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A new quality and performance framework to inform learners' and employers' choices - Rammell

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION AND SKILLS News Release (2007/0059) issued by The Government News Network on 30 March 2007

Details of a system to give learners and employers clearer assessment of college and learning provider performance were published today by the Government. It will be trialled using a balanced set of scorecard indicators to measure effectiveness and achievement.

The system will support the further education sector in moving closer towards to self-regulation. It will be fully operational by summer 2008 and is being developed in consultation with providers by the LSC, DfES, Ofsted, and QIA.

The framework will provide a transparent basis for employer and learner choice that takes into account all the main aspects of college and provider activity. It will also be a management tool for providers' self-improvement.

For the first time, seven key performance areas, including responsiveness to employers and financial health, will contribute to the providers' overall rating. Key areas have been grouped into three dimensions: effectiveness, responsiveness and finance.

Taken together, the overall rating will deliver a clearer and sharper framework for accountability. The key performance areas build on data already being collected, including the (Ofsted) Common Inspection Framework, New Measures of Success and the new financial audit arrangements.

Launching Framework for Excellence, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Higher and Further Education, Bill Rammell said:

"Further Education makes a huge contribution to our economy and society. This important framework document underpins the sweeping FE reforms we announced last year and will help us realise Lord Leitch's vision for skills set out for our future competitiveness.

"This measure will better enable colleges and providers to manage their own improvement - we want each college and provider to be able to demonstrate how well they are doing in a simple, clear way. Taken with the [QIA] Improvement Strategy and our intervention policy Framework for Excellence adds up to a powerful support package, which will help remove the current complexity around demonstrating achievement. The Framework will show colleges and providers where they are and will help them get to where they want to be. "

Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council, Mark Haysom said:

"Quality of learning is at the heart of the work of the Learning and Skills Council. The Framework for Excellence is a key component in the drive to improve that quality of learning, by moving the sector towards a single, coherent and integrated quality and performance framework, which will support a common culture of self-improvement.

"As high performance becomes the norm and poor performance disappears, the sector will enjoy a well-deserved reputation for public service excellence. The Framework for Excellence will help the sector to deliver the skills and learning which are vital for the long-term economic success of the nation and support moves towards self-regulation."

NOTES TO EDITORS

This press notice applies to England

Framework for Excellence: Raising Standards and Informing Choice is jointly published by the Learning and Skills Council with the Department for Education and Skills, the Office for Standards in Education and the Quality Improvement Agency. It can be viewed in full at http://www.lsc.gov.uk/publications/latestdocuments

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