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‘ofsted’
A Twitter ban at Sir Michael Wilshaw’s Ofsted conference was defended by organisers as a “courtesy to the press”. The clampdown on live information escaping Prospero House had already seen journalists barred from the event. The behind-closed-doors ruling was justified by Association of Colleges (AoC) communications director Ben Verinder as allowing contributors an “open and […]
News
Great teaching and learning, the third in a series of publications commissioned by the 157 Group and the Institute for Learning (IfL), has captured the mood of the sector to focus on high-quality teaching and learning and, we hope, steered a stimulating sector-wide debate. The first, Leading learning in further education, found that providers should […]
Opinion
Ofsted have today published their delayed inspection report for NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group), reducing their overall grade from Outstanding to Good. FE Week reported in July that NCG had controversially cut the inspection short following what Dame Jackie Fisher, chief executive of NCG, referred in an internal email to staff as “some troubling incidents.” Since […]
Two more colleges have dropped a grade in recent Ofsted inspections. Bracknell and Wokingham College and Worcester College of Technology were both graded ‘satisfactory’ in Ofsted reports published last week, after having been awarded ‘good’ when inspected in 2009. In the breakdown of the overall grade both colleges received a mix of marks, with a […]
We have today published a 5 page FE Week lite edition, which is FREE for all to download. Click here to download the first FE Week lite (4mb) Our next printed edition of FE Week for subscribers will be on the 10 September, as we only publish a weekly printed edition in term time. To subscribe to […]
Unexplained changes to college data tables on what classifies as a ‘high grade’ have baffled colleges, who have seen their high grades drop “dramatically”. The Association of Colleges (AoC) brought the problem to the attention of their members in a briefing leaked to FE Week. The briefing said that “changes seem to have been made […]
The future of apprenticeships was debated by the sector at FE Weekend last Friday. The summer conference, hosted at Morley College, was FE Week’s first event looking at the latest updates and policy developments surrounding apprenticeships. The agenda included speeches on various aspects of apprenticeships, such as funding frameworks, minimum durations and subcontracting. One highlight […]
Uncategorized
Inspectors were asked to leave Newcastle College after staff complained of “troubling incidents” during an inspection. Ofsted were assessing NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group) in May when the inspection was cut short. However, inspectors were given permission to return to the college and complete the assessment several weeks later. An email seen by FE Week and sent to college staff […]
It’s impossible to ignore the challenges faced by unemployed people in the UK. We seem to be confronted with an almost daily stream of bad news related to the issue. Only this week Ofsted published its report Skills for Employment. The report was a direct response to the government’s plans for FE providers to offer […]
