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‘ofsted watch’

Ofsted blasts ‘unreliable’ apprenticeship off-the-job training records

A new provider that has more than 300 apprentices on its books has been criticised by Ofsted for “unreliable” recording of off-the-job training. Rapid Improvement Limited, which was founded in 2007 but gained a direct apprenticeships contract in December 2017, was found making ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas of its first monitoring visit from the […]

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Ofsted attacked for ‘unfair’ inspections before mergers

Ofsted was criticised by an experienced turnaround principal for inspecting colleges just before mergers, at the Association for Colleges’ annual conference this week. Andrew Cropley, who has been involved with three FE commissioner interventions, said he had an “unfair experience of being inspected” and the education watchdog must find a better way to work with […]

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It played to our strengths: grade-one principal explains Ofsted success

The principal of the first college to be rated “outstanding” under Ofsted’s new framework has warned that “you can’t hide anything” if you want to achieve the top grade. Karen Dobson was celebrating last week after the publication of Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group’s glowing grade one report. The feat was all the more impressive […]

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Ofsted watch: Family owned private provider slammed by Ofsted… again

A family owned business in the construction industry was hit with a grade four by Ofsted, in a poor week for all types of FE providers. Independent learning provider Total Training Company (UK) Limited was declared ‘inadequate’ in its first full inspection, after being found making ‘insufficient progress’ in an early monitoring report published in […]

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Labour promises to raise the FE funding rate and reform the apprenticeship levy

Labour has pledged to raise the base rate of per-student funding in FE to secondary-school levels and expand the apprenticeship levy if it wins power. Jeremy Corbyn launched the party’s manifesto at Birmingham City University today ahead of the general election on December 12. The Labour leader vowed that the party would “make lifelong education […]

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Ofsted watch: Healthcare providers criticised in ‘outstanding’ week for colleges

Two healthcare providers have been told to get in shape while one college was found to be ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted this week. Divad Training will likely be struck off from new apprenticeship starts after inspectors found it had made ‘insufficient progress’ in two areas. It trains 425 learners in mostly health and social care and […]

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Ofsted: Campus grades on the cards for 2020

A move to campus-level Ofsted grades for college groups is back on the cards and they could be introduced as soon as next September, FE Week can reveal. The education watchdog will shortly meet with college leaders to discuss the move and a consultation will be run early in the new year. If support for […]

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Ofsted watch: Inspectors find learners unaware they are on an apprenticeship

A new provider that has learners on its programme who did not even know they were apprentices overshadowed a ‘good’ week for FE, especially colleges. Welcome Skills Limited received three ‘insufficient progress’ grades in an early monitoring report, with inspectors finding leaders do not “design or plan” programmes that enable its 329 apprentices to make […]

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Pre-election rules delay Ofsted’s annual report

Ofsted will delay publication of its annual report as it seeks to avoid making any statements that relate to its own performance. Civil servants and public bodies cannot publish anything that could be considered political in the period before an election, known as purdah. But the watchdog is particularly hamstrung this year as Labour, the […]

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