A new apprenticeship provider that was suspended from recruiting learners last year has been rated ‘inadequate’ in its first full inspection, in what was otherwise an average week for the FE sector.

The only other bad report came in for Prospects Training International Limited, which trades a Geason Training and was bought out in a multimillion pound deal in December by Speedy, one of the UK’s leading tool hire services company.

It was allowed to recruit over 1,000 apprentices before being inspected and when Ofsted went knocking they found it making ‘insufficient progress’. Read the full story here.

Mooreskills Limited was the provider hit with a grade four this week, following a highly critical ‘insufficient’ monitoring visit report published in May last year.

Its full inspection report found “too many apprentices do not develop substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours and make slow progress on their apprenticeship programmes, having passed their planned end date”.

Apprentices are “often already skilled and very experienced in their role”, inspectors added.

The company had 177 apprentices at the time of the visit. The vast majority are enrolled on new standards, mainly on retailing and wholesaling, administration, team leading, business management or leadership apprenticeships.

They are based airports and businesses around the country including London Heathrow.

This week’s report said directors at the Birkenhead-based provider failed to deal with the issues raised in the earlier visit, with too many apprentices still not receiving their entitlement of time away from their job role to complete training.

The provider is now expected to be kicked off the government’s register of apprenticeship training providers and banned from delivering apprenticeships.

In better news, T.M.S Learning and Skills Support Limited received a follow-up monitoring visit after being found making ‘insufficient progress’ in its safeguarding provision in a report published in January. Ofsted has now found the provider making ‘significant progress’, with the director being “highly effective” in improving arrangements to safeguard apprentices.

And Alpha Care Agency Limited, a London-based provider of health and social care apprenticeships, has been recognised for making ‘reasonable progress’ after being given a grade three rating in March last year.

The watchdog said senior leaders have since expanded the membership of the board and secured new members with expertise in training, education and the care industry. They have also put in place more comprehensive arrangements to identify where improvements in teaching, learning and assessment are needed.

Elsewhere, independent learning providers Train 4 Limited, DiVA Apprenticeships Limited, Hybrid Technical Services Limited and Acacia Training and Development Limited were all found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ across all their provisions during their first-ever monitoring visits since they started delivering apprenticeships.

Equally, employer provider Jet2.com and University of Leeds were found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ in their first Ofsted visits.

Jet2.com, which offers four-year aircraft maintenance fitter/technician apprenticeships at level 3, was recognised for having leaders with excellent knowledge of, and experience in, the aviation industry, which they use to very good effect. Ofsted said they plan a “coherent and highly relevant” on- and off-the job training.

The watchdog said learners at the University of Leeds gain the new skills, knowledge and behaviours that they need in their job roles as healthcare assistant practitioners and nursing associates, profiting from “effective teaching and learning in well-resourced classrooms and laboratories”.

Independent Learning Providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Prospects Training International Limited 25/04/2019 05/06/2019 M n/a
Train 4 Limited 26/04/2019 05/06/2019 M n/a
DiVA Apprenticeships Ltd 27/04/2019 07/06/2019 M n/a
Mooreskills Ltd 10/04/2019 03/06/2019 4 n/a
T.M.S Learning And Skills Support Ltd. 09/05/2019 07/06/2019 M n/a
Hybrid Technical Services Limited 01/05/2019 07/06/2019 M n/a
Acacia Training and Development Ltd 02/05/2019 05/06/2019 M n/a
Alpha Care Agency Limited 25/04/2019 07/06/2019 M 3

 

Employer providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Jet2.Com Limited 09/05/2019 03/06/2019 M n/a

 

Other (including UTCs) Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
University of Leeds 08/05/2019 03/06/2019 M n/a

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