How DfE maintains oversight of Independent Training Providers (ITPs)
Guidance for ITPs explaining how DfE will take action to address the potential risk of failure.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance will be updated in March 2026 to reflect recent changes to Ofsted’s education inspection framework and DfE’s apprenticeship training provider accountability framework (AAF) and post-16 education and skills white paper.
DfE will use report card judgements from any Ofsted inspections and AAF revisions to inform its ongoing programme of assurance. Any interventions will continue to be considered under the terms of provider funding agreements and contracts.
This publication provides operational guidance for ITPs explaining how DfE will take action to address the potential risk of failure.
ITPs includes a range of different legal entities with which the DfE contracts. In this guidance we use the terms ITPs or providers to mean:
- independent learning providers
- independent specialist providers
- charitable and commercial providers
- special post-16 institutions (note that in this case the term contract in this document refers to the grant funding agreement)
- employer providers
Updates to this page
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This guidance will be updated in March 2026 to reflect recent changes to Ofsted’s education inspection framework and DfE's apprenticeship training provider accountability framework (AAF) and post-16 education and skills white paper.
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We have updated the operational guide to reflect changes to RoATP, subcontracting, funding high risk organisations, establishment of a Large Provider Team and a new section on ESFA approach to investigations.
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Added information to contract enforcement section.
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First published.