Ofsted watch: Busy week with good news for most providers

It has been a promising week for all types of FE providers, with 22 positive reports published by the education watchdog.

However, the week wasn’t without its bad news, with three ‘insufficient progress’ early monitoring visits and one provider dropping from grade two to three. Two other providers were also rated ‘requires improvement’.

Crewe Engineering and Design UTC was graded ‘good’ in its first inspection, after the education watchdog found a “nurturing culture” driven by the principal and supported by senior leaders, staff and governors.

Inspectors said students with previous poor experiences of secondary education thrive and develop a strong understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and that governors know the college well and have considerable expertise in the college’s specialisms of engineering, design and manufacturing.

ROC College, a specialist independent college in Devon and part of the charity United Response, was also rated ‘good’ across all provisions in its first ever inspection.

Leaders and managers were commended for promoting high aspirations for learners, resulting in good progress from their starting points.

Ofsted found that learners develop useful skills and positive attitude to learning, with many making better-than-expected progress towards independence.

Meanwhile, East Riding of Yorkshire Council maintained its grade two rating thanks to its leaders’ “clear and ambitious vision for adult education”.

“Managers successfully monitor and improve the performance of staff and tutors,” Ofsted said.

“Consequently, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the previous inspection.”

And Millennium Performing Arts, a dance and drama school, saw its rating increase from grade three to two thanks to improvements in the quality of the apprenticeship provision and the outcomes for students since the previous inspection.

Ofsted said leaders and managers have established an ethos of developing individuals to excel in their performance skills, and that almost all students achieve their diplomas in dance or musical theatre.

Elsewhere, a number of providers received good feedback in their first monitoring visits since they won direct government contracts to deliver apprenticeships and adult education provision.

Adult Training Network Limited was found to have made ‘significant progress’ across the board after establishing a curriculum that closely meets the needs of learners and employers in the local area.

Staff provide “effective initial advice and guidance to learners” to ensure that they place them on the appropriate level of course, Ofsted said.

Fashion – Enter Limited also made ‘significant progress’ in its first visit after developing a well-structured apprenticeship programme for the fashion industry.

Inspectors found leaders and managers work very well with employers to create and fill apprenticeship vacancies, and that employers invest in their apprentices and benefit greatly from the value that the programme brings.

Two employer providers, RPC Containers Limited and R S Fleet Installations, also made ‘significant progress´ in their apprenticeship provisions.

Free to Learn Limited made ‘significant progress’ in two of the provisions and ‘reasonable’ in another, while Creative Process Digital Limited was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in one provision and ‘reasonable progress’ in the other two areas judged.

Also this week, Hadlow College was found to have made ‘reasonable progress’ in all areas in its first Ofsted monitoring visit since it went into administration in May.

East Coast College was also found making ‘reasonable progress’ across the board in its first monitoring visit since it merged with Lowestoft Sixth Form College in August.

Ofsted increased UK Training & Development Limited’s grade from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’ following an improvements in leaders’ rigour with which they monitor the quality of the provision.

However, they have yet to ensure that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good and not enough apprentices achieve their qualifications or achieve high grades.

On the other side, Construction Gateway Limited received a grade three rating from Ofsted in its first inspection, with leaders and managers criticised for not knowing enough about the quality of teaching and learning for apprentices, and not planning effective improvements.

Waltham Forest Chamber of Commerce Training Trust Limited dropped from a grade two to three due to the low number of apprentices achieving their qualifications within planned time and due to trustees not having a good enough overview of the performance of the provider.

Moreover, The Academy Hub received three ‘insufficient progress’ across the board in a monitoring visit, Bior Business School Limited received two ‘insufficient progress’ and one ‘reasonable’, and Home Group Limited received one ‘insufficient progress’ and two ‘reasonable progress’.

Employer provider Vantec and nine private providers – Chrysos H.R. Solutions Limited, NCAL Limited, Rosewood Management Services Limited, Kemble Training Limited, Elevated Knowledge, Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic, Lewtay Training Limited, The Finance and Management Business School and Total Training Company – made ‘reasonable progress’ across all provisions during their first monitoring visits since delivering apprenticeships.