The Inclusion Reality Check: Are You Ofsted Ready? Soundbite Edition 830
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 830: 17th January 2026 | The Inclusion Reality Check: Are You Ofsted Ready?
This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here’s a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and thought leaders across FE and Skills this week on FE News.
Gavin’s Reflective Perspective
Are You Ofsted Ready? Unpacking The New Ofsted Inclusion Toolkit
I hope you had a great week. I loved Chris Quickfall’s exclusive article on the new Ofsted Inclusion Toolkit… particularly on planning. This is part 2 of Chris’s mini series, and I found it really helpful.
How Do You Overcome Inclusion Barriers For Learners and Apprentices?
So how do you overcome barriers that learners and apprentices may face… particularly disadvantaged learners with SEND or high-level needs? A bit like the A Team… you need a plan. Not one that sits on a shelf, or in a dusty filing cabinet, or that weird folder on your laptop you didn’t know existed. It needs to be woven into the provider’s culture and embedded in learners’ delivery. How do you plan and support learners who have barriers, without formal EHCP or SEND labels, as they transition from school?
As Chris points out, a significant percentage of learners experience inclusion barriers without having SEND labels or EHCPs. One in three Level 3 apprentices have undiagnosed neurodiversity barriers… they were missed or fell through the net of support at school, don’t have EHCPs or previous SEND labels… but they need support, and at last Ofsted is recognising this! Having a specialist SEND team write a bunch of recommendations, while the tutor takes zero notice, just won’t cut it anymore (at last)! You need to have (if you haven’t already) a plan, an organisation-wide plan of support for all learners.
Chris also shares a bunch of recommendations for Ofsted… but also genuine inclusive practice.
I can’t recommend this article more highly. Check it out.
£200m SEND Training Announced for Colleges and Schools
Interestingly Bridget Phillipson announced £200 Million for SEND training in schools and colleges at the end of this week. Now before you get too excited this is £200 million invested over the course of this Parliament to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery… so that SEND training budget is being proper eeked out, over several years and to hundreds of thousands of educators from nursery, to school and college (again Training Providers not getting a mention here)… could there be plans to support beyond the Post 18 SEND cliff edge of support, that Helen Hayes mentioned in her Solving the SEND Crisis report!? How do we support learners, employers, and all lifelong… surely this should mean additional funding for CPD and training for all Providers, not just schools and colleges?
Bridging the SEND Transition
It also aligns perfectly with our upcoming Bridging the SEND Transition Collective on the 24th April, in partnership with ETF… not just bridging from school to FE… but also the bridge for all those without a formal diagnosis who still have needs… I cannot wait to get cracking on this collective, and ways forward to Bridge that Transition from high complex needs (that are obvious), to those who still need support, and fell through the cracks at school (and probably had a terrible time of it and think education and skills aren’t for them)!
I hope you enjoy Soundbite this week.
Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles
Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week
Why Proposed Apprenticeship Reforms Risk Undermining Construction Skills By Graham Hasting-Evans, Chief Executive, NOCN Group, President of BACH
Looking Ahead at 2026 By Alice Gardner, CEO, the Edge Foundation
Show Us the Plan: The Ofsted Expectation Most Providers Underestimate By Chris Quickfall, CEO of Cognassist
This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!
Building an AI-Resilient Recruitment Process By Karen Handley, Head of Future Careers, Virgin Media O2
Inclusive Schooling and Youth Participation: Bedrock for a thriving education and skills ecosystem By Sharon Gewirtz, Professor of Education at King’s College London and project-lead of the Young Lives Young Futures study.
New Zealand’s Vocational Education System: A Focus on Industry Skills Boards By Stuart G A Martin, Founder of George Angus Consulting.
What’s New in the World of FE?
Announcements
£200m Landmark SEND Training Programme for Every College and School By the Department for Education (DfE)
Leaders in Construction Warn of Risks to Apprenticeships and Skills By NOCN Group and the British Association of Construction Heads (BACH)
Disability Confident Scheme Overhauled to Boost Workplace Standards for Disabled People By the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Voices
The Educational ‘Big Bang’: Why The Microcredentials Explosion Is Imminent And What It All Means By Neil Wolstenholme, Kloodle Chairman
In The Know
We have two Collective Intelligence events planned for 2026… aka Collectives
We have big plans for upcoming Collectives, and you can get involved. One is on SEND in April .. and another on NEETs in June. We have learnt a lot from the recent Green Mindset Collective and we are drawing from this on how to give people more voice, more influence on the report… and to make the report more action focused (the Green Mindset Collective had a playbook for people to use, not just a dusty report that is never accessed, but something usable as a takeaway for the entire sector).
On 24th April 2026, at Tavistock Square in London, join us for the Bridging the SEND Transition Collective in partnership with ETF
On the 2nd June 2026, join us for the Breaking Barriers Collective event in partnership with Edge Foundation, working together collectively to solve the NEET puzzle.
These aren’t conferences; these are collectives. These aren’t lectures or chalk and talk, but interactive: it’s rolling up your sleeves and making real change, where you get involved and actually give real input. These are two massively important Collectives, so join us and help shape the report and sector response!
We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let’s shake up the world of FE together, and catch you next week!
By Danny O’Meara, Operations Manager, FE News and