York College
‘ofsted’
Just 11 months ago, Ofsted inspectors went into Berkshire independent learning provider B2B Engage and judged its provision to be satisfactory. The grading triggered a host of improvements that, as B2B’s operations director Rebecca Yeomans explains, resulted in an improved grading following a September inspection. B2B wasted no time acting on the areas of improvement that […]
Opinion
The chances are that if you come across Abi Lammas in a professional capacity, then you are probably taking steps to improve your organisation. It’s her job to help providers who are experiencing difficulties or those who simply want to tweak their service with a view to improvement. Abi is one of nine Learning and […]
Profiles
The real college was judged says Principal Richard Atkins, not one that had spent three weeks preparing. We were keen to get a health check from Ofsted. Exeter College had last been inspected in 2008 and rated as good, but we had received a Notice to Improve (NtI) for learner success rates. Having reacted quickly […]
Don’t get bogged down in the new common inspection framework, says principal Chris Thomson. Give students the provision you’d wish upon your own children and you’ll be outstanding. You’ll probably think we’re mad, but for more than a decade at Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College we’ve cultivated the view that far from being […]
Strong, effective leadership is one of the key features of success, suggests Ofsted’s How Colleges Improve report. Winning colleges were seen to share characteristics of strong governance and management — as well as a clear vision and direction. The report, commissioned by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) and Ofsted, highlighted how colleges built […]
News
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
