Ofsted | FE Week

Ofsted denies going soft on employers despite IfA notes

Ofsted has been forced to deny it would reduce its inspections of apprenticeships employer-providers to “samples”, despite the secret release of new guidance suggesting otherwise. According to briefing notes leaked to FE Week from a recent stakeholder event for the Institute of Apprenticeships, Ofsted is slated to “continue to inspect training providers and sample inspection […]

Ofsted rates Birkenhead Sixth Form College as outstanding in all areas

A sixth form college in the north west has become only the second in the country to be rated outstanding by Ofsted under the common inspection framework. Birkenhead SFC received grade ones across the board – up from its previous grade two – in a glowing report published Monday (January 30). The verdict means that […]

Ofsted watch: West Cheshire College no longer ‘inadequate’

A mostly encouraging week for FE, with regards to Ofsted reports, saw West Cheshire College shed its inadequate tag. It went up to grade three from its previous inadequate rating, in a report published January 23 and based on a visit in December. Leaders at the 6,300-learner college were praised for having “rigorously monitored the […]

Report shows college struggle with ‘endemic’ sexualised behaviour

Ofsted has blasted a college for “endemic” sexualised behaviour and incidents of sexual assault in a damning new report. In November, the inspectorate awarded Hereward College the lowest possible grade for its most recent inspection, which saw it fall from the ‘good’ rating it had earned just 18 months ago. That report said the college’s […]

Ofsted reports require improvement

Quality checking of Ofsted reports is not robust – they are far too variable in both form and content, says former Ofsted HMI Phil Hatton. Last week’s FE Week story about Ofsted backtracking on its report into Yeovil College exemplifies the way it does not pay enough attention, post-inspection, to ensuring that reports read well […]

Ofsted watch: Poor start to the year for FE colleges

No college inspection report to have been published by the education watchdog since the beginning of the year has resulted in a higher grade. It’s part of a general downward trend across the general FE, independent learning provider and adult and community learning sectors at the start of 2017. Ten of the 15 Ofsted reports […]

How we challenged an Ofsted report and won

Sometimes it’s worth challenging an Ofsted report, says John Evans. One of the many dilemmas that principals must struggle with is when to appeal against an Ofsted decision. You have to balance the emotional response to the feelings of being unfairly treated with the knowledge that Ofsted seldom admits to being wrong. My college was […]

The continuing QAR fiasco

Colleges need to insist they are given the right data to make meaningful quality judgements about their own performance, says Graham Taylor. Last April I wrote about the bother over the production of the 2014/15 Qualification & Achievement Report (QAR), received after an interminable delay on April 5 and well documented in FE Week. An […]

Ofsted should be congratulated for admitting its mistake

Ofsted should be congratulated for admitting that it got it wrong with the wording of important extracts of its report on Yeovil College. No individual or organisation is flawless by any means, and while Elton John may have said in his famous song that ‘sorry seems to be the hardest word’ – it shouldn’t be. […]