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AELP

Submission 120

Ofsted Big Listen Paper

AELP Submission

AELP Response

Executive Summary

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to Ofsted’s Big Listen. Whilst AELP believes the shift from the Common Inspection Framework to the Education Inspection Framework was a significant step forward for further education we still believe there are evolutionary changes to continue to enhance the value, impact, and fairness of inspection.

In summary, our six recommendations and asks of Ofsted are as follows:

  1. To explore a wider range of inspection grades, including to pass judgement whether or not providers have the “capacity to improve”.
  2. The need to continue to improve consistency of inspection, to ensure providers of all types and sizes are receiving a similar experience.
  3. To ensure parity and fairness, consider broadening out notification periods for all providers, building on the learning gathered from the extension of notice to Large and Complex providers in September 2023.
  4. Review the scope of inspection to only include elements which are funded by the Department for Education or a Combined Authority.
  5. Continue to provide opportunities for providers to access support and guidance directly from inspectors, including opportunities for Nominees to shadow inspection teams.
  6. The future of reporting the outcomes of inspections should be proportional to enable the providers and the public to be able to make informed decisions.

Read the full response here.

AELP's Response to the Ofsted Big Listen

Submission 120

Last published: 30/05/2024