Search Results for

The following 3703 results have been found to match your search query:

‘ofsted’

British Airways own apprenticeship recruitment faces grounding after Ofsted visit

Apprenticeships at a major airline have been heavily criticised by Ofsted, which found “disorganisation” and “inconsistency” meant too many employees “did not see the value of being an apprentice”. British Airways, an employer provider which is drawing down government apprenticeship funding for over 500 of its own staff, was found to have made ‘insufficient progress’ […]

News

Where is Ofsted’s evidence that colleges are being dishonest over job prospects?

Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, used yesterday’s annual report speech to repeat her criticism first aired in 2018 that a minority of colleges simply try to “fill their rolls and attract funding”, whether or not the programmes they offer “open doors for the students that take them”.  She added that some colleges were “flooding” local […]

Opinion

Ofsted boss still ‘not happy’ with colleges ‘flooding’ economy with arts and media students

Ofsted’s chief inspector is still “not happy” that some colleges steer too many of their students towards “superficially attractive” arts and media courses where there are limited job opportunities. Amanda Spielman reiterated this concern, which she first raised at the 2018 Association of Colleges’ conference, during her speech at the watchdog’s annual report launch this […]

News

Ofsted: ‘Target apprenticeship levy money more directly at skills shortages’

High levels of management and health apprenticeships are a “mismatch” compared to the government’s industrial strategy and needs to be addressed “urgently”, Amanda Spielman has said. In Ofsted’s annual stock take of education, the chief inspector revealed that performance in the FE sector has “remained static this year”, but the “rapid growth” of apprenticeships is […]

News

Sector leaders hit back at Ofsted for ‘encouraging government’ to restrict funding choices

Sector bodies have hit back at Ofsted’s chief inspector for “encouraging government” to restrict course choices made by colleges and employers. One leader said putting restrictions on how firms can spend their cash risks “further reducing training opportunities in lots of workplaces”, while another warned that Whitehall “choosing winners” has a “very chequered history”. The […]

News

London will be first to launch regional AEB learner survey

The Greater London Authority is planning to become the first devolved area to launch a regional adult education budget learner survey. This would likely be in addition to the three separate surveys already undertaken annually by colleges, contractors on behalf of the Department for Education and by Ofsted during inspection. The plan for a London […]

News, Adult education, Devolution

‘I’ve never experienced anything like this’: Shrewsbury College in grade 4 battle

A college is battling Ofsted to prevent the publication of a grade four report after inspectors claimed to have found serious safeguarding failures. Shrewsbury Colleges Group, which teaches more than 9,000 students mostly aged 16 to 18, is set to receive an ‘inadequate’ rating following an inspection in November. But the college has insisted the […]

News

Skills advisory panels set to influence which FE courses receive funding

Skills advisory panels (SAPs) could be given a role in influencing which courses will be prioritised and funded in their area. Little is known about the 36 SAPs, but FE Week understands that the government is working on secondary legislation, an FE Bill, which would change that. The panels were heralded in the Conservatives’ 2017 […]

News

Ofsted watch: Troubled college and Williamson’s alma mater among swathe of positive results

A college in financial trouble and the education secretary’s old sixth form are among a host of positive Ofsted results for FE providers. The week was somewhat overshadowed, however, after independent provider EQV (UK) was handed a grade four because apprentices and their bosses did not know they were on an apprenticeship programme. Brooklands College […]

News