Inspection
24.Until the provisions of this Act come into force, responsibility for inspecting publicly-funded post-16 education and training provision in England will continue to lie with three bodies.
OFSTED is the Office for Standards in Education, a non-Ministerial Government Department, comprising Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) and his staff, including inspectors known as Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools. The School Inspections Act 1996 set out HMCI’s functions in relation to the inspection of schools, including school sixth forms. Section 55 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 deals with HMCI’s inspection of LEA provision other than schools and the youth service.
The Further Education Inspectorate is the inspectorate arm of the FEFCE and is responsible for assessing the quality of education provided in institutions within the FE sector. Section 9(1)(a) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 places a duty on the FEFCs to secure that provision is made for assessing the quality of education provided within the further education sector.
The Training Inspectorate is the operational arm of the Training Standards Council (TSC). The TSC is a private company limited by guarantee, set up to inspect all publicly funded work-based training. It is funded by Government, under powers contained in section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973, to undertake inspection. It operates on an annual contract with Government.
25.The Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales (Estyn), a non-Ministerial Government Department comprising Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector and her staff, inspects post-16 education and training provision in Wales. The School Inspections Act 1996 sets out Estyn’s functions in relation to the inspection of schools, including schools’ sixth forms. Section 55 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 deals with Estyn’s inspection of LEAs’ post-16 provision other than in schools. Section 9 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 places a duty on the FEFCW to secure that provision is made for assessing the quality of education provided in the further education sector, and the Funding Council contracts with Estyn for this purpose. The Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 enables Estyn to inspect TECs’ training and training-related programmes in Wales.
