Background
A former colleague contacted me from the Marketing Department of Truro and Penwith College, in anticipation of a visit from OFSTED inspectors. He asked me for my OFSTED Compliance Check for their website, to ensure that everything that the inspectors were going to be looking for was present, and easy to find.
This was a new service at the time, and I’d recently posted about it on my social media profiles, which he’d seen. He needed the work carried out immediately, as the inspectors were due the following month.
Process
I was able to clear space in my diary, and began work that day. OFSTED helpfully produces a checklist of everything they expect to see, but it’s often the case that internal staff are so familiar with what is on the website that they don’t realise when something is hard to locate, or is an outdated version. My spreadsheet report gives details of every item that I’m looking for, with the exact URL, a publication date for items such as financial reports, and any notes. In this case, there was a key staff appointment that only appeared in the press section, not in the ‘staff’ pages, and a few other items which could do with tweaking. For example, OFSTED would be looking for ‘structure and responsibilities’ of governors, and only the structure was given.
There were probably some instances where the information I was looking for was present on the site, but I was unable to find it. I concluded that, in that case, OFSTED may not be able to find it either, and made suggestions for where it might be relocated, or placed if it was in fact missing.
Result
My former colleague was delighted with the work I did, and the speed with which I produced my report.
- OFSTED compliance check for local HE college
- One-off work with the option to recheck annually, or prior to the next inspection
- Cost: £200
- Duration: 1 week, Nov 2024