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‘ofsted’

Edition 132: Richard Atkins, David Henley, David Lawrence, Clive Bound & Jan Hodges

Exeter College principal Richard Atkins has announced his retirement from the post at the end of 2015. The current Association of Colleges president joined Exeter College as its leader in 2002, and last year took it to Ofsted grade one — having already achieved the feat, but in a pilot of the current common inspection […]

Movers and Shakers

Ofsted hits back at ‘not fit for purpose’ criticism

Ofsted has defended itself against criticism in an Association of Colleges (AoC) paper that branded the education watchdog as “not fit for purpose” and “driven by political considerations”. The paper, written by FE consultant Mick Fletcher, went on to call for a “slimmed down version” of Ofsted for under-19 FE provision and a new system […]

News

Learners need new providers after inadequate ratings

Hundreds of learners will be hoping for new providers after the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) said it would tear up two training contracts — forcing the closure of one provider and criticism of the decision to axe funding. Both Four Counties Training Limited (FCT), in West London, and Venture Learning Limited (VL), in Greater Manchester, […]

News

Darlington College tumbles from grade one to four

A North East England college has tumbled from an outstanding Ofsted rating to inadequate, an inspection report published today (March 20) revealed. Darlington College was slapped with a grade four-across-the-board rating following the inspection that took place from February 9 to 13, with inspectors finding that managers and governors had failed to take action as the quality of […]

News

Safeguarding and wilful neglect — a colleges brief

Geraldine Swanton explains how Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to extend the law of wilful neglect to education might affect colleges, and how existing legislation in the area is currently being enacted within the sector. On March 3, 2015, David Cameron announced a commitment to tackle child sexual exploitation and the government’s intention to impose […]

Opinion

NCG in the running to take on a4e after sale put forward

Newcastle College Group (NCG) could be in line to take over troubled welfare-to-work provider A4e, FE Week can reveal. A spokesperson for the Ofsted grade two-rated college said it was committed “to delivering welfare and employability training” and would consider “any opportunity”. NCG, which already runs Newcastle College, West Lancashire College and Kidderminster College along […]

News

Two colleges win school approvals from dfe as third prepares new plan

Two colleges have been granted permission to open their own free schools in the latest wave of 49 free schools given the go-ahead by the government. New College Swindon’s bid to open a school and sixth form in Swindon and New College Pontefract’s plans to open a 1,200 learner sixth form centre in Doncaster were […]

News

Finance key concern for commissioner reports

Finance problems figured prominently in the two latest college inspection reports from FE Commissioner Dr David Collins (pictured above left). The reports by Dr Collins on Greenwich Community College and 11,000-learner Central Sussex College were both published on Monday (March 9), following visits in early January. The commissioner was particularly critical of the South East London […]

News

Council told to drop skills offer

The FE Commissioner has recommended that Lancashire Adult Learning (LAL) should offload its skills programmes after he was sent in to inspect over a grade four Ofsted result. The report by Dr David Collins (pictured) on LAL, which has around 7,000 students including 5,300 community learners, was published on Monday (March 9. It recommended that […]

News