Ofsted will review further education students' experience of online learning during the coronavirus lockdown, the watchdog announced today.
In the announcement, Ofsted stressed that the review would not be an inspection, and that there would be no inspection judgements or consequences for the provider. It has said that involvement in the review is entirely voluntary.
Ofsted will be working with the Department for Education, the Association of Colleges (AoC), the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and HOLEX to carry out the review this month.
Coronavirus: How much online learning is FE delivering?
Watch: How to teach beauty therapy online
News: FE workforce data shows that college teacher pay is down
The review will provide insights into the sector’s experiences of online education and identify areas of strength and potential for improvement.
Coronavirus: Ofsted looks at colleges' online learning
Sue Pember, director of policy at HOLEX, said that adult and community education providers have worked incredibly hard over the past 10 weeks to deliver a digital offer and have embraced new technology to support the learner experience.
She said: "We now see this form of delivery as an integral part of any future adult offer. Therefore it is excellent that Ofsted is using their time and expertise to evaluate what works, as this will inform future delivery and success of the digital ACE [adult and community education] programmes."
David Corke, Association of Colleges' director of education and skills Policy said: "Colleges have implemented a major shift to online learning, immediately putting in place an online offer for most of their students. The response from colleges has been incredible and many students are engaging well. Ensuring students are able to get the most out of blended learning and that it works for all types of learning is the next step.
"This research will help to inform the longer term strategy for improving the provision while many students remain at home, as social distancing measures are eased albeit slowly and showcase best practice.”
The review will support post-16 providers revisiting their online education strategies, particularly from September 2020 onwards, and will look at the online education that providers are delivering in the light of the necessary social distancing measures.
Insight will be gathered from managers, teachers and trainers, as well as students and apprenticeships, and Ofsted said the review will be published "in due course".
Mark Dawe, chief executive of the AELP, was really pleased about the review. "It will help identify for the future what learning can be done online without adversely affecting quality and in the case of apprenticeships what should be learned on the job, bearing in mind that the true value of an apprenticeship lies in it being a work-based learning programme,” he said.
