she said.

“That is why I have asked our data teams to review the way we present our data dashboards for inspectors to use.

“I want it to be clear to everyone, inspectors and providers alike, which measures are meaningful and significant and which are less significant at an institutional level.”

Ofsted also is reviewing arrangements for its existing ‘support and challenge’ visits to all providers rated ‘requires improvement’, which FE Week reported last week.

The proposed changes include conducting a single monitoring visit, normally between seven and 13 months after the original inspection. The inspectorate is also proposing to publish these monitoring visit reports, so that “students, employers and the public are aware of the progress providers are making”.

Lastly, the chief inspector lastly told delegates that Ofsted would soon publish a curriculum and study programme report.

This “substantial” piece of research is based on visits to ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ colleges, interviews with employers linked to those colleges and the views of students at those colleges. From these visits, Ms Spielman said Ofsted has “been able to put together a picture of what the best level two study programmes look like”.

The full research paper will be released “in the New Year”.

FE Week is the premier media partner at this year’s AoC Conference. You can follow live coverage of the event by following @feweek on Twitter and using #AoCConf.

Over 70,000 to attend sixth annual Skills Show this week

More than 70,000 visitors are expected to pack out the sixth annual Skills Show in Birmingham this week, and qualification for next year’s EuroSkills competition and the continental leg of a major cooking competition are high on the agenda.

The event, held at the NEC arena, will run until Saturday, November 18, and sees 500 apprentices and students competing in 55 national skills competitions, from whom the squad for EuroSkills Budapest 2018 and Kazan 2019 will be selected.

There will also be a cook-off on Saturday between five top chefs bidding to represent Britain in the prestigious international Bocuse d’Or competition. Brian Turner, the UK team president, a famous TV chef in his own right, will lead the jury.

Dr Neil Bentley, the chief executive of WorldSkills UK, is looking forward to the event, which is free to attend and starting to take shape as seen on Twitter.

 

“Over the three days of the Skills Show we will welcome over 70,000 people from across the country, young people can speak with leading employers, colleges and independent training providers about opportunities available to them and also try their hand at a wide range of skills,” he said.

“We have a great showcase with the WorldSkills UK national finals taking place,” he added. “We will celebrate our most talented apprentices and students, some of whom will go onto represent the UK at international skills competitions.”

The five chefs competing in the Bocuse d’Or are Adam Thomason, the executive chef for Deloitte London, Chris Hill, the premier sous chef, at The Ritz in London, Frederick Forster, the executive chef, at the Don restaurant in London; Tom Phillips, head chef at Restaurant Story, and Tony Wright, a senior lecturer at University College Birmingham.

They will have to prepare a fish dish using Fjord trout and lobster as the main products, and a meat platter using a short saddle of lamb.

The successful candidate will go on to compete in the European final of the Bocuse d’Or in Turin, Italy in June next year.

There will also be over 25,000 job and training opportunities on offer from exhibitors including BAE Systems, Dyson, HS2, Health Education England and colleges including BMet, South Cheshire College and West Cheshire College and South and City Birmingham and Bournville College.

Mr Bentley said this year would also see “our very first Youth Summit, where young people will be presenting their ideas on careers advice to a senior panel of industry, education and government representatives”.

This will take place on the opening day and involve around 100 young people, aged 16 to 24, discussing the challenges of careers advice. It will feature Kieran Milne, a young entrepreneur, and Ashleigh Porter, the winner of BBC Young Apprentice.