Aim 3: to ensure the further education system continuously improves so that colleges and providers aspire to and achieve excellence, and no provision is unsatisfactory.
the further education system, we mean the wide range of organisations that make up the learning and skills sector and the national partners responsible for planning, funding and quality improvement. It includes the staff working in these organisations, including their governing bodies or boards. Collectively the system provides opportunities for individuals from the age of 14 upwards to participate in programmes of learning, training and skills development and learners of all ages to participate in a range of activities, including educational or vocational courses.
This section is also written for all those who work in the further education system including:
| Reference | Actions and tasks showing how the above objectives will be taken forward | Owner(s) | Date to be achieved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | All those working in the system are enabled to self-improve, share effective practice and provide peer-to-peer support | ||
| 3.1.1 | QIA will commission and manage programmes and services to build the sector's capacity for self-improvement, to support them to become more autonomous institutions in an increasingly self-regulated system, speed up the pace of improvement in the lifelong learning sector and help the sector respond to the government's strategic reforms in the provision of learning and skills.
Programmes to support strategic reform and development:
Programmes to support organisational improvement:
QIA will rationalise its programmes to offer a coherent package of support to providers that can be tailored to meet their needs and support their missions. |
QIA | Ongoing |
| 3.1.2 | QIA will launch the Excellence Gateway to provide access to a wide range of improvement products and services tailored to people working at all levels in different types of college and provider organisation. It will bring together in one place existing online resources, including Becta's Learning & Skills web and the Adult Learning Inspectorate's (ALI's) Excalibur. It will provide a comprehensive range of online information, resources and online discussion forums and communities of practice, including:
|
QIA, working with Becta, JISC, NIACE and ALI | Phase 1 launch December 2006, Phase 2 launch by April 2007 |
| 3.1.3 | LLUK will develop a Workforce Strategy for the further education system, working closely with key partners in the further education system and building on the findings of its Sector Skills Agreement. | LLUK | July 2007 |
| 3.1.4 | Ofsted will work with QIA to ensure that inspection findings are used in the development of quality improvement tools which most appropriately match the needs of providers. The ALI/Excalibur Good Practice Database will be continued; examples will be identified through inspection and written up by inspectors. These case studies will be placed on the QIA Excellence Gateway. | Ofsted and QIA | From April 2007 |
| 3.1.5 | LLUK hosts the Information and Advice Service (020 7936 5798), which provides up-to-date information on training and qualification requirements within the further education system, as well as advising on resource availability to support training. The service offers advice to leaders and managers, within colleges and training providers, on the training and development needs of staff. | LLUK | Ongoing |
| 3.1.6 | Ofsted will continue to undertake a number of subject and survey reports each year to assess and report on the quality of provision in the sector. Ofsted will work closely with QIA to promote the dissemination of these reports, especially those sector and subject reports which identify good practice in the sector. | Ofsted and QIA | From April 2007 |
| 3.1.7 | QIA will work with CEL and LSC to develop and roll out a trial programme that enables existing high-quality managers from within the further education system to act as mentors to aspiring high-quality managers. | QIA working with CEL, LSC and the further education system | Development and pilot phase during 2007; rolled out by spring 2008 |
| 3.1.8 | QIA will convert and make available in an online or downloadable format a wealth of existing resources, including those produced by QIA for the National Teaching and Learning Change Programme and previously by the Standards Unit and Skills for Life Strategy Unit.
QIA will ensure that its newly commissioned programmes will produce blended resources which contain a number of e-learning activities, as well as paper based and other media, to maximise take up and impact. Resources will not exclusively target e-learning specialists, as they are intended to reach all practitioners, so a blended solution will be sought which achieves a good balance between printed material, activity sets, material on disc, and the web. QIA programmes for staff development will build on the LLUK standards. |
QIA | From March 2007 |
| 3.1.9 | QIA will investigate and pilot models of peer-referencing for facilitating peer review and the transfer of effective practice between providers, recognising that this requires time and skills to do well. | QIA working with colleges and providers | From 2007 |
| 3.1.10 | QIA, working with Becta, will develop and embed the self-review framework to support the development of effective practice in using technology. The framework underpins the achievement of four key system reform activities to drive reform, enable change, personalise learning and raise standards of skills and achievement. The framework offers all educational providers a tool to drive excellence and improve quality through self improvement; focusing on the learner, workforce, institutional and system e-maturity. | QIA and Becta | By 2008 |
| 3.1.11 | QIA will work with Beacons and other excellent providers to identify case studies on 'how to improve on excellence' and make available through the Excellence Gateway by September 2007. | QIA working with Beacons and other excellent providers | September 2007 |
| 3.2 | Develop strong and effective leaders, including governors, directors, trustees and senior managers | ||
| 3.2.1 | QIA will hold regular consultation events with governing bodies (including boards of directors and trustees) on its programmes and services, to ensure they support the role of governing bodies in leading quality. | QIA working with governing bodies | From summer 2007 |
| 3.2.2 | College governing bodies will be required, subject to ministerial agreement, to have two learner governors instead of one as at present. | DfES | From academic year 2008/09 |
| 3.2.3 | CEL will roll out the Governance Good Practice Guide to provide consistent, accessible and sustainable information on governance issues. The guide will include information on roles, practices and processes plus sample templates of key documents. | CEL working closely with governing bodies in the further education system | From spring 2007 |
| QIA is working closely with the editors of the guide to ensure a coherent approach between its programmes and the guide on the role of governing bodies in leading quality and, from spring 2007, on the sections on employer and learner responsiveness. | QIA | ||
| 3.2.4 | CEL will develop and run a Leadership Skills for Governance portfolio and will develop specific personalised programmes for learner governors to enhance the learner voice and representational learner leadership on governing bodies. | CEL | Ongoing |
| 3.2.5 | LLUK will consult on and develop National Standards for Governance for all those involved in governing bodies across the whole sector, following on from the completion of new Leadership and Management National Occupational Standards, to be launched in spring 2007. | LLUK working in consultation with the further education system | Spring 2008 |
| 3.2.6 | QIA will make available the results from a number of peer-referencing pilots that involve work on governance, which will be used to share good practice across the system. | QIA working with colleges and providers | Autumn 2007 |
| 3.2.7 | CEL will ensure leaders and managers have access to the support they need for their own CPD and to take forward quality improvement in their organisations. | CEL | Ongoing |
| 3.2.8 | CEL will evaluate the five pilots of its Collaboration in Leadership (CiL) programme to support collective assessment and development of leaders within groups of providers. | CEL | By February 2007 |
| 3.2.9 | CEL will develop the Qualifying Programme for Leaders in close consultation with the further education system and the DfES. This will include four discrete pathways:
|
CEL working closely with leaders and aspiring leaders across the system | 2007 |
| 3.2.10 | CEL will run a portfolio of activities to develop the managers of the future:
|
CEL working in consultation with leaders and managers throughout the system | Ongoing |
| 3.2.11 | LLUK will review and re-develop the management and leadership national occupational standards for the further education system to underpin future training and qualifications. | LLUK and CEL in consultation with the further education system | Available from summer 2007 |
| 3.2.12 | QIA runs and further develop programmes that support leaders including:
|
QIA working with LSC, CEL and with leaders and managers in the system | Ongoing |
| 3.2.13 | CEL provides subsidies for underrepresented groups to engage in leadership development; for individuals from BME communities and for individuals with disabilities and who are lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB); and for specialist designated colleges, ACL and WBL providers. | CEL | For disabled and LBG individuals from 2006; for other categories since 2005 |
| 3.3 | |||
| 3.3.1 | Launch and implement the Workforce Development Strategy. | LLUK | July 2007 |
| 3.3.2 | LLUK will develop a framework for initial teacher/tutor/trainer training, incorporating Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status, for those in a full teaching role, with distinct training routes for those in a limited teaching role at Levels 3 and 4.
All new entry trainee teachers will be expected to attain a specific designated award within the teacher qualifications framework within five years of enrolment on the initial 'preparing to teach' award. Those undertaking a full teaching role will be expected to gain QTLS within five years of enrolment. |
LLUK, working with partners across the system | From September 2007 |
| 3.3.3 | LLUK, through its subsidiary company SVUK, will select and appoint the network of Centres for Excellence in Teacher Training to help deliver improved initial teacher training, meeting the new teacher standards. | LLUK | September 2007 |
| 3.3.4 | QIA will link with LLUK and the Professional Body to discuss how other professional development is delivered and good practice is shared. | QIA | September 2007 |
| 3.3.5 | Colleges and other providers will be expected to support trainee teachers through mentoring, initial assessment and teaching observation, in accordance with new regulatory guidance from September 2007, and there will be transition funding in 2007/08 to embed these initiatives. | Colleges and providers | From September 2007 |
| 3.3.6 | LLUK will develop separate national occupational standards for those working in learning support roles and will introduce a new qualifications framework for teaching support staff. | LLUK | September 2007 |
| 3.3.7 | LLUK will introduce a framework for continuing professional development (CPD) for FE teaching staff. | LLUK | September 2007 |
| LLUK will introduce a framework for continuing professional development (CPD) for FE teaching staff. | LLUK | September 2007 | |
| 3.3.8 |
QIA will map its programmes to the regulatory framework and criteria for continuing professional development when they are introduced from September 2007.
QIA will ensure that programmes offer CPD relating to subject specialism and CPD relating to teaching and supporting learning, to support the subject pedagogy needs of teachers, across all forms of professional development (from appropriate date). QIA programmes will seek to exploit the benefits of technology where appropriate, to drive up standards and improve the learner's experience. This will be done through addressing the continuing professional development needs of staff whilst focusing on pedagogy and the creation of resources to be used with learners. Reference will be made to appropriate standards, including accessibility standards, technical standards and the pedagogical e-learning standards produced by LLUK. |
QIA | September 2007 |
| 3.3.9 |
QIA will continue to run the National Teaching Learning and Change Programmes to support the transformation of teaching, training and learning. It includes subject specific teaching and learning resources; subject coaching networks; and professional training for subject coaches. The new Phase 4 programme will cover the following:
|
QIA leading working closely with staff in the system and a number of partners | Ongoing. Phase 4 materials to be launched from April 2007 onwards |
| 3.3.10 | QIA runs the Skills for Life Improvement Programme, which sets a high priority on building the knowledge, skills and confidence of the workforce. It will provide opportunities to fast track through to qualified status and to participate in CPD opportunities that focus on a wide range of issues. | QIA with LLUK and the further education system workforce | Ongoing |
| 3.3.11 | CEL will run programmes to support staff in the further education system including programmes to:
|
CEL, in collaboration with UNISON | Ongoing |
| 3.3.12 | LLUK will strategically lead the activity, which will increase the diversity of the workforce. | LLUK | Ongoing |
| 3.3.13 | LLUK will :
|
LLUK | September 2008 |
| 3.4 | Provide a coherent package of improvement support to help those working in the system implement the Government's reforms and continually improve | ||
| 3.4.1 | CEL will provide a joint programme with the National College of School Leadership to support collaborative leadership to help implement the 14-19 reforms. | CEL | 2006 |
| 3.4.2 | QIA commissions, manages and will further develop programmes that support leaders implementing government reforms, including:
|
QIA working with LSC, DfES, CEL and with leaders and managers in the system | 2006
From autumn 2007 |
| 3.4.3 | CEL, Becta, LSC, DfES and QIA will support the delivery of the government's e-learning strategy, Harnessing Technology, by developing leadership capacity to take account of e-learning and technology in strategic decision-making. | CEL, Becta, LSC, DfES, QIA | 2006 |
| 3.4.4 | QIA will work with QCA and other partners to support colleges and providers as the new Qualification and Credit Framework is introduced. | QIA and QCA | 2007/08 onwards |
| 3.4.5 | QIA will ensure that its programmes and services are based on the needs of the further education system and will build customer feedback into all its programmes as well as holding regular feedback sessions - by these means it will be kept informed of the key issues facing colleges and providers and of how best it can help them deliver excellence. | QIA | From 2007 onwards |
| 3.4.6 | Build on the many examples of successful collaboration in delivering Train to Gain and other areas of provision. The LSC will continue to encourage new and innovative delivery models and promote collaboration to give learners and employers more choice of ways to meet their learning needs. | LSC and QIA | Ongoing |
| 3.4.7 | Jobcentre Plus/DWP is developing its relationships with providers into an increasingly partnership-based approach. Through the national Provision Forum, Jobcentre Plus/DWP wants to work with providers to generate practical suggestions for improving performance, delivery and quality of contracted provision and to encourage and facilitate productive networking and the spreading of good practice, across government as well as within the provider community. | Jobcentre Plus/DWP working with providers | Ongoing |
| 3.5 | The national partners will ensure that the standards and processes for assuring, inspecting and measuring quality are fit for purpose and minimise the burden of bureaucracy | ||
| 3.5.1 | The further education system will work on developing an agreed further education system prospectus on self-regulation to put to ministers. | Colleges and providers | Februsary 2007 |
| 3.5.2 | A new joint inspectorate will be in place. Ofsted will become known as the 'new Ofsted'. A new directorate of learning and skills will be created to encompass the post-16 FE remits of Ofsted and the ALI. A more proportionate approach to inspection is being undertaken which is linked to risk. Factors such as previous inspection grades and changes in provision will affect the degree of intensity of the inspection. High-performing providers will be subject to a light-touch approach; those underperforming will be allocated larger inspection teams with a focus on assessing and grading sector and subject area provision as well as whole college/provider aspects. Assessment visits will be conducted annually in the majority of FE colleges, to monitor progress; in high-performing colleges, inspections are likely to take place every three years, as part of a move towards greater self-regulation. In other providers, Quality Monitoring Inspections will be extended to cover a wider range of providers whose performance is deemed to be satisfactory at inspection or re-inspection. The Ofsted consultation, Proportionate inspection of Further Education Colleges closes in March 2007. | ALI and Ofsted | April 2007 |
| 3.5.3 | Inspection will be extended to all offender learning. | Ofsted | Ongoing |
| 3.5.4 | The Framework for Excellence will be implemented for FE & WBL providers. | LSC | From Sept 2008 with the intention of publishing assessments by 2009 |
| 3.5.5 | The Framework for Excellence will provide a way to measure excellence but excellence will be very different across the many different types and sizes of provider. QIA will work with the further education system and partners to help colleges and providers describe what excellence looks like and what the activities, attitudes and behaviours of excellent colleges and providers are. It will do this through its Beacons and STAR awards programme, its conferences, newsletters and on-line discussions. This will result in case studies, which will be shared through the Excellence Gateway. | LSC and QIA | From January 2007 |
| 3.5.6 | Jobcentre Plus/DWP will introduce Star Rating - a new system of measuring provider performance, it will be an overall assessment made of a providers and provision based on a range of weighted measures which will be a combination of both qualitative and quantitative measures. | JCP | From April 2007 |
| 3.5.7 | The New Standard for employer responsiveness and vocational excellence will provide employers with a clear mark of quality provision that is responsive, of high quality and flexible in nature. | LSC working in partnership with the further education system and employers | Testing to January 2007 and roll-out in Feb 2007 |
| 3.5.8 | QIA will take forward the work on aligning standards initiated by AoC to identify ways to rationalise the standards and minimise the bureaucracy involved for colleges and providers. | QIA with all national partners and the further education system | From April 2007 |
| 3.5.9 | Jobcentre Plus/DWP' Quality Framework provides guidance for providers in understanding what is expected of them in taking forward improvement activities. Jobcentre Plus/DWP will provide advice and support to providers, which may include information on funding programmes run by the QIA. The QIA will work with Jobcentre Plus/DWP to ensure that support to providers who are funded by Jobcentre Plus/DWP and LSC is based on a coherent approach to improvement. | Jobcentre Plus/DWP, QIA with all national partners and the sector | From April 2007 |
| 3.5.10 | Develop a joint project to look at the relevance of the current thinking on public value for the further education system, how its full impact can be measured and how this can be incorporated into the Framework for Excellence. | QIA, CEL, LSC and LLUK working with the further education system | By summer 2007 |
| 3.5.11 | QIA and Ofsted will work with the Higher Education Academy and the Quality Assurance Agency to align support and standards for FE provision delivered in HEIs with HE delivered by colleges and providers. They will also consider issues of progression between the sectors and how we can learn from each other. | QIA and Ofsted | By 2008 |
| 3.5.12 | QIA will work with the Federation of Awarding Bodies, QCA and other partners involved in supporting verification and assessment to examine ways to simplify quality assurance processes and to identify and share effective practice in managing and improving verification and assessment processes. | QIA working with federation of awarding bodies and the further education system | By 2008 |
| 3.5.13 | Work with the improvement agencies in other sectors including in local government, in the National Health Service and the police service, and with improvement agencies in other countries to ensure we can learn about effective improvement and quality assurance practices and processes and identify how we might be able to implement them in the English further education system. | QIA working internationally and across the public sector | Ongoing |
| 3.5.14 | Look at the potential for rationalisation of the existing publicly funded FE institutional landscape to take forward the commitment in the White Paper, Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, to a simpler, lighter landscape with less bureaucracy. The work aims to identify how to further simplify and clarify quality improvement arrangements in response to sector concerns that existing arrangements are complex and lack transparency. The aim is to ensure that high-quality support services are provided efficiently to the sector whilst maximising resources available to the front line. | DfES in consultation with the further education system and all agencies | Decisions will be made March 2007 |
| 3.5.15 | In their work with school sixth forms and on the 14-19 reforms, the national partners will work within the existing arrangements for accountability and improvement in schools as a whole, including, as required with the Secondary National Strategies for schools, local authorities, School Improvement Partners, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, National College of School Leadership, Teacher Development Agency, and schools. | National partners | Ongoing |
| 3.6 | The national partners will identify provision that is, or is at risk of becoming, unsatisfactory, and, working with the organisations involved, develop and implement effective improvement plans and identify alternative sources of provision in those cases where intervention strategies fail to bring provision up to a satisfactory level within an agreed timescale. | ||
| 3.6.1 | Performance will be assessed against the new minimum levels of performance, using the most-recent validated performance data available. | LSC | From 2006/07 planning discussion to affect provision in 2007/08 |
| 3.6.2 | Issue a notice to improve to be used where there is inadequate provision. This provision will be identified through the work of the Inspectorate and from other evidence of poor or failing provision, for example an analysis of success rates. | LSC | From 2006/07 planning round to affect provision in 2007/08. |
| 3.6.3 | Support by QIA's Improvement Advisers will be provided at an early stage where inadequate provision is identified. This support may also be extended prospectively to providers that are satisfactory but not improving. | Ofsted, LSC and QIA | From 2007 |
| 3.6.4 | The LSC will respond to the identification of underperforming provision and ensure that underperforming provision ceases to be funded. | LSC | Progressively from 2006/07 planning round to affect provision in 2007/08 |
| 3.6.5 | Identify alternative sources of provision in those cases where intervention strategies fail to bring improvement up to a satisfactory level within an agreed timescale. | LSC | Progressively from 2006/07 planning round to affect provision in 2007/08 |