York College
‘ofsted’
Ofsted has dropped plans to introduce no notice inspections in the FE sector. The notice period for inspections will instead be reduced to two working days from September 2012. Matthew Coffey, national director for learning and skills at Ofsted said: “After listening to people’s views following our consultation Ofsted is reducing the notice period of inspections […]
Uncategorized
A report commissioned by a secret group of FE colleges has accused other institutions of manipulating data in order to boost success rates. The document, written by Tenon Education Training and Skills Limited on behalf of the Tenon Education Training and Skills College Forum and seen by FE Week, suggests FE colleges are able to […]
News
Staff at A4e are struggling to improve the way they deliver apprenticeships, according to a monitoring report published by Ofsted. The document, which details a monitoring visit carried out in April, says the training provider is making “insufficient progress” in three areas and “reasonable progress” in the remaining five. The mixed grades follow a “satisfactory” […]
A third of pupils have never been presented with the option of taking up a vocational course, according to research published ahead of Vocational Qualification Day. The independent education foundation Edge surveyed 500 A Level students and found that 77 per cent were even discouraged from pursuing a vocational path. Almost a quarter thought their school […]
With rising youth unemployment, continuing recession, a bewildering range of career pathways and the introduction of FE loans there has never been a time when it has been more important for young people to have access to high quality, impartial careers information and guidance (CIAG). Yet the last two years have seen massive funding cuts […]
Opinion
Staff at the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) have been informed that three members of its executive team are in line to replace Geoff Russell as the chief executive. FE Week understands that the shortlisted candidates are Verity Bullough, Kim Thorneywork and Marinos Paphitis. Mr Russell announced his decision to step down in January, having informed […]
I read with interest the article in FE week on a sample of colleges from the 157 group and their inspection judgements. The first, and most important, point to make is that the inspection framework (CIF) has not changed. The article suggests that a new common inspection framework was introduced in September 2011. It wasn’t. […]
Keith Elliot, principal at City of Bristol College, has announced his plans to retire in July. The principal, who has held the position for more than a decade, has been praised for helping the college to become “one of the largest and most successful” FE colleges in the UK, achieving Beacon College status and an […]
Some commentators are taking the view that, recently, Ofsted has focused too heavily on full time 16-18 programmes, and has neglected the complexities of general FE. One particular college has been downgraded from “Outstanding” in 2007 to “Inadequate” this year. The inspection report suggests a biase towards the 16-18 provision, which accounts for a third […]
