News
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Fri, 17 Apr 2020
Call for ESOL exams to be replaced by teacher assessment this year
The National Association for Teaching English and Community Languages to Adults (NATECLA) is calling for ESOL exams to be replaced by teacher assessment this year, and for learners to be allowed to continue learning during the summer term without needing to prepare for examinations.
Wed, 15 Apr 2020
Provider achievements from the Education and Training Foundation’s reimagined Study Programme support initiative were showcased at this event held in Birmingham on the 13th of March. View the event Padlet containing the conference booklet, check out the provider presentations and enjoy the beautiful graphical representations captured by the conference visual artist.
Wed, 08 Apr 2020
All routine inspections of schools, further education, early years and social care providers have been suspended in response to the COVID-19 situation. Urgent inspections where specific concerns have been raised can still go ahead however.
Tue, 24 Mar 2020
OTLA English Final Dissemination Event
The Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment (English) programme, commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation and delivered by ccConsultancy, is a collaborative development programme which aims to systematically improve the teaching, learning and assessment of English. Find out more about the OTLA English projects showcased on the 26th of February in Birmingham.
Tue, 03 Mar 2020
Ofsted proposing to withhold inspection reports until complaints are resolved
Ofsted are consulting on proposals for revisions to post-inspection arrangements, including how complaints are handled about their work. The proposals, if agreed, will enable any queries or concerns about an inspection to be addressed quickly and before an inspection report is finalised.
Tue, 03 Mar 2020
OCR to withdraw from providing Functional Skills qualifications
OCR intends to withdraw from providing English and Maths Functional Skills qualifications at Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 at the end of 2020.
Wed, 26 Feb 2020
Mathematics in Further Education Colleges
A new Nuffield-funded report into the state of mathematics education across England’s further education sector has found that major investment in leadership training and teacher professional development is required to make more significant and sustained improvements.
Wed, 05 Feb 2020
Multi-million pound support package to boost the FE workforce
Further education providers across the country are to benefit from a package of support, worth up to £24 million, so they can continue to recruit, retain and develop excellent teachers, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced today (Wednesday 5th February).
Mon, 03 Feb 2020
Building A Writing Community for OTLA English
Andy Convery, Research Lead for the Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment (English) programme, writes a review of two very productive writing days held in December, when teachers, trainers, library staff and volunteers met in York and London to learn how to publish their accounts of researching the realities of effective English teaching for our sector.
Wed, 29 Jan 2020
A new mathematics GCSE curriculum for post-16 resit students
The final report has been published of a project conducted by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) to look into the feasibility of a new maths GCSE curriculum for post-16 resit students. MEI says the new course would be the same level as the foundation tier of the current maths GCSE, giving students the chance to achieve a grade 4 or 5, and would have a focus on the maths needed for every day life and work.
Tue, 21 Jan 2020
Ofsted's Annual Report, published on the 21st of January 2020, presents inspection findings for further education and skills, early years childcare, schools and social care. The report shows that although most providers of Study Programmes are now responding well to the challenge of providing worthwhile non-qualification activity, the less effective providers still have challenges in teaching English and maths.
Thu, 16 Jan 2020
New digital skills qualifications
An update on the progress of Essential Digital Skills Qualifications and Digital Functional Skills Qualifications through Ofqual's technical evaluation process.
Tue, 14 Jan 2020
Advanced Practitioner Programme: Collaborative Projects 2019/2020
The new Education Inspection Framework: what do ‘Intent’, ‘Implementation’ and ‘Impact’ look like in reality? What is brave leadership? Find out how Advanced Practitioners are developing a culture of excellence through collaboration.
Leitch Report and Skills for Life
The final report of the Leitch review of the UK's long term skills needs, published in 2006, called for 95% of British adults to have basic numeracy and literacy by 2020.
Sat, 21 Dec 2019
Adult Participation in Learning Survey 2019
There has been a 10% (almost four million) drop in the number of adults taking skills training since 2010, according to the latest annual assessment of participation rates by the Learning and Work Foundation.
Thu, 19 Dec 2019
This programme, created by Manchester College, aims to improve the assessment of learners resitting GCSE English.
Thu, 19 Dec 2019
Action Research in the Post-16 Sector
Claire Collins, OTLA English programme lead for the ETF, and Dr Catherine McPartland share their experiences of running action research (AR) projects in the post-16 sector, and offer some practical suggestions to support AR projects.
Wed, 18 Dec 2019
OTLA English is phase 6 of the ETF’s Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment programme which aims to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the FE and training sector and support increased professionalism for practitioners in the sector.
Mon, 16 Dec 2019
GCSE reforms have very little effect
Research by the Sutton Trust shows that the GCSE reforms of 2015 have had very little effect on attainment rates, and that the introduction of harder exams and the new grading system has led to a slightly bigger attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged learners.
Thu, 12 Dec 2019
English, maths and digital skills in T Levels
The Education and Training Foundation is supporting teachers to get ready for the development of embedded English, maths and digital (EMD) skills in T Levels. Claire Collins, Director of ccConsultancy, writes on what embedding EMD looks like in practice.
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