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‘ofsted’

Traineeships should be delivered by ‘high quality and proven’ providers

The Ofsted annual report criticised Traineeships for a lack of success with helping young people progress to apprenticeships or employment. But Angela Middleton explains why she still thinks they have a lot to offer, so long as they are delivered by the right providers. Ofsted chief inspector Michael Wilshaw has recently identified a problem with […]

Opinion

The FE and skills panto

Apprenticeships reforms are rapidly metamorphosing into pantomime. When the ugly sisters Hancock and Richard undertook their review, they ruled out ‘evidence’ from awarding organisers and independent learning providers (ILPs) as ‘biased from vested interests’. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) recently published the results of an independent Process Evaluation of Apprenticeship Trailblazers by […]

Uncategorized

Barnfield becoming talk of the sector — for the right reasons

Two visits from FE Commissioner Dr David Collins triggered first by financial problems and secondly by an Ofsted inadequate rating was the scene into which Tim Eyton-Jones stepped in February. Dr Collins has since drawn a line under his involvement and inspectors have also seen improvements. Mr Eyton-Jones spells out what’s been happening at Barnfield. […]

Opinion

Wilshaw calls on employers to ‘take ownership’ of localised apprenticeships recruitment challenge

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has called on employer groups to “take ownership” over localised apprenticeship recruitment as the Government pushes to create 3m apprenticeship starts by 2020. He spoke of his support for the apprenticeship levy and said that a clearer structure for delivering apprenticeships at a local level was needed, in a speech […]

News

New interim principal to take charge at troubled City College Coventry in New Year

A new interim principal will take the reins at troubled City College Coventry early next month. Dr Elaine McMahon (pictured above) will start in the role at the 5,944-learner college on January 4. She will take over from current principal Steve Logan, who has spent just 18 months in the post. The change is set […]

News

Providers hit back at Saudi claims

Providers have hit back at claims that establishing new learner ventures in Saudi Arabia as part of the Colleges of Excellence (CoE) scheme might lead to “bankruptcy”. It was reported last week in Education Investor and by FE Week that bosses of the scheme were struggling to get the number of learners they expected after […]

News

Skills Minister Nick Boles places college into administered status after eight-year deterioration in finances

Skills Minister Nick Boles has placed Amersham and Wycombe College into administered status after being warned of its “declining turnover and worsening bottom line since 2007/08”. Two advisers from FE Commissioner Dr David Collins’s office visited the 3,500-learner college in September and reported back a series of problems including falling student numbers as well as […]

News

Greater Manchester local authority achieves outstanding first under new Ofsted inspection regime

A Greater Manchester council has the honour of being FE’s first community learning and skills provider to be judged outstanding by Ofsted under its new common inspection framework (Cif). Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, currently allocated £2.8m by the Skills Funding Agency, was visited last month and, in a repeat of its last inspection in 2009, inspectors […]

News

Government lifts traineeship restriction on providers

Lead providers rated as requiring improvement and even inadequate by Ofsted will be able to deliver traineeships from next academic year, the government has announced. Currently, only outstanding and good providers can deliver the programme, introduced in 2013, although they can subcontract to grade three (‘requires improvement’) and non-inspected providers. But the government today said its grade […]

News