York College
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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 […]
News
“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. […]
Sir David Bell addressed the education sector on the history of reform at the British Library yesterday. The vice chancellor of the University of Reading, speaking at a lecture organised by Tribal, was introduced as “one of the most influential educators of his generation”. The underlining theme of Sir David’s speech on education reform was the inevitable […]
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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 […]
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 […]
