Ofsted’s enhanced inspections which assess how well colleges are meeting local skills needs were introduced at the start of the term. Jason Noble spoke to leaders of the first handful to be rated to find out their experience
Back in May, Ofsted published its latest five-year strategy, which made it clear that all colleges in England will be paid a visit by inspectors within a four-year time frame under new “enhanced inspections”.
Those visits, introduced in September, continue to feature the usual inspection criteria, such as quality of teaching, leadership, high needs and safeguarding, but this time with the added assessment of how well a college is meeting the skills needs in its local area too.
It comes amid a drive to introduce new local skills improvement plans, which are designed to identify local employers’ skills needs so that colleges and training providers can align the courses they offer accordingly.
Ofsted’s visits to colleges now feature an additional dedicated inspector or inspectors, and allow colleges to put forward a second nominee to be a point of liaison specifically on those skills elements.
