Theme: Ofsted

Ofsted and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons are launching a review into the “very poor state” of prison education. Chief inspector Amanda Spielman and her opposite number at the prisons inspectorate Charlie Taylor have published a joint commentary on the impact of Covid-19 on inmate learning. This is based on 25 remote visits to adult […]

Ofsted’s first new provider monitoring visits of level 6 and 7 apprenticeship provision have resulted positive results for higher education providers, including a glowing report for a university. Inspectors found ‘significant progress’ in two of the three themes judged at the University of Worcester, which gained praise for “thorough” quality assurance procedures, “precise” assessment of […]

A university technical college (UTC) has been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted just a year after being hit with the inspectorate’s lowest possible judgement. UTC Portsmouth was slapped with an ‘inadequate’ rating in a report published in July 2020 after it failed to provide effective safeguarding arrangements. But thanks to “swift” action from the senior leadership […]

Colleges that fail to align their provision with local and national needs will trigger Ofsted inspections in the future, under plans announced today by the Department for Education. Officials are proposing to introduce a new “skills measure” that will capture how well a college is delivering courses that the economy needs as part of its […]

An NHS trust has had its apprenticeship contract terminated after Ofsted found serious safety concerns. Nearly 700 apprentices are currently being moved to alternative providers to complete their training after the East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust was slammed by the inspectorate. In a safeguarding monitoring report, published today, inspectors said a “significant minority” […]

A private provider has been suspended from taking on new learners after Ofsted found a “few cases” of apprentices who did not know they were enrolled on an apprenticeship. Inspectors also claimed that a “minority” of employers who work with NextStep Training Limited are not aware that apprentices should have time in work for off-the-job […]

Inspectors will review sexual abuse records and consider how colleges handle related incidents when Ofsted returns to routine inspections in September, the watchdog has confirmed. Ofsted has today updated its FE and skills handbook to reflect the changes it promised to introduce following a recent review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. The review […]

A new apprenticeship provider has expressed its “frustrations” with the validity of an Ofsted report that now threatens its ability to recruit. MRG Services UK Limited’s 76 apprentices were found to “not develop substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours” among a litany of criticisms, in a monitoring report published on Tuesday that resulted in ‘insufficient […]