• Find an adult learning and skills inspection report
• Understanding an adult learning and skills inspection report
• Types of adult learning and skills Ofsted inspects
• Inspecting adult learning and skills
  • Inspecting further education and skills
  • Inspecting residential provision in colleges
  • Inspecting initial teacher education
• About our survey reports
• How to complain

Inspecting further education and skills

We inspect further education and skills to provide information to learners and users, promote improvement, and gather evidence to see how well a provider is performing. Ofsted evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of the education and training provided and look at how it meets the needs of learners. Learners can use the report when deciding which provider will suit them best. We always value feedback from learners.

When we inspect, inspectors use a framework to guide them through the inspection. 

• Different inspectors may look at one or more aspects that relate to areas covered in the Common Inspection Framework for Further Education and Skills 2009.

A full inspection will normally last between three and five days. There will be a planning meeting before this for learners or learner representatives. 

The number of inspectors varies depending on the size and type of provider, how many learners they have, the geographical spread and range of the provision. 

This may involve, for example, one inspector looking at the type of provision for learners aged 16 to 18 and 19+, which may be apprenticeships, Train to Gain or programmes to help people get into work. Other inspectors will spend two to four days looking at the various subject areas. 

All of this will involve talking to learners, visiting classes and inspecting learning in the workplace. Inspectors will seek learners’ views and if necessary, visit or telephone them. 

We will look at the organisation’s self-assessment report which provides the starting point for inspectors and includes the views of learners. 

For further information, go to The self-assessment report.