Apprenticeship provider faces closure after achievement rates judgment

An apprenticeship provider handed Ofsted’s lowest grade for poor achievement rates is facing closure after the Department for Education ended its contract.

Hundreds of apprentices at Cherith Simmons Learning and Development LLP now have a month to find alternative providers to complete their training.

The termination followed an Ofsted inspection that resulted in an ‘urgent improvement’ judgment for the provider’s apprenticeship achievement, following years of below-par rates in which barely a quarter of apprentices completed their programmes.

Cherith Simmons is at least the second apprenticeship provider to have its contract terminated after a red rating for the achievement evaluation area under Ofsted’s new report card system.

‘We didn’t really understand QAR’

The DfE’s published qualification achievement rate (QAR) data shows Cherith Simmons’ overall apprenticeship achievement rate was 29.2 per cent in 2023-24, against a national rate of 60.5 per cent. The provider’s rate was 25 per cent the year before.

No QAR data was published for the provider in 2024-25, but its leader has suggested the rate was below 10 per cent.

Achievement was the only area graded ‘urgent improvement’ for Cherith Simmons. It received ‘needs attention’ judgments for inclusion, leadership and governance, and curriculum and teaching, while participation and development was rated ‘expected standard’.

The government served notice to Cherith Simmons at the end of August and rejected the provider’s challenges to the decision.

Karan Kumar, a senior partner at Cherith Simmons, claimed the firm’s apprenticeship accountability framework showed significantly improved achievement rates of more than 60 per cent by September, but the DfE would not consider this “new evidence”.

Kumar co-bought the provider in May 2025 when it was rated ‘good’ across the board by Ofsted. But he appeared to be unaware of the seriousness of poor QARs.

He told FE Week: “We bought a business that Ofsted rated ‘good’. Honestly, at the time we didn’t really understand QAR. On the figure we inherited, achievement stood at 9.7 per cent. That was the hole we had to climb out of. On reflection, we should have dug deeper. But DfE was notified of the change of ownership and didn’t raise any concerns that the provider was failing.”

He added that the DfE imposed restrictions on the number of new apprentices the provider could recruit shortly after the takeover.

Ofsted’s latest report, published in May, said new leaders had “sensibly used their vocational and technical expertise to improve the curriculums and ensure that apprentices develop relevant knowledge and skills”.

However, “despite some progress in supporting apprentices to work towards final assessments, their actions have not been swift enough to have a positive, demonstrable impact on the proportion of apprentices who complete their programme and achieve”, it added.

‘What message does this send?’

In an email to apprentices and employers this week, Kumar said: “Unfortunately, I am writing to share some very sad and disappointing news. The DfE has decided to terminate our contract to deliver apprenticeships.”

He added that employers and apprentices would need to transfer to a new training provider from 26 November to continue their programmes.

The provider specialised in training apprentices in health and social care, digital technology, business management, water treatment and catering. Most apprentices study at level 5 or level 7.

It had almost 200 apprentices at the time of Ofsted’s inspection.

The provider “recognises this is an unsettling situation”, the email said, and would “continue to work closely with apprentices, employers and any new provider throughout the handover period”.

Kumar said his team was “extremely disappointed” by the DfE’s decision, adding that they have worked “incredibly hard” to support apprentices since acquisition of the firm. He reiterated his claim that since Ofsted’s inspection began in January, the provider’s achievement rate has risen to more than 60 per cent.

He said: “We went from 9.7 per cent to 62.8 per cent. Our accountability framework is all green. If that isn’t enough, what message does it send to every provider that inherits a problem and works to fix it? It tells them not to bother.”

The provider, which mostly employs freelance tutors and a handful of full-time staff, now faces potential closure as apprenticeships was its only operation.