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Ofsted: Eight key points from latest education recovery research

Learners in FE are struggling with mental health issues and have lower levels of knowledge and skills, according to Ofsted research into the pandemic’s continuing impact on education providers.

The watchdog published four new reports on education recovery, based on evidence from 62 routine inspections that took place between January 10, 2022 and February 18, 2022.

These reports explore how early years, schools, further education and skills, and prison education providers are responding to ongoing issues. They follow on from an earlier series of reports that were published in December, 2021.

“We have seen lots of really good work across early years, schools and further education this term,” said Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman.

“Most providers are using effective catch-up strategies to spot gaps in children and learners’ knowledge and skills and help get them back to where they need to be. In many cases, those gaps have closed altogether.

“But elsewhere concerns remain, and it’s clear that the pandemic has created some lingering challenges.”

Below are some key findings for further education and skills and prison education.

Many learners at sixth form colleges had lower levels of knowledge and skills

Some sixth-form colleges found that new learners had lower levels of, and more variability in, prior knowledge and skills than usual.

In response, colleges had developed a curriculum to ensure that learners could reach the expected levels quickly.

Several engaged in subject-level conversations with feeder schools over the summer and first term to identify any gaps in curriculum coverage and ensure that these were filled. These adjustments helped to ensure that learners made the progress of which they were capable.

Work experience placements remained difficult to secure

There were some learners on apprenticeships that had not secured work placements because these had yet to be fully reinstated since the pandemic.

The research said that when learners did have work placements, several providers had concerns that they were not being given enough tasks at work to develop their skills sufficiently, due to pressures on businesses.

A number of employers were not giving apprentices enough time for off-the-job training. As a result, some apprentices were studying in their own time.

Disruption has adversely affected behaviours and attitudes of newest learners

In January and February, Ofsted heard more about issues concerning the behaviour and attitudes of learners, particularly those enrolling from school.

The research found that standards of behaviour were below expectations. Inspectors attributed this to the disruption learners had experienced in their education over the last two years.

Recruitment and retention of staff a challenge for many

The pandemic continued to affect staffing in further education and skills providers. One provider, for example, reported that staff turnover had increased by almost 50 per cent. Factors that made recruitment and retention of staff more challenging included the fact that salaries in further education and skills provision were lower than those in industry and the pandemic and experience of lockdowns had made some staff reconsider their careers.

The impact of this was significant and, in some cases, had a knock-on effect on the quality of education.

Mental health concerns remained high

In Ofsted’s December 2021 briefing, they reported that learners’ mental health had suffered during the pandemic. They said today that this was still the case.

New learners who enrolled from schools were the most severely affected, something Ofsted said was largely due to anxiety about sitting formal exams for the first time and about returning to education more generally.

The regulator predicted that with exams taking place as usual in summer 2022, the next few months could be difficult for learners and staff.

Prisoners’ participation in education, skills and work still ‘a lot lower’ than pre-pandemic levels

Ofsted said that leaders in prisons have been slow to maximise prisoners’ participation in face-to-face education, skills and work activities.

At the time of their visits, the number of prisoners participating in education, skills and work was increasing, albeit slowly. However, their participation in learning was ‘a lot lower’ than pre-pandemic levels and in some cases, no classroom activity had taken place since March 2020.

The education, skills and work activities that were taking place were generally good

Ofsted inspectors found that the quality of work packs had improved since they were first introduced. This was due to collaborative working between prison leaders and education providers.

The prisoners they spoke to felt well supported by their teachers to work through the packs, and teachers tended to give useful written feedback on how they could improve.

Support for prisoners identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities remains insufficient

Ofsted found that those prisoners with the greatest need generally received the least support to continue learning through the pandemic.

There was insufficient support for prisoners identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Their inspectors identified three main areas of weakness in the support systems for prisoners with SEND: the identification of, communication about and teaching support for SEND. Most prisons performed well in one or two of these areas but not in all.

‘Unit for future skills’ to launch this month

The unit for future skills, announced in the levelling up white paper, will be launched “this month” with an initial data-set which will grow over time.

The minister for skills, Alex Burghart, made the announcement during a keynote speech for the think-tank Policy Exchange on the future of skills.

Burghart outlined a series of policy reforms which have been designed to create a more employer-led skills system with local leadership coming from employer representative bodies.

Initiatives included employer-designed apprenticeship standards and T levels, alongside the lifelong loan guarantee, upcoming lifelong loan entitlement and local skills improvement plans.

“I think it’s important that we don’t just seek to present better choices” the minister said, “but we also give clarity to people about what those choices might offer.”

Burghart’s assertion was the current way of evidencing the success of education was too limited.

Measures such as qualification grades, progression to university, whether students become NEET are all, in his view “basic proxies” and “going forward, these alone will not be good enough.”

The vision for the unit for future skills appears to be an incredibly ambitious one.

The levelling up white paper, published in February this year, was the first time we saw a mention of the new unit and it was light on detail.

It said the unit would be cross-government, would be publicly accessible and will produce information on local skills demand, future skills needs of businesses and the pathways between training and good jobs.

A DfE spokesperson at the time told FE Week that the unit would take over the work of the DfE’s skills and productivity board once its schedule of reports had been completed.

In his speech today, Burghart gave a little more insight in to what use the information published by the unit would have for learners, their families and providers:

“Over time, we want to show what courses and interventions lead to what jobs. I want prospective students to know what happened to people like them, who chose a particular course at a particular institution. What were they doing a year, two years, five years later?
I want employers and providers to know what technical courses are proving effective at getting people into their sectors. And I want government to have a better idea of what works.”
Alex Burghart, minister for skills, speaking at Policy Exchange today

Data provided through a central-government dashboard will, for example, tell prospective learners “whether taking a certain qualification in health and social care go on to work in health and social care, or whether they’re going to work in retail” he said.

Parents too are set to benefit. “It’s also about showing parents that certain technical choices have fantastic outcomes that should be taken seriously” Burghart said.

Hopes to improve the quality of information available to school pupils are also pinned on the success of the UFS.

Lib Dem peer Sue Garden asked the minister what his plans were to encourage schools to celebrate the achievements of highly skilled students who get apprenticeships in the same way the celebrate academic students getting in to universities.

“This is very much something I hope better data will go some way to address” Burghart said today. Access to better data about outcomes and progression routes will, in the minister’s view, enable “more well-informed conversations about destinations.”

While hugely ambitious, the minister is keen to make a start.

In response to a question from the audience about the timescales attached to the UFS, the minister said his department will be starting to release data this month, but was keen to stress that it will be on an “iterative basis” and so would only be “an indicator of the sorts of things we can start doing over time.”

“Before anyone gets too excited, it’s just the beginning. It won’t give you all the answers you’re looking for.”

Following the speech, the Department weren’t able to tell FE Week what data will be published this month, nor how regularly data will be published by the UFS in the future.

The minister’s full speech from today is available to view online.

Capital projects worth £400 million given green light

Sixty-two colleges have been successful in the latest round of funding from the Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF).

The government committed £1.5 billion over five years to the FECTF in the March 2020 Budget in a pledge to “upgrade and transform the FE college estate”.

The Department for Education is today announcing the names of 62 colleges that will receive a share of £400 million from the second stage of the FECTF.

The amount of funding each college has been allocated for stage 2 has not been released due to “commercial sensitivities.”

Most colleges, 182 altogether, received a grant, in stage 1 of the FECTF programme in 2020. Of the 62 announced today, four are receiving cash from the fund for the first time.

Minister for skills, Alex Burghart, said today:

“Our priority is making sure that every student receives the high-quality training needed to secure a well-paid job, so that businesses in growth sectors such as construction, engineering and digital have a strong talent pipeline as can continue to level up opportunities across the country.

“That is why we are investing to ensure colleges can create modern, fit-for-purpose spaces that meet the needs of students and the communities they serve – and most importantly continue to be fantastic places to learn.”

Capital bids: mystery over match funding

Bids had to be submitted according to strict criteria laid down by the DfE. For example, the fund is only open to further education college corporations and designated institutions and requests were considered primarily for projects which delivered renovations or remedial improvements to existing buildings that were demonstrably in need.

The FECTF is separate from the post-16 capacity fund, which awarded £83 million, again, only to colleges, to build new facilities to accommodate rising numbers of 16-19 year-olds.

DfE guidance stated that the FECTF would contribute 50 per cent of the total project value, with colleges finding ‘match funding’ from sources such as their own reserves, commercial loans, donations or locally managed grant programmes such as the Towns Fund.

Colleges were however able to apply for a “match funding waiver” if they could prove they were unable to raise the amount of required match funding themselves for the work that was needed.

The DfE was asked by FE Week if any match funding waivers had been applied in this round, however our request was refused again on grounds of “commercial sensitivities.”

Prices of materials set to soar

Applications were opened for stage 2 in July 2021 and closed in early October 2021.

Colleges have been advised by their representative body, the Association of Colleges, to re-assess their plans in light of the much more precarious state of the economy today than six months ago when their bids were finalised.

In a briefing for AoC members, its deputy chief executive Julian Gravatt wrote that “there are predictions of continuing inflation and shortages in the construction sector so it would be sensible for any college that is offered funding to consider its ability to complete the project on the terms offered.”

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy publishes monthly statistics on the prices of building materials such as bricks, cement and concrete blocks.

According to Construction News, these figures show that prices rose in 11 of the 12 months of 2021. This has also prompted the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) to warn that prices for some materials have surged a further 20 per cent in 2022, with “further inflationary pressure expected as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.”

Today’s announcement means that around £600 million has now been allocated from the FECTF. In August 2020, just over £200 million was awarded to colleges in a ‘fast-tracked’ process a year ahead of schedule.

Colleges receiving funding

Abingdon and Witney College	Loughborough College
Aylesbury College (Buckinghamshire College Group)	Middlesbrough College
Barnfield College	Milton Keynes College
Bath College	Nelson and Colne College
Birmingham Metropolitan College	New City College
Boston College	Newham College
Bradford College	North Shropshire College (Hereford, Ludlow and North Shropshire College)
Broadstairs College (EKC Group)	Nottingham College
Brooklands College	Oaklands College
Bury College	Peterborough Regional College (Inspire Education Group)
Calderdale College	Salford City College
Canterbury College (EKC Group)	Sandwell College
Central Bedfordshire College	SEEVIC College
Cheshire College South and West	Shipley College
Chesterfield College	Solihull College and University Centre
Chichester College	South and City College Birmingham
City and Islington College (Capital City College Group)	South Devon College
City College Norwich	South Staffordshire College
College of North West London	South Tyneside College
Cornwall College	Stoke on Trent College
Croydon College	Tameside College
Doncaster College and University Centre (DN Colleges Group)	The City Literary Institute
Dudley College of Technology	The City of Liverpool College
Farnborough College of Technology	The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (Capital City College Group)
Furness College	The Manchester College (LTE Group)
Greater Brighton Metropolitan College	The Mary Ward Centre
Halesowen College	Tyne Metropolitan College (Tyne Coast College)
Lambeth College	Waltham Forest College
Leeds City College	West Nottinghamshire College
Leicester College	Westminster Kingsway College (Capital City College Group)
London South East Colleges	Wiltshire College

Source: Department for Education

Digitising EHCPs does not solve the huge waiting lists for them

Students are still desperately waiting for education, health and care plans – and this support should continue into HE in some cases, writes Sam Parrett

The long-awaited SEND green paper recognises the many challenges the sector currently faces. From inconsistent, overly bureaucratic processes and long delays in processing EHCPs, to a national shortage of SEND professionals, including educational psychologists and speech therapists – these are common issues that our own providers deal with every day.

So it’s clear that reform is needed, and it is positive to finally have movement towards some real change.

We know first-hand that parents and carers of learners with SEND often struggle to access the support they need.

CAMHS waiting lists are extremely long, with mental health issues among young people at an all-time high. The entire system is stretched to unprecedented levels post-pandemic.

FE providers can’t tackle the problems by themselves. Ensuring a student with SEND can reach their full potential relies on a fully holistic approach, with input from many other agencies, including health and social services.

Getting a timely EHCP is a fundamental part of this process. Yet this has become a major issue and in many cases, is failing to support the families who need it most.

The green paper’s commitment to digitising EHCPs makes sense in terms of bringing the system into the 21st century and will hopefully make them easier to use and understand.

However, this is evading the real problem. We are seeing students who desperately need to access special provisions but are awaiting an EHCP.

We can’t take them on until they have this document, even when their need for special education is clearly having a negative impact on their mental and emotional health, as well as on their learning.

We can’t take students on until they have this document

If young people can’t access the system in the first place, any improvement measures within the system will obviously be less impactful.

That’s rather ironic, considering the green paper’s consistent focus on early intervention and national standards.

Our own providers work across three local authorities, and it’s clear that parents and carers can find themselves in a postcode lottery when it comes to funding and support.

Standardising this – as is being proposed with a national framework – would be of huge benefit, providing clarity on entitlement fairly across the country for each child.

And where we talk about enabling a young person to reach their full potential, this must focus on their entire educational journey if it is to be truly meaningful.

Our college-sponsored MAT very much supports the retention of 0-25 EHCPs as they provide a clear line of sight to adulthood, supporting parents and students through each transition phase.

However, EHCPs usually cease on admission to higher education.

As the FE adviser to the Office for Students’ disabled students’ commission, I have argued that extending EHCP support for academically able SEND students would improve transition and provide continuity.

The green paper proposals recognise this could be a real improvement on the current arrangements, which are bureaucratic, time-consuming and lead to duplication.

They involve applying for the disabled students’ allowance, which is a process that all too often leaves students on a cliff edge and at a significant educational disadvantage to their peers when starting HE courses.

Students need access to high-quality, personalised support from day one. This must then continue throughout their educational journey so they can progress successfully into appropriate destinations – whether this is HE, an apprenticeship, employment or a supported internship.

Ensuring alternative provision has an integral role within the SEND system will play an important part in delivering this ambition. Many students in alternative provision have undiagnosed SEND, and improved alignment of the two will facilitate better and earlier intervention – leading to better outcomes for young people later.

So all in all, the proposals in this green paper are encouraging and recognise many of the challenges we face.

But there is scope for improvement on the journey from green paper to enacted reform – and precious little time to deliver necessary change for struggling young people and families.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 385

Jenny Craig

Principal & CEO, Buckinghamshire Collge Group

Start date: July 2022

Previous Job: Deputy Principal, Abingdon & Witney College

Interesting fact: Jenny won the West Yorkshire cycling proficiency championship when she was just 11 years old

Rebecca Gater

Principal & CEO, Solihull College and University Centre

Start date: September 2022

Previous Job: Vice Principal- Curriculum & Quality, Solihull College and University Centre

Interesting fact: Rebecca’s first part time job was in a pizza shop where she would sometimes have to deliver pizzas in a bright yellow Nova with a giant, illuminated phone handset on the top

Neil Morrison

Board Member, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

Start date: April 2022

Concurrent Job: Director of HR and Communications, Severn Trent

Interesting fact: Neil started working life as an FE lecturer at the Isle of Wight College and has completed three full ultramarathons and the three peaks 24 hour challenge

Sir Peter Estlin

Borad Member, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

Start date: April 2022

Concurrent Job: Chair of FutureDotNow

Interesting fact: At 17, Peter asked the then Lord Mayor of the City of London “How does one get your job?” Forty years later, Peter became the 691st Lord Mayor of the City of London.

A green skills solution from The Skills Network

In October 2021 the state of the climate was highlighted in Glasgow, where more than 200 of the world’s leaders united to discuss the climate crisis at COP26.

The event described as “the world’s best last chance to get runaway climate change under control” [1], brought talks of a green industrial revolution and a reaffirmation of the commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5C.

Now six months later and amidst an exceptional energy crisis throughout the UK, the demand for sustainable energy, practices and knowledge is now paramount for the future both of the economy and society as a whole.

Why now?

As the climate crisis grows, calls for an integration of a fourth functional skill into mass upskilling across the country are clear. The three functional skills areas – those basic skills required for a successful life – have been focused on Maths, English and ICT comprehension. But now a push for a fourth and vital upskilling resource in climate sustainability is emerging – critical to turn the tide on climate change.

The workplace has seen an 142% increase in the demand for “green” knowledge in employment over the last five years, with hard skills in Sustainability, Environment Health and Safety and Auditing now critically needed. This, alongside a growing green sector is demanding skills in practical “how to do” sustainability and pushing ITPs and educators to step up to the mark in green skills training.

The growth of “green” offers prediction of the direction the job market is traveling, but to solve the climate crisis it is now fundamental that “green skills” are integrated across all sectors. Targeting green jobs alone will not bring the scale of change needed to meet sustainability targets.

When it comes to skills training to facilitate the scale of social change required to fight climate change, it’s essential that those operating in non-green jobs have access to green skills training to develop widespread individual sustainability practices.

While green skills training is becoming ever more essential for employability, the challenge remains of inducing widespread personal and societal change in behaviour, ensuring individuals know how their choices, as citizens and consumers, impact on the climate and future generations.

This means that our challenge goes far beyond developing skills for green jobs. We need to embed mass eco-literacy and sustainability skills across all sectors, job roles and society as a whole. The skills sector is the obvious choice to lead on this.

Those of us working within the skills sector are clear on our responsibility in this fight and we at The Skills Network are leading on this with the development of our training provisions.

How can it be done?

To address the climate sustainability skills shortage, we must train in a way that looks beyond the green sector, focusing on developing a provision that is widely accessible.

With few resources offering practical action through skills training, now a regulatory requirement for colleges, educators have an essential role in embedding sustainability training into all elements of education – bringing climate action to life through real case study scenarios and practical application. We at The Skills Network are proud to be one of the first ITP’s to develop and offer to the market just this – a leading solution for mass sustainability and eco literacy skills development in non-green jobs.

Now we have urgently developed an innovative end-to-end learning solution to meet the demands of sustainability training on a national scale, leading on the delivery of sustainability training and accessing those operating in industries far removed from the “green sector”.

Through our expert provision we are able to train staff while providing adaptable, sector specific examples and practical applications of sustainability practices. Through the quality of our technology and expertly developed course content, both the employer and employee can become sustainability champion instantly! And it is the simplicity and accessibility of this resource that will prove key in the fight against environmental disaster.

Our new suite of fully accredited training courses cover key topics related to environmental sustainability including the control of global warming, reducing carbon emission and efficient energy management, with embedded case studies and activities throughout. Our sustainability content is delivered through two Level 2 Certificates in Sustainability and Sustainability Impact for Work. The content has been developed to align with the UN’s 17 sustainable Development Goals, addressing the global challenges we face including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity and peace and justice.

Through the first three modules, learners will explore the key principles of sustainable developments, communities and energy management. This content is closely aligned to SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production. The remaining four modules explore themes of social responsibility for businesses, the principles of waste management, sustainable transport and a module exploring the application of sustainability principles in applicable settings.

Throughout each unit there are opportunities to apply learning, a training approach that allows for the development of competency-based sustainability knowledge and skills that can be aligned to multiple roles and sectors, making learners more employable and able to use the practical skills developed to effect positive changes within society.

The content is aligned to the global context. As well as incorporating the concepts from the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, we have embedded key information from the biggest summits on climate change on an international scale, allow the development of the most relevant and expert sustainability training provision produced to date.

To help transform cultures, systems, communities and societies, this offer is designed to find ways to meet the people where they are, and shrink the distance between the issues we collectively face and the personal choices we make every day.

The courses are available is at no cost, funded by the Government’s Adult Education Budget and will be deployed to schools and institutes across the country through our award-winning learner management system Equal. The development and delivery of such content looks to lead the way in sustainability and climate education on a national scale, encouraging educators and students to equip themselves with the tools necessary to change the direction of the climate crisis now.

This accessible provision and expert content allows employers to embed environmental sustainability into their staff training programmes, providing adaptable, sector specific examples and practical applications of sustainability practices.

The critical element here is the impact of our training. We do not need more people to simply know more things, but rather to feel able, empowered and ready to do more. To meet this challenge, and to address the sustainability skills gap, The Skills Network has developed it’s transformative solutions.

Offering a real word solution through government funded courses, The Skills Network is fighting the climate crisis, allowing employers to align sustainability training to their individual business’ needs and ultimately upskill on mass in these key areas.

The next step?

The EU is applying a requirement that 25% of skills funding must now be allotted to sustainability linked programmes, – this provides a likely forecast to skills funding allocations in the UK. This alongside further Government investment into the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, shows the funding sources in the pipeline for sustainability training provisions in the coming months and years.

The Skills Network is ahead of the curve, acting to fulfil the most critical skills shortage crisis ever seen, through their expertly developed provision.

It’s time for the industry to catch up and join the climate fight together so become a sustainability champion today.

Want to know more? See The Skills Network’s Sustainability training content here https://bit.ly/3tWB9SS

[1] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-invasion-chills-cop26-fossil-fuel-commitments-f0nr2h0kj

Recovering colleges’ latest Ofsted results

Three colleges that have faced significant leadership and financial challenges in recent years had full inspections from Ofsted in February and saw their reports published this week. FE Week spoke to the leader of each college to find out how they got on:

Inspection came ‘too soon’ for Hull College

The interim boss of Hull College has said Ofsted’s visit came “too soon” after going through multiple leadership changes since the college’s last grade three report in 2019.

Numerous scandals have engulfed the college, which resulted in formal government intervention and seven acting principals over the past two and a half years.

Ofsted inspected the college again in February and gave them a second consecutive overall ‘requires improvement’ rating.

However, the report rates three out of four of the college’s provision types – courses for apprentices, adult learners and learners with high needs – as ‘good’.

The area where the college continues to struggle is its teaching for 16- to 18-yearolds. Lowell Williams is in the final days of his second stint as interim chief of the college.

He’ll hand the reins to Debra Gray, who is moving from The Grimsby Institute (now known as the TEC Partnership), next week.

Reacting to the report, Williams said the new leadership could have done with more time and called on Ofsted to be more aware of individual college circumstances when deciding when to inspect.

“We weren’t expecting an inspection so soon. I’m not sure it’s helpful or represents good value for the public,” he told FE Week.

“In the period between that last inspection in 2019 and now there have been seven people who have acted as the principal of the college, if you count me twice. And there has been a pandemic in between, where the college has effectively closed, really.”

Williams pressed that the latest new senior team has only been in place for eight months.

“So, the college’s journey to recovery, after the instability in leadership, and after the pandemic, started in August 2021.

“Quite what the value is in inspecting the college in March 2022 I’m not sure. That said, ironically, it does show that the college is making huge progress and making huge progress quickly, because three out of four the provision types were good.”

He added: “I think it would have been better served all round to have had a full academic year. It’s very, very difficult to really improve the provision for young people on full-time study programmes unless you’ve been through a whole academic cycle.”

Williams called on Ofsted to work more collaboratively with the FE Commissioner’s team and the Education and Skills Funding Agency where there are exceptional circumstances for colleges.

In its report, Ofsted acknowledged that the college’s senior leadership team have undergone a “sustained period of instability”.

Williams said the staff at Hull College have been “desperately let down by leadership over time” and it’s their stewardship of the college that has “meant there was still a college there to recover”.

He added: “I’d like to pay tribute to all the staff for their resilience and stewardship of the college during the period of instability. Finally, the college is looking forward to the future with confidence.”

Delayed city-wide review thwarting progress at Southampton City College

Sarah Stannard

The FE Commissioner’s failure to resolve questions on a college’s financial position has slowed leaders’ progress in improving its quality of education, according to Ofsted.

Southampton City College’s latest inspection resulted in another ‘requires improvement’ judgment overall. This follows a previous grade three report back in 2018.

The college is currently surviving on emergency money from the Education and Skills Funding Agency which is due to run out by February 2023.

The FE Commissioner is working on a city-wide review of Southampton’s FE provision which aims to ensure the positive long-term future of the college.

However, the college’s principal Sarah Stannard has said the review has taken up much of the college leadership’s time and limited their ability to make “rapid improvements” to tackle ongoing quality issues – something noted in the Ofsted report.

“We note the inspectors’ judgment that the failure of external decision-makers to resolve questions on the college’s financial position and post-16 education in Southampton has taken up much of the college leadership’s time and has limited our ability to make rapid improvements,” she said.

“This is very frustrating for all at City College. Staff and students have been made to wait too long for a clear way forward.” Stannard said a clear solution “with a real date” was needed to help college leaders’ work on improving the quality of education.

“Much leadership time has necessarily been devoted to negotiations with, and representations to, external bodies,” the Ofsted report said.

“This has slowed progress in other aspects of college improvement. Over the past six years, public debate about the college’s future has also had a negative impact on staff morale.”

Inspectors said that as a result, leaders’ efforts to provide high-quality vocational training for students aged 16 to 18 have only been partly successful.

Other findings of the report were that senior leaders do not check the quality of education closely enough.

“Consequently, they have not identified many of the weaknesses that inspectors found during the inspection and have not moved swiftly to put in place effective methods to deal with those that they have identified,” inspectors said.

Cornwall College bounces back to ‘good’

The chief executive of Cornwall College has said he is “delighted” after a recent Ofsted inspection found senior leaders and governors have “transformed the culture at the college”.

Ofsted rated the college ‘good’ – a jump up from a ‘requires improvement’ rating they received in 2019. The college has had its fair share of financial issues, which resulted in a £30 million bailout from government and a controversial campus sale.

The FE Commissioner later suggested the college should merge with Truro and Penwith College, but it was later decided that both colleges should remain standalone.

Cornwall College’s fortunes have now turned around, with Ofsted finding that governors, senior leaders and managers have worked “relentlessly to establish the college as an influential partner in the region”.

“Myself, governors and staff are highly delighted with the result, which is the accumulation of an immense effort from everybody which all comes down to putting the learner at the centre of all your decisions,” chief executive of Cornwall College John Evans, who took over in 2019, told FE Week.

Evans, who is a former Ofsted inspector, said the college has always had some “brilliant niche provision” and lauded the efforts of staff for the latest Ofsted result.

Ofsted’s report was largely positive, with inspectors saying that leaders focus consistently on learners and their learning and wellbeing.

“They place a high priority on the importance of good teaching. Leaders have communicated this message to staff, who share the same high expectations for learners,” they said.

Evans told FE Week that leaders focused an “immense effort” on improving the quality of teaching learning assessment and the learner experience.

“The college did many things well, but not consistently. And it was pulling together effectively ten campuses and driving the culture of everybody having an uncompromising ambition for their learners,” he added.

Ofsted slams SEND college for ‘highly inappropriate’ activities

Young adults at a SEND college were taught personal and intimate care in mixed-gender groups and took part in “highly inappropriate” activities, an Ofsted inspection has found.

The watchdog also found the students with special educational needs and disabilities were tube fed and medicated in classrooms in front of their peers and staff.

Ofsted published a damning ‘inadequate’ report of the Michael Tippett College, an independent specialist college in Balham, south London, this week. Inspectors uncovered serious failures in safeguarding.

These included leaders not developing policies for how staff should manage any potential incidents of harmful sexual behaviour. Learners were also left at risk of “significant harm for longer periods than necessary”.

A council is now reviewing any placements it has with the college in light of the findings. Concerns were first raised at a monitoring visit last year.

The college has told FE Week that there are no plans for its closure and said that they are making improvements under new leadership.

“The Michael Tippett College accepts the outcome of the Ofsted report. The inspection team were fair and took the time to explain their judgments,” acting head of the college, Perry Vlachos, told FE Week.

“The college has recently undergone a great deal of change this academic year, especially at the executive and senior management levels. The college recognises that significant improvements are needed.”

The Michael Tippett College caters for young adults aged 19 to 25 who have a range of profound multiple learning difficulties or severe learning difficulties – some with autism spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were 41 learners.

Nearly all were on a three-year preparation for work and life programme. Ofsted found that learners did not benefit from an effective curriculum.

They said it was poorly planned, and learners weren’t provided opportunities to develop essential skills needed for adulthood based on what they can already do.

Leaders, trustees and staff were accused of not having sufficient expertise in special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that the curriculum was “appropriate and ambitious for learners with complex needs”.

Ofsted also found a wide range of safeguarding concerns – saying that learners were not always treated with “respect for their dignity”.

As an example, inspectors cited the fact that when supporting learners with tube feeding and medication, staff did so in the classroom in front of other learners and staff.

“Teachers teach sensitive topics such as personal and intimate care in mixed-gender groups, and activities are highly inappropriate,” the report added.

Staff and designated safeguarding leads did not follow their own safeguarding policy to make timely referrals to the adult services duty team when vulnerable learners are at risk.

“Consequently, learners remain at risk of significant harm for longer periods than are necessary,” inspectors said.

Safety concerns were previously raised in a monitoring visit that was carried out in November last year, where inspectors found that senior leaders and trustees did not have effective safeguarding arrangements in place.

Ofsted inspectors did note that the new acting head of college and trustees have begun to improve on some of the “significant weaknesses” identified at the previous safeguarding monitoring visit.

“As a result, leaders have ensured that appropriate checks are now in place for current staff to ensure that they are safe to work with the college’s learners,” inspectors said.

Vlachos told FE Week that under his interim management the college is working closely with stakeholders and have begun to “effectively address the issues” raised in the report.

“For example, regarding safeguarding, we have amended our policy to clarify processes and responsibilities and have completed a whole-staff ‘Prevent’ training.”

He claimed the college is not in danger of closing and is planning to make the necessary improvements to enhance the future of the college and our students’ outcomes.

But Lambeth Council, the college’s local authority, is reviewing its relationship with the college.

A spokesperson said: “The Michael Tippett College in Balham is an independently run specialist education centre located in Lambeth that sits outside local authority control.

“The Ofsted inspection includes concerning findings and we are reviewing any placements we have at the college.”

DfE slashes grant funding for ETF

The Education and Training Foundation has had millions of pounds of grant funding cut by the Department for Education.

ETF announced the cuts on Monday, stating that the affected continuing professional development (CPD) programmes include basic skills, essential digital skills, practitioner research, advanced practitioner, and outstanding teaching, learning and assessment.

Analysis of ETF funding documents by FE Week shows that grants for these programmes were worth £3,226,124 for 2021/22 – marking a 15 per cent cut to the ETF’s overall DfE funding of £21,008,540 for that year.

It is expected that some programmes previously provided by ETF will be put out to tender by the DfE.

ETF’s chief executive told FE Week that cuts to its grant do not threaten the future of the organisation, and that the move to switch to more tendering for programmes has been coming for a number of years.

The charity would not comment on whether the cuts would result in any redundancies.

The news comes after FE Week revealed in March that the DfE grant for ETF’s practitioner research programme would not be available in 2022/23.

“The ETF would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone who has made such a success of basic skills-related CPD for FE practitioners over the last eight years,” said David Russell, chief executive of the ETF.

“It has been a vital source of support, particularly while the sector tackled the challenge of implementing the GCSE resit policy, but it has also been so much more.”

He said programmes such as the advanced practitioner programme, the outstanding teaching, learning and assessment programme, and the practitioner research programme have been “transformational” for many teachers and trainers.

“Teachers have told me personally how these programmes ‘rekindled their love of teaching’, helped elevate their professional development, and in some cases were the difference that kept them in the profession,” he added.

The affected programmes fall under the basic skills workforce grant. In June 2021, the DfE awarded the ETF £3,226,124 for this grant for the period ending March 31, 2022.

According to the grant letter published on the ETF’s website, total grant funding awarded from the DfE was £21,008,540 for the 2021/22 financial year and included: the SEND further education workforce development grant, basic skills workforce grant, further education workforce development grant, and leadership and governance programme development grant.

FE Week contacted the DfE to ask why the funding has been cut.

“We remain committed to supporting FE teachers and the vital work they do in improving achievement in English and maths,” a spokesperson said.

“We will continue investing in the English and maths workforce in 2022 and beyond. This includes supporting practitioners to test successful and transferable approaches to improving post-16 level 2 English and maths outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged learners.”

They added that the DfE intends to conduct “competitive processes” to enable new programme delivery to commence during 2022/23, including “expert and sector-led English and maths continuing professional development, as well as robust, large scale research to develop our evidence base of what works”.

ETF said that since 2014, the DfE’s basic skills grant to the ETF has been of “great benefit to the sector”, providing maths and English CPD support to tens of thousands of colleagues across all types of FE settings.

The support has included online and face-to-face training; one-to-one and group coaching; networks and events; and specialist advice and support. In 2021/22 alone, the ETF delivered more than 240 training events, ran more than 65 networking events, and reached more than 10,000 delegates.

The grant has also supported the creation of resources and training opportunities, such as: functional skills mathematics level 1, GCSE English writing, CPD training for teachers, and teaching functional skills maths.

ETF provided participation figures to FE Week for the Practitioner Research programme and the Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment. For the Practitioner Research programme there were 188 participants between 2018 and 2022.

The OTLA saw 1,249 participants from 2019 to 2022. The ETF did not provide FE Week with figures for the other affected programmes.

“It is both rare and excellent for programme support to last long enough to allow them to grow roots in the sector, and achieve sustainable, irreversible change in the levels of professionalism, collaboration and capacity amongst participants,” said Russell.

“This has certainly been the case here, and the legacy of these programmes will live on strongly. We would like to thank everyone from colleagues in the DfE to our fantastic delivery partners who have been part of this successful journey.”

“It is the ETF’s continuing mission to help practitioners in our sector find new ways to excel and grow, for the benefit of their learners,” he added.