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‘ofsted’

Exclusive: Sixth form college performance fell 8% points, Ofsted expected to say

Sixth-form colleges have been driven to “tipping point” through repeated funding cuts, the body that represents them has said, after FE Week exposed a sharp drop in top Ofsted grades. Our exclusive analysis, using the same methodology as Ofsted’s own annual report, has shown an eight-point fall in those with a grade one or two […]

News

Learndirect accounts reveal huge debts and an uncertain future

The long-term survival of Learndirect will hinge on the success of its sister companies, including Learndirect Apprenticeships, over the next 12 months, as newly released accounts show it saddled with debts of more than £50 million. The nation’s biggest FE provider, which has had serious financial and performance issues ever since Ofsted damned it with […]

News

Consultation launches on FE residential safeguarding standards

The government has opened its consultation on new national minimum standards for residential accommodation for 16- to 18-year-olds in the FE sector. It has gone live on gov.uk today and will close on January 26. “The standards were last revised in 2002, and much has changed in the FE sector since then,” said a Department […]

News

Richard Atkins – an interview with the FE commissioner

Richard Atkins completed his first year as FE commissioner in October. In a special interview to celebrate his anniversary, FE Week asked him about his expanded role, including the new £15 million fund to help failing colleges improve their education and training. Almost exactly a year to the day since he took the torch from […]

Profiles

Milton appears to back subcontractor inspections

The skills minister has appeared to agree that Ofsted should inspect subcontractors during an exchange at education questions in the House of Commons today. Anne Milton seemed to echo the beliefs of her predecessor Robert Halfon when he asked her about subcontracting in Parliament. Mr Halfon, now the chair of the influential education select committee, […]

News

Ofsted Watch: Three councils told adult learning requires improvement

Three local authorities have been told by Ofsted that their provision of adult and community learning ‘requires improvement’. Birmingham City Council and Swindon Unitary Authority both slipped from grade two to grade three in reports published this week, while Kettering Borough Council kept its grade three rating. Swindon Unitary Authority’s adult community learning service was […]

News

Halfon: ‘Ofsted must start inspecting subcontractors’

The head of the Commons education select committee wants a “wholesale review” into why Ofsted is yet to inspect a single subcontractor more than a year after the rules changed. Robert Halfon, a former skills minister, made the demand days after chief inspector Amanda Spielman admitted that she too was worried by this lack of […]

News

What’s so good about mega FE colleges?

Andy Wilson, who heads up one of the largest college groups in the country, explains why size does matter Large college groups are too easily dismissed as money-saving exercises, but this attitude overlooks the other benefits of scale. The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London is the latest member of the Capital City […]

Opinion

Major home health care employer provider branded ‘inadequate’

Ofsted has rated a major home healthcare employer-provider ‘inadequate’ across the board, in a report that condemns its “woefully low expectations”. Nestor Primecare Services, which was previously rated as ‘requires improvement’ overall, was inspected in September – and today’s excoriating report finds “no key strengths”. The company employs 125 apprentices, of whom “approximately a quarter […]

News