FIN contribution to Big Listen recognised by Ofsted

The Fellowship of Inspection Nominees (FIN) is very pleased that Ofsted has taken on board recommendations made in FIN’s Big Listen submission which was based on the experiences of nearly 200 nominees in training providers, employers, colleges and universities.

Areas which Ofsted will consider for reform include:

• The Education Inspection Framework no longer being a one-size-fits-all approach for FE and skills
• Inspectors needing to become more specialist in the provision being inspected
• More guidance from Ofsted on how to improve provision
• A new approach to judging provision for SEND learners
• 5-day inspection notice periods not just being given to large providers 
• Continuation of inspectors being more mindful of their conduct and the wellbeing of provider staff during inspection
• Improvements in Ofsted’s response to complaints.

FIN (Fellowship of Inspection Nominees) did not call for the end of one-word judgements, although we were strongly opposed to the continuing use of ‘inadequate’ to describe a grade 4 outcome. We look forward to participating in the further consultation on the new report card system.

FIN has also advocated the size of inspection teams being more proportionate to the size of the provider. Furthermore a national provider should be assigned a national team of inspectors.

FIN believes that the major step forward is the commitment to support institutions which are struggling. 

FE and skills providers believe that current inspection reports are sanitised and lack either the detail about strengths or insufficient information to expand on the areas for improvement.

Where ‘required Improvement’ (RI) has been the overall judgement, the outcome could be in sharp contrast to the learner and employer survey feedback to Ofsted, which is not published, leaving the provider feeling very unfairly represented. For providers judged RI or inadequate, improvement recommendations and support are essential, especially for independent learning providers who will need to show how they can meet them to remain trading.

FIN will be very interested to see how the criteria and process will change in awarding grades for the sub-categories in the FE sector, but overall we would welcome the reforms being rolled out across all types of provider.

FIN CEO Kerry Boffey said,

“Thank you to FIN members who have contributed. Ofsted have today acknowledged the voice and opinions of our members to the Big Listen. It is fantastic to see FIN members’ experiences and expertise being recognised in the actions being taken forward.

“The Big Listen was a significant step by Ofsted. FIN believes that from here, Ofsted have put themselves in a strong position to become more consistent in making impartial judgements.

“With Ofsted agreeing that the EIF is not working for all types of provision, we should definitely see an increase the number of inspections having a positive impact on learning.”