York College
‘ofsted’
Joy Mercer, AoC and Bob Powell, Holex, offered opinions and views from the floor Apprenticeships were fiercely debated at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) conference, with a diverse panel of experts exploring how to improve standards. Central to the debate was the question of quality. Members of the panel suggested that the […]
Uncategorized
The decrease in colleges’ Ofsted grades has been well documented in FE Week. In 2009-2010, about a quarter of colleges that were previously judged to be good or outstanding saw their grade decline. Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, has been vocal in his concerns, claiming that colleges were “using the complexity of FE […]
Opinion
The National Success Rate Tables (NSRT) for 2010/11 will need to be republished after significant errors were identified. More than 23 per cent of all qualifications are showing an ‘unknown’ level, up from just 2 per cent in the earlier Qualification Success Rate (QSR) report (see table below). Members of the College Management Information Systems […]
News
An overwhelming majority of staff working in FE colleges have concerns with the credibility of success rate data. A survey conducted by Lsect, publisher of FE Week, revealed that after excluding those who responded ‘don’t know’, 90 per cent said “yes” to the question: “Across colleges, do you think there is a problem with success […]
“By any standards, it was a dysfunctional childhood,” says Penny Wycherley, principal of Great Yarmouth College, of her early life. Born in Stoke, and raised in Oxford, where her father ran a successful chain of electrical shops, Wycherley was educated an independent school, where she jokes the only thing she learned was “how to carry […]
Profiles
Two colleges in the FE sector are considering appeals after receiving ‘inadequate’ or ‘satisfactory’ inspection grades from Ofsted. Stafford College, which received a grade four at the end of last month, has confirmed it will be submitting an appeal because of “crucial factual errors” in its inspection report. Steve Willis, principal of the college, has […]
Kim Thorneywork is the new interim chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Geoff Russell, the current chief executive of the SFA, announced his decision to step down in January after informing the Agency last August. He agreed to remain in his position until the end of July to oversee the restructuring of the […]
Franklin College has been judged as “inadequate” by Ofsted under new pilot inspection guidelines. The sixth form college in Grimsby, which received a grade 2 in 2008, has been criticised for “not driving improvements with urgency”. An inspection report published by Ofsted yesterday says the leadership and management of the college requires improvement, and that strategic priorities need […]
Stafford College has been rated “inadequate” in a recent Ofsted inspection. The college, which received a grade 2 in 2009, is said to have “uninspiring” lessons which are not planned properly and fail to challenge learners. “Teachers know their subjects well but the quality of lessons across the college varies too much,” the report reads. […]
