On 10 April, the Government announced that it has abandoned plans to register and inspect out-of-school education settings.
In a report on their call for evidence they said: ‘we have decided not to pursue the model proposed in our call for evidence but instead intend to develop further the evidence base for a national approach, including future legislation where gaps in existing powers are identified.’
In deciding not to pursue their proposals to register settings that teach for more than 6 to 8 hours a week, the Government have acknowledged the concerns in the 73% of formal responses which rejected this proposal. Responses to the call for evidence also highlighted deep reservations about Ofsted having a role in investigating out-of-school settings: around 75% of responses disagreed with this proposal. The Government noted that these responses ‘expressed concerns about Ofsted’s capacity, expertise and neutrality in dealing with such settings.’
