York College
‘ofsted’
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
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
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The inaugural FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference went with such a bang, how could we not do it again next year? Hundreds of delegates from across England and across the spectrum of FE and skills organisations — from providers to awarding organisations, and from government officials to MPs, and more besides — descended upon the […]
The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has promised extra cash to support a struggling college’s improvement strategy, following a visit from the sixth form commissioner. Hartlepool Sixth Form College will use the extra £22,000 to support professional staff development after commissioner Peter Mucklow (pictured) found not enough students were completing their courses, teaching was not “consistently […]
An Association of Colleges (AoC) report has called for “radical reforms” to the way FE provision is inspected, saying it should be separated from school inspections. The 26-page discussion paper, commissioned by the AoC and produced by FE consultant Mick Fletcher (pictured), recommended self-regulation for adult provision and “a slimmed down” Ofsted process for learners […]
