Ofsted will not treat FE learners like children when it brings in a new judgement for students’ “behaviour and attitudes”, the chief inspector has insisted.

The focus on students’ behaviour in school settings in the new framework, on which the consultation launched today, had prompted some concerns about how this would be interpreted in FE inspections.

In July 2018, Bedford College principal Ian Pryce warned that a “narrower focus and raising the stakes on behaviour will lead to all sorts of silly decisions like we see in schools – acceptable haircut policies, the outlawing of jewellery and tattoos, rules on how to address teachers, greater conformity, none of which will prepare people for the real world”.

But speaking after the launch of the consultation on the new framework today at the Sixth Form Colleges Association, Amanda Spielman said inspectors would not expect “17-year-olds to be treated like nursery children”. “What’s in there is appropriate for the kind of education, and the age and stage is absolutely crucial,” she told Tes.

‘Behaviour doesn’t look the same in FE as it does in a primary’

She added: “I think we’ve got to the place where we’ve got something that reflects what are the things we ought to be concerned about at each age stage, and we have managed to avoid anything that expects 17-year-olds to be treated like nursery children – staff guarding secure gates and what have you.

"But if we’ve slipped up and overlooked anything, that’s the joy of consultation periods, isn’t it? People can point out when you’ve got it wrong.”

Matthew Purves, Ofsted’s deputy director for schools, added: “You’re right that behaviour doesn’t look the same in FE that it does in a primary school.

“There are certain behaviours that you need if you’re going to succeed in life. If you’re going to turn up for a job, turning up on time, presented in the right way; those are the sort of things that FE colleges make sure the learners [do]. And also attitudes: attitudes are really important in there.”