DfE ditched provider before Ofsted revealed improvement

A training provider hit by Ofsted’s lowest grade had its government contract torn up a month before inspectors returned and upgraded its apprenticeship achievement judgment by two ratings.

JS Consult Limited, which was the country’s first ITP to get the ‘urgent improvement’ grade when inspected in January, had an 20 per cent official apprenticeship achievement rate for 2023-24.

But inspectors returning for a monitoring visit in July used up-to-date R10 learner data and concluded that “since the previous inspection, leaders’ actions have resulted in a substantial increase in apprentices who complete their course and achieve their qualification”.

The Department for Education had terminated the London provider’s contract in June.

JS Consult received the ‘expected standard’ rating for apprenticeship achievement in a report published on Monday.

The ITP said it had been left “disappointed” by the DfE and called on the department to give providers time to demonstrate progress before terminating contracts.

Four years of failings

During Ofsted’s January inspection, JS Consult had 47 apprentices, with 22 studying the level 3 lead adult care worker apprenticeship.

Inspectors reported that “achievement rates are too low and have been for the previous four years”, adding that too many apprentices have “not been prepared well” for their final assessments and leave their apprenticeship after they achieve their adult care diploma qualification.

Qualification figures for 2024-25, published in March, revealed JS Consult’s overall apprenticeship achievement rate had fallen further to 16.1 per cent.

But JS Consult told FE Week that the Ofsted monitoring team who returned in July used up-to-date R10 learner data provided to the DfE alongside additional evidence of achievement, including end-point assessment certificates for apprentices who had subsequently completed their apprenticeship.

Ofsted confirmed to FE Week that inspectors can use other verified in-year data sources alongside published qualification achievement rates to evaluate achievement, including validated DfE data returns and certificates for learners who have passed their end-point assessment.

Under Ofsted’s new approach, providers receiving the lowest judgment are subject to a monitoring visit within six months of the original inspection.

DfE guidance for ITPs states that where a provider receives an ‘urgent improvement’ judgment for any provider-level or provision-type evaluation area, the department will “consider the provision to be at risk and will assess whether contractual action is required”.

JS Consult had been subject to a suspension on starts from June 2025.

‘Wider questions for sector’

A spokesperson for the firm told FE Week: “We are disappointed the DfE did not wait for the outcome of the monitoring inspection before making the decision to terminate our contract.

“We fully understand the need for intervention where providers are not delivering the required outcomes, but we believe there is an important wider question for the sector about what opportunity providers should have to demonstrate that significant and measurable improvement has been achieved.”

Ofsted’s monitoring report found that leaders had introduced a “comprehensive range of quality improvement activities” over the previous six months, including “suitable” training for tutors and closer working with employers.

The report said more than three quarters of JS Consult’s apprentices who started the level 3 lead adult care apprenticeship were achieving their qualification, with around half getting a merit or distinction.

JS Consult had 21 apprentices in July, including 12 studying the level 3 lead adult care worker apprenticeship. It said it would support all remaining apprentices until completion.

The ITP continues to hold a contract to deliver publicly funded skills bootcamp courses in adult social care.

JS Consult’s spokesperson added: “Our concern is not about avoiding accountability. It is about ensuring that where a provider responds positively to inspection findings, makes substantial improvements and can demonstrate that those improvements are having a real impact on learners and apprentices, there is an opportunity for that progress to be recognised and considered in decisions about the provider’s future.

“We hope that our experience contributes constructively to that wider discussion.”