Ofsted private inspection deal causes fury at FE colleges

28 Apr 05
Further education colleges have reacted angrily to the news that they are to be inspected by a private company from September.

29 April 2005

Further education colleges have reacted angrily to the news that they are to be inspected by a private company from September.

Ofsted is paying Nord Anglia £26m over four years to inspect all 387 FE and sixth form colleges in England, as well as providing regional inspection services to 2,718 schools in the north of England.

John Brennan, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said colleges had been given no opportunity to assess the implications of such a move.

'Ofsted did not give us any notification that this sort of process was going on,' he said. 'If colleges are dealing with private organisations, it throws up questions of confidence. Nord Anglia will need to prove that it can do the job properly.'

An Ofsted spokeswoman said inspection teams would be led by Her Majesty's Inspectorate but managed by Nord Anglia, which will recruit other inspectors. It was not obliged to consult colleges over the way that inspectors were recruited.

Although Ofsted expects to reduce administration costs, the decision to sub-contract was also designed to increase the number of FE inspectors, added the spokeswoman.

Peter Pendle, chief executive of the Association for College Management, said the news had clearly been 'managed carefully', although he expected Nord Anglia to use many of the self-employed inspectors who work for Ofsted. 'Experience shows that, whenever things are privatised, it's not always done with the best results,' he said.

A total of five companies won the regional schools contracts, which Ofsted estimates will save it about £15m per year.

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