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‘ofsted’

Breaking: Industrial strategy green paper explains plan for Institutes of Technology ‘in all areas’

The government’s new industrial strategy green paper has fleshed out what it expects from a “prestigious” new network of Institutes of Technology, set to be handed £170 million to improve higher-level technical education nationwide. The government first announced plans for the institutes in July 2015, then again through its Post-16 Skills Plan in July. The Prime Minister’s […]

News

Ofsted watch: Two grade crash to inadequate for independent training providers

Two of the three independent training provider full inspection reports published this week have resulted in a two grade crash to inadequate. And two other providers have lost their outstanding rating in another less-than-positive week for the FE and skills sector. Just one of the 11 full reports published between January 14 and 20, based […]

News

College forced to stop recruiting apprentices

A college hit with an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating won’t appeal against the resulting ban from running apprenticeships, but says it will continue recruiting learners right up to the last minute. The Skills Funding Agency started allowing bodies to apply to join the new register of apprenticeship training providers last October, but those with the lowest […]

News

Ofsted reports require improvement

Quality checking of Ofsted reports is not robust – they are far too variable in both form and content, says former Ofsted HMI Phil Hatton. Last week’s FE Week story about Ofsted backtracking on its report into Yeovil College exemplifies the way it does not pay enough attention, post-inspection, to ensuring that reports read well […]

Opinion

Ofsted watch: Poor start to the year for FE colleges

No college inspection report to have been published by the education watchdog since the beginning of the year has resulted in a higher grade. It’s part of a general downward trend across the general FE, independent learning provider and adult and community learning sectors at the start of 2017. Ten of the 15 Ofsted reports […]

News

How we challenged an Ofsted report and won

Sometimes it’s worth challenging an Ofsted report, says John Evans. One of the many dilemmas that principals must struggle with is when to appeal against an Ofsted decision. You have to balance the emotional response to the feelings of being unfairly treated with the knowledge that Ofsted seldom admits to being wrong. My college was […]

Opinion

The continuing QAR fiasco

Colleges need to insist they are given the right data to make meaningful quality judgements about their own performance, says Graham Taylor. Last April I wrote about the bother over the production of the 2014/15 Qualification & Achievement Report (QAR), received after an interminable delay on April 5 and well documented in FE Week. An […]

Opinion

Ofsted should be congratulated for admitting its mistake

Ofsted should be congratulated for admitting that it got it wrong with the wording of important extracts of its report on Yeovil College. No individual or organisation is flawless by any means, and while Elton John may have said in his famous song that ‘sorry seems to be the hardest word’ – it shouldn’t be. […]

Opinion

FE pays tribute to former SFA director Kim Thorneywork

The FE sector has paid tribute to Kim Thorneywork, the “distinguished” former chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency, who died this week. Ms Thorneywork joined the agency in 2006 and became its leader in July 2012, but the following October she announced that she was stepping down after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Sector […]

News