Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the impartiality of Ofsted of that organisation being responsible for the inspection of the quality of apprenticeships.

Ofsted is a non-ministerial department, which reports directly to Parliament. It inspects services providing education and skills for learners of all ages and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. Its role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training and care services in England for children and students do so to a high standard. Ofsted inspects a range of provider types and different types of provision, including apprenticeships. It does so impartially, as an independent body.

For more information on how Ofsted inspects apprenticeships, please see the current Further Education and Skills Inspection Handbook here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-inspection-handbook An updated version of the Handbook, released under the new Education Inspection Framework, is due to take effect from September 2019 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-inspection-handbook-eif