We must embrace new modes of delivery for our under-pressure learners

There has been a significant shift in learner attitudes in recent years with short-term priorities, including the shadow of rising living costs, increasingly taking precedence over long-term career and educational goals.

However, forward-thinking colleges and training providers are remedying this by implementing innovative technology which allows learners to continue their studies and progress their careers, despite challenging circumstances. The impact of this has the potential to reach far beyond the individual student, once again putting further education and workplace learning at the forefront of social change.

A recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Groups of Students and Further Education and Lifelong Learning shows that many further education students are responding to financial pressures by taking on more paid work in order to support themselves and their families which can have a significant impact on their studies.

Research by the Association of Colleges has found that many students now consider bursaries and hardship funds to be an essential household income stream, but this money is being diverted to cover domestic costs such as food and energy bills, rather than costs associated with their education. This means that they remain unable to afford the necessary travel, childcare or equipment needed in order to succeed on their course.

And financial challenges are only the start of the story. Time deprivation due to extra shifts, multiple jobs or ‘side hustles’ necessary to make ends meet means that learners are missing classes, falling behind and ultimately dropping out when they feel unable to catch up.

There are also social factors driven by increasing prices. For example, the high cost of formal childcare in the UK (which is among the highest in the world) remains a particular barrier to work and education, and one that disproportionately affects women, who are statistically more likely to be primary child carers.

Learners are feeling the pinch from all angles

Workplace learning is also suffering. Business investment in areas such as employee training is lower in the UK than any other country in the G7. Where staff can access workplace training, they too are coming up against the same challenges as other learners – the need to fit their studies into increasingly busy lives.

With learners feeling the pinch from all angles, there’s a real risk that the current economic climate will have a long-term negative impact on productivity, equality and social mobility.

However, there is hope shining through from the world of adult education and skills. The flourishing UK edtech sector offers an array of opportunities for colleges and employers to offer more flexible, accessible training.

Colleges and employers who have already embraced this technology have found it to be transformational, allowing learners to continue their training despite challenging economic and social factors.

At the forefront of this is the integration of technology into traditional delivery. If learning can be done at a time and place convenient for the student, with online resources designed specifically for this purpose, they will have the freedom to study on their terms. Suddenly, a last minute shift change at work no longer means falling behind at college – it simply means swapping study days. It also reduces transport, childcare and equipment costs, lessening the financial barriers to education.

It is here that the benefits of apprenticeships can also be seen – both as a cost-effective option for the employer looking to upskill their team, and a financially attractive choice for the learner who can study and work at the same time. As well as flexible or blended online delivery, technology also allows employers to deliver and manage the apprenticeship process by reducing administrative burdens, automating progress tracking and reporting, and enabling flexibility around work patterns.

During difficult times, it can often be hard to see beyond looming challenges, but this is where the ‘Cinderella sector’ is so essential. Colleges and training providers enjoy the unique privilege of witnessing key turning points in learners’ lives and careers, and more than ever are compelled to forge ahead with new methods of delivery.

The potential of technology in education has been touted for many years, and with a pressing need to meet learners’ needs in a challenging new normal, now is the time to turn that potential into power.

Using immersive technologies in training for specialist roles

We all know the value of providing learners with industry contact. Workplace visits and work placements add genuine value to their studies and can often help them connect with career pathways they knew little about or thought out of their reach.

But employers have a limited capacity to provide these high-value, high-quality experiences that are an increasingly integral part of so many courses. How then do we plug that gap?

It’s important we do. Our role as educators goes beyond delivering course content, and some industry skills can only really be gained in the role. The more specialist the role, the truer this is.

A pioneering project at Calderdale College shows that incorporating innovative, digitally-led learning environments into our curriculum can give further education settings a big boost in supporting students into such specialist roles.

Our pilot project tested the use of simulation-based education and immersive technologies including virtual reality (VR) for formative assessment. Its aim was specifically to gauge how well this would help prepare students for gaining qualified status in the social care sector.

The pilot, funded by the NCFE Assessment Innovation Fund, highlights the diverse responses of FE students to virtual and immersive experiences of teaching, learning and assessment.

It was our T Level Digital students who actually developed the proof of concept for social care VR scenarios, which were then developed into prototype scenarios by our tech partner, Taran3D. In doing so, they incorporated elements of the T Level Health curriculum and Care Certificate Standard 15.  Our health students then undertook the scenarios both within the VR environment and also by attending practical sessions at an NHS simulation centre.

This will only be successful with adequate training and orientation

The feedback was positive. The students were particularly impressed with the simulation centre and working in a professional hospital environment. They found using VR within the classroom setting relatively realistic considering the scenarios were not final products, and they recognised the value of colleges using VR for teaching and learning.

The project ran for an academic year and delivery of the assessments was timetabled to coincide with the usual assessment points. However, as this was a bolt-on project some students felt disorientated when the new style of assessment was introduced. This raised the issues of digital disadvantage as none of our students had prior use of VR headsets. A lack of timetable flexibility to test out new approaches compounded the problem.

It also demonstrated the need to include simulation as a standard mode of assessment. This will only be successful if it is thoroughly implemented into a student’s timetable with adequate training and orientation to avoid it impacting negatively on the learner’s assessment.

The use of VR and simulation suites for learning is already offered at university level and within clinical environments for continued professional development. However, this project has showcased that with the right digital infrastructure colleges can also deliver this type of learning to a high quality. Doing so can only help to create innovative curriculums to ready students to enter industry.

Colleges can only do this if the funding is available to prioritise ongoing faculty development for effective use of immersive technologies.

The technical element of immersive technologies and simulated practice needs to be thoroughly implemented prior to using simulation for learning and assessment and fully embedded into college processes, systems and management. Training and orientation for students and staff needs to be timetabled at the beginning of the academic year to avoid the potential of student anxiety.

Project-based learning is integrated into every aspect of college life at Calderdale College. It is a critical part of the way we deliver our courses. However, the current skills required in industry go beyond what qualifications specify, and this gap is only likely to grow as technology transforms the workplace.

Closing that gap requires collaboration with employers, but it doesn’t all have to rely on physical placements. Our project shows that embedding immersive technologies into provision not only gives students the opportunities they need to prepare for the workplace but eases the strain on colleges and employers when it comes to the kind of high-quality training that helps fill job vacancies.

For more information about the pilot and to read the final report, visit the NCFE website

The specialist FE sector should have its own clear ministerial brief

Whenever the election takes place, it is essential that the next government take a more coordinated approach to specialist FE. Clear lines of responsibility are needed to truly support young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Specialist FE colleges play a vital role within the wider FE and Skills sector for 16-25 year-olds with complex needs. But they are often overlooked because of a disconnect between responsibility for SEND, which lies with the minister for children, families and wellbeing, and responsibility for FE, overseen by the minister for skills, further and higher education.

The SEND and alternative provision improvement plan pledged better integration of specialist colleges with FE and SEND policies. But meaningful steps have not yet been taken.

As a result, there is poor coordination and policy fragmentation for SEND in FE. The left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing. Schools dominate SEND policy and FE is often overlooked. Local authority schools forums make decisions on high needs budgets, and according to research by Special Needs Jungle high needs provision capital allocations will create just 160 places in FE – less than on per cent of the 20,000 new specialist places being created.

Meanwhile, there is a similar lack of consideration of SEND within FE policy. The recent change to the condition of funding rules demonstrate this with a one-size-fits-all approach that overlooks diverse and complex learning needs.

In a survey of 46 Natspec colleges, 91 per cent said that the new minimum teaching hours would have a negative impact on some or all of their students who are studying qualifications. Nearly 81 per cent said that the requirement for “stand-alone, whole-class, in-person teaching” would have a negative impact due to the importance of a person-centred approach, small groups and 1:1 interventions.

Overcoming neglect requires a unified strategy 

Such neglect of SEND within FE policy has also resulted in underfunding. Despite being entirely state-funded, specialist colleges are not in scope for FE capital funds at all, and receive an average of just £40,000 annually for all their capital needs – a drop in the ocean. They depend on donations, fundraising and reserves to maintain and repair aging buildings.

Failing to co-ordinate across briefs leads to inefficiencies, limited accountability and policy fragmentation. Specialist colleges are under-valued and fall between two stools, with each Department for Education (DfE) minister wrongly presuming the other is primarily responsible for SEND in FE.

Neither the two ministers nor their officials offer any clear leadership, and they do not appear to be working actively together to ensure a joined-up policy for the sector. We often find ourselves signposted to different teams, each with a limited understanding of either FE and Skills, or SEND.

Recent discussions with Robert Halfon indicate ministers are beginning to recognise the issue. The Labour Party has also shown a promising commitment to a ‘joined up’ approach to specialist FE. Seema Malhotra MP, the shadow minister for skills spoke at Natspec’s 2024 manifesto launch, also attended by Helen Hayes MP, the shadow minister for children and early years.

However, we need more than talk. Overcoming the neglect of specialist FE requires a unified strategy.

Specialist FE providers should be formally, firmly and overtly placed within the minister for skills and FE’s brief. That minister should be the main point of contact for specialist FE and also be responsible for ensuring that the minister for children, families and wellbeing considers the needs of FE providers within 0-25 SEND policy. No more being passed from pillar to post. 

In addition, there should be regular joint meetings between the specialist FE sector and both ministers. They should mandate their two DfE teams to collaborate, ensuring that no FE policy is introduced without consideration of learners with SEND, and no SEND policy is introduced without consideration of FE, including specialist provision.

An inclusive, bold strategy is overdue. Allocating responsibility, with methods of collaboration across ministerial briefs baked in, is essential – not only to support the sector but to support the government’s own goals of reducing the disability employment gap and encouraging economic growth.

The next government must actively champion specialist FE with clear, dedicated leadership and accountability so that specialist FE no longer falls through the cracks.

City and Guilds fined £200k for regulatory breaches

An awarding giant has been fined £200,000 for repeated “errors” in its exam materials and failing in its duty to notify regulators of problems in good time.

In a notice published this morning, exam regulator Ofqual said an investigation into City and Guilds last year uncovered a series of errors with its assessments.

The regulator looked at 75 incidents between April 2022 and May 2023 and found that the awarding body had failed to quickly report some issues, with delays of six months or more in some cases.

Awarding organisations are required to tell Ofqual about incidents which may have an adverse effect on the delivery of qualifications or assessments under their conditions of registration with the regulator. Failure to do so is considered a breach.

Overall, Ofqual found 28 errors with exam papers and online examination materials, 16 issues with delivering the exams and 13 issues with results or certificates issued to learners.

A “significant aggravating factor” for Ofqual was that many of the errors related to issues City and Guilds promised to fix three years ago after admitting “delivery failures” in its animal management qualifications in 2018/19.

Ofqual said an action plan agreed after those failures was “not successful” in preventing the more recent errors, which were “similar in nature”.

The regulator said: “There are indications that City & Guilds did not effectively review its approach to the development, delivery, and award of qualifications when producing the action plan in 2019 and since.”

Third fine for the awarding giant

The £200,000 fine is the third and largest City and Guilds has received from the exam regulator.

It has also agreed to cover Ofqual’s “reasonable” legal costs, which are yet to be confirmed.

Following City and Guilds’ 2018/19 delivery failures, Ofqual issued a £50,000 fine and asked it to pay £8,558 in legal costs.

Ofqual issued its first-ever financial penalty – a £38,000 fine plus £9,000 in legal costs – to the awarding body in 2016 over the late issuing of 22,000 results.

An additional aggravating factor was that each of the previous fines for regulatory failures included a “failure to promptly notify Ofqual of relevant events”, the notice said.

Over 20 conditions of recognition, rules exam boards must follow, were found to have been breached by City and Guilds.

Mitigation accepted by enforcement committee

In mitigation, the regulator accepted that City and Guilds developed its 2019 action plan in “good faith”, even if it was not based on a “sufficiently deep root cause analysis”.

The notice said: “In each incident, City and Guilds has acted with integrity and with the interests of the learners at the forefront ensuring that thorough incident management has been implemented to minimise the effect on learners.”

Ofqual’s enforcement committee agreed that the length of time the issues have occurred is “in part due to the impact of the pandemic”, which diverted most of the awarding body’s resources towards “alternative assessment and certification models”.

City and Guilds has since put in place a £1 million “awarding organisation transformation programme” as well as “short-term improvement actions” in the last 18 months.

Key changes to its operations reportedly include a new responsible officer, strengthened governance, new heads of assessment and development, investment in specialist software and a new quality management strategy.

Ofqual also recognised that in the last two years of spring and summer exams there have been “very limited issues” with its results.

Ian Bauckham, chief regulator at Ofqual, said: “City and Guilds have co-operated from the beginning and their latest improvement plan promises to be strong. An improved approach, along with the fine, should allow everyone to draw a line under these issues and go forward with a renewed sense of confidence.”

A spokesperson for City and Guilds said it is pleased to successfully issue around 650,000 qualification results every year in England.

They added: “Whilst the vast majority of our qualifications are taken and awarded each year without issue, we are sorry that in the past some of our assessment materials and operational processes have fallen short.

“We accept Ofqual’s finding that there were errors in some cases dating back to 2018.

“Although we sought to mitigate these, we recognise that the steps we took – though undertaken in good faith and accepted by Ofqual – were not sufficiently effective in addressing the issues which had arisen.

“The adjustments needed to our operations were affected by the later COVID-19 pandemic which slowed progress in our ability to implement actions as fully as we would have hoped.”

Neurodiversity in the workplace will stall without support from FE

Young learners are contending with a range of challenges and one area that is often overlooked is how neurodiversity can be better supported as people train and enter the workplace. Diversity and inclusion are more than just buzzwords; they are essential components of success.

However, the City & Guilds Foundation’s Neurodiversity Index 2024 shows that neurodiversity is still not given the attention it deserves. Whether learners and younger workers have been diagnosed with ADHD, are on the autism spectrum or have a learning disability, neurodivergent people face significant challenges entering the workforce and thriving in the workplace when they do.

According to this new piece of research, half of neurodivergent employees in the workplace have missed work due to a lack of support for the challenges they face with their condition. This is the workplace that young people across training providers and colleges when they leave their educational settings.

The report also shows that 36 per cent of neurodivergent employees have received no guidance or support in their work environment while 20 per cent are waiting for adjustments to be put into place. Understandably, this exacerbates feelings of isolation and hinders productivity.

Most concerning of all, the survey shows that only 49 per cent of employers say that disability and inclusion policies are important to them, down from 53 per cent in the Neurodiversity Index 2023. These statistics are a sobering reminder of the obstacles faced by those who aren’t neurotypical, and quite often these obstacles don’t start when someone enters work but much earlier in their lives.

The rise in diagnoses of neurodivergence, especially among young people, in recent years further emphasises the urgency of creating inclusive workplaces for the future. For instance, between 1998 and 2018, the UK saw a staggering 787 per cent increase in diagnoses of autism, while another study shows a 20-fold increase in diagnoses of ADHD between 2000 and 2018.

Embracing neurodiversity is a moral and strategic imperative

With such a substantial rise, we must adapt to support cohorts of young people who will be entering the workplace. Their greater representation is inevitable, and they need to be supported to offer their full potential. This means tackling practices that perpetuate the exclusion of neurodivergent individuals, but also empowering them to make the transition from education to the world of work and to advocate for themselves with their future employers.

While our report focuses on actionable steps that businesses can take to foster neuroinclusive environments, there are learnings too for those that are nurturing our young people as they prepare for work. This includes:

  • Rolling out mandatory neuro-inclusion training to support tutors, trainers and staff not only to increase their knowledge and awareness but also to make necessary adaptations where required
  • Adopting ‘Neurodiversity Champions’ who can model best practice and provide a first port of call for young people who are seeking advice
  • Encouraging young people to look for organisations that adopt inclusive practices during the hiring process, for example those that make job descriptions accessible or provide questions before an interview to allow for preparation
  • Ensuring that physical, technological, and communication accommodations are in place to support all learners to succeed.

Embracing neurodiversity isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s also a strategic one. By tapping into the unique strengths and perspectives of neurodivergent individuals, businesses stand to gain a competitive edge.

Many neurodivergent individuals possess highly valued attributes such as enhanced creativity and ‘thinking outside of the box’ as well as heightened analytical and problem-solving skills—qualities that are particularly sought after in future-facing growth industries like tech.

As has been written in these pages before, further education is ideally placed not only to empower neurodivergent learners but also to work with partners in the business community to advocate for and support the development of more inclusive workplaces. And of course, colleges and training providers are employers too, who can model this important work.

As we strive to build more inclusive societies, let us remember that diversity extends beyond what meets the eye. By embracing neurodiversity, we create environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Read the full City & Guilds Neurodiversity Index Report 2024 here

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 456

Kersty Ellis

Principal, Writtle College

Start date: March 2024

Previous Job: Director of Further Education, Writtle University College

Interesting fact: Kersty is a registered veterinary nurse and absolutely adores cats. Once on a holiday in Greece, Kersty found a poorly kitten at the hotel and arranged veterinary care. The cat arrived at Gatwick a month later and now lives a life of luxury with Kersty’s other cats.

Chris Stoker-Jones

Director of Business Services, Direct Skills Group

Start date: March 2024

Previous Job: Client Engagement and Experience Director, Learn Plus Us

Interesting fact: Chris has a passion for football & graphic design and has set up a business combining the two and providing photo shoots and professional matchday graphics for North East grassroots sports teams.

DfE snatches £1.5m from popular FE leadership and governance scheme

The Department for Education is slashing a near-£10 million popular programme aimed at strengthening leadership and governance in further education, FE Week understands.

Last year, the Education and Training Foundation was awarded a £9.55 million two-year contract to deliver continuous professional development (CPD) to around 5,500 people.

The much sought-after programme drew in over 4,000 leaders and governors just in its first year.

But the DfE, which is on a money-saving venture, is planning to reduce the value of the contract by £1.5 million and scale back the programme offer ahead of the final year.

Experts warned last year that nonprotected government budgets are at risk of cuts after chancellor Jeremy Hunt told all departments to “redouble efforts to find savings”.

The DfE just this week ditched a school governor recruitment scheme, slashed subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses, and scaled back funding for national professional qualifications.

Value for taxpayers’ money?

The ETF had already been running a CPD programme for FE governors and leaders with other sector bodies since its launch in 2013, but the January 2021 skills for jobs white paper outlined that the government would “build upon” the ETF’s offer.

The organisation won the £9.55 million contract in 2023, which involves 30 programmes for students, professionals, and governors across FE through online, face-to-face and hybrid sessions.

DfE said at the time that it was targeting more than 5,500 people in leadership and governance roles from the contract, which ends in March 2025.

Following the first year, DfE and the ETF claimed to be conducting a “regular review” of the contract to ensure “value for taxpayers’ money”.

Dr. Katerina Kolyva, chief executive at the ETF, told FE Week that the review is to ensure “the offer remains holistic and joined up”.

An ETF spokesperson said they were “not in a position” to specify what parts of the programme will change in year two.

“Contract reviews are not unusual, with contracts being explored across many other sectors and industries during the current economic climate,” they said.

“ETF and the DfE recognise that together we have made great progress in the first year of the leadership and governance (L&G) contract, supporting leaders and governors with their career development.”

The spokesperson added: “We are unable to comment on [the total contract value] until the review is completed. Our priority is mitigating any impact potential changes may have on the sector and those individuals whose ongoing career development we remain committed to support.”

Additionally, through the contract, the ETF commissioned several delivery partners such as the Saïd Business School, which runs a CEO programme to support chief executives and college principals through face-to-face sessions located at the University of Oxford.

Plus, the Association of Colleges was commissioned to develop and run the Governance Development Programme for college governors through a series of online modules.

Other delivery partners include the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, and FE Associates.

Kolyva said: “Before the start of year two, we have been working together to ensure that the offer remains holistic and joined up, and that it continues to support leaders and governors with their continuous professional development. We have explored new opportunities to do things differently; to be innovative, explore new ways of delivery and using new technologies.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We are confident that our updates will continue to support FE leaders and governors with everything they need for their continuous professional development. This work is part of our regular review of our contracts to ensure we’re meeting our obligations, the needs of the sector, and value for taxpayers’ money.”

Mayors’ use of AEB powers ‘disappointing’, says ex No 10 adviser

England’s combined authority mayors need to “step up” and do more with their devolved skills powers, a former Number 10 policy adviser has said.

Baroness Alison Wolf will appear alongside Sir Michael Barber, who until recently advised DfE and the Treasury on skills policy implementation, on the first episode of the new series of the Let’s Go Further podcast next week.

The two public policy experts will give their insider perspectives on how further education and skills is perceived in Whitehall, and what reforms the next government should prioritise.

Wolf will speak of disappointment at how combined authority mayors in England don’t appear to have made much use of their devolved powers on adult education.

“I just am really disappointed by how few seem to me to have done anything more than essentially just carry over the quite restrictive ‘pot here, pot there’ regime which they’ve inherited from DfE,” Wolf will say.

With the introduction of degree apprenticeships, the lifelong learning entitlement and more employer-led local skills plans, Barber will make the case for a single regulator for tertiary-level education.

“I would like to see, whoever the next government is, a single regulator for post-18 education looking more consistently at the emerging range of options than we’re able to do with the current system,” he will say.

Wolf will also explain how consistent calls from businesses for apprenticeship levy reform were batted away by the Treasury.

“What you mostly got in Number 10 was a combination of businesses lobbying to be allowed to do whatever they want to with the money and Treasury going ‘this is a tax, get off our lawn’.”

Both guests will set out what they believe should be the next government’s priorities for FE and skills. Barber will argue for “significant investment” so England can be “the leading provider of skills to the 21st-century workforce in the world”.

For Wolf, her top priority is “to build on the success of the bootcamps” and “a much larger proportion of college activity focussed on locally driven, locally relevant skills provision”.

Wolf and Barber will appear on episode 1 of the new series of the Let’s Go Further podcast, produced by the Skills and Education Group and guest-hosted by FE Week editor Shane Chowen, available to download from all major podcast platforms on March 26.

IfATE plans staff cuts after DfE orders cost-saving measures

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is stripping back its workforce after being ordered to find savings by the Department for Education.

Staff costs at the quango ballooned from £14.4 million in 2020-21 to £21.5 million in 2022-23 as additional responsibilities were handed to the institute through the skills and post-16 education act.

Over that period the institute’s hiring spree led to its average full-time equivalent staff figure growing from 200 to 298.

But FE Week understands IfATE is now looking to downsize with a voluntary exit scheme opened to all staff.

The institute confirmed it was embarking on a “reorganisation in line with wider civil service efficiency savings”.

IfATE would not say how many posts it is looking to cut or how much it is aiming to reduce its staff costs by.

The DfE was tight-lipped about the reasons behind the instruction. It declined to comment on whether IfATE’s annual budget, which totals £32.7 million in 2023-24, would be reduced or whether any other DfE-sponsored agencies were also told to find savings.

A spokesperson for the institute said: “IfATE has a duty to deliver value for money for taxpayers, so regularly makes sure we are operating as efficiently as possible.

“Our work across occupational maps, apprenticeships, T Levels, higher technical qualifications, and post-16 qualifications remains unchanged, as does our passion for shaping skills training on behalf of employers.”

IfATE restructure follows ESFA clear out

Launched in 2017 to spearhead the government’s apprenticeship reforms, the then-known Institute for Apprenticeships has seen its responsibilities and workforce expand over the past seven years.

“Technical Education” was added to the quango’s name and brief in 2019 as the authority also took over the content of T Levels and procurement for awarding organisations.

The institute had around 80 full-time staff in its first year of operation, a figure which now sits at around 300.

IfATE was recently handed new “powers” as set out in the FE white paper and skills bill, such as defining and approving new categories of technical qualifications as well as reviewing those already on offer and withdrawing their approval where they are no longer performing as expected.

The institute’s restructure follows the Education and Skills Funding Agency halving its staff headcount last year after the Department for Education approved Sir David Bell’s recommendation to strip the agency of its policy responsibilities in 2022.

The ESFA’s annual report published in July 2023 showed its average headcount stood at 829 in the last financial year, down from 1,779 in 2021-22. This brought total staffing costs down from £104 million to £49 million. Most staff were however moved into the DfE.

FE Week is not aware of any other DfE sponsored agencies that are being told to find savings by DfE currently.

Separately, Ofsted, a non-ministerial department that is funded independently by Treasury, has warned that the reliability of inspections will be “compromised” if its funding is “further constrained”.

Ofsted’s chair Dame Christine Ryan said during a September board meeting that actions taken by the watchdog to absorb rising costs are a “short-term fix” and will likely “store up cost pressures” for this year and beyond.

The inspectorate’s funding is now 29 per cent lower in real terms compared with 2009-10, despite its role and responsibilities expanding significantly over that period.