Gateshead College Appeal Ofsted Going to Dwell on It”
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FE Week FE Week news ~ analysis ~ jobs ~ fun M ly see page 3 onday 2 Ju Top-slicing more than £175m www.feweek.co.uk “If colleges are greedily taking bigger Page 6 and bigger slices of the pie then that has to impact on overall quality” Gateshead College appeal Ofsted going to dwell on it”. strengths” were highlighted, includ- “good” to “inadequate”. Page 7 Nick Summers “At the end of the day our focus is ing the college’s partnerships with A spokesperson for Ofsted said @SummersNicholas on moving forward,” he said. employers, inclusive atmosphere, it did not comment on individual “We’re going to make changes work-based learning, work with the inspections “over and above the Gateshead College has appealed where we need to, and get on with unemployed and young people not in published reports”. against a “satisfactory” inspection our business to deliver outstanding education or employment, and clear “Ofsted does not comment on grade awarded by Ofsted after an outcomes for all our students, cus- strategic direction. whether a complaint or concerns inspection in May this year. tomers and stakeholders in Gates- “Our work with employers is re- have been received about individual Principal Richard Thorold told FE head and the wider region.” flected in the report and in the grade providers. Information about the Week that its formal complaints fol- The Ofsted report, published last profile for employer responsive. process for investigating complaints lowed “inconsistencies” in standards week, said: “The proportion of learn- However, it is only one statement about providers can be found on the applied during the inspection. “It ap- ers who stay . and successfully amongst many and it does not truly Ofsted website.” Page 15 pears the overall judgement is, in the complete their qualifications has reflect the holistic picture that I A BBC Radio 4 programme, broad- main, based on historical data.” declined since the previous inspec- wanted them to draw of the college.” cast last week, revealed that a grow- He said that the inspectors ap- tion, and there is too much variation Stafford College, which in May ing number of schools are appealing peared reluctant to apply a fair in the quality of provision across the Ofsted also deemed to be “inade- poor inspection results. judgement to the in-year data. “This college. quate”, has also submitted an appeal. Jan Webber, an inspection special- is, in my mind, where the inconsist- “Attendance is often low and, de- Principal Steve Willis said the ist for the Association of School and encies are in the way the standards spite the college’s attendance policy, informal feedback from inspectors College Leaders, told the BBC: “It is are being applied across inspec- goes unchecked in a few areas.” gave a “misleading picture of the okay if it is a consistent judgement tions.” However, the report praised work- quality of work that takes place at for everybody - the greatest issue The college was judged “outstand- based learning programmes and this college”. that we have is inconsistency. That’s ing” in its last inspection in 2008. said the college was “outstanding” at It was given a grade 2 when it was when it causes a lot of angst.” Mr Thorold said although the developing partnerships with other last inspected in 2009. Read what the CEO of the IfL college had submitted a formal letter organisations. Franklin College is also consider- says about Ofsted, page 7, and the inside... of complaint to Ofsted, it was “not Mr Thorold said that “significant ing an appeal after dropping from latest Ofsted grades on page 10. This digital edition is for multiple subscription readers only and is not for onward distribution or reproduction. 2 FE Week Monday 2 July www.feweek.co.uk Local Government Association FE Week news in brief critical of skills mismatches Apprenticeship starts The number of new apprentices aged 16 to 18 Holly Welham ties that prizes and rewards those that help stu- have fallen for the third consecutive quarter, dents toward meaningful careers. It’s not right according to new government data. FE @HollyWelham that young people trying to secure a good future The statistical first release, published by the are being deceived by a system that fails to look Data Service last week, shows that the num- Week England is failing young people by training at what is best for them, or the taxpayer, and ber of new starts have dropped from 58,800 in them for jobs that don’t exist, while not provid- instead focuses on a bums-on-seats approach to quarter one to 24,500 in quarter two and 21,300 ing them with the skills for areas where there education.” in quarter three. is work, according to a report from the Local The Department for Business, Innovation Gordon Marsden, shadow minister for Government Association (LGA). and Skills said it had “concerns” about the “ro- further education, skills and regional growth Hidden Talents argues that there is a mis- bustness” of some of the analysis and believed said: “The Government is still not doing enough FE Week is a new newspaper dedicated to match between the jobs that young people are the conclusions were “unwarranted”, based on to boost apprenticeship numbers in the crucial reporting on news, analysis, jobs and fun qualifying for and those that are available. the analysis done. 16 to 18 age range, with a less than 1 per cent in the FE sector. Last year more than 94,000 people completed A spokesman said: “The authors do not increase in this group in comparison to this hair and beauty courses, but only 18,000 new appear to have taken into account variation time last year.” And tweet us your thoughts @feweek or jobs were created in the sector, the LGA’s between occupations in staff nor in vacancy with the hashtag #feweek research suggests – and of those who qualified, reporting, which is likely to substantially alter more than 60 per cent were aged 16 to18. Mean- the comparative figures.” Teenage NEETs rise Managing Editor: Nick Linford while, more than double the number of people The department said it had freed providers Guest Editor: Jill Craven trained to work in hospitality, sport and leisure from top-down central targets and regulation The number of 16 to 18 year-olds not in educa- Deputy Editor: Nick Summers than jobs advertised in the sector. so that they could better respond to the needs tion, employment or training (NEET) rose News Reporter: Holly Welham In contrast, the report said that fewer than of their communities. The Employer Owner- above 8 per cent in 2011, according to govern- Guest Reporter: Shane Chowen 40,000 people trained to fill about 72,000 new ship Pilot was now targeting investment at the ment data. Designer: Nick Linford jobs in building and engineering. The environ- skills that employers and the economy needed The report also showed that the number of Sales Director: Gemma Ryder mental industry created about 89,000 jobs last to grow. 16 to 18 year-olds in full-time education had Operations: Shane Mann year, but only 27,000 young people were trained Mark Ravenhall, director of policy and im- dropped for the first time since 2001. Financials: Nahed Chowdhury to take them. There was also a gap between sup- pact at the National Institute of Adult Continu- Martin Doel, chief executive of the AoC said: Analyst: Tashanna Egbochue ply and demand in textile design, accountancy ing Education (NIACE), said he agreed with “The response to this extremely worrying Features: Janet Murray (freelance) and jobs in the automotive industry. much of the report but that there was “quite a trend must be speedy but also ‘joined up’ if we Recruitment: Chardelle Mason The data used in the report captured most lot more to say”. are to prevent the recession giving rise to a lost Contributors: David Hughes achievements up to level 3 (equivalent to A- He said that he was “a bit annoyed” that generation.” Graham Hasting-Evans level), but did not capture non-accredited train- there was never a debate about Latin as a sub- Toni Fazaeli ing on the job or degree-level training (level 4 ject in private schools and whether there was London colleges merge Barry Brooks and above). an oversupply of classicists. Sally Hunt The LGA argues that the “skills mismatch” “No one kicks up a fuss about that,” he said. Lewisham College and Southwark College are FE Week mini-mascot is the result of colleges receiving funding “What about the soft skills that you gain in to formally merge in August. from the government on the basis of studying doing hairdressing? What about the literacy Maxine Room CBE, principal of Lewisham For an annual subscription to FE Week for and passing qualifications, rather than on job and the foundation skills you develop in doing College, said: “We have a vision for a new just £75 visit www.feweek.co.uk and click outcomes. those courses? college for south London; a college that will on ‘subscribe’ at the top of the page. David Simmonds, chair of its children and “If you get transferable skills from doing a ensure that our learners are equipped for the young people board, said it was “indefensible” classics degree or PPE at Oxford, why don’t you future, that they have the skills and experi- to encourage colleges to steer students on to get transferable skills form doing a hairdress- ence to fully take advantage of opportunities If you are interested in placing a product low-prospect courses, rather than those that ing qualification? If that’s what people want to for work and careers, further learning and life.