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Chris Stoker-Jones
Director of Business Services, Direct Skills Group
Start date: March 2024
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Interesting fact: Chris has a passion for football & graphic design and has set up a business combining the two and providing photo shoots and professional matchday graphics for North East grassroots sports teams.
The Department for Education is slashing a near-£10 million popular programme aimed at strengthening leadership and governance in further education, FE Week understands.
Last year, the Education and Training Foundation was awarded a £9.55 million two-year contract to deliver continuous professional development (CPD) to around 5,500 people.
The much sought-after programme drew in over 4,000 leaders and governors just in its first year.
But the DfE, which is on a money-saving venture, is planning to reduce the value of the contract by £1.5 million and scale back the programme offer ahead of the final year.
Experts warned last year that nonprotected government budgets are at risk of cuts after chancellor Jeremy Hunt told all departments to “redouble efforts to find savings”.
The DfE just this week ditched a school governor recruitment scheme, slashed subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses, and scaled back funding for national professional qualifications.
Value for taxpayers’ money?
The ETF had already been running a CPD programme for FE governors and leaders with other sector bodies since its launch in 2013, but the January 2021 skills for jobs white paper outlined that the government would “build upon” the ETF’s offer.
The organisation won the £9.55 million contract in 2023, which involves 30 programmes for students, professionals, and governors across FE through online, face-to-face and hybrid sessions.
DfE said at the time that it was targeting more than 5,500 people in leadership and governance roles from the contract, which ends in March 2025.
Following the first year, DfE and the ETF claimed to be conducting a “regular review” of the contract to ensure “value for taxpayers’ money”.
Dr. Katerina Kolyva, chief executive at the ETF, told FE Week that the review is to ensure “the offer remains holistic and joined up”.
An ETF spokesperson said they were “not in a position” to specify what parts of the programme will change in year two.
“Contract reviews are not unusual, with contracts being explored across many other sectors and industries during the current economic climate,” they said.
“ETF and the DfE recognise that together we have made great progress in the first year of the leadership and governance (L&G) contract, supporting leaders and governors with their career development.”
The spokesperson added: “We are unable to comment on [the total contract value] until the review is completed. Our priority is mitigating any impact potential changes may have on the sector and those individuals whose ongoing career development we remain committed to support.”
Additionally, through the contract, the ETF commissioned several delivery partners such as the Saïd Business School, which runs a CEO programme to support chief executives and college principals through face-to-face sessions located at the University of Oxford.
Plus, the Association of Colleges was commissioned to develop and run the Governance Development Programme for college governors through a series of online modules.
Other delivery partners include the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, and FE Associates.
Kolyva said: “Before the start of year two, we have been working together to ensure that the offer remains holistic and joined up, and that it continues to support leaders and governors with their continuous professional development. We have explored new opportunities to do things differently; to be innovative, explore new ways of delivery and using new technologies.”
A DfE spokesperson said: “We are confident that our updates will continue to support FE leaders and governors with everything they need for their continuous professional development. This work is part of our regular review of our contracts to ensure we’re meeting our obligations, the needs of the sector, and value for taxpayers’ money.”
England’s combined authority mayors need to “step up” and do more with their devolved skills powers, a former Number 10 policy adviser has said.
Baroness Alison Wolf will appear alongside Sir Michael Barber, who until recently advised DfE and the Treasury on skills policy implementation, on the first episode of the new series of the Let’s Go Further podcast next week.
The two public policy experts will give their insider perspectives on how further education and skills is perceived in Whitehall, and what reforms the next government should prioritise.
Wolf will speak of disappointment at how combined authority mayors in England don’t appear to have made much use of their devolved powers on adult education.
“I just am really disappointed by how few seem to me to have done anything more than essentially just carry over the quite restrictive ‘pot here, pot there’ regime which they’ve inherited from DfE,” Wolf will say.
With the introduction of degree apprenticeships, the lifelong learning entitlement and more employer-led local skills plans, Barber will make the case for a single regulator for tertiary-level education.
“I would like to see, whoever the next government is, a single regulator for post-18 education looking more consistently at the emerging range of options than we’re able to do with the current system,” he will say.
Wolf will also explain how consistent calls from businesses for apprenticeship levy reform were batted away by the Treasury.
“What you mostly got in Number 10 was a combination of businesses lobbying to be allowed to do whatever they want to with the money and Treasury going ‘this is a tax, get off our lawn’.”
Both guests will set out what they believe should be the next government’s priorities for FE and skills. Barber will argue for “significant investment” so England can be “the leading provider of skills to the 21st-century workforce in the world”.
For Wolf, her top priority is “to build on the success of the bootcamps” and “a much larger proportion of college activity focussed on locally driven, locally relevant skills provision”.
Wolf and Barber will appear on episode 1 of the new series of the Let’s Go Further podcast, produced by the Skills and Education Group and guest-hosted by FE Week editor Shane Chowen, available to download from all major podcast platforms on March 26.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is stripping back its workforce after being ordered to find savings by the Department for Education.
Staff costs at the quango ballooned from £14.4 million in 2020-21 to £21.5 million in 2022-23 as additional responsibilities were handed to the institute through the skills and post-16 education act.
Over that period the institute’s hiring spree led to its average full-time equivalent staff figure growing from 200 to 298.
But FE Week understands IfATE is now looking to downsize with a voluntary exit scheme opened to all staff.
The institute confirmed it was embarking on a “reorganisation in line with wider civil service efficiency savings”.
IfATE would not say how many posts it is looking to cut or how much it is aiming to reduce its staff costs by.
The DfE was tight-lipped about the reasons behind the instruction. It declined to comment on whether IfATE’s annual budget, which totals £32.7 million in 2023-24, would be reduced or whether any other DfE-sponsored agencies were also told to find savings.
A spokesperson for the institute said: “IfATE has a duty to deliver value for money for taxpayers, so regularly makes sure we are operating as efficiently as possible.
“Our work across occupational maps, apprenticeships, T Levels, higher technical qualifications, and post-16 qualifications remains unchanged, as does our passion for shaping skills training on behalf of employers.”
IfATE restructure follows ESFA clear out
Launched in 2017 to spearhead the government’s apprenticeship reforms, the then-known Institute for Apprenticeships has seen its responsibilities and workforce expand over the past seven years.
“Technical Education” was added to the quango’s name and brief in 2019 as the authority also took over the content of T Levels and procurement for awarding organisations.
The institute had around 80 full-time staff in its first year of operation, a figure which now sits at around 300.
IfATE was recently handed new “powers” as set out in the FE white paper and skills bill, such as defining and approving new categories of technical qualifications as well as reviewing those already on offer and withdrawing their approval where they are no longer performing as expected.
The ESFA’s annual report published in July 2023 showed its average headcount stood at 829 in the last financial year, down from 1,779 in 2021-22. This brought total staffing costs down from £104 million to £49 million. Most staff were however moved into the DfE.
FE Week is not aware of any other DfE sponsored agencies that are being told to find savings by DfE currently.
Separately, Ofsted, a non-ministerial department that is funded independently by Treasury, has warned that the reliability of inspections will be “compromised” if its funding is “further constrained”.
Ofsted’s chair Dame Christine Ryan said during a September board meeting that actions taken by the watchdog to absorb rising costs are a “short-term fix” and will likely “store up cost pressures” for this year and beyond.
The inspectorate’s funding is now 29 per cent lower in real terms compared with 2009-10, despite its role and responsibilities expanding significantly over that period.
Apprenticeship providers that have persistently low achievement rates face “limitations on growth” and removal from the training market, the skills minister has warned.
Individual apprenticeship standards with high drop out rates are also in line for the chop while officials eye reforms to the end-point assessment market.
He told providers that the government “remains committed” to an ambition of a 67 per cent achievement rate by the end of the 2024/25 academic year, and he was “pleased things are moving in the right direction”.
However, the minister revealed plans to use “contractual measures” to crack down on providers that are showing “insufficient improvement”, particularly those with high drop out rates.
The overall retention rate on standards grew by 3.1 percentage points to 55.9 per cent in 2022/23, which means that just less than half, 44 per cent, of all apprentices dropped out before completing their end-point assessment last year.
The government currently uses its apprenticeship accountability framework to assess provider performance against a range of 10 measures, including achievement and retention rates.
Halfon said that while the government will “continue to consider factors outside of providers’ control, where these can be evidenced”, he warned of tougher action to come.
“We will also use contractual measures including potential limitations on growth, stopping delivery of standards with low apprenticeship achievement rates and removal from the market where this is necessary to protect apprentices and employers and ensure they have access to high quality training,” his letter read.
The accountability framework states that providers will be classed as “at risk” if they have an overall achievement rate under 50 per cent.
FE Week analysis of 2022/23 data shows that 282 out of the 1,071 providers across the sector are below this benchmark.
Just 279 providers have an achievement rate of 67 per cent or higher.
The Association of Employment Learning Providers told members last week that it is “not expecting wholesale action” and there won’t “quite [be] a return to arbitrary minimum standards” for achievement rates, but the Department for Education is now “leaning a bit more that way”.
Halfon has also tasked the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education with improving or even scrapping standards with persistently high drop out rates.
His letter said: “IfATE will be looking closely at apprenticeship standards that are not producing good outcomes for employers or the economy – especially where they are underused or too many learners are dropping out without completing – and speed up action to either improve them or remove them where it is clear the apprenticeship standard is not working.”
Of the 425 apprenticeship standards, 121 have a retention rate below 50 per cent.
Apprenticeships that attract high volumes but have consistently low achievement rates and high drop outs include both the level 2 and 3 adult care worker standards, the children, young people and families practitioner, the associate project manager, and hospitality team member.
EPA model under review
Halfon also told the sector the government “continually reviews” the assessment process for apprenticeships to make sure it is “proportionate, supports achievement and is fit for the future”, before hinting at change to the independent end-point assessment market.
He said officials will “identify further options to improve the assessment model, making it more efficient for the whole sector” and “ensure that assessment retains its validity and value to employers and apprentices”.
Halfon told the sector he knows “that you are all dedicated to supporting current and future apprentices from every background to achieve the best possible outcomes”, adding that with a “renewed focus on quality, together we can continue to make long-term increases to achievement rates and support economic growth by improving the skills pipeline”.
If overall achievement rates continue to rise by 2.9 percentage points a year, the target would not be reached until 2027/28.
The apprenticeship dropout rate has also slightly improved but still remains worryingly high.
In 2021/22 the overall retention rate on standards sat at 52.8 per cent, which grew by 3.1 percentage points to 55.9 per cent in 2022/23. It means that just less than half, 44 per cent, of all apprentices on standards dropped out before completing their end-point assessment last year.
Skills minister Robert Halfon said he was “pleased things are moving in the right direction” following today’s figures, but warned that the Department for Education will take tough action against individual providers showing “insufficient improvement” (click here for full story).
When taking into account the old-style frameworks, which had just 9,640 leavers last year and recorded a 63.5 per cent achievement rate, the overall apprenticeship achievement rate reaches 54.6 per cent in 2022/23.
Here’s what else we learned from today’s NARTs…
Steep fall for Lifetime
Achievements at England’s largest apprenticeship training provider have declined by 10 percentage points.
Lifetime Training Group recorded nearly 13,500 leavers in 2022/23, a slight increase on the previous year, but saw both its overall achievement and retention rates reduce from 45 per cent to 35 per cent.
David Smith, Lifetime Training’s CEO, said his provider operates in sectors affected by the aftermath of the pandemic and high staff turnover which resulted in higher withdrawals.
Of the 37 apprenticeship standards measured for its latest achievement rates, its highest volume provision was in retail, hospitality, and care.
Smith also said his figures were “impacted by the learners who were removed from their programmes as a result of being passed their planned end date”.
He said: “Over the past year, we have implemented a series of improvements to our programme offering, which are forecasted to lead to a significant improvement in achievement rates.”
Multiverse Group, rated ‘outstanding’, doubled the number of recorded leavers from 1,800 to 3,630 but saw its achievement rate decline by 10.9 percentage points to 51.8.
A Multiverse spokesperson told FE Week the drop was due to a “substantial” number of apprentices who withdrew because they changed employer.
“We believe this is partially the result of increased job changes post-pandemic,” they said, adding: “We’ve implemented new processes to enable apprentices to stay on programme if they move jobs and that’s already had an effect on reducing withdrawals.”
Babcock International attributed its 26 per cent achievement rate to its “divestment” from most of its apprenticeships during the year.
HIT hits out at ‘inaccurate’ figures
The boss of another of the country’s largest training providers has accused the ESFA of knowingly publishing inaccurate data about its apprenticeship performance.
Official published figures report HIT Training’s 2022/23 achievement rate as 41 per cent. This is 6.8 percentage points below HIT’s own calculated overall figure.
Jill Whittaker, executive chair of HIT Training, claimed there was multiple data quality issues which ESFA was aware of, including double counting leavers and “historic uncorrected errors”.
She told FE Week that ESFA officials had agreed there were errors in HIT’s QAR calculation and reneged on an agreement to redact their figures.
Whittaker said she was informed yesterday, a day before publication, that its application for a redaction had been rejected.
The Department for Education denied any wrongdoing. “We refute this allegation – the process for redaction has been followed,” a spokesperson said.
HIT data shared with FE Week shows differences ranging from -12.5 and 15.6 percentage points between the ESFA and HIT’s figures for its apprenticeship standards.
“After over 25 years of trusting and working collaboratively with the ESFA and the various bodies that went before them, I am very sad to say they have let us, and themselves, down. It is too early to understand the impact of the publication of this erroneous data on our 5,000 plus learners,” Whittaker said.
Of the 1,071 providers that recorded an achievement rate for 2022/23, just one was excluded due to data errors.
A University of Chester spokesperson said its request for a redaction from this year’s figures was accepted by the ESFA after identifying “an issue” with their R14 data return giving incorrect figures.
Rates improve across most provider types
Achievement rates grew for every provider type this year, except for specialist colleges.
The largest rise was in schools, 66.4 per cent to 76.8 per cent, but this represents just four providers and 140 apprenticeship leavers.
For independent training providers, which deliver the vast majority of apprenticeships, achievement rates improved by 0.8 percentage points to 51.2 per cent.
The DfE’s ‘other public funded’ category – made up mostly of local authorities and universities – came close to hitting the government’s 67 per cent target scoring an overall achievement rate of 65 per cent this year.
There were just over 2,000 fewer apprenticeship leavers in further education colleges in 2022/23 compared to the previous year, but the overall achievement rate increased from 50.4 per cent to 57.8 per cent.
Specialist colleges on the other hand increased the number of leavers, from 1,990 to 2,190 but saw their overall achievement rates decline from 57.9 per cent to 54.2 per cent.
Gap between most and least deprived narrows
The achievement gap between apprentices from most and least deprived households narrowed slightly in 2022/23 – but is still higher than in 2020/21.
Officials use the index of multiple deprivation (IMD) to classify the home areas of apprentices into five quintiles of relative deprivation.
DfE figures state the average achievement rate of apprentices from the most deprived quintile was 49.5 per cent in 2022/23, 8.9 percentage points lower than apprentices from the least deprived areas.
The same gap in 2021/22 was 9.8 percentage points but in 2020/21 was 7.7 percentage points.
But gap between LLDD grows
The gap between apprentices with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD) and their peers has grown, according to the latest achievements data.
Thirteen per cent of apprentice leavers in 2022/23 were recorded as having a learning difficulty and/or disability, and had an average achievement rate of 51 per cent. For apprentices without LLDD, the achievement rate was 55.3 per cent.
This 4.3 percentage point difference is higher than in 2021/22 and 2020/21.
Achievements for LLDD apprentices improved slightly from 50.6 per cent in 2021/22 but remain lower than the 54.6 achievement rate recorded in 2020/21.
Ethnicity gap also grows
There was a 6.8 percentage point gap between apprentices from ethnic minority and white apprentices, the highest in the past three years.
Figures for 2022/23 reveal the average achievement rate for ethnic minority apprentices was 48.9 per cent, compared to 55.7 per cent for white apprentices.
The largest achievement gap continues to be between apprentices from Black, African and Caribbean backgrounds and white backgrounds – a 10.2 percentage point difference. This is an increase from an 8.7 percentage point difference in 2021/22 and 7.1 percentage point difference the year before.
Only the mixed/multiple ethnic group saw a slight reduction in the achievement gap with white apprentices this year.
Level 6 improves the most
Compared to the previous year, achievement rates on level 6 apprenticeships have improved the most.
Figures for 2022/23 showed an average achievement rate for level 6 apprentices of 65.7 per cent, the closest of all levels to the government target. The achievement rate for this group of apprentices was 57.3 per cent in 2021/22.
Achievement rates for level 2 apprenticeships increased 4.9 percentage points to 53.9 per cent.
The lowest performing apprenticeships were at level 4, which scored an overall achievement rate of 46.9 per cent, down from 47.4 per cent in 2021/22. Level 7 apprenticeships also saw a 0.5 percentage point decline to 57.8 per cent.
Thirty-two colleges and universities have won a slice of a £14 million pot to grow and improve their degree apprenticeships.
The Office for Students (OfS) has announced the results of the second wave of funding from its £40 million degree apprenticeships expansion fund. Announced in September, the funding is designed to address “market failures” in the provider base and equality of access.
Projects funded through the scheme have to increase the number of students on level 6 degree apprenticeships and “increase equality of opportunity for students into and during” the apprenticeships, the OfS said.
This comes on top of £12 million awarded in January from the first wave of bids.
Of the 66 bids received from colleges and universities for this round, 32 were successful.
Unlike the previous round of funding, wave two applicants could be new to the degree apprenticeship market. Most (20) recipients also won funding in the previous round which was only open to existing providers.
This brings the total number of providers that have received a share of the £40 million to 63, including 13 colleges.
Projects funded under this round are due to start from April and run until July 2025.
Cash for colleges
Of the newly announced £14 million, just over £2 million has been awarded to seven further education colleges.
Weston College has been awarded £1,185,375 to grow ten of its degree apprenticeships including manufacturing engineer, chartered manager, social worker, registered nurse and aerospace engineer.
Combined with the £272,000 it received from wave one of the fund, Weston College has received the second-highest amount of all successful universities and colleges to date.
The college has said it will use the funding to recruit specialist staff to develop and deliver the courses alongside supporting students from under-represented groups.
Bridgwater and Taunton College won £296,954 to grow its nuclear and nursing degree apprenticeships. This comes on top of £176,915 it received for those apprenticeships from wave one.
New College Swindon, Reaseheath College, Blackpool and The Fylde College and City College Norwich have won funding for the first time.
Reaseheath College said it would spend its £132,854 on introducing environmental practitioner and food industry technical professional apprenticeships.
John Blake, the OfS’ director for fair access and participation said:
‘With this second round of bids, we were looking for universities and colleges to not only describe how OfS funding would expand their degree apprenticeships student numbers and course provision, but also to further demonstrate how they would prioritise recruiting and supporting students from all backgrounds to succeed. I’m pleased to say that all the successful bids have risen to this challenge.
John Blake
“We have been inspired by the ambitious and forward-looking plans we have received, and I look forward to seeing how this funding can make a real difference to students and our future workforce over the next year and beyond.”
One more wave
The remaining £14 million will be allocated through a third-wave competition later this year with activity starting from October. Previous OfS guidance said a bidding template for wave three will be published in May 2024.
Like the wave two projects, those successful in wave three will have to be completed by the end of July 2025.
Providers hoping to bid for funding must be registered with the OfS in its ‘approved (fee cap)’ category and could be new to degree apprenticeship delivery.
Skills minister Robert Halfon said: “As minister, I have backed us to go further by committing an additional £40 million to developing degree apprenticeships so that more people can benefit from these life changing opportunities. In this second wave of funding, institutions will be able to expand their degree apprenticeship opportunities as well as prioritise access and participation for young people, individuals from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, and those least likely to access and succeed in higher education.
“From supporting our NHS with degree apprenticeships in health to developing partnerships with leading employers to upskill the local workforce and recruit new talent, these projects will facilitate upward mobility, bridge skills gaps, and fuel economic growth.”
Government plans for a new Advanced British Standard qualification will create a “blunt choice” between academic and vocational routes for students and add to uncertainty over post-16 options, leaders have warned.
College membership bodies and school leaders’ unions have released responses to the government’s consultation on the proposal, which closes for submissions today.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak announced last year that the ABS will replace A-levels and T Levels in around 10 years, though an anticipated Labour election win means the policy is unlikely to ever come to fruition.
In the National Association of Headteachers’ (NAHT) response, head of policy Sarah Hannafin warned the proposals hold “tightly to the traditional system in place now – a repackaging of the current A-level and T Level content, blunt choices for 16-year-olds, a focus on knowledge and assessment by examination”.
The creation of two routes at the outset “undermines” the parity of esteem between academic and technical education, she added.
Hannafin said without “significant investment in the recruitment and retention of education staff these proposals are unworkable and undeliverable”.
The Association of Employment and Learning Providers added: “Although we agree with the ambition to remove the perceived ‘false divides’ between academic and technical education we question whether the ABS is the right vehicle in which to achieve this.”
Menu of options ‘already exists’
Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) post-16 specialist Kevin Gilmartin said the principle of a “high-quality menu” of options for young people “already exists in the 16-19 landscape in the form of over 60,000 students who mix and match A-levels with applied general qualifications”.
Gilmartin said it also “seems clear that, under these proposals, a majority of students would continue to take three majors, with some additional English and maths”.
“This does not, despite claims to the contrary, appear to represent a significant broadening of their curriculum.”
Under the government’s plans, students would study a set of subject majors and minors, and all would be required to study English and maths to 18.
But unions warned against considering 16 to 19 reform in isolation.
Hannafin said reform must be “considered as a coherent whole, from early years to key stage 5, and not in isolated silos of key stages or year groups”.
Gilmartin added the starting point for reform “should be a consultation on the underlying principles of what we want our students to study at the age of 16 to 19”.
By not taking this approach first, and “trying to make a clunky qualification ‘wrapper’ serve several purposes”, the government is “putting the cart before the horse”.
The Association of Colleges added that starting a major reform for all of the 16 to 18 learning phase by describing the qualifications “gets in the way of the wider set of design and implementation issues we believe are the main drivers for success”.
AoC chief executive David Hughes said: “Qualifications are simply measures of success used for progression; they should not define curriculum purpose or limit the educational experiences we want to provide for every young person.”
‘Driven by electoral considerations’
The Sixth Form Colleges Association warned the consultation “seeks views on how to reach the government’s preferred destination, but not on the destination itself”.
A “genuine consultation” would seek views on the “wisdom of scrapping A-levels (first sat in 1951) and T-levels (the government’s “gold standard” technical qualifications, first sat in 2022) and replacing them with a single qualification framework”.
“Instead, we are presented with a detailed consultation that seeks views on the principles that should underpin the design of ABS, but not on the fundamental principle of sweeping away all existing qualifications to make way for ‘a single menu of options’.”
They also warned the ABS was “widely perceived to be driven by electoral rather than educational considerations and to have been imposed on the Department for Education by the prime minister”.
The consultation’s proposal for two programmes “suggests that ministers have already reversed the original plan set out in October to introduce a ‘single qualification’. Successive U-turns on such fundamental issues do not inspire confidence”.
T Level planning ‘has suffered’
The plan to replace T Levels, which have only recently been introduced and have been fraught with problems, has prompted widespread concern.
The SFCA said schools and colleges had been pressed to sign up to the “once in a generation” reform of the qualifications system, but “now find T Levels will suffer the same fate as the BTEC qualifications they were supposed to replace”.
“Recruitment, morale and planning has suffered as a result,” they added.
Hannfin said she also feared some young people “will be forced to make a choice which will have a lasting impact on their futures, and yet they may not be ready to make that choice”.
It is not “clear how much flexibility there will be in enabling young people who make the ‘wrong’ choice at 16 to be able to change their route”.
The NAHT suggested creating a two-year programme “which students could ‘step off’ after one year and progress onto the level 3 qualification, move into work or work-based training if appropriate, or stay on to complete the ABS at level 2 with a further year of studies”.
The reliability of inspections will be “compromised” if funding is “further constrained”, the board of Ofsted has told government.
Actions taken by the watchdog to absorb rising costs are a “short-term fix” and will likely “store up cost pressures” for this year and beyond, Ofsted’s chair Dame Christine Ryan said during a September board meeting.
Christine Ryan
Minutes, published this morning, added: “Many parts of the DfE regulatory system, including actions following a ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ rating, rely on Ofsted inspection judgments.
“A high level of assurance on the reliability of inspection judgements is therefore needed, but will be compromised if inspection itself and the activities that support inspection quality are further constrained.”
While the comments were made under the previous Ofsted leadership, the watchdog also sounded the alarm over finances last week.
However its funding has “fallen significantly” over the same period, and is now 29 per cent lower in real terms compared with 2009-10.
The board update added “unfunded pay guidance” on top of budget reductions meant the inspectorate was also “losing its capacity for independent discretionary work, which provides insight on themes of national importance emerging from its inspection and regulatory work”.
The minutes added: “The chair described these as systemic issues that need to be considered fully by the DfE, including in its own risk assessments.
“The DfE observer thanked the chair for the summary and gave assurance that it would be communicated to ministers.”
Ofsted and the DfE have been contacted for comment.
