NEW MESMA QUICKBOOK ON OFSTED COLLEGE FINDINGS

ONLINE quality assurance specialist MESMA has produced a handy new A4 reference booklet covering Ofsted’s recent FE college reports, which is available as a free download.

The ‘College Ofsted Inspection Key Findings Quickbook’ provides key information from details published earlier this year by the education standards’ watchdog about a number of colleges across the country.

These revealed almost three quarters (71%) of colleges that achieved a ‘Good’ grade were shown to have good self-assessment and improvement planning in place.

However, it also revealed that some didn’t have adequate measures in place, with staff not engaging in planning processes and failing to identify accurately enough those areas where there was room for improvement.

MESMA has extracted the key information from the findings in its new publication, which is designed as an easy-to-use reference guide. It includes overall grade summary tables, a summary of key findings and advice about what failing or struggling colleges need to do to improve.

Content has been sourced from the public reports published on the Ofsted website at www.reports.ofsted.gov.uk/ and covers the 19 colleges inspected by Ofsted from February to April 2016.

MESMA says that those colleges that Ofsted identified as needing to improve their self-assessment and improvement planning, saw in some cases senior management failing to implement planned actions quickly enough.

Louise Doyle, director at MESMA, said: “Our analysis indicates that regardless of ‘Good or Better’ provision, colleges to have in place a robust model of self-assessment and improvement planning.

“This needs to be accurate, well structured, evidence rich and ultimately challenges staff to continuously improve – our new quickbook will provide invaluable insight and information.”

More at http://mesma.co.uk/resources