It will come as no shock to those in further education that Ofsted inspection places a significant amount of stress on educators and senior leaders. While this has been common knowledge in education circles since inspections began in the mid-90s, Ofsted have been slow in recognising the additional workload required in the run up to inspection.
A 2019 Ofsted report (schools and FE) on the wellbeing of education staff found that Ofsted inspections greatly add to stress and workload. This includes completing ‘tick-box’ tasks devised by senior leadership in the run up to inspection, and excessive paperwork surrounding compliance.
Educators cited working long hours due to an ‘evidence’ culture, with the need to create data on progress for governors and Ofsted. They described a shift in focus from student needs towards an emphasis on test outcomes.
As such, further education leaders can benefit their organisations by ensuring they have they right digital solutions in place to make compliance easier. This will mean automating systems where possible through the implementation of software that takes the burden of administration away from educators and the senior leadership team.
If not already done so, putting an efficient Learner Management System in place is an area of high priority. Senior leaders should consider whether their existing LMS is fit for purpose, and whether it truly saves time for educators.
The ideal LMS should be automatically updated with the latest funding submission requirements, ensuring ILR data is optimised to receive the maximum level of ESFA funding. ILR data should be easy to input, view, and export, and the system should require minimal training.
With PICS, the industry leading LMS from Advanced, it’s easy to set up automation with workflows, saving significant time for the user. PICS also stands well above the competition when it comes to the accuracy of ESFA data, so you can be certain of the latest funding requirements.
Strategic planning now forms a big part of Ofsted inspection, and with our QAR report, you can not only evidence achievement, retention, and pass rates for the current year, but can provide an Achievement Rate Forecast for future attainment. QAR data can be presented as interactive reports, giving immediate and clear visualisation.
Strategic assessment is also delivered through the Smart Coach module of Smart Assessor, our Eportfolio solution that works seamlessly with PICS. Using intelligent AI, Smart Coach produces a highly accurate risk assessment, giving you early intervention in order to reduce attrition. This ensures you maintain maximum funding, and provides evidence of the learner journey for Ofsted.
With PICS, administrative burden is greatly reduced with inbuilt programme templates. The user can easily create customisable templates, streamlining the onboarding process for new learners. PICS saves further time through the validation feature, which produces a list of any validation errors found, ensuring all current-year learners are accepted for ESFA funding.
