Ofsted promises to start recording inspection pauses in new era

Ofsted will start recording when inspections are paused after admitting it could not back-up claims made under oath that inspectors had halted visits due to leader distress.

A coroner last month ruled an Ofsted inspection in November 2022 contributed to the death by suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry in January last year. The watchdog gave evidence at the inquest that it had previously paused inspections due to leader distress. 

Chris Russell, Ofsted’s then-national director for education, said while there was no written guidance on modifying inspections where heads were under “high levels of stress”, this was a “core value” of inspector training. 

But Ofsted has since admitted “we do not hold a central record of the number of inspections that have been paused, or the reasons why”. 

“We are therefore unable to supply accurate data on the number of inspections paused due to headteacher distress in each of the last three years,” former chief inspector Amanda Spielman added in a letter last month, seen by FE Week’s sister title Schools Week. 

However, she claimed: “We are aware from anecdotal evidence from our regional teams that inspections have been paused for various reasons, including headteacher distress.” 

Spielman was responding to a parliamentary question from Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West. 

He told Schools Week: “I think it is symptomatic of the way Ofsted has run inspections recently that they did not bother to record when headteachers and other staff were distressed by the way inspections were being run.” 

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the “high-stakes nature of inspection can have a devasting impact on the wellbeing of school and college leaders and teachers”.  

“Not only has Ofsted failed to act upon this major issue, but it appears that it has barely been taken note of,” he added. “Major reform is required to produce an inspection system that is fairer and less punitive.” 

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has halted inspections while new mental health training is rolled out, but they are due to resume on January 22. He has also launched an inquiry into how Ofsted handled Perry’s death.  

Thomas added he hoped Oliver would “correct this as a matter of urgency. How else will we be able to tell if there really is a more effective, less brutal and more thoughtful inspection regime in place?”   

A spokesperson for the inspectorate told Schools Week this week: “We can confirm that we intend to record details of inspection pauses.” 

Schools Week understands the inspectorate is also working on plans to devise and publish a policy on when inspections are paused. This is likely to be included in the watchdog’s response to the coroner’s “regulation 28” report aimed at preventing future deaths. 

Ofsted said it will respond to the coroner next Friday. It is understood the response will include details of new actions and those already taken for each of the seven areas of concerns raised in the report. 

On pauses, the coroner’s report said there is “an almost complete absence of Ofsted training or published policy” in signs of distress during an inspection, practical steps to deal with this and pausing an inspection for this reason. 

During Perry’s inquest at Berkshire Coroners’ Court in November, senior coroner Heidi Connor said it was “suggested by Ofsted witnesses that it is an option to pause an ongoing inspection because of reasons of teacher distress”. 

However, she concluded it was “something of a mythical creature”, adding she heard “no direct evidence” and neither the school nor council were aware of the possibility. 

Ofsted pointed to Oliver’s previous comments when he halted inspections so the watchdog can fully respond to the coroner’s concerns. 

Rise in inspector conduct complaints

Ofsted provided data on complaints relating to inspector conduct. 

In the 2020–2021 financial year, 39 complaints from 2,585 inspections related to concerns over the conduct of inspections (1.5 per cent). The number of inspections this year was lower than normal amid Covid-19. 

In the 2022–2023 financial year, Ofsted received 171 complaints raising conduct concerns out of a total of 7,615 inspections (2.24 per cent). 

Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West, said he was “very concerned by reports of aggressive and overzealous inspectors”. 

Apprenticeship provider boss embroiled in Post Office scandal

England’s largest apprenticeship provider this week gave full backing to its boss after his conduct during the Post Office scandal came under scrutiny.

David Smith, who was appointed chief executive of Lifetime Training in July 2023, is currently providing input to the public inquiry which has gained national attention following the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which aired this month.

Smith was managing director of the Post Office from April to December 2010 before becoming chief customer officer of Royal Mail.

He is a predecessor to Paula Vennels, who became chief executive of the Post Office in 2012 and this week announced she would hand back her CBE after more than one million people signed a petition for her to be stripped of her honour.

The Post Office prosecuted more than 700 sub-postmasters between 2000 and 2014 based on information from the faulty Horizon computer system run by technology firm Fujitsu. Hundreds more were pursued in civil litigation.

So far, 93 convictions have been overturned. Prime minister Rishi Sunak this week said a new law will be introduced so people wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated”.

Smith’s appointment at the Post Office came at a time when Horizon’s failings were being more widely reported in the press. He commissioned an internal report but instructed its author, Rob Ismay, then head of product and branch accounting, to “confirm the belief in the robustness of the system”.

During the public inquiry at a session in May 2023, Ismay agreed, when asked by Jason Beer KC, if he was asked to “only asked to present one side of the coin”.

And in 2010, pregnant sub-postmaster Seema Misra was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being wrongfully accused of stealing £74,000. 

The sentencing took place while Smith was managing director and he is reported to have celebrated her imprisonment in an internal email as “brilliant news”, according to The Times.

A spokesperson for Lifetime Training told FE Week: “David Smith had a nine-month tenure at the Post Office (April to December 2010) and is currently providing input to the inquiry alongside other Post Office employees from this time.

“David is fully committed to his current role at Lifetime and continues to receive full support from the board.”

Education secretary’s husband also under the spotlight

Another name engulfed in the Post Office scandal is Michael Keegan, husband to education secretary Gillian Keegan.

He was chief executive of Fujitsu between May 2014 and June 2015. He joined in 2006 as a business unit director, progressing through several business development and technology roles. 

The Horizon software was developed by Fujitsu, though Keegan denies having any operational involvement with the Post Office, according to The Times.

Funding boost for popular early years apprenticeship

The country’s most popular apprenticeship standard is set to get a funding band boost.

Funding for the level 3 early years educator apprenticeship will move up from £6,000 to £7,000 from April 2024.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency announced the decision yesterday to support the early years workforce amid the government’s childcare reforms announced by the chancellor in the spring 2023 budget, such as 30 hours a week of free childcare for eligible working parents of children aged nine months up to three years in England.

Fewer than one in five nursery managers surveyed last year by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition said they could offer the extended free hours entitlement because of the recruitment crisis, with more than half of nursery staff considering quitting in the next year.

Department for Education data for 2022 shows 334,000 early years workers, down 10,000 (3 per cent) from the peak in 2019. Childminder numbers have fallen by one-fifth since 2019.

Ofsted last year flagged concerns that early years providers find it difficult to recruit and retain qualified staff.

Then chief inspector Amanda Spielman said during a speech at the Big Conversation in 2023 that apprenticeships could be part of the solution to recruiting enough qualified early years staff, but warned how fewer young people were taking up this opportunity.

She claimed the number of people starting relevant apprenticeships fell from just over 27,000 six years ago, to just over 16,000 in 2022.

The Early Years Alliance told FE Week at the time that the combination of demanding hours and low pay deterred people from joining the sector, adding that funding bands for early years apprenticeships needed to be increased to help providers train up staff.

The level 3 early years educator apprenticeship became the most popular apprenticeship in England in 2022/23 with 14,850 starts.

ESFA said the uplift of the standard’s funding band to £7,000 has been made as part of a “wider revision” of the apprenticeship, which has “brought the standard in line with the new level 3 early years educator criteria”.

If starts continue at their current rate, the increase would cost an estimated £14.8 million from England’s apprenticeships budget. 

A spokesperson for the Department for Education confirmed the increase will be funded from the existing apprenticeships budget, which was nearly fully spent in 2022-23. 

The government however pledged to boost the budget from £2.5 billion to £2.7 billion by 2024-25.

The DfE told FE Week the department continues to monitor spending against the apprenticeships budget to ensure the ongoing affordability of apprenticeships.

Michael Freeston, director of quality improvement at the Early Years Alliance, welcomed the level 3 early years apprenticeship increase as the funding “now more closely reflects the real-terms costs of delivering this qualification to a high quality”.  

However, he added it is “absolutely crucial” that funding for the level 2 early years practitioner apprenticeship, which has a current funding band of £4,000, is also increased.  

“As it stands, funding for this level falls far below what is needed both to cover the cost of delivering this course and the associated assessment fees,” Freeston told FE Week.

GCSE maths resit pass rate lower than pre-pandemic

The proportion of students passing GCSE resits in maths has fallen again this year and remains lower than pre-pandemic 2019.

November entry results published by the Joint Council for Qualifications this morning shows 22.2 per cent of 17 to 19-year-old maths re-sit entrants achieved a grade 4 or above in England, seen by the government as a standard pass.

This is a decrease of 8 per cent on last year, when 24.2 per cent achieved at least a standard pass, and down 16 per cent on pre-pandemic 2019, when the pass rate was 26.4 per cent.

However, the JCQ warned that “due to changing entry patterns and different assessment and grading arrangements over the last few years because of the pandemic, it is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between results this year and previous examination series”.

It comes after prime minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to replace A-levels with a new Advanced British Standard qualification that would require all pupils to study maths until 18.

Students who do not achieve a pass at GCSE already have to continue studying the subject at post-16.

The requirement is also in place for English, but pass rates in re-takes have been rising in that subject. 

In 2023, 40.3 per cent of entrants achieved a grade 4, a 7 per cent increase on 2022 and a 24 per cent increase on 2019.

Entries for re-sits rose sharply in both subjects this year. There were 57,773 school-age maths entries, up 23 per cent on 2022, and 53,688 entries in English, up 37 per cent.

Eddie Playfair, senior policy manager at the Association of Colleges, said colleges have managed “dramatic growth” in retake numbers this year because a lower proportion of year 11 students at school achieved a grade 4 this summer. 

He added: “Each year, the November GCSE resit entries are only a subset of the total number resitting. November candidates will tend be those most likely to improve their grade quickly. The fact that so many more students have now achieved the required standard is a really positive sign for this year as a whole.”

DfE will repay colleges £4k for RAAC surveys – but there’s a catch

Schools and colleges can claim back up to £4,000 for RAAC surveys, but only if they were completed during a two-month period last year.

The Department for Education has announced responsible bodies will be able to claw back the cash for checks to identify the dangerous concrete carried out between August 30 and November 1 2023.

It is not clear why a cut-off point of November 1 has been applied. The DfE was approached for clarification.

Guidance published this afternoon also said leaders will only be eligible for the money if the DfE had not already funded or carried out a RAAC survey at the site.

Under the qualifying criteria, the inspections must have had “the primary purpose of identifying RAAC”.

They need to have been conducted by an “appropriately qualified building surveyor or structural engineer”, with the results reported “via the RAAC questionnaire” shortly afterwards, it added.

Leaders will be able to receive funding for up to £4,000, including VAT, per setting.

The DfE escalated its RAAC policy at the end of August by ordering 104 schools to partially of fully close days before the start of the new academic year.

It came in the wake of three cases of the concrete collapsing “without warning”, despite being considered non-critical.  

Guidance updated at the beginning of September stated the government would fund surveys organised by responsible bodies, “unless unforeseen issues are identified”.

According to the government’s latest figures, which were released last month, there have been 231 confirmed cases in all. This includes 10 colleges.

To file a claim, responsible bodies should complete a RAAC survey claim form and email their establishment’s name, its “RAAC status” and invoice to RAAC.Awareness@education.gov.uk by February 1.

HE short course trial hit 5% of student enrolment target

Just 125 students out of an expected 2,400 enrolled onto the government’s higher education short course trial – raising questions about demand for the flagship lifelong learning entitlement.

The “shocking” figures were revealed today by HE regulator the Office for Students as it published an independent evaluation report for the £2 million pilot.

Delivery of the scheme began in 2022/23 with 21 universities and one college – Weston College – handed a slice of the funding to develop 96 higher education courses shorter than traditional degrees at levels 4 to 6.

But just 17 of those courses at 10 providers were actually launched with student intakes, with a total of 125 enrolments – a “long way short of the more than 2,400 enrolments anticipated in project proposals”, as stated by the evaluation report.

The report said a “distinct aim” of the programme was to test a new student finance product, which provided funding for tuition fees up to a level of £2,310 for a 30 credit course and £3,080 for a 40 credit course.

But data shared by providers suggested half of all enrolled students – 62 – funded their participation individually, with the remainder attending on a free-of-charge basis arranged with their employer. Of those who did pay course fees, just 41 obtained the new student loan.

The low take up meant the trial was not a “robust test” of the new student loan scheme.

‘Systematic framework for credit transfer’ concern

The 22 providers of the scheme were announced in December 2021, meaning they had around eight months to develop and market the courses ahead of enrolments in August 2022.

Evaluators said that due to delays with validation and other processes to support provision – such as handling admissions, which had to incorporate eligibility requirements bespoke to a short course – the time available to promote and market courses intended “became very short or even non-existent”.

The report said many providers were also “unclear about the best target market for their provision, which programme guidance suggested should be targeted to adults outside the mainstream HE market but also closely aligned with employers’ needs to upskill their workforces”.

Those two markets required “entirely different promotional strategies, and several projects that started promotions to both markets subsequently narrowed their strategy to only the employer market”.

Evaluators also found a “serious weakness” of the scheme was that providers could not guarantee the future value of credits gained from a course and whether they would be recognised by another provider or accumulated towards a degree.

The report also found that learners required a greater level of flexibility than was offered – particularly as many of the students were working full-time alongside their studies.

Will the LLE ever get off the ground properly?

The short course trial was launched as a step towards the government’s lifelong learning entitlement. Set to be rolled out from 2025, the entitlement will provide individuals with the equivalent of four years of tuition loans – worth up to £37,000 in today’s fees – to use flexibly over their lifetime.

Experts are now questioning whether the LLE can be rolled out successfully.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), described the short course trial figures as “shockingly low”. 

He added: “Indeed, some people have even started to question whether the LLE will ever get off the ground properly or whether it will instead get lost in the chaos of this election year.

“For one thing, the Treasury will be reluctant to fund a policy initiative that is yet to look like it is delivering value for money. But lifelong learning is critically important and so my hope is that people will work now hard to learn the hard lessons from the trial – after all that is the point of trials.”

Rose Stephenson, HEPI’s director of policy, said the report’s warning of a “lack of a systematic framework for credit transfer” will be the case for the LLE, unless a sector-wide credit transfer mechanism is in place, tested, and functional ahead of the roll-out. 

“With the first set of courses due to launch next year, this feels wildly unobtainable”, Stephenson added.

“Increasing the flexibility on offer, by including modules of less than 30 credits, and funding support for distance learning are two steps needed for the LLE to be successful. Given the tiny figures engaged in this trail, policy makers need to think carefully about whether the LLE is feasible in is current form.”

An OfS blog about the the short course trial evaluation said: “While it is disappointing that enrolments were lower than expected, it is important to emphasise the novel nature of this work and that universities and colleges worked swiftly to develop innovative new courses at speed and with limited resources.

“The evaluation provides a range of recommendations for the OfS, which we will carefully consider in how we run future funding calls of this kind.”  

A DfE spokesperson said: “Students who enrolled on these courses reported positive experiences and there was strong engagement from employers throughout the process. 

“We have taken lessons from the HESC trial forward, for example through the Modular Acceleration Programme, where successful providers will be awarded specific funding for demand rising activities to support the roll-out of their modular courses.”

Ofsted: Inspectors locked out of new training after tech glitch

Ofsted has promised all inspectors will get mental health awareness training today after hundreds were locked out of accessing the online session this morning due to a technical glitch.

All inspectors working in schools, further education, social care and early years were due to attend initial training today, led by Sir Martyn Oliver, the watchdog’s chief inspector. There are around 3,000 inspectors.

But Ofsted said earlier today it was “experiencing some technical issues with this morning’s mandatory training”, an email seen by FE Week‘s sister title Schools Week shows.

It is understood that just short of 1,000 inspectors were able to access the online training.

“We are very sorry for the issues experienced this morning and are trying to resolve them as quickly as possible,” the inspectorate added in the email.

The watchdog has maintained all inspectors will be able to access the training today, however.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the technical issues, however we will be publishing a recording of the training so that anyone who was unable to access this morning’s session will be able to watch it back.”

A coroner last month ruled an Ofsted inspection in November 2022 contributed to the death by suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry in January last year.

Today’s “initial training” was due to include an introductory session from social enterprise Mental Health First Aid England.

On Friday, the watchdog announced inspections will resume on January 22 after they were paused so inspectors could undergo the training in the wake of Perry’s death.

When inspections return, all lead inspectors working in schools and further education will have completed both sessions of the new mental health training, Ofsted said.

Every inspector will have completed the training by the end of March.  

Ofsted inspections to restart from January 22

Ofsted inspections will resume from January 22 after they were paused so inspectors could undergo mental health awareness training in wake of Ruth Perry’s death.

Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver also said Ofsted will respond in full to the senior coroner Heidi Connor’s recommendations from Perry’s inquest on January 19. 

The coroner last month ruled an Ofsted inspection in November 2022 contributed to the death by suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry in January last year. 

The leaders of unions the Association of School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers and Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, will “provide constructive challenge as Ofsted responds to the coroner’s recommendations”. 

Ofsted said this engagement will continue following the publication of the response to the coroner.  

It added that by January 22, all lead inspectors overseeing schools and further education inspections will have completed both sessions of the new mental health training.

Every inspector will have completed the training by the end of March.

Ofsted has committed to publishing the mental health training. 

The watchdog also wants to publish its response to the coroner’s report “as soon as it is completed, ensuring the whole profession can be reassured of the fullness of Ofsted’s response and Sir Martyn’s personal commitment to learn from the tragedy of Ruth Perry’s death”.  

Oliver said: “Inspection plays a vital role in making sure that children and learners are getting the education and care they need and deserve. So we need to get back to that work as quickly as we can. 

“But I’ve also been very clear that we must reflect on the findings of the coroner, learn from the tragic events of last year, and emerge as a better and more effective inspectorate. That means being trusted by parents and respected by the education and social care professionals we work with. “

He said the awareness training was the “critical first step in reassuring the sectors we work with that we’re serious about change”.

He described the meetings this week, which included meeting Perry’s sister, as “constructive”.

The department store could be the new model of FE the economy needs

Recently, the head of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White called for a royal commission into the dwindling number of shops on our high streets. With department stores also quickly becoming graveyards of the prestige brands of yesteryear, we have to start thinking creatively about how these spaces could be used to fulfil other sector needs – no least, further education.

Headlines around retail and consumer footfall tend to focus on arguments about online consumerism, pandemic hangovers, Brexit and economic changes. Dame White echoed this, citing a circle of taxation, changing working practices and environmental transport policies, each contributing to more than 6,000 store closures across the UK in the past five years.

But as our interactions with town centres continue to evolve, it’s not clear that a return to the way things were is neither feasible or desirable. Instead, we must make strong decisions about the way we use the spaces left behind by flagships of the shopping experience.

Take the humble and rapidly vanishing department store. These are huge spaces, primed for repurposing. Recently, we embarked on a RIBA-led venture to reimagine them as education entities. Our analysis concluded that department stores could quite easily be integrated as further education hubs.

Further education caters for a wide demographic of learners, from 16–19-year-olds looking to continue their academic, vocational learning or apprenticeships, to increasing numbers of adult learners looking to upskill or reskill. These institutions need to be located in the right place and provide the right facilities to provide the right learning environments.

In developing our concept, we specifically examined how it could apply to the growing NEET population, providing a means to get people back into employment, education or training. Our high streets could be an untapped resource to align job centres with specialist further education facilities – a symbiotic relationship offering training, re-training and learning opportunities to meet the needs of this group, allowing them to engage with learning where they are and acting as a fulcrum for businesses to find and train the right employees amid skills shortages.

Our high streets could be an untapped resource

To examine our concept initially, we took a real-world example: Kendals in Manchester, an archetypical deep-plan department store. We mapped out how we would transform this space into a vibrant learning environment across seven storeys. At the core of our concept – ReStorED – curriculum areas act as shop windows, encouraging students to part with their time to learn a subject – literally ‘shopping’ for their future within accessible, open learning environments.

This in turn is linked to real-life industries and businesses. The lower floors provide community-accessible spaces like theatres and studios based around performing arts, restaurant and kitchen facilities for culinary courses and digital spaces for IT and coding courses. The opportunity here, is to curate a grown-up, life-long learning environment, geared towards training, re-skilling and up-skilling and drawing in adult learners who may have reservations about setting foot on a typical college campus.

Our concept delivers an experiential journey for users via connecting staircases and walkways to connect curriculum areas and encourage cross-fertilisation, with a climbing wall and indoor green spaces, incorporating a sense of fun and biophilic principles into our design choices.

A central tenet to our architectural landscape was reuse and retrofit – achieving ‘Passive House’ standards and reducing embodied carbon through repurposing the existing fabric.

Internally, learning spaces are created with Oriented Strand Board (OSB) material. Its light, economical and adaptable nature allows inner partitions to be created and moved at will, with collaborative learning or closed-off nooks for quiet study, depending on course requirements.

From an exterior perspective, we envisioned the roof as outdoor recreational space, powered by renewable energy and accompanied by sensory gardens and allotments, encouraging students to really connect with biodiversity and think deeper about the reusability of their environment in an inclusive and productive space.

This venture really questioned our choices around regeneration: the decline of the high street, but more so challenging the norms we have become accustomed to. The department store environment presents an obvious setting to take colleges out of their traditional environments and refashion them as central institutions in a renewed town centre estate.