• Ofsted slate wiped clean for grade four UTC joining MAT

    A university technical college rated ‘inadequate’ earlier this year will have its Ofsted slate wiped clean as it joins a multi-academy trust under a new name this week. Medway UTC, which received the lowest possible grade from the education watchdog in May, will join The Howard Academy Trust (THAT) on November 1 as Waterfront UTC. It’s…

    6.00 Oct. 30th, 2018 | News

  • Revealed: Six more apprenticeship providers banned from taking new recruits

    Six more poor-performing apprenticeship providers have been barred from taking on new starts – bringing the total up to 12. The penalties were revealed in the latest update to the register of apprenticeship training providers, dated October 11. It means that the Education and Skills Funding Agency has wielded its powers against all new apprenticeship…

    15.14 Oct. 15th, 2018 | News

  • Major subcontractor heavily criticised in 'insufficient' Ofsted monitoring visit report

    A major subcontractor has been heavily criticised in a new apprenticeship provider Ofsted monitoring visit report that found it to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in all areas under review. Cumbria-based NC Training started delivering levy-funded apprenticeships in July 2017, but also held eight subcontracts worth £1.6 million last year. The verdict means it can expect…

    18.56 Oct. 11th, 2018 | News

  • Failing colleges that merge 'can expect' Ofsted monitoring visit

    Grade three or four colleges that merge can expect to receive a monitoring visit before their first full inspection, Ofsted has confirmed today. The clarification, which applies to mergers from January 2018 onwards, follows criticism that poor-performing colleges had been able to get away without any Ofsted scrutiny following a merger. According to the FE…

    11.25 Oct. 1st, 2018 | News

  • DfE finds much needed apprenticeship monitoring cash

    When the ESFA published the list of providers on the apprenticeship register in March 2017 we reported that the entire sector was shocked. Hundreds of companies, many never having filed a set of accounts, had successfully applied to a register that would give them unlimited access to apprenticeship funding. In an interview with me the…

    10.43 Sep. 21st, 2018 | Opinion

  • Ofsted DOES soften 3 year full inspection rule - after sector backlash

    Poorly performing new apprenticeship providers will now only be left in no new business limbo for up to a year – not three, as Ofsted had previously said. The U-turn was confirmed today by Paul Joyce (pictured above), the education watchdog’s deputy director for FE and skills. “Where providers are judged to be making insufficient…

    14.02 Sep. 18th, 2018 | News

  • Revealed: The 6 apprenticeship providers banned from taking new recruits

    Six new apprenticeship providers have been barred from taking on new apprentices after early monitoring visits found them to be making ‘insufficient progress’, the Education and Skills Agency has confirmed. The penalties are revealed in the latest update to the register of apprenticeship training providers, dated September 10, which now includes a column titled ‘provider not…

    16.56 Sep. 17th, 2018 | News

  • Ofqual investigating provider after inspectorate found copy and paste assessments

    Ofqual has confirmed it is investigating ‘copy and paste’ assessment allegations at a Newcastle-based training provider, uncovered during a recent Ofsted inspection. The inspectorate’s report into Northern Construction Training and Regeneration, published last week, said it had found evidence of assessment practice that was “not consistently appropriate” – including identical word-processed text in six out…

    18.22 Aug. 28th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted slaps provider with grade 4 after evidence of copy and paste assessments

    A Newcastle-based training provider with contracts worth £3.5 million last year is facing having them pulled after receiving the lowest possible grade overall from Ofsted this week. But Northern Construction Training and Regeneration was rated ‘good’ for its apprenticeships provision, meaning it’s likely to keep its place on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s apprenticeships…

    16.40 Aug. 24th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted given final say over new apprenticeship provider quality

    Ofsted has officially been given the final say over poor-performing apprenticeship providers following an early monitoring visit, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has confirmed today. FE Week reported back in May that the move was on the cards, following embarrassment for the government over apprenticeship accountability. According to the ESFA’s ‘Removal from register of…

    15.40 Aug. 16th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted: more cash needed before campus-level inspections become reality

    Ofsted is keen to introduce campus-level inspections but would need more cash from the Department for Education before they could become a reality, FE Week can reveal. On Wednesday the DfE confirmed it would introduce campus-level performance reporting from next year, following a consultation earlier this year. Ofsted’s response to the consultation, seen exclusively by…

    11.33 Aug. 3rd, 2018 | News