OfSTED Inspecting further education and skills providers
OfSTED has published a number of updates to its guidance for the inspection of further education and skills providers. One of the areas that we thought might be interesting to focus on in a bit more detail was the list of information that OfSTED expects further education and skills providers to have available at the start of an inspection and how Stedfast can help with the preparation for an inspection.
Pre Inspection Information
Ofsted inspectors do not expect you to prepare anything extra for an inspection but do consider the following information to be presented (where relevant):
an overview of the provider’s working day, timetables and work-based activity during the week of the inspection
strategic and operational business plans
evidence of the work of governors, board members or other supervisory bodies and their impact
evidence of contractual arrangements with employers funding apprenticeships and with subcontractors
updated information relating to the self-assessment report
development/quality improvement plans, operating statements, subject area plans, staff development plans and action plans arising from inspection, programme review or self-assessment
details of staff qualifications and experience and of staff development activity over the last 2 years
anonymised information on the performance management of staff
evidence of compliance with the relevant safeguarding requirements; for example, an up-to-date list of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for staff, as required
access to the logs that record complaints, incidents of poor behaviour, racist incidents and incidents of bullying or those relating to radicalisation or extremism
a range of learners’ work, including marked work
access to virtual learning environments and/or learner management systems
records of observations of teaching, learning and assessment or support, information and advice sessions
timetables and schedules of activities involving learners during the week of the inspection (showing locations and staff)
complete and up-to-date data on learner numbers, achievements and destinations
complete and up-to-date data on the progress that learners have made since they enrolled
attendance data for classes and training sessions, including English and mathematics
minutes from key meetings, including those with community links and employers to develop the curriculum
information about the provider’s organisation with staff names and responsibilities
names and email addresses of any employers and/or subcontractors whose premises the inspection team intends to visit
details of any changes to normal routines during the week of inspection
How can Stedfast help?
There are a number of areas where Stedfast can support further education and skills providers in preparation for an inspection. First, these points can be converted into an assessment plan, and anyone involved with inspection preparation can review this list and add findings and actions.

Stedfast will also produce reports that are relevant to inspectors. Organisations will be able to create outcomes assessment plans for:
Strategic plans
Business plans
Self Assessment Reports
Quality Improvement Plans
Subject area reviews
Operating statements
We will also launch our policies and procedures module in the next few weeks, supporting additional evidence production for any OfSTED inspection.
Reviewers will be able to add their findings for each of the outcome measures, and where there are still missing or weak examples of evidence, this can be added to this review action plan.

For further information about Stedfast and how it can support your organisation in preparing for an OfSTED inspection then, please contact us for an online demonstration.