York College
‘ofsted’
A college that recently switched merger partner following an Ofsted grade four has “agreed to release” its principal. The departure of Simon Andrews (pictured above) from Stockport College, after just two years at the helm, was announced today. Former Guildford College Group principal Dr Mike Potter CBE will start as transitional principal on Monday. Louise […]
News
A sixth form college that hadn’t received an inspection for 10 years sank from ‘outstanding’ to ‘requires improvement’ – in a mixed week for FE Ofsted reports. Governors at Holy Cross College, in Manchester, were criticised for their failure to recognise the “significance of the decline in standards” at the SFC. The new report, published […]
Do colleges feel picked on? You bet. Funding cuts over the last 10 years and the difficulties in dealing with less money, annual redundancy rounds and adapting to a declining market have led to us being put under the cosh by government and Ofsted in a number of ways, some unfairly. There isn’t a level […]
Opinion
The nation’s second largest city may not have an FE college delivering apprenticeships when the levy launches in April, as none of its colleges has made it onto the new register of apprenticeship training providers. Birmingham Metropolitan College, Bournville College, South and City College and Solihull College were all missing from the list published by […]
Your weekly guide to who’s new, and who’s leaving There have been two new appointments at Askham Bryan College, which specialises in land-based courses. Sandra Burnhill has been appointed executive director of the York college. She joins Askham Bryan from her role as assistant principal at Kirklees College, which she has held since 2009. Beginning […]
Movers and Shakers
Mark Dawe made his maiden speech as chief executive of AELP at last year’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference. One year on, he tackles a familiar question: are FE institutions treated fairly? My youngest of four children, the only girl, often retorts “What about me?” when I make the mistake of saying “come on, boys”. Given my […]
Ofsted’s new chief inspector was vowed to “reset” the relationship between the education watchdog and colleges, in her first speech to the FE sector since taking over from Sir Michael Wilshaw in January. Amanda Spielman struck a more conciliatory tone than her controversial predecessor at the AoC Ofsted conference this morning in London. But while […]
After her company failed to get a place on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, despite its Ofsted ‘good’ rating, Anne-Marie Morris wrote a letter to Sue Husband expressing her sense of injustice at the lack of an appeals process Open letter to Sue Husband, Director of the National Apprenticeship Service, Skills Funding Agency Dear […]
A number of major apprenticeship delivering colleges are “stunned”, “disappointed” and “frustrated” at not being on the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. As reported by FE Week, the Skills Funding Agency yesterday published the full list of providers that will be eligible to deliver apprenticeships from May. Among the colleges with significant current apprenticeship […]
