A local authority in Yorkshire has been judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted after inspectors found no governance and a lack of “rigorous quality assurances” of its adult education and apprenticeships provision.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council was handed the lowest possible Ofsted grade in a report published this morning, a downgrade from a ‘good’ rating five years ago.
It joins Bedford Borough Council as the only local authority in England with an Ofsted grade to hold an ‘inadequate’ judgment.
Inspectors investigated the council’s education provision in a full inspection in December 2023 and found leaders did not have clear oversight of the quality of education, neither the quality assurance agreements in place, nor any governance arrangements.
At the time of inspection, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council had 158 learners on adult and community learning courses studying ESOL, ICT and functional skills English and mathematics. They also had 33 apprentices, the majority of which enrolled on a level 3 business administration programme. The council operates from Redcar and Cleveland College’s campus.
The watchdog slammed council leaders as “they cannot assure themselves that the programmes they offer are of a high standard”.
The inspection also revealed that the council does not have in place any governance arrangements and urged them to establish a structure so leaders are “supported, challenged and held to account”.
Inspectors criticised the provider for not identifying poor teaching practice when it occurred.
“Leaders have recently implemented a more rigorous process for reviewing the quality of teaching. However, they do not monitor the actions they set for tutors following reviews, so they do not know if tutors are improving their teaching practice,” the report said.
Tutors did not plan programmes according to learners’ and apprentices’ starting points, in some cases such as the level 3 business administration apprenticeship, tutors didn’t identify and plan relevant learning for apprentices who had higher-level qualifications.
Tutors also did not check the progression and understanding of those same apprentices on what they learn in their on- and off-the-job training.
The report highlighted that the provider was not ambitious enough for learners with special educational needs and high needs and did not train staff to support those learners.
Inspectors pointed out that the training provided to tutors is “often not based on current research”.
“As a result, tutors do not improve their practice, and a few feel unprepared for their teaching roles,” the report said.
Meanwhile, Ofsted praised learners’ and apprentices’ behaviour and their attitude to work.
“Tutors create calm and respectful learning environments that help learners to study productively. Learners and apprentices demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and take pride in their work,” they added.
A spokesperson for Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, said: “We are disappointed by the outcome of the Ofsted inspection but fully appreciate that the issues raised do need to be addressed and we are determined to implement the required changes to get back to a good outcome for all learners. The new administration is committed to taking action on inherited historical issues.
“Action was already being taken in relation to the issues identified by the Ofsted inspection and remedial action has been taken, including drafting in additional support for current learners, as well as dealing with staff issues in the team prior to the Ofsted inspection.
“Whilst Ofsted noted this intervention and that progress had been made, it was judged to be not timely enough and therefore at the time of inspection inadequate progress was made. We are confident that we can continue to implement the required changes and improvements to get the service back to good and make sure that all learners have a good experience and achieve positive outcomes.”
Vice Principal – People and Culture, Nottingham College
Start date: January 2024
Previous Job: Head of People, Capital Letters
Interesting fact: While working in France as a student in a legal firm, I was shot at by the owner of a hotel we were there to repossess, (he missed). He had also sunk his boat by putting rocks through the hull to stop us taking it!
Paul Kelly
Chair, Prisoners’ Education Trust
Start date: February 2024
Previous Job: Project Lead, Engaging People on Probation, The Wise Group
Interesting fact: While working for Compass Group, Paul was successful in persuading the then Labour government to change the law to allow retail outlets at motorway service areas, with the first M&S Simply Foods opening at Toddington Services on the M1.
William Pickford has had an “eclectic” 25-year career in FE which has seen him opening a college on a faraway tropical island, overseeing another as it was evicted due to local authority financial mismanagement, and now, leading London’s only ‘outstanding’ council-run adult education service.
Since 2021, he has been the principal of Redbridge Institute of Adult Education. He was described 20 years ago by a fellow educator as a “maverick” and admits “it is a moniker I’ve tried to live up to ever since.”
Pickford’s time at Redbridge has been one of rapid change for the adult education sector, and some of that has been “painful”. Half of its curriculum has changed since Covid to reflect shifting national funding priorities.
The institute traces its history back to 1903 when East London’s first adult education courses included French, shorthand, dressmaking, cookery, bookkeeping and drawing.
Redbridge Institute of Adult Education
But the purpose of publicly funded adult education drastically altered with the 2021 skills white paper and ensuing local skills improvement plans, which align adult education budget funding to skills gaps.
He sees adult education as now split between “two completely different cohorts” – one for “basic skills” and the other, which has shrunk considerably, for “more traditional” informal learning. “But adult education should be for everyone.”
The sector’s marketing materials haven’t caught up with the pace of change. Pickford says that “every picture you see of adult learning” tends to be of “the photogenic bits – the creative arts courses, the pottery being made”. But this “doesn’t represent the reality”.
“We need to be careful. The reality [of adult education] is ESOL, maths, and digital skills, but we still love putting pictures of art shows on our publicity.”
And while Redbridge is “still funded as though it were a leafy London suburb”, the borough now hosts the highest number of asylum seekers and refugees in London. As a result, 62 per cent of its adult skills provision is now ESOL, and there is a waiting list of 350 people waiting to access it.
Many of the institute’s learners are newly arrived migrants placed in Redbridge by the Home Office with only two weeks’ notice, and they are often moved on “at a moment’s notice” too. It makes planning tricky.
Pickford shows me around the former pilates, yoga and dance studios that have been transformed into learning and employability hubs and ESOL classrooms, and the hair and nail studio that’s now a skills and enterprise hub. It has been a “painful journey”.
The pilates classmates in particular would not surrender without a fight. “Oh crumbs, they were very vocal – writing to everyone they could, the Mayor of London, the local councillors, Ofsted, and GLA funders.
“People just don’t understand that that’s no longer what our funders tell us our priorities are. They say, ‘we’ve been doing those sessions for years and years. Why can’t we continue?’”
William Pickford as a child
The city boy
Although his childhood home on a farm (“mostly sheep”) on the outskirts of a “tiny village” in Somerset might sound idyllic, he “hated it” as he “had to be ferried everywhere, and there wasn’t much to do”.
Pickford had been a “lifelong” Manchester United fan since his Mancunian grandfather took him to see them play in the city as a boy. It was part of the reason why he chose Manchester University to study. He was the first in his family to go to university but ignored their advice to study “a proper subject” like law or business, instead opting for hotel and catering management.
He trained with Stakis Hotels in the Scottish Cairngorms, but “hated it for the same reasons” he left Somerset: it was “miles away from anywhere”. He “couldn’t wait to get out”, and moved to the bright lights of London where he turned his attention to hotel events management.
He applied for a PGCE course “on a whim” because he “quite fancied that teaching lark”. His intention was to teach hospitality, but he never got the chance as his first job in 1998 was at Orpington College (now part of LSEC), which lacked a hospitality department. Instead, he taught business, accounting and economics among other things, because “you don’t say no to anything”.
As a gay man, Pickford said the FE sector “provided me with the first safe space where I felt comfortable enough talking about who I really was. 25 years ago, that was a really big thing.”
Pickford then spent seven years promoting digital learning for two big government organisations – as head of innovation at Jisc, and head of provider capacity for Becta, based at the University of London.
It was an “exciting” time for the sector in the early 2000’s with “lots of money sloshing around” for digital projects, with the dawn of e-learning and smart boards. Pickford recalls Becta having a budget of £21 million one year to give away to colleges.
William Pickford in his younger years
Digital collaboration
Some “really exciting ideas” were born from the mentality of “not being afraid of failing, because there were no consequences”. The funding was simply conditional on recipients sharing their successes and failures with others in the sector.
One notable success was the open-source software Moodle, one of the first virtual learning environments which became a “pooled shared service” for universities and colleges. Becta was axed in David Cameron’s bonfire of the quangos, but Moodle outlasted it.
He believes there is not enough of that type of sector-wide collaboration now, because “you need that brokerage”.
These days East London providers work together when it comes to ESOL, with Redbridge and New City College referring potential students to each other because “there’s so much work to go around”. And the GLA is planning a London-wide ESOL strategy.
But Pickford believes there is scope for much greater collaboration.
“Our residents don’t know where to start [to improve their careers], and we don’t make it any easier for them. We’re all selling the same thing in slightly different ways, and actually that’s no good for them. They need that very clear roadmap, otherwise how do they navigate their way through?”
William Pickford
Turning around colleges
Pickford spent the next few years in interim roles. His first involved turning around what was then the only specialist women’s residential college in the country, Hillcroft (now part of Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College), after an inadequate Ofsted in 2013.
The college used to be for “tweedy middle aged white women”. But the area’s demographics had shifted, and the college “hadn’t moved fast enough for the times”. Pickford was told to make the curriculum more relevant to local needs.
He also interim-ed for Stanmore College and Westminster Kingsway College.
These short-term roles did not give him a complete “sense of achievement” because “you never get to see the outcomes” of the measures put in place.
William Pickford
Bali bureaucracy
Pickford’s next career move took him to Bali, where he and his long-term partner, who is Indonesian, opened a private training college to prepare locals for joining Australian universities.
The experience gave him an appreciation for the English public sector.
Pickford found they were “at the whim of our investors deciding to change course” and “everything was so bureaucratic”. Each year the college had to be accredited by both the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Education, with “the strangest Ofsted type regime you could imagine”.
Despite Bali being a “very pleasant place to live”, Pickford would spend every other weekend “jetting off to New Zealand, Singapore and Bangkok … just to experience crowds again”.
He returned after four years because he “missed England, and the public sector”.
William Pickford
Essex blues
But Pickford’s next role in 2018, as vice principal at Thurrock Adult Community College, did not exactly exemplify public sector excellence.
Thurrock Council had embarked on an infamous spending spree in the solar power market which led to its bankruptcy four years later. Seeking extra cash, the council made a “shock” announcement they were demolishing the college’s building to sell the land.
The college staff and learners were given just two months’ notice to leave the site in Greys, where the college had been based for the previous 30 to 40 years.
“The writing was on the wall” at that point for the council, which Pickford said “didn’t care” where the learners went. Pickford put moving plans in motion, then moved on to Redbridge.
Redbridge Institute in numbers
‘Outstanding’ pressure
Redbridge’s last [outstanding] inspection took place in 2018 under the old common inspection framework, before Pickford arrived there in 2021, and he is now faced with a “totally different set of goalposts”.
However, life is easier in some ways for Pickford than his FE college counterparts.
Pickford’s adult learners “genuinely want to be here”, they are “committed to finishing their courses”, and there are “very few” behaviour issues. The pass rate last year for English and maths GCSEs was 100 per cent.
When Pickford first arrived, he announced “probably prematurely” he would create an ESOL hub within a 30-minute walk from every home in the borough. It took two years to map where the gaps in provision were.
But his “aspiration” is to provide “local services for local people”.
If the institute has “one weakness”, it is personal development. The ability to roll out enrichment programmes is limited by rules that restrict funding to each learning aim. For example, Redbridge receives £811 for a student doing a year-long GCSE course. “Unless they do other fundable learning aims, I have to work five times as hard as FE colleges to get the same amount of funding they do”.
Despite local authority funding constraints, Pickford would rather see the service kept in council hands because “big FE colleges have not got that neighbourhood knowledge”.
“From street to street, we know what residents’ skills needs are because we empty their bins, they come to us for housing advice.”
And AI data advances mean adult learning services like his are getting “smarter at identifying the people that need the most help”.
“It’s always those people furthest away from education and employment that you need to put the bulk of your resources in engaging. It might take many attempts to get them onto an adult skills funded course – they’re disengaged for a reason. But they’re our bread and butter.”
Redbridge Institute
Ode to Redbridge
It takes a lot for Pickford to show emotion: the last time he cried was during the 1991-2 football season, when it looked as though he would “never see United win the league”. But he does show a depth of emotion when discussing his love of FE.
“What I do now is where I feel the closest connection to my passion for social justice. The power of adult education to transform the lives of those who need it most is what inspires me every day.”
Four months ago, at Redbridge’s 120th anniversary gala dinner celebrations, Pickford’s contribution, “apart from some mad Bhangra dancing”, was a poem:
One of the government’s top skills civil servants is set to leave after more than 20 years in the Department for Education.
Kirsty Evans will leave her current role as the DfE’s director of post-16 regions and FE provider oversight in March to join the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) as an executive principal.
It marks the latest in a string of well-known and high-ranking skills civil servants to leave the DfE and Education and Skills Funding Agency in recent years. Other high-profile departures include Keith Smith, Peter Mucklow and Paul Kett.
Evans is a popular face in the FE sector having held various senior roles in the civil service since the days of the Learning and Skills Council in the 2000s.
She was also deputy director of funding policy implementation in the then-Skills Funding Agency, before holding posts as director of apprenticeships, director of further education, and director of funding and programmes in its successor the ESFA.
She is currently responsible for effective oversight of the FE sector and FE providers in the DfE, as well as the delivery of key policy programmes such as local skills improvement plans.
The DfE confirmed Evans is leaving the department to take up a new role at the CITB, but wouldn’t say what the plans were for replacing her.
CITB is the industry training board for the construction sector in England, Scotland, and Wales. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the DfE.
The organisation is currently led by chief executive Tim Balcon and chaired by former ESFA chief executive Peter Lauener.
Balcon said: “We are delighted that, as of 25 March 2024, Kirsty Evans will be joining the CITB executive team as executive principal, National Construction College.
“With her exceptional past experience at the Department for Education, as well as the ESFA and Skills Funding Agency, Kirsty will bring a wealth of expertise spanning a wide range of education policy and operational programmes, including apprenticeships.”
Ministers have vowed to streamline the arduous process of approving high-end principal salaries, as colleges fume over “unacceptable” lengthy delays impacting the recruitment of leaders.
Bosses have slammed the bureaucracy involved in applying for government permission to hire senior staff with a pay package of £150,000 or more through a process which is causing waiting times of up to five months, FE Week has learned.
Following reclassification to the public sector in late 2022, colleges are required to get permission from the Department for Education and then the chief secretary to the Treasury for pay of £150,000 and above.
The threshold comprises of base salary, fees, pension in excess of normal levels and benefits in kind. Colleges also now need to get permission to award bonuses of more than £17,500.
Colleges face a penalty of up to five times the remuneration package if they breach strict new rules, which includes posting a job advertisement with an unapproved salary, appointing a candidate without pay approval, and announcing an appointment without a government-approved pay package.
The DfE has admitted that the assessment is taking longer than it planned and told FE Week it will attempt to “streamline” the process.
“We are mindful of the issues that this may cause for some providers and remain actively engaged with those awaiting decisions,” a DfE spokesperson said. “We are also working to streamline the assessment process and plan to update guidance on this in due course.”
But for multiple colleges that have already had principal vacancies since reclassification, governing boards have waded through confusing guidance and lengthy periods of radio silence from the government, all whilst trying to appoint candidates.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “The length of time it is taking is unacceptable and is leading to problems in recruitment for the small number of colleges seeking permission.
“We are chasing the DfE on those in the pipeline. It is a new process, meaning that everyone is learning about how it works, with each case going to the education secretary before it goes onto the Treasury for the chief secretary to make the final decision.”
Hughes told his members that education secretary Gillian Keegan also “often asks” colleges “for more information before making a decision”, which delays the process even further.
‘Stalemate’ with government
Last July, DfE updated its guidance on senior pay, which states that applications for £150,000 approval will take a minimum of two months to assess.
The guidance says colleges should file a pro forma application, asking for salary approval as soon as they are aware of an upcoming senior vacancy that meets the £150,000 threshold or the £17,500 bonus payment.
Exceptions that don’t need Treasury approval include colleges that can prove a “significant material burden” if they don’t rapidly hire multiple senior employees, or colleges that wish to propose the same remuneration package for future appointments “for a specific timeframe”.
The government has been accused of making up the guidance “as they go” by some sources, as it encourages colleges to get Treasury approval first before advertising for the job to “avoid delays and potential embarrassment when dealing with potential candidates”.
But officials also tell colleges they can get around the rules by advertising a vacancy without specifying the salary.
Sources say the latter method doesn’t guarantee a speedier process because the government will want to know the justification for offering a salary package to a certain candidate.
They also told FE Week the delays cause potential candidates to end up in a “stalemate” as they cannot give notice to their current employer without agreeing on the terms with their new employer, including on salary, all the while the college is waiting for the green light from the government.
Seek permission ASAP
The pro forma application asks colleges to fill out information about the proposed recruitment timetable, a job description, college workforce size and budget, salary specification and any negotiating flexibility on salary.
There is also ample space in the document to fill in a four-part justification for the proposed salary package and a box to fill in the views of the departmental minister.
Some colleges encountered problems immediately when submitting the form. The form needs a signature from the chair of governors, which is not stated in the guidance.
These rules could well affect at least one-third of college principals, who are earning at least £150,000, according to 2022 college accounts data.
John Evans, principal of Cornwall College, said he has given governors extra notice to step down to mitigate the delays in appointing his successor and allow for a handover.
“[The handover] is not going to be possible I don’t think, because it could take 18 weeks. That’s four and a half months before we can even agree a salary,” he told FE Week.
“Having just entered the process, it does seem bureaucratic. We have been warned it could be it could be long-winded. I think it’s important to get that out there and because all this has an impact on the quality of education for our students.”
Hughes has “strongly advised” colleges to seek permission as soon as possible to allow for the “extremely” slow process.
He added that the AoC is pressing for a set of benchmarks within which colleges are “safe to proceed” because the £150,000 cap is “simply too low for medium and large colleges and it will result in about half of colleges clogging up the education secretary’s red box”.
Weston College has U-turned on introducing a paid role of “president” that was promised to England’s highest-paid principal, Sir Paul Phillips, after he retired.
The college has also parted ways with Phillips’ son, Joe, just months after his recent controversial promotion from finance director to chief operating officer.
Joe Phillips joins two deputy principals who have left the college’s senior leadership team since interim principal Jacqui Ford took the helm in September.
The revelations come as Weston College was downgraded by Ofsted from an ‘outstanding’ rating awarded 10 years ago to ‘good’ this week. Its near-18-month hunt for a new permanent principal is also still ongoing.
Last summer, the college was embroiled in a governance and nepotism row after FE Week revealed its plans for a tailor-made president position for then-principal Sir Paul Phillips (pictured), timed for when he was due to step down at the end of the academic year. The position was said to be “absolutely key” to the college’s governance initiatives as well as “profile bids”.
The recruitment process for Phillips’ successor was thrown into chaos as candidates questioned the remunerated position and the recent promotion of Joe Phillips was put under the spotlight. A union representative said at the time Weston College looked like it was “being run as Sir Paul’s personal fiefdom”.
FE Week can now reveal governors have dropped plans for a president of Weston College and has no plans to fill the role.
The college refused to say why the position was ditched.
Chair of governors Andrew Leighton-Price said: “Sir Paul Phillips retired from his role at Weston College as of August 31, 2023. He has not taken on any other positions within the college group, paid or otherwise. We wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
No longer a family affair
Meanwhile, Sir Paul’s son Joe Phillips has stepped down after working at the college for 13 years. He joined the college in 2010 and was promoted last year from vice-principal for finance and business planning to deputy principal and chief operating officer, while his father was still in post.
The college doubled down at the time that there was no conflict of interest and his father had “no influence” on the promotion.
As Ford arrived as acting principal, Joe Phillips became the de-facto second-in-command.
Ofsted’s latest report on Weston noted how there have been “several recent changes at senior leadership level”. The college confirmed Joe Phillips was one of those changes.
Leighton-Price said: “Three of our senior leaders, including two deputy principals and the chief operating officer, have embarked on exciting new journeys outside the college.
“While we deeply appreciate their past contributions, we’re confident in our strong and highly experienced leadership team’s ability to continue to drive the college forward.”
New principal awaiting approval
Weston’s principal role was due to be filled by then-deputy principal of Cornwall College Kate Wills, but her job offer was withdrawn last June for undisclosed reasons. She is now back at Cornwall College in a different deputy principal role.
At Weston College, interim principal Jacqui Ford is set to steer the ship until summer, FE Week understands.
The search for a permanent principal is still ongoing, according to the college.
Sources told FE Week that the college has found a permanent principal but is awaiting approval from the Department for Education, which could be held up following the reclassification requirement for government approval on salaries above £150,000 (see page 5).
Sir Paul Phillips was England’s highest paid principal with a basic salary in 2022 of £258,000, plus pension contributions, consultancy work and benefits in kind taking his total pay package to £362,000.
Leighton-Price said: “Collaborating closely with the DfE and FE Commissioner, the college governors are actively engaged in the process of appointing a new principal and chief executive.”
‘Good’ for governance
Ofsted inspectors noted during their December 2023 inspection that the governance of the quality of education at Weston College is “mostly effective”.
The report published this week said the governors appropriately challenge leaders on education but “do not always challenge leaders enough on the timeliness and impact of the remedial actions taken,” leading to slow improvements on the weakest programmes.
However, inspectors also praised governors and leaders for listening and taking timely actions on the feedback from staff at all levels in the college.
“For example, leaders have recently appointed well-being champions to help staff manage their workload. As a result, staff feel valued and well supported by leaders and managers.”
Leighton-Price said: “Weston College is immensely proud of its ‘good’ Ofsted rating, achieved across all eight areas, alongside a ‘strong’ outcome for meeting regional skills needs.”
Adult education body Holex is recruiting for its first chief executive as it unveils plans to expand its services amid “increased demand” for its expertise.
The membership organisation is currently led by policy director, Sue Pember, who will stay in post under the new CEO.
Pember told FE Week having a CEO will give her more time for advocacy and lobbying on behalf of Holex’s members.
The £70,000 to £90,000 chief will report to the board, which is chaired by WM College (formerly known as The Working Men’s College), principal Dipa Ganguli.
The new role reflects the country’s “reduced and changed” adult education infrastructure and increased demand for Holex’s advice and guidance.
Last year Holex successfully forced a government U-turn on plans to end funding for adult education courses that are not directly linked to employment outcomes.
Alongside the Association of Colleges and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, Holex is a founding member of the Education and Training Foundation.
As well as formal policy consultations, Holex organises network events and research on key topics for the adult and community learning sector such as Prevent, Multiply and Ofsted.
Over 140 adult and community education organisations in England are currently members of Holex, including local authorities, adult education institutes and further education colleges.
The organisation, now in its 31st year, is looking for a “dynamic and experienced” leader to “build the business” and “advocate for positive change,” according to the job description.
It hopes to appoint this August, potentially in time for a general election.
Holex has called for a dedicated minister for adult education and lifelong learning in its submission to next month’s spring Budget, alongside asks for a ten-year spending plan for community education and tax breaks for employers that invest in adults without level 2 qualifications.
One of England’s largest apprenticeship providers has unveiled a new chief executive – its third in less than a year.
Babington Business College announced on Thursday that Mark Basham, a “turnaround specialist” who was appointed in June 2023, has resigned with immediate effect for “personal reasons”.
Basham was the permanent successor to David Marsh who suddenly left the company in May 2023 after almost five years at the helm, also for “personal reasons”.
Jen Bramley (pictured), who has been the firm’s chief operating officer for the past four years, will now take over chief executive.
Marsh’s departure came months after Babington was sold by RJD Partners in December 2022 to Unigestion, a Switzerland-based private equity firm.
Babington’s latest accounts for the year ending July 2022 show £26.3 million turnover, similar to the previous year, but profit of £743,000 which dived from almost £3.5 million in 2021.
A month after Basham joined Babington, the company announced that around 120 jobs were at risk in a “strategic realignment”. It then scrapped its adult education budget portfolio, including its digital skills bootcamps and sector work academy programme (SWAP) courses, as well as its apprenticeships training offer in the property, financial services and retail sectors.
The organisation has now switched focus to apprenticeships, professional qualifications and commercial courses areas of accountancy, HR, leadership, data, and business.
Ofsted visited Babington in December and published a ‘good’ judgment in January 2024. The company had 4,300 apprentices placed with 800 employers at the time of the visit.
Bramley has worked in the education and training sector for 15 years. She joined Babington in 2018 as executive director of customer engagement and was promoted to COO in 2020.
She said: “I am proud to be taking on broader leadership of this exceptional business as we continue to deliver on our purpose of developing better futures for individuals, organisations, and society as a whole.
“In recent months we have made bold choices to do what is right for the business, and for all our valued customers, learners, and colleagues. We have a clear strategy and an unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality, effective learning programmes that support meaningful organisational and personal outcomes.”
Babington chair Mike Kinski said: “We are grateful to Mark for guiding our strategic initiatives and wish him and his family well. Jen has the confidence of her team and our clients to build on Babington’s strengths and I look forward to supporting her and the wider executive team as they work to achieve the Company’s future goals.”
Basham added: “As a new leadership team we have made great progress implementing the agreed strategic realignment over the past six months, culminating in the terrific report from Ofsted. As such, given my personal circumstances, it is a good time for me to step back and leave the Company in Jen’s very capable hands. I am looking forward to committing more time to other portfolio interests. I wish the whole Babington team every success for the future.”
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will examine how young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are being prepared for adulthood in forthcoming thematic visits.
The watchdogs have published guidance ahead of visits to a “small number of areas” to look at “a particular aspect of the SEND system in-depth” between spring and summer 2024.
They will look at all phases of a child with SEND’s transition to adulthood, from early years settings through to post-16 education, to get a detailed overview of how preparation for adulthood (PFA) arrangements are working.
The visits “will not result in judgments about local areas”, but the findings will be published in a report this autumn.
This will list the areas visited and flag examples of good practice and identify any systemic concerns.
Where good practice is identified, this will be “shared with the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care to support their development of policy for the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan”.
Current system ‘not meeting needs’
Lee Owston, Ofsted’s national director for education said: “The current SEND system is not meeting the needs of too many children and their families.
“I hope these visits provide valuable insight into how we can improve the experiences of children with SEND as the government develops its SEND and alternative provision improvement plan.”
Lee Owston
Ofsted and the CQC will look at the extent to which schools and early years settings “develop the knowledge, skills, and independence of children and young people with SEND”.
The reviews will also investigate the support schools offer to help pupils to prepare for post-16 transitions, through routes such as further education and work with training.
The role of post-16 providers in readying youngsters for next steps like higher education, training, supported internships or employment will also come under the microscope.
The watchdogs will focus on “four key pathways” for PFA: employment, independent living, community inclusion and health.
They will look into…
How youngsters with SEND are supported to achieve their full potential
How they are empowered to make decisions for themselves and live as independently as possible
How they are supported to participate in society and live “as healthily as possible” as adults
The “enablers and barriers to effectively preparing young people with SEND for adulthood”
The team will usually consist of three inspectors: one from education, another from social care and a CQC inspector.
Each visit will typically consist of up to four days of off-site activity and up to four days on-site investigation, and inspectors will notify local leaders of the visits 10 working days in advance.
