York College
‘ofsted’
A college in Cornwall has become the first to be rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted since the introduction of the Common Inspection Framework (CIF) in September. The education watchdog’s report on Truro and Penwith College (TPC), published today, was full of praise for the college, rating it grade one ‘outstanding’ overall. Ofsted returned the highest possible […]
News
The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has said it will improve its tool for viewing qualification achievement rates (QAR) following complaints from providers — but is unable to say when. The twice-delayed QARs were finally made available on April 5 via new interactive dashboards on the SFA’s online hub. However, the dashboards did not include the […]
A leading expert in learning difficulties and disabilities has branded the FE sector a “postcode lottery” for young people with high needs, after an Ofsted report found the provision they receive “was often not of a high enough standard”. In an expert piece for FE Week, Kathryn Rudd (pictured), principal of National Star College and […]
Ofsted recently published a thematic report on how FE is preparing young people with high needs for adult life. It highlighted a worrying lack of progress with supporting them on to the right training courses, says Kathryn Rudd. The question mark at the start of the title for the Ofsted thematic report — where it […]
Opinion
Carole Kitching reflects on her management team’s drive to improve its finances. Lewisham Southwark College reported an operating deficit of £6.7m at the end of 2014/15, as identified [by FE Week in edition 168] from the published college accounts. This figure has long been in the public domain as it was the key driver in […]
John Hyde looks ahead to how apprenticeships will be inspected after the levy is launched. Introducing the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) to levy-paying employers from 2017 and subsequently to every apprentice employer from 2019 onward, will substantially increase the number of training providers. The new DAS requires employers to select a training provider on-line directly […]
FE Week’s second Annual Apprenticeship Conference (AAC) saw more than 900 delegates fill Birmingham’s International Convention Centre for three days from March 16 to 18 to hear the latest on the government’s apprenticeship reforms. With speakers including sector leaders, key civil servants, government advisers, awarding bodies and apprentices themselves, the conference covered just about every […]
A college’s own accounts have questioned its “ability to continue as a going concern” after it was set to receive more than £11m in exceptional financial support (EFS) from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Audited 2014/15 accounts for City of Bristol College (CBC) showed that it had received a total of £6,449,000 in EFS up […]
The apprenticeship levy is a “revenue raising measure” for the Treasury, former business secretary Sir Vince Cable has said. During his speech at FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference yesterday, Sir Vince also said the levy was a “good concept” but the detail was “incredibly hazy”. “I get the impression they [the Treasury] think they can squeeze resources […]
