HC Deb 28 October 1999 vol 336 cc982-3W
Mrs. Heal

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to undertake area inspections of 16 to 19 years provision. [96731]

Mr. Wicks

In its White Paper "Learning to Succeed—a New Framework for post-16 Learning" the Government looked to Ofsted to lead area-wide inspections of 16–19 education and training, encompassing all providers. From 2001 these inspections will be partnership with the proposed new adult inspectorate; prior to that the work will be done jointly with the FEFC Inspectorate and the Training Standards Council.

The programme of inspections will commence in autumn 1999 and will focus in some cases on areas where the challenge to raise achievement and participation is particularly acute. For inspection purposes, areas will usually be single LEAs, but they may comprise more than one LEA, or part of a large LEA.

Most school sixth forms, colleges and major training providers in the area will be visited in the course of the inspection, but the emphasis will be on provision in the area as a whole, rather than on individual organisations. Inspectors may draw on evidence from other recent or current inspections of individual institutions or providers, in complementing, rather than duplicating inspection activity.

The inspections will be in two stages. In the first, the focus will be on visits to institutions and providers to gather and interpret evidence on performance, curriculum and programmes, and cost/resource issues, and to meet staff and students or trainees. In the second stage, usually several weeks later, inspectors will visit a sample of lessons/sessions to assess the quality of what is provided and students' and trainees' responses to it. In addition, certain themes, such as guidance, will be addressed across the different sectors. Inspectors will also consider the contribution of the LEA(s), the local TEC(s) and the Careers Service to 16–19 provision in the area, and will take account of available information on the local market and skills needs.

Each inspection will result in a published report which will include judgments on:

  • the standards achieved and quality of provision in the area;
  • the range and coherence of provision available;
  • the value for money provided.

By commenting on the match of provision to local demand, the inspection programme will provide a basis for future planning of 16–19 education and training.