York College
‘ofsted’
The key ministerial architect of the government’s fast-unravelling policy on university technical colleges has admitted the experiment has failed. Michael Gove, who launched UTCs in his former role as education secretary from May 2010 to July 2014, acknowledged in an article for The Times that “the evidence has accumulated and the verdict is clear” on […]
News
A major local authority which delivers adult education to more than 12,000 learners has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted. Essex County Council, which was inspected by the education watchdog between December 6 and 9 last year, was found to have serious problems with the teaching of English and maths, as well as having insufficient safeguarding […]
The new year’s first outstanding Ofsted verdict for an FE provider was handed out this week, with two independent learning providers also retaining their ‘good’ grades. Birkenhead Sixth Form College was given the highest possible rating across the board from the education watchdog, in a glowing report published Monday (January 30). It was just the […]
Ofsted has been forced to deny it would reduce its inspections of apprenticeships employer-providers to “samples”, despite the secret release of new guidance suggesting otherwise. According to briefing notes leaked to FE Week from a recent stakeholder event for the Institute of Apprenticeships, Ofsted is slated to “continue to inspect training providers and sample inspection […]
A stop appears to have been put on publication of FE commissioner intervention reports, despite growing numbers of failing colleges. What’s more, there is no sign of the FE commissioner’s 2015/16 annual report, even though previous reports have been published in November or December. The last intervention report, into City of Liverpool College, was published […]
Garry Phillips describes how his college pulled itself back from financial difficulty and an Ofsted ‘inadequate’ rating, following an intervention from the deputy FE commissioner. Ealing Hammersmith and West London’s College has appeared in FE Week several times over the last few years – and not always for the best reasons. The college found itself […]
Opinion
One of the two college principals who will sit on the board at the Institute for Apprenticeships has refused to say what will happen to the salary she will receive. The Department for Education at long last named the eight people who will sit on the IfA’s board on January 27. The roles – which […]
The NHS will build strong partnerships with colleges and training providers, as long as they are honest about their capacity, says Lucy Hunte. With the imminent introduction of a public sector target which will require all public sector organisations to have 2.3 per cent of their workforce on apprenticeships, the NHS will have an estimated […]
Your weekly guide to who’s new, and who’s leaving. Shirley Brookes-Mills has been appointed the new academic head for two sites with the Newcastle and Stafford College Group. NSCG is the result of a merger between Newcastle-under-Lyme college and Stafford college, which took place in November 2016. The group is now one of the largest […]
Movers and Shakers
