Study Programme delivery location

Now, here's the thing, I immediately thought "oh, they expect it to be at least 80% face-to-face in-person" but, of course, I've no idea where this is written down, or whether "they" are ESFA or Ofsted...

The Rule (P100) is timetabled, organised or supervised by the institution, and takes place within normal working hours, so *timetabled* is the key, per para 111:

111: Virtual or distance learning elements of the study programme must be planned, timetabled and organised by the institution.

So, it's OK to have sessions on zoom/teams as long as it's there on the timetable.

I'll keep looking for the 80% thing.

Great, thanks Steve.

My manager has since told me that our internal policy is that online delivery is kept to a minimum and the majority of the programme should be delivered face to face, I'm guessing this is for Ofsted purposes.

 

Ah, here we go (kinda):

16 to 19 study programmes guidance: 2023 to 2024 academic year - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

To ensure students are fully engaged and supported with their learning, it is expected that the significant majority of planned hours of all 16 to 19 study programmes (and the constituent elements that make up a study programme – for example, substantive qualifications or English and maths) – are delivered face to face, with students attending on-site every week during term time.

Section 3: Delivering study programmes - Updated 03-08-2023

Mode of delivery

During the COVID-19 pandemic, further education providers made extensive use of remote and online learning to maintain delivery, and, in doing so, have significantly increased their capability to deliver online and use education technology and digital resources to support delivery. As a result, many providers are now considering how they might make greater use of digital in the design and delivery of their curriculum.

The following guidelines aim to support providers in these decisions.

In all circumstances, quality should be the key criterion for determining the use of remote and online learning. Remote or online delivery should not replace face to face provision where the drivers for its deployment are primarily non-educational in nature – for example, cost savings or administrative efficiency.

The criteria for judging quality and sufficiency of provision as set out in the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework and FE and Skills Handbook, apply to all ESFA-funded provision regardless of the mode of delivery.

To ensure students are fully engaged and supported with their learning, it is expected that the significant majority of planned hours of all 16 to 19 study programmes (and the constituent elements that make up a study programme – for example, substantive qualifications or English and maths) – are delivered face to face, with students attending on-site every week during term time.

Providers should not assume that all students can successfully study remotely and online. It is the responsibility of providers that decide to use online learning as part of their delivery of 16 to 19 study programmes that every student has access to a learning environment, device and connectivity suitable for learning online or remotely.

Where providers opt to use remote and online delivery, they must ensure that practitioners have access to relevant training, support and guidance to effectively teach remotely and online.

In making decisions concerning the use of remote and online delivery, providers should also be considerate of the wider socio-economic and wellbeing implications of remote and online learning – for example, parents and students may have legitimate reservations regarding the appropriateness of spending significant amounts of time studying from home (unless this is required through national or local restrictions in response to an emergency or public health incident, such as COVID-19).

Thank you Steve and Chris, incredibly helpful

One thing I would consider is what attendance value you add in for the distance delivery. On our last audit remote delivery wasn't accepted by the auditors as delivered hours. 

Thanks Chris. We have a study programme tender and one of the providers asked if some of the core qualification could be delivered on zoom in a workshop setting. They believe it will improve retention, I’m not so convinced this is their true reason.

Chris Roberts "On our last audit remote delivery wasn't accepted by the auditors as delivered hours." EH??? I assume you're talking about synchronous, timetabled lessons that just happened to be delivered via zoom/teams/moodle?