Windsor Learning Partnership
‘apprenticeships’
The government has had a few good ideas this year, admits Gordon Marsden, but it seems determined not to pay for any of them to actually happen As we count down to the end of 2017, we can reflect on how different the skills landscape is today from 12 months ago. The Institute for Apprenticeships […]
Opinion
Fewer level two and three apprenticeships are in development by proportion compared to higher and degree apprenticeships, which could have a “detrimental impact” on recruitment for 16- to 18-year-olds, Ofsted has warned. The education watchdog raised the concern in its annual report, which was published this week. “Most apprenticeships being delivered in 2016/17 were at […]
News
Two ‘inadequate’ training providers in Essex are making “reasonable progress” in improving their grades, but still have a long way to go in pulling themselves away from Ofsted’s lowest possible rating. In what was a quiet week for FE inspections, Epping Forest College and Essex County Council each had their third monitoring visit reports published […]
The Institute of Apprenticeships will make its processes and policies “faster and better” in 2018, under the new regime of former military man Sir Gerry Berragan. It launched its assault on government red tape in a statement on Monday, just two weeks after the former army adjutant general took over as chief executive. Among the […]
The National Audit Office has today published its report into the circumstances surrounding the monitoring, inspection and funding of Learndirect. The nation’s biggest FE provider was given an ‘inadequate’ rating by Ofsted in a report published in August, and the government offered it special treatment by allowing it to retain its contracts for almost a […]
FE and skills will have a major role to play in a new social mobility action plan being launched by the education secretary this morning. The plan, which will be unveiled by Justine Greening at the Reform social mobility conference in London today, outlines four social mobility “ambitions” – two of which focus on post-16 […]
The AELP wants the education secretary to review the “controversial” outcome of the non-levy tender before ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers are “wiped out”. Results of this much-delayed procurement were released last week, and many Ofsted grade one and two providers were denied an ESFA contract to continue delivering apprenticeships for smaller employers until April 2019. […]
An independent training provider that has slumped two grades to ‘inadequate’ is trying to get taken over. Chesterfield-based NLT Training received the lowest possible grade across the board from Ofsted – down from ‘good’– in a report published today. Sarah Temperton, its chief executive, wants to be taken over by WEBS Training Ltd, a Nottingham-based […]
The first annual Ofsted report delivered by Amanda Spielman has warned that the ignominious fall of Learndirect shows that “no provider is too big to fail”. The chief inspector unveiled her report for 2016/17 this morning, confirming FE Week’s predictions that it would warn of declining performance for both general FE and sixth-form colleges. It […]
