How do colleges effectively and authentically embed emerging technology across diverse curriculums without overwhelming staff? It is a common headache. Institutions often hit barriers such as staff hesitance, alignment to curriculum and a lack of time. Meanwhile, the demand for those skills is only growing with the rapid emergence of AI. At Gower College Swansea, we have found a way forward by using students as our digital ambassadors to drive tech-based curriculum enhancement.
This is not about top-down training. It is a practical, replicable model that is enhancing curriculums, inspiring staff and empowering students. And it has all been achieved with just two hours a week of my time.
The idea clicked for me after a visit to Humber College in Toronto in 2024. I was blown away by how confident and comfortable their students were with emerging technologies. They were curious and unafraid to experiment if it aided their learning. That is what technology-enhanced learning should look like – a culture in which students are the researchers and testers. We have relied for too long on staff CPD sessions that merely tempt staff to try something new. The learners are the ones receiving these skills, so they need a real say in the tech we embed.
How we do it:
My role as a tech enthusiast is to provide knowledge and guidance to a small group of student digital ambassadors. Each learning area from across the college is asked to provide one learner, with whom I work one-to-one. After showing them a range of emerging tech (VR, AR, 3D printing, drones, AI, content creation tools), I let them choose what technology they want to explore and how they think it could fit into one of their subjects. I am certainly no expert in criminology, healthcare or geology, and that is the point. I facilitate from a “technology coach” perspective, while the students bring the crucial curriculum know-how. All it takes from them is a bit of enthusiasm and a short meeting every couple of weeks.
To give you a clearer picture, here is how the Curiosity Project model typically unfolds:
This approach has a brilliant side-effect. It subtly piques the curiosity of staff.
When our geology team saw one of their students using drone technology to scan a cliff face, 3D-print it and make a tabletop mobile AR experience from it, it had a direct impact on the student but also a big impact on the lecturer. They could suddenly see how this could make their field trips more valuable and generate bespoke, tactile resources. Before this, talking to a lecturer about embedding 3D-printing might have been met with reluctance. Now, they see the potential – it demystifies the tech and truly inspires.
Take our level 2 landscaping course. Imagine trying to convince a lecturer to use VR. You would get questions about its necessity and practical application. But three landscaping students I worked with solved that for us. They developed a mixed reality solution where they could draw different coloured plants into an empty planter to test colour harmonies. This would otherwise take much longer and generate a lot of waste, showcasing a clear, sustainable benefit.
To see some of the other projects our students have delivered, from business students using NFC technology to criminology students using VR, visit this link: https://www.jon-parker.xyz/projects
Across the nine student-led projects we have delivered, involving 34 learners, staff have been genuinely inspired by the outcomes. This has directly impacted future course enhancement and will benefit countless learners yet to study with us. This student-led model has proven to be a powerful and sustainable way for Gower College to make an impact, fostering genuine curiosity and confidence in technology. We are really excited to see it grow next year.
An apprenticeship is supposed to give a young person a strong start in work. But redundancy can abruptly end that journey. Too often, apprentices are left without support, losing not only their income but also the chance to finish what they started and gain valuable skills.
I know this from personal experience. My employment contract ended before my apprenticeship was complete, and my employer refused to extend it. Experiences like this highlight a gap in support that needs addressing.
Scotland found a solution to this problem with its Adopt an Apprentice scheme. The programme, run by Skills Development Scotland on behalf of the Scottish government, was part of a £10 million effort to recruit and retain apprentices. It offered financial support of up to £5,000 to employers willing to take on apprentices who had been made redundant. It became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping young people continue their training when businesses were closing or scaling back.
The impact was significant. While the grant was active, nearly half of redundant apprentices were able to carry on with a new employer. And over 75 per cent went to businesses that accessed the grant. Once the scheme ended in 2023 continuation rates fell to just a third, highlighting the difference the programme made.
England’s apprenticeship challenge
England faces a similar challenge. Within the last five years, an average of 3,896 apprentices were made redundant each year. Nearly two-fifths of them were under 19. Supporting them through a grant scheme like Scotland’s would not only allow them to complete their qualification, but also reduce the risk of them becoming NEET, one of the country’s most pressing challenges.
The government already has ambitious goals around tackling youth unemployment and building a skills-first economy. Apprenticeships are central to that vision. But those ambitions will fall short if young people lose their jobs and slip through the cracks. A scheme like Scotland’s would not only safeguard apprenticeships, but also align with national priorities on reducing NEET figures, increasing social mobility and meeting labour market needs. By enabling apprentices to finish their training, England would be making a practical investment in its workforce, supporting both immediate recovery and long-term economic resilience.
The economic benefits are clear. Research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research shows that every £1 spent on apprenticeships generates £21 for the economy. Based on recent redundancy figures, a grant scheme could enable 531 additional apprentices to complete their training each year. With the median public cost per apprentice in 2020 at £7,058, according to a report for IfATE (now Skills England), supporting these extra apprentices could conservatively add nearly £78.7 million to the UK economy annually, outweighing the £3.74 million annual cost based on latest publicly available data.
However, a grant alone cannot solve the problem. We must prevent apprentices being made redundant in the first place. Employers should be encouraged and supported to retain them wherever possible. The grant should act as a safety net, helping apprentices who are affected by unavoidable disruptions such as business closures or economic shocks.
A fair chance
Scotland’s experience shows that relatively modest investment can protect apprentices, support employers, and deliver tangible economic value. England has similar redundancy rates and the same opportunity. Introducing an Adopt an Apprentice-style grant, alongside stronger retention incentives, would shield apprenticeships from disruption, secure skilled workers for businesses, and give young people the fair chance they deserve to complete their training.
Learning about Scotland’s programme has reinforced for me how much better things could be in England. We cannot afford to waste the potential of thousands of young people each year when a proven solution exists just across the border.
Jacqui Smith has taken on the unenviable but exciting job of straddling two Whitehall beasts, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education (DfE). Her mission is to bridge the world of classrooms and workplaces, making sure skills aren’t just taught but used, and revitalising the apprenticeship programme.
We have seen versions of this before. Back in 2016 Nick Boles held a joint brief spanning The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and DfE, trying to knit business needs with education. Smith’s appointment follows in that tradition but takes on an even broader challenge: workforce and education side by side, and the complexity of levy funded apprenticeship programme.
We welcome this move. But ultimately, learners, apprentices and employers want results, not structural tinkering in Whitehall. They want well-funded, flexible courses that lead to decent jobs. If Smith’s role is the start of a more joined-up skills system, backed by a cross-government push, it could be the long-term strategy the UK has been missing.
Still, her brief only runs across DWP and DfE. The real world of skills and retaining doesn’t fit neatly into departmental silos: health, migration, business, housing, defence all depend on a skilled workforce. We would like to see a proper cross-government skills taskforce, chaired by Smith, bringing in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government too. This would:
Make sure big recruiting departments invest in staff skills through procurement and there are openings for young people to become apprentices.
Link health and care workforce planning with lifelong learning.
Align visa and immigration rules with home-grown skills policy.
Join up local and mayoral skills powers with national ones.
Give voice to learners and employers who are usually left out.
Such a task force could turn a promising start into a truly integrated skills system, one that ties education, employment, health and economic growth together.
Of course, there are questions. We now know that control over apprenticeships policy will move to DWP, while Skills England will continue to work across government. But will DfE and DWP budgets merge? Will Skills England be split so that the future skills need observatory stays with DFE and the management of apprenticeships more to DWP?
What happens to mayors’ devolved skills powers, bearing in mind they were desperate for apprenticeships?
Will Ofsted’s remit be expanded to cover DWP employability courses? And let’s not forget that the adult skills budget isn’t just about the basic skills entitlements and retraining. It also covers learner support, adult SEND, and family learning and a good quality apprenticeship is as much an education programme as it is a training programme. The German model sits firmly within their education system.
So what are Smith’s chances of success?
The upside:
Joined-up thinking – one minister could finally close the gap between what’s taught and what’s needed.
Better learner journeys – adults might escape the revolving door of the low-pay–redundancy loop, especially if rules like the DWP 16-hour cap (on permitted work before losing benefits) are rethought.
Faster decisions – fewer circular Whitehall debates, more action.
A visible figurehead – skills now have a public champion.
Room for creativity – her dual brief could spark fresh approaches linking work programmes, digital skills, and local initiatives.
The pitfalls:
Overstretch – DWP and DfE are both giants; it’s easy to be pulled in two directions.
Employer-focused shift – Moving apprenticeships to DWP could align them more closely with employers and the world of work. But without careful oversight, there’s a risk of prioritising quick job placements over quality training, confusing providers, and leaving apprentices without lasting skills.
Unintended disruption – Colleges and providers need stability; even small funding changes could inadvertently destabilise the sector.
Missing links – Excluding Health, Home Office, or DBT leaves crucial connections dangling.
Civil service turf wars – Budgets and priorities may be fiercely protected, complicating collaboration.
Risk of symbolism – Without real control over budgets and levers, the role could risk being more about appearance than impact
Smith’s joint role is a step in the right direction. It is visible, ambitious and potentially game-changing. But to make a real difference, she’ll need clout, cross-government allies and a touch of Whitehall diplomacy.
It is a good start. But let’s go further, faster. And if anyone can do it, Jacqui Smith can.
Experiences beyond our familiar boundaries enable us to challenge ourselves, learn new things and grow. Our European neighbours offer such experiences, with their diverse economic, social and environmental landscapes, and different languages, cultural traditions and histories. Despite this rich variety on our doorstep, does the FE and skills sector make the most of the opportunities available for its learners and its workforce?
The landscape of vocational and technical education across Europe – including within the European Union – is complex, with different education systems and policies across nations. However, many of the challenges are similar to those facing our own FE and skills sector. Our European counterpart, The European Training Foundation, treats green skills as a priority and there is a shared focus on employer engagement in shaping an industry-ready workforce. Sharing effective practice and innovation, building partnerships and collaborating in these areas can help us, as a sector, to improve our own approaches and deliver against our government’s ambitions to drive clean growth, address skills shortages and break down barriers to opportunity.
At an institutional level, there is also a competitive edge to be gained by considering how international partnerships and experiences might benefit learners and staff alike. On a much broader scale, global issues such as the development of skills to manage the climate crisis and the upskilling and reskilling of people affected by conflict cannot be tackled in isolation. They require a collaborative, cross-border approach.
Higher education (HE) institutions in the UK have long benefitted from collaboration and partnerships with our European counterparts. Universities have been particularly active in receiving EU funding through programmes like Horizon Europe, driving success in research and innovation. Before the UK left the EU, universities’ use of the Erasmus programme to provide students with overseas exchange opportunities was widely known across HE. Less well known, and significantly underused, were the broader opportunities available under Erasmus, expanded to Erasmus+ in 2014, both for learners and organisations across our wider education system and beyond.
Erasmus+ offers a variety of opportunities to individual learners and educators in vocational and technical education settings and in adult education. These range from studying or taking a traineeship abroad, to short exchange experiences and professional development opportunities through training or networking periods abroad. There are also opportunities for organisations and employers to engage in development and networking opportunities and to support policy development. These are all ways for our sector to innovate, improve and build fruitful partnerships – often with funding support. Through my role as an evaluator of Erasmus, I had the privilege to observe first hand examples of vocational and adult education European partnerships, from tackling inclusion and mental health to digital innovation or intergenerational learning.
While the UK has not had access to Erasmus+ since it left the EU in 2020, ongoing negotiations could soon enable us to benefit. If this becomes a reality, the FE and skills sector must take full advantage of the wide range of opportunities for shared learning, collaboration and influencing. In the meantime, we must seize opportunities that exist outside of programmes such as Erasmus+. For example, it is fantastic to see collaboration and fruitful competition through events such as EuroSkills, organised by WorldSkills Europe, which is happening this year in Denmark. I am pleased to support this as part of the UK delegation. Ultimately, when we come together to address shared challenges and embrace overseas partnership opportunities, we build our own capacity to be a world-class FE and skills system that delivers for learners, communities and the whole nation.
The new academic year is a busy time in colleges, with the focus on enrolments and inductions. This year, however, a wave of announcements also deserve college leaders’ attention: the prime minister’s reshuffle, the defence skills policy, and the publication of the new Ofsted framework for inspection. Expect even more announcements in the coming months.
The extensive reshuffle, triggered by Angela Rayner’s resignation, sees Bridget Phillipson survive as education secretary and Jacqui Smith as skills Minister. The twist though is that responsibility for skills has moved to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with Pat McFadden as the new secretary of state.
Reshuffles are disruptive, so Smith’s survival provides welcome continuity. With her strong grasp of the agenda, we expect the split of responsibilities to play out smoothly. But there is a lot to decide. It seems certain that the adult skills fund and the reformed apprenticeship levy will move to DWP, with regulation and oversight of FE colleges and 16-19 funding programmes remaining with DfE. This transfer will lead to a stronger focus on the youth guarantee and support for unemployed adults. So far so clear.
Current uncertainties
The future is less clear for the sponsorship of Skills England, leadership on technical excellence colleges and local skills Improvement plans, and operational details. We can only speculate at this stage.
The skills portfolio has moved several times in the past three decades. Colleges have each time adapted, showing their colours as vital anchor institutions supporting employers, their communities and the local economy. This move will inevitably lead to a strong focus on work skills but we need to fight hard to ensure that doesn’t overshadow the wider roles of adult education and lifelong learning – for a fairer, healthier, more tolerant and inclusive society.
The adult budget outside higher education was decimated from 2010, leading to millions of learning opportunities lost and reduced impact on people’s lives. If the focus now narrows, we will see even more neglect of the broader benefits of learning, such as health, well-being, inclusion, community and empowerment. All these are core to the government’s overall ambitions for opportunity, better health and economic growth.
The Ministry of Defence’s investment in skills is a welcome development. It brings new money into our sector, with colleges playing a central role. It is also recognition that other government departments need to invest to equip people with skills for growth industries rather than simply expecting the labour market to do that for them.
Ofsted changes
The third big development this week was the publication of the new Ofsted inspection framework. The last few months has seen great resistance from schools, and deep concern among unions and leaders. We in the college sector have been less critical, but have set out our concerns about the need for inspectors to have great experience and understanding of FE and skills. This ensures more consistent judgements across regions, and better, quicker complaints procedures.
It looks like positive changes have been made in response to our feedback, but some have not. This reflects a diversity of Ofsted stakeholders Ofsted, and belief in the efficacy of its approach. That is usual in a consultation. Ultimately, however, the first inspections will determine whether the new approach works. Now we have a very short window to digest the new arrangements before inspections start on November 10. It is not the best time for college leaders to prepare for that, coinciding with the busiest time of the year while enrolment and inductions are underway.
We anticipate more important publications this autumn, including two white papers on post-16 education and skills and the SEND system, and the final report of the curriculum and assessment review. It will be a busy time for us all as we read them and make sense of the implications.
Pudsey Sixth Form College opens this month in West Leeds after a massive and at times highly challenging undertaking. This bold project has been nearly ten years in the planning. But it was only 12 months in the making.
The original decision to create a new college in Pudsey was prompted by a lack of local provision and a looming demographic change. The sixth forms at local schools were over-capacity. And, with the number of 16-18 year olds across Leeds predicted to rise, the pressure on places was only set to intensify.
So in 2018 a new, dedicated sixth form college that could offer a broad range of subjects was proposed by a partnership led by Leeds Sixth Form College, Crawshaw Academy, Co-op Academy Priesthorpe and Leeds West Academy.
We’ll be offering up to 650 young people from our partnership’s schools the chance to study a wide range of A level, T Level, hybrid and GCSE courses.
The culmination of our project’s journey will be in year three when we’ll be at full capacity. Our journey so far has not been without some significant hurdles.
One of our original partners dropped out. And there were significant delays to the project. But the ‘fun’ really started when the Office for National Statistics reclassified FE colleges as public sector bodies in 2022. The impact of this on how colleges could manage their finances meant that we had to quickly reconsider how we were going to finance what ended up being a nearly £13 million endeavour.
The original plan had been to secure most of the money through commercial borrowing. But the new lending rules scuppered that. Given the resources – including some £1 million in design, consultancy and planning costs – that our partnership had already invested, allowing the project to fail wasn’t an option.
So we quickly mobilised, teamed up with organisations like the Association of Colleges, and contacted politicians spelling out our concerns. Thankfully, in April 2023 DfE introduced a scheme to help colleges overcome such obstacles. This enabled us to finance our college via a £12.7 million loan.
Meanwhile, there were other obstacles to overcome in the planning process. Some residents and councillors had raised concerns about the college’s likely impact on the local road network and parking. Since maintaining excellent community links and becoming part of the fabric of Pudsey was a core, non-negotiable part of our vision for the college, we were determined to tackle this head-on. We proposed a raft of traffic calming measures which we’ll be monitoring, alongside Leeds City Council, to ensure they work as intended.
But the loss of a disused playing field on the development site next to Crawshaw Academy created the greatest uncertainty. Sport England’s objections meant the Secretary of State could have ‘called in’ our proposals for further scrutiny. This would have potentially delayed or even scotched the project. Thankfully, this was not judged necessary.
Since our plans were approved in May 2024, we’ve been working flat-out with our contractors Caddick Construction. In February we were delighted to give the Chancellor, Leeds West and Pudsey MP Rachel Reeves, a tour of the under-construction building.
To get to this point is a great achievement. And many valuable lessons have been learned. The most extreme challenge has been just how quickly we’ve had to do it all. Within just over an academic year the college has been built, staffed and promoted to prospective students. Ideally, we could have done this in stages but that’s not been possible. We’ve had to make a viable and full offer from the start.
In hindsight, I also wouldn’t have timed having a baby. Our second child Emily was born in November 2024. During all this!
But we’re on track and we’ll be making this new sixth form college the best it possibly can be. It will help learners to progress into great careers or universities hand-in-hand with an inclusive approach so everyone fulfils their potential.
While we already run a successful sixth form, Leeds Sixth Form College, we know that we can’t just trade off that reputation in Pudsey. Proving our credentials to the community will rely on forging close collaborations with its organisations and businesses. That might just be the biggest, and most exciting challenge of all.
Ministers intend to introduce new digital “school profiles” for colleges, it has been revealed.
The plan was unveiled yesterday in the Department for Education’s response to a consultation on school accountability reform.
Officials are developing a new “digital service” to act as a “one-stop shop” for parents and the wider public to view a “broad range of information” about a school.
It will feature information from inspection report cards, along with performance data, like exam results, along with achievement and attendance stats.
A pilot version will be tested this academic year, with “the aim for the service to be launched publicly in 2026-27”.
DfE said it considers it “important for there to be coverage of 16-18 institutions as many young people will carry on their 16-18 education in schools or colleges”.
It added: “We will therefore also undertake further research in 2025-26 to explore how best to introduce similar profiles for 16-18 institutions, which will include further education colleges.”
At present, there are multiple online databases for the public, such as “get information about schools”, “compare school performance”, Ofsted’s website and scores of weekly, monthly and annual publications on things like attendance.
DfE intends to discontinue the “compare school and college performance” and “analyse school performance” tools once profiles are up and running.
WorldSkills UK boss Ben Blackledge officially opened this year’s EuroSkills competition at an entertaining opening ceremony in Denmark earlier this evening encouraging Europe to unite against skills challenges.
The UK chief roused a crowd of thousands tonight at the Jyske Bank BOXEN arena in Herning, Denmark and welcomed the 600 competitors, delegates and supporters to Europe’s largest skills competition.
Team UK will go head-to-head against hundreds of their peers from 33 countries in 17 skills from tomorrow in an intense three-day competition.
The team of 19 students and apprentices proudly flew the flag across the stage in front of thousands of audience members and cheers from training managers, ex-competitors and families in the crowd.
WorldSkills UK boss Ben Blackledge says this year’s competition shows ‘collective effort’ of Europe to unite on skills challenges
Ben Blackledge, chief executive of WorldSkills UK and recently appointed chair of WorldSkills Europe, officially opened the competition, and told competitors they were not only shaping their own future, but Europe’s opportunities and challenges.
“Skills are heart of how we work together for a sustainable future, how we build inclusive pathways for people from all backgrounds and abilities and how we adapt to new technologies,” he said.
“In a world where challenges such as how we respond to changing technologies and the climate crisis do not stop at boundaries, our collective effort is essential,” he added.
It is expected up to 100,000 visitors from across Denmark and abroad will attend the event over the next three days.
EuroSkills Herning is the ninth biennial competition for 33 member countries across the continent.
Team UK experts and supporters cheer on champions at EuroSkills opening ceremony
This year’s event will be the testbed to see if Team UK have what it takes to go up against the world’s best young tradespeople at the hotly anticipated WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
Last September, during WorldSkills Lyon, France, delegates were treated to a mesmerising show by the Chinese team, just a small taste of what to expect in 2026.
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former prime minister of Denmark, chairman of EuroSkills 2025 board, welcomed the competitors or “athletes” of Europe with an encouraging message.
“To the competitors, you are the true stars of, what some may call an event, but what I call summit,” he said.
“You carry the promise of Europe’s future,” he added.
Rasmussen, who was PM of Denmark from 1993 to 2001, told the audience that the 33 countries coming together this week was a “strong message” to those who “threaten Europe’s competitive strength and values”.
In July Denmark took over the presidency of the European Union council. This week also marks a meeting between European ministers in Herning, including UK skills minister Jacqui Smith, to discuss vocational education.
“We are here together. We are stronger than ever,” Rasmussen added.
At tonight’s opening ceremony, the audience was also treated to performances from Danish singer/songwriter Malte Ebert.
Two competitors and two experts were then asked to acknowledge the WorldSkills oath, which promises to compete and officiate “fairly” by respecting the code of ethics and conduct, the competition rules, and the WorldSkills values.
The competitor’s oath is as follows: “In the name of all competitors, I promise to compete fairly, respecting and abiding by the code of ethics and conduct, the competition rules, and the WorldSkills Europe values – all in the true spirit of WorldSkills Europe.”
New experiences reach new heights
For many, this week’s competition will be a one-of-a-kind experience. Four competitors have added flying abroad to their roster of new experiences.
Despite flying to Herning from London with some turbulence, graphics design competitor Melody Cheung said the flight was smooth sailing. She hadn’t been on an airplane since she was a baby and told FE Week that she was excited to do more in the future.
Meanwhile, Ryan Sheridan, the training manager for the mechanical engineering CAD skill, had to pull out of the event at the last minute for personal reasons.
WorldSkills competition rules state that training managers cannot be replaced but Stuart Lyons, the Team UK competitor, will be supported by Bryn Jones, an expert in the additive manufacturing skill and lecturer at Coleg Menai, Wales.
Ofsted has cut the number of areas of judgment for FE providers and colleges and renamed its colour-coded five-point grading scale following a consultation on report card reforms.
But an independent review warns that the “stress” and “high stakes” consequences of inspection are unlikely to change for education staff and leaders once the reforms are fully embedded.
Unions have said the tweaks announced today are “minor and cosmetic changes to a flawed rationale” and fear the reforms are a “recipe for professional burn-out”.
Meanwhile, the watchdog has taken aim at a “small but vocal minority” who are “calling for reduced accountability or removing grading altogether” and promised to “not hesitate” to call out providers that are failing learners.
Ofsted’s reforms, first proposed in a consultation launched in February and refined today after 6,500 responses, were prompted by a coroner’s ruling in 2023 that an inspection of Caversham Primary School in Reading “contributed” to the suicide of its headteacher, Ruth Perry.
The inspectorate believes its reforms will offer “more granularity and nuance” about a provider’s performance and help to “raise standards” for learners.
Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “Children deserve the best possible education; their parents deserve the best possible information and education professionals deserve to have their work fairly assessed by experts. The changes we are presenting today aim to achieve all three of these things.”
Reformed inspections will start from November 10. There will be no routine inspections in the first half of the autumn term for state-maintained schools and FE and skills providers.
From ‘urgent improvement’ to ‘exceptional’
Ofsted’s consultation proposed that overall effectiveness judgments would be removed, but multiple areas would be cast along a colour-coded scale of ‘exemplary’, ‘strong’, ‘secure’, ‘attention needed’ and ‘causing concern’.
But amid fears this wording was “confusing” and “too harsh”, the watchdog has decided to change this terminology to:
o Urgent improvement (red)
o Needs attention (orange)
o Expected standard (green)
o Strong standard (dark green)
o Exceptional (blue)
This replaces the current ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ and ‘inadequate’ grades.
In a change from the initial proposals, providers will not be asked to submit case studies for approval to gain an ‘exceptional’ grade. Instead, inspectors will “evaluate ‘exceptional’ practice by applying the toolkit, subject to the usual quality assurance and consistency checking”.
An area will be graded as ‘urgent improvement’ when Ofsted evaluates a provider to be “failing overall or failing a significant group of children or learners” or if the watchdog identifies “serious, critical or systemic shortcomings in practice, policy or performance, against professional/statutory or non-statutory guidance and requirements”.
The inspectorate said: “If we identify that standards for children and learners must be urgently improved, we will not hesitate to call it out.”
As previously announced, there won’t be an overall effectiveness grade for FE and skills providers from now on.
Example FE report card
Maximum evaluation areas reduce from 20 to 16
For FE and skills providers, Ofsted’s consultation originally proposed up to 20 graded areas – double the number of previous reports.
To reduce this, the watchdog has merged ‘developing teaching and training’ with ‘curriculum’ to create a single ‘curriculum, teaching and training’ evaluation area.
Ofsted will introduce three evaluation areas for each provider as a whole: ‘inclusion’, ‘leadership and governance’ and ‘safeguarding’.
Providers will then be judged on their ‘curriculum, teaching and training’, ‘achievement’ and ‘participation and development’ for each provision they offer including ‘young people’, ‘adults’, ‘apprenticeships’ and ‘high needs learners’.
Colleges and designated institutions will continue to be judged on their contribution to meeting skills needs but in a change from the consultation, this area will be judged on the new colour-coded scale like across other remits instead of the current ‘limited, reasonable or strong’ system.
Safeguarding will either be judged ‘met’ or ‘not met’ at provider level, as is current practice.
So for an FE college offering courses to young people, adults, apprentices and learners with high needs, this would see the number of grades they receive rise from the current 10 to 16.
The detailed report card will sit below an overview grid and provide a narrative for each evaluation area. It will explain strengths and areas for development.
A new “suspend and return” policy was introduced last September for schools that lets inspectors pause an inspection to allow a school to resolve safeguarding, “where that is the only issue in the school”.
This will now be adopted in FE and skills inspections.
Ofsted said: “Inspectors can suspend an inspection to allow a provider to resolve issues with safeguarding within three months, where there are no concerns in other evaluation areas.”
Reforms won’t reduce ‘stress’ and ‘high stakes’
Ofsted commissioned Sinéad Mc Brearty, chief executive of well-being charity Education Support, to carry out an independent review of the impact of its inspection reforms on the workload and well-being of the education workforce.
She concluded that stress related to inspection is “unlikely to materially change whilst the ‘high stakes’ consequences remain broadly intact” despite the reforms.
In response, Ofsted said: “We recognise that inspections can be stressful. That is to some extent inevitable in an inspection system fundamentally aimed at ensuring that proper standards of education and safeguarding are in place, and that parents are fully informed on those matters.
“However, we are determined to minimise this stress where we can. We fully believe the changes we have made do this, and that they will lead to a more informative, transparent and fairer system of reporting that better serves children and learners, parents and carers, and professionals and providers.”
It is not yet clear what accountability measures the Department for Education will attach to Ofsted results under the new report card system.
Ofsted vs unions
Ofsted’s consultation response goes heavy on parental backing for its reform proposals.
The watchdog said independent polling from YouGov showed almost seven out of 10 of parents surveyed said they prefer the new-look report cards to Ofsted’s current inspection reports. And just 15 per cent said they preferred the old system.
Ofsted also recognised that a “small but vocal minority are calling for reduced accountability or removing grading altogether”.
“We do not agree,” the inspectorate said, and added: “The changes we are introducing are fair and empathetic for professionals, but without losing sight of our core purpose to raise standards.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, hit back.
“Inspections should do two things – provide parents with an accurate reflection of a school’s performance while doing so without placing an excessive burden on staff. Ofsted’s plans achieve neither objective,” he said.
“The tweaks made to its proposals following the consultation period are just that – minor and cosmetic changes to a flawed rationale. To make matters worse, the planned introduction of this system is far too rushed and gives little time to prepare for a huge change in how they will be inspected.”
Di’Iasio warned the “consistency” of Ofsted judgments will continue to be “unreliable” and the new inspection system will place a “huge amount of stress on school and college leaders and their staff because they will face so many judgements across so many areas”.
“Let’s remember that this entire process began with the suicide of a headteacher under the previous inspection system. Yet here we are with a reformed system which appears to be even worse. We are gravely concerned about the welfare of leaders and teachers as well as the impact on recruitment and retention,” he added.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said Sir Martyn Oliver “has failed” in his attempt to bring in a system that reduces pressure.
“Removing the single word judgment was meant to be a powerful revolution, but this makes things much worse. More of the same. More pressure. More ranking and competition. More labels.”
He added that NEU “completely reject that a Nando’s style 1-5 grading scale is good for children or parents”.
A letter has been sent to education secretary Bridget Phillipson today signed by unions and a host of national organisations, ex-school inspectors and Ruth Perry’s sister Julia Waters requesting that the government intervenes and delays the roll out of new Ofsted system “before it’s too late”.
David Hughes, CEO of the Association of Colleges said: “We will only know if this is going to work from the first inspections implementing it.
“We remain concerned about the speed of implementation at the busiest time of the year for colleges, with enrolment and induction underway of new students at the start of the academic year.”
