Sent a Letter to College Principals
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90% Monday 11 June 2012 Where will it end? 80% 90% of colleges believe there is a success rate credibility 70% problem See page 3 for our survey 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% This digital edition is not for onward distribution or reproduction. To discuss the FE Week multiple subscription service please contact Shane Mann on 020 8123 4891 2 FE Week Monday 11 June www.feweek.co.uk ‘Massive’ error in success rates Nick Summers One example given is a Diploma in Comple- Success Rate reports. mentary Therapies (QCF) from City & Guilds, “As these national averages play a ma- @SummersNicholas displayed as a level 3, while the equivalent jor role in college self-assessment and the qualifi cation from VTCT is an ‘unknown’ judgements made on our performance by FE The National Success Rate Tables (NSRT) level. bodies such as Ofsted, it is vital that there for 2010/11 will need to be republished after Comparisons to the 2010/11 QSR reports is accuracy and reliability in this national Week signifi cant errors were identifi ed. show a difference of 672,123 ‘unknown’ starts performance data. More than 23 per cent of all qualifi cations across all age groups and providers. “I would hope that the Data Service would are showing an ‘unknown’ level, up from just The number of ‘unknown’ starts has also explain why there has been a variance and 2 per cent in the earlier Qualifi cation Success risen from 8,777 in the QSR to 546,295 in the make the corrections necessary to produce Rate (QSR) report (see table below). NSRT for learners of all ages in general FE a defi nitive, reliable dataset against which Members of the College Management colleges. providers can measure themselves.” FE Week is a new newspaper dedicated to Information Systems (CMIS) network say the Jerry White, head of planning and perfor- The Skills Funding Agency (SFA), on reporting on news, analysis, jobs and fun “massive” anomalies include BTEC qualifi ca- mance at City College Norwich, told FE Week: behalf of the Data Service, has since told FE in the FE sector. tions and Access to HE courses. Values also “The 2010/11 tables provide national averages Week the NSRT has been removed and will be vary for similar qualifi cations from different (benchmarks) which clearly differ from those re-published within the next two weeks. So tell us what you think at awarding bodies. published within the 2010/11 Qualifi cation “The NSRTs that were published on May 24 www.surveymonkey.com/s/feweek had an unusually high number of unknown Level QSR NSRT notional levels in the ‘other’ qualifi cation And tweet us your thoughts @feweek or type category,” said an SFA spokesperson. with the hashtag #feweek “Our investigation into this issue has de- L1 1,105,353 35% 831,153 26% termined that there is an error and we have Managing Editor: Nick Linford therefore removed the reports temporarily. Guest Editor: Jill Craven “The revised reports, with details on the Deputy Editor: Nick Summers L2 857,094 27% 586,387 19% revision, are expected to be available by mid- News Reporter: Holly Welham June.” Designer: Daniel Duke The retraction differs drastically from the Sales Director: Gemma Ryder L3 1,114,778 36% 992,473 32% Service’s original response last month. Operations: Shane Mann “Unfortunately this is due to the classifi ca- Financials: Nahed Chowdhury tion in the LARA tables,” it said then. “You are correct that this is an issue. Analyst: Tashanna Egbochue Unknown 54,998 2% 727,121 23% Features: Janet Murray (freelance) Unfortunately the 2010/11 tables cannot be Recruitment: Chardelle Mason changed, but measures are in place to address this so this will not happen in the 2011/12 Contributors: David Hughes Total 3,132,223 3,137,134 Mark Smith tables.” Charles Parker Rob Wye FE Week mini-mascot For an annual subscription to FE Week for Stafford and Franklin challenge Ofsted just £75 visit www.feweek.co.uk and click on ‘subscribe’ at the top of the page. Nick Summers It later said the college’s success rates have They also say that the success rates for stu- declined and are particularly low for learners dents on AS level courses is “consistently and If you are interested in placing a product @SummersNicholas on advanced courses. signifi cantly” below the national average. or job advert in a future edition please click The statement from the college, however, “Since the last inspection there has been on the ‘advertise’ link at the top of the page Two colleges in the FE sector are considering refers to a report by Tenon Education Train- no trend of improvement in poor suc- on www.feweek.co.uk or contact: appeals after receiving ‘inadequate’ or ‘satis- ing and Skills Limited, which was written on cess rates in AS level and on intermediate E: [email protected] factory’ inspection grades from Ofsted. behalf of a secret group of colleges. courses.” T: 020 8123 4891 Stafford College, which received a grade The report, seen by FE Week, suggests Using new pilot inspection guidelines, M: 0783 7769 411 four at the end of last month, has confi rmed “widespread” methods artifi cially infl ate suc- Ofsted said that too many courses at the col- it will be submitting an appeal because of cess rate data and inspection grades. lege have poor retention rates, although they “crucial factual errors” in its inspection Mr Willis says: “There are many ways in admit that in the current year “retention report. which we could have reported entirely differ- rates have improved”. 90% Monday 11 June 2012 Steve Willis, principal of the college, has ent levels of student success. Barnfi eld College, which has fallen from Where will it end? 80% also said the informal feedback from inspec- “We decided to be entirely rigorous and “outstanding” to “satisfactory”, said it had 90% of colleges believe there tors gave a “misleading picture of the quality transparent in our data collection, adhering decided not to appeal an Ofsted report that is a success rate credibility 70% problem See page 3 for our survey of work that takes place at this college”. to national guidelines. said a signifi cant number of lessons did not 60% A statement issued by the college said the “Colleges are under enormous pressure to challenge students and were unclear about poor inspection grade can be attributed to a fi nd creative ways to measure their success what they should be learning. 50% measure of student performance called ‘Out- rates and we knew that our own approach It later said the college is “over-generous” 40% comes for Learners’ that, under new weight- could lead to us falling below the national when judging its own performance, and also ing, has forced its teaching, management and average. has declining success rates for students on 30% value for money to be downgraded. “Once that happened, a poor inspection long courses. 20% The inspection report, which follows a outcome was inevitable.” Pete Birkett, Chief Executive of the Barn- “good” grade two rating in 2009, said lessons Franklin College, which also received an fi eld Federation said: “The college takes all 10% at Stafford College are “uninspiring” and fail ‘inadequate’ grade from Ofsted in May, said it audits very seriously and uses them to raise to challenge learners. too is considering an appeal. our game, which we are doing so.” “Teachers know their subjects well but the The sixth form college in Grimsby, which An Ofsted spokesperson told FE Week it did quality of lessons across the college varies received a ‘good’ rating in 2008, has been not comment on individual inspections “over Learning & Skills Events, Consultancy and Training Ltd too much,” the report said. criticised for “not driving improvements and above the published reports”. 161-165 Greenwich High Road “Inspectors found good teaching and learn- with urgency”. When questioned about the appeals, the London SE10 8JA ing in over half the lessons observed but too Inspectors said that the leadership and spokesperson added: “Ofsted does not com- T: 020 8123 4778 much (of) that was satisfactory and did not management of the college requires improve- ment on whether a complaint or concerns E: [email protected] challenge learners enough to reach their full ment, and that strategic priorities need to be have been received about individual potential.” communicated more effectively to staff. providers.” This digital edition is not for onward distribution or reproduction. To discuss the FE Week multiple subscription service please contact Shane Mann on 020 8123 4891 www.feweek.co.uk Monday 11 June FE Week 3 Colleges ‘fi xing’ the fi gures. Where will it end? colleges improve their rates; this has been using actions that disguise the true picture.” Neil Reeves, MIS team leader at City College FE Week Exclusive methods I would have said were not acceptable, The Tenon report claimed: “the use of prac- Brighton & Hove, said: “There may be some Nick Summers like changing end dates and removing fails.” tices to improve success rates is widespread instances where the practices outlined are The survey, which had 106 responses from within FE colleges.” occurring, but I feel they may be looking for a @SummersNicholas 94 colleges, followed a confi dential report, seen Seventy-per cent of respondents to the Lsect scandal that isn’t there.” by FE Week, from Tenon Education Training survey agreed when asked if they thought this A spokesperson for the SFA told FE Week: An overwhelming majority of staff working in and Skills Limited.