subcontracting | FE Week

First Ofsted subcontracting visit report criticises Wigan and Leigh College

The first ever report of an Ofsted monitoring visit into subcontracting has found that governors and senior management at Wigan and Leigh College have been too slow to improve performance. The report out today recalled that Paul Joyce, Ofsted’s deputy director for further education and skills, warned last month that the inspectorate planned to focus […]

Government delays on subcontracting charges

The government has been accused of double standards on subcontracting charges, after it missed its own deadline for issuing templates for providers to submit their figures. Colleges and independent training providers had since 2013 been obliged to publish the amount of government cash they withheld before paying subcontractors to run training by the end of […]

Why the delay for Learndirect inspection report?

Ofsted’s eagerly awaited inspection report on the nation’s largest FE provider has been delayed by six weeks, with the “silence period” before the election given as the reason. Learndirect was visited by the education watchdog a month ago, and speculation has been mounting over the grade it will receive. However, in an unusual move Ofsted […]

Colleges welcome new apprenticeship subcontracting rules

Colleges are using the new subcontracting rules to regain some of the ground lost to independent training providers accused of nicking their lunch, FE Week can reveal. Just a third of apprenticeship funding is currently allocated to colleges – and a significant proportion of that is actually delivered by independent training providers acting as subcontractors. […]

Learndirect top-slices almost £20 million through subcontractors deals

Latest figures have shown that Learndirect top-sliced almost £20 million through its deals with subcontractors last academic year, FE Week can reveal. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has threated to suspend public money for lead providers that fail to publish all of their management fees – the amount of government cash they withhold for themselves, […]