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‘ofsted’

Short shrift for new-look Ofsted reports

Joy Mercer, AoC                    Jan Webber, ASCL Reports of inspections under the new common inspection framework (CIF) are to become shorter, Ofsted has said. The move will disappoint many in FE who see the reports as a valuable source of information on where colleges and providers are […]

News

Colleges undecided on ‘Trip Advisor’ website

Providers are remaining on the fence about Ofted’s Trip Advisor-style Learner View website. The website, which cost £65,000 to develop and went live in time for Ofsted’s 2012/13 inspections, draws together the opinions of students about their courses and comes up with provider ratings. Students are faced with statements such as ‘my course/programme meets my […]

News

Crumbs from the rich man’s table?

No way, says Graham Hoyle. In its 10 years, the AELP has worked hard for smaller providers . . .after all, 40 per cent of its members have agency contract values of less than £1m. Peter Cobrin was certainly right to say that smaller independent training providers should be represented at the top table when […]

Opinion

Why colleges should be allowed to be creative to meet local needs

The chances of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) agreeing to 50 per cent flexibility in adult skills budgets were very low — but if you don’t ask you don’t get, says Lady Sharp. The idea of the Innovation Code put forward in our report The Dynamic Nucleus – Colleges at the Heart of Local Communities, […]

Opinion

Provider challenges new-look inspection

One of the first Ofsted inspections under the new common inspection framework is to be disputed. Merseyside-based Central Training, which bills itself as one of the UK’s largest providers of vocational training and education, was inspected over five days from September 17. The company, which is made up of sports, skills, business and fitness divisions, […]

News

Subcontracting probe uncovers ‘poor value for money’ management fees

An Ofsted probe into subcontracting has uncovered lead contractors charging management fees “as a way of generating income for doing little work”. The Ensuring Quality in Apprenticeships report highlights how subcontractors felt they were getting “poor value for money” from management fees and reveals many lead contractors were overcharging according to Skills Funding Agency (SFA) […]

News

Our future depends on how we teach FE learners

New FE proposals on teacher training have been formulated by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) and are up for consultation. Toni Fazaeli, chief executive at the Institute for Learning (IFL), looks at what a newly-qualified teacher or trainer needs to know. We welcome the LSIS consultation on qualifications for new teachers and trainers. […]

Opinion

SFA U-turn on performance tables

Nearly three months after the Skills Funding Agency was challenged over “mysterious” changes to college performance tables, it has told FE Week they will be reversed. In July, the Association of Colleges (AoC) alerted its members that “high grades” would no longer include a C at GCSE on the success rate data managed by the […]

News

Ela Piotrowska, principal, Morley College

London in the aftermath of World War Two was a hard place for many, including the Piotrowska family. It had promised so much with Ela Piotrowska’s father, Stasio, having reached safety after fleeing the Nazi occupation of his native Poland, having walked hundreds of miles across Europe to join the Polish Free Army, in Scotland. […]

Profiles