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Quality standards
In 2010 the LSC will be replaced as the source of funding and standards for FE by a two tier system. Local Authorities will have responsibility for 'commissioning' provision for 16-18 and a new agency the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) will fund all 19+ provision. However, the SFA will monitor and govern the 'performance of all FE provision pre and post 18. Further information can be obtained from the DIUS website and note the overview White Paper, FE Skills and Systems 2009. Look in downloads off our homepage for a link. The Local Government Association has established React to guide the transfer of responsibility from the LSC to the Local Autho - Raising Expectations Action Programmes ( React).
The Ofsted Chief Inspector's Report 2007-08 is available for download on the Collegenet download page. The report highlights a rise in college standards with 71% of colleges inspected 2007-08 judged 'good or better' for overall effectiveness compared to 62% in 2006-07. However, this relates to the colleges inspected in each year and much will depend upon the mix of colleges selected. More encouraging is that the number of colleges deemed outstanding has risen from 19% to 32%.
The Institute for Learning (IfL) governs professional standards in the Lifelong Learning sector. All F.E. teaching staff have to be registered with the IfL to obtain Professional Teacher status and to undertake a miniumum of 30 hours per year of continuous professional development (CPD). See our useful summary in the CPD update circular. Click on updates on the home page.
On 1st October 2008 the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and the Centre for Leadership in Management (CEL) were merged to form a new quality service for the FE sector entitled, Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS). The Chair of the new service is Dame Ruth Silver, Principal and Chief Executive of Lewisham College and the Chief Executive is Roger McClure. The existing QIA and CEL websites will remain active to July 2009.
Re-organisation of DfES
On 28th June 2007 the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was reorganised into two separate departments - one to focus on schools and one to focus on the FE and HE sector. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is under the direction of Secretary of State Ed Balls and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) is under the direction of Secretary of State John Denham.
The Learning and Skills Council has published its new annual statement, Raising our Game and published commitments to the expansion of apprenticeships for adults, 12 new national skills academies and a goal of 90% of 17 year olds in education or training by 2015.
On 1st April 2007 Ofsted merged with the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI), the Commission for Social Care Inspections ( CSCI) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Court Administration ( HMICA). The new single inspectorate for the FE sector will continue to be known as Ofsted. Look in downloads for easy access to some key Ofsted documents.
The QIA Excellence Gateway provides lots of useful resources to support teaching and learning and is also home to the Ofsted good practice database. The gateway also absorbed the Success for All website in 2007 but relevant materials can still be accessed. The forum for College quality managers, established by Success for All, to exchange support and ideas is still active.To join go to Quality Forum.
Lifelong Learning UK sets and governs teacher training standards in FE. Look in downloads for easy access to the standards.
The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) is the governing body for all new sector skills councils.
The DCSF Achievement and Attainment tables were formerly referred to as Performance Tables and prior to that unofficially as League Tables. They remain controversial because they provide raw comparisons of exam performances by students in very different schools and very different localities. A new Report Card system is currently being trialled to give a fuller and more balanced information profile. However, the Performance Tables do provide a useful overview of the performance of different LEAs against the national average and provide a starting point for colleges to analyse their catchment areas. The 2008 data is now available.
The Association of College Managers (ACM) has published an excellent support pack for high standards of leadership and management in Further Education.
On 1st October 2007 the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), Campaign for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) merged to form the Equality and Human Rights Commission as a new single organisation to act as a national focal point for the promotion of gender, race and disability equality.
All colleges should have responded to the July 2003 ammendment regulation to the Race Relations Act 1976 and put in place a Race Equality policy. The policy should not be filed away but should be an active tool for the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of positive race relations. All colleges should have smart targets to combat direct and indirect racial discrimination. However, note that only five FE principals and only 2% of FE managers are from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The Disabilty Discrimination Act 1995 was ammended in 2003 to place a statutory duty on all public organisations including FE colleges to have full and open access to all services. There are 6.8 million registered disabled people in the UK and of these 10% or around 659,000 are in the 16-24 age-group. Colleges need not just to review physical access but also marketing and support to attract and promote better qualification and employment opportunities for the disabled.
Most colleges seek some form of external assurance of quality practice in relation to staff management, customer service and procedures. The Investors in People, Customer Services Excellence and Business Excellence marks are widely established as guarantees of robust quality standards.
Finally, if you have reached the bottom of this page and the link you are looking for isn't here then please let us know and we will add.
However, note that some quality related links will be found on the Curriculum page and pages linked to Curriculum like ICT and Adult and Community Learning.
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