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‘ofsted’

Ofsted watch: Independent specialist college rated ‘inadequate’ in poor week for providers

An independent specialist college has been hit with an ‘inadequate’ rating after Ofsted found students with high needs were being placed in “potentially harmful situations,” in a less than impressive week for FE providers. Elsewhere two out of five early monitoring reports for new apprenticeship firms resulted in ‘insufficient’ verdicts, while one private provider was […]

News

Tributes paid to former FE Commissioner Sir David Collins

Tributes have been paid to former FE Commissioner Sir David Collins who died after losing his fight against cancer. Sir David (pictured), whose career in FE spanned over 40 years, which included becoming the first elected president of the Association of Colleges, passed away last Thursday. He held the role of FE Commissioner from 2013 […]

News

Employer provider hits buffers after Ofsted found failure to take account of prior learning

A new apprenticeship provider has been judged to be making ‘insufficient progress’ after Ofsted found it did not take into account learners’ previous qualifications when putting them on programme. Inspectors reported that many of Agincare Group Limited’s 173 apprentices already had a high depth of knowledge and experience prior to starting their apprenticeship and the […]

News

ESFA developing ‘ITP risk assessment tool’ to root out failing private providers

The government is developing a tool to risk assess independent training providers, as part of “strengthening” oversight. The plan, which was revealed in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s management board minutes from January, comes as the agency ploughs more resources into its capacity to audit and intervene in training firms. In September FE Week […]

News

College recovers £500k Saudi Arabian debt

A college that recently terminated its contract with the controversial Saudi Arabian Colleges of Excellence programme due to on-going delays in claiming back a £500,000 debt has now recovered the cash. Dudley College, rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, began work with the Saudi government in 2011 and most recently delivered Capacity Building Contracts in Hafr Al-Batin […]

News

Major training firm with contracts across government goes into administration

A major training provider with around 1,000 staff has called in the administrators, FE Week understands. Working Links (Employment) Limited, which holds contracts across numerous government departments including around £2 million for apprenticeships and adult education, told their workforce yesterday afternoon not to come into work today. It is understood that thousands of learners will […]

News

Third time lucky? European Social Fund tender contracting delayed again

The Education and Skills Funding Agency is delaying the issuing of European Social Fund contracts for a third time after it experienced “technical issues” with its latest award notices. FE Week can also reveal that one provider that is fuming with the way in which the recent controversial tender for these contracts was run has […]

News

Ofsted watch: Week of extremes for FE providers

Results from this week’s Ofsted reports for FE have ranged between the very worst and the very best. Independent specialist college Strathmore College was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in four out of five themes, making ‘reasonable progress’ in the other area. The inspector noted that, since their last inspection returned a grade three, […]

News

‘High quality’ apprenticeships at risk from policy blind spots

This week we expose four oversight gaps that have emerged since the implementation of apprenticeships. They each put the credibility of the programme at risk, and need sorting, and fast. Blind spot 1: Office for Students has still not committed to monitoring the quality of the rapidly expanding level six and seven ‘non-degree’ apprenticeships. Incredibly, […]

Opinion