EuroSkills 2018: ‘Awesome’ finish to competitions for Team UK

It’s been a tiring and testing week but Team UK are feeling “amazing” and “awesome” to have today finished competitions at EuroSkills 2018.

Hairdressing competitor Gavin Jon Kyte, who works and trains at Reds Hair Company in Herefordshire, had huge support from friends and family throughout his journey in Budapest.

“I didn’t even know my friends and family were stood there but to see them when I finished was awesome,” he told FE Week.

“I’m quite happy with what I’ve done but it is a waiting game now and see what happens tomorrow.

“I completed six tests – colouring, cutting, men’s and women’s hair, perming and bridal hair.

“I gave it all my hardest and the best I could and we’ll see where we can go from there. It was a fantastic experience.”

Holly-Mae Cottterell (pictured above), Team UK’s beauty therapist who’s also from Reds Hair Company, felt great when that final claxon went.

“I’m feeling amazing, pretty tired as well and these three days have been stressful but so worth it,” she said.

“I did the best I could and couldn’t ask any more from myself. That’s all I wanted, to give my maximum effort and that’s what I did.”

Collette Gorvett, who has gone from working in a burger bar in Swansea to The Ritz since taking part in the WorldSkills process, said:“Overall it has gone okay but we’ll see tomorrow night.

“My first day was in fine dining and then I moved on to the bar section and my final day was bistro for casual dining.”

Asked if she was phased by the thousands of spectators watching on, Collette replied:  “I didn’t notice anyone looking at me I was so concentrating on the task and making sure I was doing everything with a smile and confidence.”

She said she’s “up against a tough couple of competitors” and her “fingers are crossed for everybody”.

Thomas Lewis, who was chosen over his twin brother in the same skill during Squad UK to compete in Budapest, described to FE Week how he was feeling after the final day.

“I feel good and well happy that I finished the job, feeling knackered as well,” he said.

“I’m happy with what I done, a couple of things I would have changed but I tried my best and give it everything I could.”

Matthew Barton, who competed in plumbing and heating and is from Kendal College, told FE Week he was feeling “great but knackered” after completing his tasks.

“Nationals was pretty mad but this was at another level, it has been a good test,” he said.

“It’s made it a hell of a lot better with the team just having them around and the squad leaders they’ve been so much help, it’s been great.

“Tomorrow I want to relax and hopefully I can get some sort of medal.”

And Highbury College web designer Lewis Newton was ecstatic with his experience.

Tomorrow night will be the closing ceremony of EuroSkills 2018 where we’ll find out which of Team UK’s 22 competitors finished in the top three in their disciplines.

FE Week is proud media partner of WorldSkills UK and will be covering the event live.

You beauty! Team UK wins gold at EuroSkills 2018

Team UK is celebrating tonight after competitors bagged one gold and three bronze medals to retain its top-10 position at EuroSkills.

The team finished in ninth place overall when these successes were combined with its medallion of excellence haul of seven.

Picking up Team UK’s gold was Holly-Mae Cotterell (pictured), who was voted Europe’s best beauty therapist.

She also won Team UK’s Best of Nation award.

The 20-year-old, who works and trains at Reds Hair Company in Herefordshire,  told FE Week after completing the competition yesterday that she was feeling “amazing”.

And she felt just as amazing after claiming gold.

Holly celebrated gold at a sparkling closing ceremony in front of thousands of spectators tonight at the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, which was streamed live for the world to watch.

Team UK’s bronze medallists included mechatronics duo from Toyota Danny Slater and Jack Dakin.

They were lost for words following their success.

Mechanical engineering CAD competitor Ross Megahy from New College Lanarkshire also picked up a bronze.

And hairdresser Gavin Jon Kyte, who is also from Reds Hair Company, was “buzzing” to also come third in his skill.

Medallions of excellence were awarded to: ICT specialists Cameron Barr and Shane Carpenter; cooking competitor Nicolle Finnie; florist Elizabeth Newcombe; welder Scott Kerr; plumbing and heating competitor Matthew Barton; restaurant services competitor Collette Gorvett; and joiner Christopher Caine.

Dr Neil Bentley, chief executive of WorldSkills UK, said: “This is a fantastic result for Team UK and the country as a whole. We were gunning for a top ten position and we got it.

“These brilliant young people – training and preparing them to be among the very best across Europe – are the UK’s new generation of high flyers.”

He added that Budapest was a “litmus test” to see how the UK might fare when it leaves the European Union next year.

“We had an amazing result and the team worked incredibly hard, but we can’t be complacent,” said Dr Bentley.

“Other countries across Europe are investing heavily in skills development, and we need to ensure we don’t fall behind.

“Governments, employers and the education sector must embrace this success and use the energy and momentum generated here to inspire to help propel economic growth and productivity.”

Having triumphed through regional heats, a national final, Team UK selection process and months of intensive training, the 22 young trades people spent three days in gruelling competition at the 10th  EuroSkills finals beginning Wednesday, September 26.

They were among more than 500 other competitors from 27 other nations, who are specialists in 35 different skills from hairdressing to heavy truck maintenance, and plumbing to mechatronics.

Keep an eye out for FE Week’s souvenir supplement covering TeamUK’s journey to EuroSkills Budapest 2018, published next week in partnership with Pearson.

EuroSkills 2018 Budapest: watch the closing ceremony LIVE

The 10th EuroSkills will draw to a close tonight after 28 countries completed three gruelling days of competition.

A closing and awards ceremony will be streamed live from Budapest from 6.30pm BST and finish at 8.30pm where we will find out how Team UK performed.

Representing the UK was 22 young trades people who competed against 500 other competitors from around Europe in skills ranging from mechanical engineering CAD to cooking.

Tonight’s ceremony will be held at the biggest sporting complex in Hungary, Papp László Budapest Sportaréna.

Up for grabs tonight are gold, silver and bronze medals for the top three competitors in each skills. Competitors will be given a medallion of excellence if they reach the international standard in their skill.

Watch the closing ceremony live here.

FE Week is proud to be the official media partners for Team UK and WorldSkills UK.

 

Revealed: DfE damning investigation into 3aaa

Crisis-hit Aspire Achieve Advance was given a £7 million apprenticeships contract increase two years ago despite an investigation that found dozens of funding and success rate “overclaims”, FE Week can reveal.

In recent weeks the apprenticeship giant has come under heavy scrutiny after its co-founders resigned and the Education and Skills Funding Agency suspended it from recruiting apprentices in the midst of a government investigation.

Now, FE Week has discovered that the training provider, better known as 3aaa, was subject to a separate investigation by the ESFA in 2016 – which is understood to have resulted in the company paying back a substantial six figure sum.

This raises further questions whether too much money is going to larger providers

Auditing firm KPMG was called in following claims by a whistleblower about non-compliance with funding rules.

‘Project vanilla’, as it was code named, was treated with “high confidentiality” and is only known by a select few people at 3aaa and the Department for Education.

The report has now been leaked to FE Week (read it in full here).

The whistleblower claims included: incorrect start dates resulting in failure to reach minimum duration; incorrect use of “break in learning” status which is inflating success rates; apprentices with long periods without learning activity.

The probe found dozens of “errors which support the allegations or which have an impact on funding of success rates”.

All monthly payments to 3aaa were stopped during the investigation, but resumed when it was concluded, at which point the provider was then rewarded with a £7 million increase to its in-year allocation.

MP Robert Halfon, a former skills minister and current chair of the education select committee, expressed concern after FE Week showed him the findings.

“Clearly 3aaa was allowed to expand their apprenticeship provision very quickly and the funding investigation in 2016 raises significant questions,” he said.

“Apparently a further £7 million was passed over to 3aaa after the investigation highlighted concerns.

“In light of the Learndirect ‘too big to fail’ debacle, this raises further questions whether too much money is going to larger providers.

“I will be calling for reassurances that the DfE/ESFA acts swiftly and in the interest of protecting public funds and particularly in safeguarding apprentices.”

KPMG “primarily” held discussions with 3aaa owners Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson as well as the provider’s resources director at the time, Lee Marples, during the investigation.

They sampled 663 apprentice records. The findings included apprentices not completing their minimum duration of 366 days; recorded as being on a “break in learning” when they should have been withdrawn; and where there was no evidence of learning for more than six months.

Instances were also found where “documents such as individual learning plans, enrolment/applications forms, and apprenticeship and learning agreements were incomplete”, including dates and signatures missing. Investigators also found some documents, “mainly the enrolment forms”, were missing from the learner files and for 87 apprentices their signature was dated an average of 108 days after the start date in the data.

The investigation report also detailed where the “provider confirmed that funding had been over-claimed”, such as for recording withdrawals in the wrong period and for functional skills qualifications that had been “deleted” from the data “as the provider was informed that the learner was no longer required to complete these learning aims”.

The report states that the ESFA should consider the “funding and success rate impact”.

The investigation report does not quantify the value of any over or under-claims, but FE Week understands 3aaa had a substantial six figure sum deducted from subsequent payments.

“We have not identified any evidence of deliberate circumvention of funding rules by the provider,” the investigators said.

A spokesperson for 3aaa said the provider could not comment on the report, due to confidentiality agreements.

The DfE said: “We do not comment on any investigations, ongoing or otherwise.”

The ESFA’s current investigation into 3aaa was sparked earlier this year when a whistleblower approached the agency with new claims about its business.

Owing to this, Ofsted declared its latest inspection of the provider, which was expected to result in another “outstanding” rating, as incomplete in June.

Mr Marples and Ms McEvoy-Robinson, who set up 3aaa in 2008, resigned from their roles as the company’s chief executive and main director respectively last week.

The provider was then suspended from recruiting apprentices, but FE Week later revealed that senior employees had been “instructed” to tell its staff to not date any paperwork for “planned enrolments”.

3aaa had the largest allocation for non-levy apprenticeships last year at nearly £22 million. Its overall ESFA allocations totalled more than £31 million.

ESFA ready to roll-out Trip Advisor-style review feature for apprenticeship programmes

Employers will soon be posting scores and reviews of their apprenticeship provider in an online review tool similar to Trip Advisor, according to the Education and Skills Funding Agency. 

The ‘what are employers saying’ service will invite employers who have registered apprentices on the apprenticeship service to feedback on specific aspects of their programmes, with the first beta version of the feature specifically focusing on training providers.

Employers will be asked to rate training providers based on a list of attributes, and identify what a provider does well and where it should improve. They will then give an overall rating based on the quality of the service, measured on a four-point scale ranging from ‘excellent’ to ‘very poor’.

This feedback and overall rating will be visible to anyone searching for a specific training provider in the ‘find apprenticeship training’ service.

The feedback will not be moderated before it appears online. However, users will be limited to simply providing scores, and cannot submit any written responses. 

The service was originally due to begin operating between July and September this year, and was supposed to also include an option for apprentices to give feedback.

It is not clear why it has been delayed. Although the ESFA’s latest update on the service made no mention of apprentices giving feedback, a spokesperson for the Department for Education said apprentices would still be included in the new service and more information would be available soon. 

A launch date has not yet been released, but a post on the ESFA digital blog said the first release is “due very soon” and will begin with just a small number of users.

The agency is also developing a system to ensure that training providers are notified when they receive feedback, to allow them to address any issues raised.

The ESFA plans to make employer feedback a key metric in all searches made on the ‘find apprenticeship training’ service, to help employers choose the best training providers. Also in the pipeline are plans for employer to give feedback on specific apprenticeship standards and end-point assessment organisations.

Paul Kelman, who is developing the system for the ESFA, wrote on the digital blog that employers “want to know what other employers think of training providers.

“We have listen to employers who tell us that they want up-to-date information and to hear from their peers when it comes to apprenticeship training providers.”

Struggling Stoke-on-Trent College gets cash ‘boost’ from DfE support fund

A cash-strapped college which was almost £16 million in the red has received a “major boost” to its finances after the government agreed to give it extra cash.

Stoke-on-Trent College announced today that its bid to the Department for Education’s restructuring facility has been successful, although would not confirm how much it has been allocated.

In February this year, FE Week reported that the college was awaiting the outcome of a £21.9 million application for restructuring funds. It is not clear how much of this has been received.

Denise Brown, the Stoke-on-Trent College’s principal and chief executive, told this newspaper that the college was “very pleased” with the deal reached, and that “most of the money” would go towards trying to tackle the college’s “historical debt”.

“We believe the agreement positions the college to go forward and be financially stable, and so the board and senior leaders are happy with the agreement that we’ve reached,” she said.

“It positions the college to concentrate on what we’re here for, which is education and training, instead of being preoccupied with working out how we’re going to cover the cost of historical debt.”

She added: “This funding is being provided because no other sources are available and represents essential financial support to ensure the future sustainability and viability of Stoke on Trent College.”

In February 2017, an FE commissioner-led structure and prospects appraisal recommended that the college remained a standalone institution “as the college had been unable to find a willing strategic partner.”

According to the college’s 2016-17 financial statements, Stoke-on-Trent College was “reliant on the continued availability of bank loans (in respect of which covenants have been breached) and an overdraft, together with short-term cash flow support from the Education and Skills Funding Agency.”

It said these circumstances “constitute a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s and the college’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

The grade three college, which had an operating deficit of £1.61 million in 2016-17 and debts including a £12.75 million loan from Lloyds Bank, had two separate requests for exceptional financial support approved during the year.

The first, in February 2017, was for £990,000 and the second, in July, was for £2.55 million. Another £535,959 was received in December.

The restructuring facility was designed to pay for post-area review changes that colleges are unable to afford.

In April, skills minister Anne Milton insisted that the fund would not be a “hand-out for failures” in her column for FE Week.

“Funding from the restructuring facility is only available after a rigorous assessment to help implement changes which will result in sustainable, effective institutions,” she said.

Movers and shakers: Edition 255

Annette Allmark, Head of apprenticeships, BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT

Previous job: Director of strategic policy, People 1st

Start date: September 24 2018

Interesting fact: Annette’s planned career as a chef actually led her into the world of skills and training, where she’s stayed for 21 years

David Reeve, Interim director of finance, Bradford College

Previous job: Running his own consultancy and interim management business

Start date: September 2018

Interesting fact: David is a keen runner and has completed multiple marathons in places as far afield as New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Florence and London.

Sara Russell, principal, Peter Symonds College

Start date: August 2018

Previous job: Principal, Alton College

Interesting fact: Inspired by her grandfather, who was in the parachute regiment, Sara has completed a tandem skydive from 15,000 feet 

Chris Harrison, director of operations, Seetec

Start date: July 2018

Previous job: Business development director, Serco

Interesting fact: Chris is chair of Genius Within, which supports people with neurodiversity and disabilities, and trustee of ADD-vance, an ADHD and autism charity

In pursuit of parity: degree apprenticeships expand into the Russell Group

Although seen by some as controversial, degree apprenticeships are central to the government’s plans to put technical education on a par with academic education. The Department for Education has repeatedly referred to the number of Russell Group universities signed up to the register of apprenticeship training providers as a sign that it’s succeeding in this regard. But are they actually delivering apprenticeships? FE Week spoke to some of them to find out.

When the University of Cambridge secured a place on the register of apprenticeship training providers in February this year, the mainstream press finally took notice – with both the BBC and The Times reporting that the university was set to offer apprenticeship training.

But while those plans have yet to come to fruition, earning while you learn is an option at an increasing number of Cambridge’s fellow Russell Group universities.

Of the 17 on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s register, eight are already running at least one programme.

A further four are set to introduce degree-level apprenticeships in 2019, and the remaining five are in the early stages of development.

Numbers are low at the moment – the eight have combined starts of around 500 so far in 2018/19. In comparison, there were more than 8,000 starts on level six and seven standards across all institutions in the first nine months of 2017/18.

But these are set to increase, with all the universities FE Week spoke to planning to expand their offer in the years to come.

“Those with no plans must stop dragging their feet”

Former skills minister and now chair of the education select committee Robert Halfon has long championed degree apprenticeships, calling them “a crucial step on the road to delivering social justice and boosting Britain’s productivity”.

He told FE Week it was “encouraging” to hear the findings of our investigation, but said all 17 universities “need to redouble their efforts to open up more of these opportunities, including to the most disadvantaged”.

Mr Halfon also urged the government and the IfA to do more to encourage universities to offer degree apprenticeships.

“Those with no plans, such as Oxford, must stop dragging their feet and get on with providing degree apprenticeships which can do so much to help people to climb the ladder of opportunity,” he said.

 “We were best placed to address skills shortages”

Queen Mary University London was the first Russell Group university to offer degree apprenticeships in 2015.

The university “jumped in” with the level six digital and technology solutions professional standard, according to Jamie Hilder, the university’s degree apprenticeships manager.

“We’ve already got a dialogue with employers in those sectors and identified a skills need, so our rich experience in the field and ideal location can help them address those skills shortages,” Mr Hilder said.

Many of the newer programmes are prompted by the introduction of the apprenticeship levy.

Three of the four new degree apprenticeship programmes being launched by Russell Group universities this academic year are run in partnership with professional services firm PwC.

All three are in digital and technology – areas where the firm had identified as having a skills gap, according to Louise Farrar, PwC’s head of student recruitment.

It makes more economic sense for companies to use their levy than to be paying out of their HR budget

“We’ve got a great opportunity with our levy money. Wouldn’t it be great if we can use that money to direct into areas where we need to build to meet future skills gaps?” she said.

The University of York is one of the universities planning to enter the degree apprenticeships market in 2019.

The university already works with local employers to offer part-time master’s degrees for people in work, and so its level seven apprenticeships will be an “extension” to that, according to Amanda Selvaratnam, the university’s head of enterprise services.

“For many companies, it makes more economic sense for companies to use their levy for that sort of provision than to be paying out of their HR budget,” she said.

 “You’ve got to be on your toes”

Developing a degree apprenticeship programme requires much greater collaboration between universities and employers than a traditional degree.

But for many of the universities FE Week spoke to, this hasn’t proved to be the greatest challenge.

The University of Nottingham, which is starting to offer the level seven advanced clinical practitioner standard this year, said “administrative complexities” were the biggest hurdle to overcome, “particularly meshing the sorts of reporting that is going to be required into current university systems”.

A number said they were having to change their ways of working – from recruiting students to how lectures are delivered.

The “vocational bent” of the programmes at Queen Mary meant they were placing more weight on “professional experience, maturity and application of knowledge to real-life scenarios” than purely academic achievements, Mr Hilder said.

Professor Tim Quine, deputy vice-chancellor for education at the University of Exeter, said it had “sought to innovate around delivery models” for its degree apprenticeships, using “blended and e-learning, reflective practice and block residentials”.

“All of this has taken time to understand and develop, and investment to support,” he said.

Some of the challenges faced by the universities will be familiar to many providers already delivering apprenticeships, with a number complaining about the non-levy procurement process, the Institute for Apprenticeships’ “aggressive funding policy” and the constant “iterations and revisions” to standards.

But while the FE sector is used to dealing with these difficulties, universities “traditionally haven’t been as adaptable”, said Louise Cowling, head of degree apprenticeships at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at the University of Sheffield.

The university began offering degree apprenticeships in manufacturing and engineering in 2017/18, and has just started offering level five nursing associate courses in 2018/19.

“You’ve got to be on your toes. I think universities are learning that they need to respond much quickly than they have done in the past,” she said.

 “Employers want a strong technical degree”

All of the universities FE Week spoke to were keen to stress that their degree apprenticeships had the same level of academic rigour as their traditional degree programmes.

Prof Quine said that Exeter’s degree apprenticeships allowed it to “extend the high-quality educational experience that we pride ourselves on” to “talented individuals” who’ve chosen not to study for a full-time on-campus degree.

And Ms Farrar said that the chance to study for a “top degree at a great institution” was one of the attractions of PwC’s programmes.

Employers also appear to appreciate the calibre of learning on offer from these institutions.

Mr Hilder said that “anecdotally we’ve been told that the depth of the course is different” at Queen Mary, with employers rating it “more substantial” than other degree apprenticeship programmes.

Being a “research-focused university” was seen as one of Sheffield’s strengths, Ms Cowling said.

Employers have come to us and said they want a strong technical degree

“Employers have come to us and said they want a strong technical degree, using modern technology”, she said.

Students on the AMRC’s programmes are able to draw on the centre’s research, and then apply that to their work environment.

“We’ve had students who’ve worked for large employers, and the students have been able to recommend changes to manufacturing processes and procedures within their organisation,” she said. 

“Degree apprentices are better in terms of diversity”

While full social demographic data on the new degree apprentices isn’t yet available, there are already signs that they’re widening participation.

While the average proportion of women on tech degrees is around 16 per cent nationally, PwC has “recruited 30 per cent”, Ms Farrar said. “We’re really pleased with that one.”

Likewise, Queen Mary’s cohort of degree apprentices are “better in terms of diversity” than its other undergraduate students – thanks in large part to the university “going into areas of high deprivation and low rates of participation in higher education, people who don’t typically apply to university, and saying ‘do you know degree apprenticeships are an option?” Mr Hilder said. 

Oxbridge degree apprenticeships – will they ever happen?

Being able to ‘earn while you learn’ at Cambridge or Oxford is seen by some as the pinnacle of parity of esteem between vocational and academic education.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon – at least not at undergraduate level.

Cambridge successfully applied to be on the register of apprenticeship training providers earlier this year, and said at the time it planned to focus its initial offer at postgraduate level through its Institute of Continuing Education.

A spokesperson told FE Week that planning was still underway, with the aim of introducing the first programmes in 2019 at the earliest.

A “number of interested parties internally” are in discussions with the ICE about mapping “already established courses into apprenticeships”, he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the University of Oxford said it currently did not “have any plans to offer degree or degree-level apprenticeships”.

Degree apprenticeships – the wider picture

The first degree apprenticeships were launched in 2015, with the aim of offering students the chance to study for a degree while working as an apprentice.

Just a few institutions were on board at the start, including Queen Mary University London, Sheffield Hallam University and Manchester Metropolitan University.

Fast forward three years and there are now 111 universities or university colleges on the register of apprenticeship training providers, although not all of them will be offering degree apprenticeship programmes.

According to the latest available Department for Education figures, there were 8,560 starts on level six or seven apprenticeships, which correspond to degree and master’s apprenticeships, in the first nine months of 2017/18.

Many of these starts are likely to have been at modern universities or colleges offering degree-level provision, many of which received funding through the Degree Apprenticeships Development Fund to establish their programmes.

A total of £10 million was on offer from the fund, which was managed by the now-defunct Higher Education Funding Council for England.

It was awarded in two phases, with 25 HE institutes and 20 colleges receiving a combined total of £4.5 million for 18 projects in the first phase, announced in November 2016.

A further 27 projects, involving around 60 universities and colleges, received £4.9 million between then in the second phase, announced October 2017.

Between them they were expected to result in nearly 10,000 new apprenticeship opportunities by this September.

Ofsted watch: Mega apprenticeship provider to high-profile employers hit with grade three

A major financial services training provider has been found to ‘require improvement’, in the only full FE and skills inspection report published this week.

Elsewhere, an apprenticeships and adult learning provider was found to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in three themes under review, in a follow-up monitoring visit report.

Kaplan Financial, which works with more than 2,000 employers dropped from its previous grade two in a report published September 28 and based on a visit at the end of July.

At the time of inspection it had almost 5,000 apprentices following programmes from level two to seven in administration and law, accounting, and finance, and around 800 adult learners.

Employers known to have worked with Kaplan include British Airways, Eurostar and Morrisons Supermarkets.

A spokesperson for Kaplan Financial said it accepted Ofsted’s findings.

“Their report recognised that our teaching is good; their critical observations were, in the main, about programmes we no longer offer,” she said.

“We look forward to a re-inspection in the near future and have already advised our larger clients of this report.”

A “significant restructuring” of the organisation was blamed for disruptions to apprentices’ review visits, which had “impacted negatively on apprentices’ achievements in 2016/17”.

Managers were criticised for having “an overly positive view of too many aspects” of the provision and for not having “accurate enough information” about apprentices’ progress.

The report noted that leaders had taken “effective action” in ceasing to work with “several underperforming subcontractors”, but also said they had “not taken swift enough action to rectify the weaknesses in training” at four of the nine subcontractors listed on the report.

Governors had been unable to provide leaders and senior managers with “sufficient challenge about shortcomings in the quality of provision”, as they “do not always receive sufficiently reliable information about adult learners’ and apprentices’ progress, achievements or the quality of teaching, learning and assessment”.

“Too many” apprentices did not complete on time, as “talent coaches do not always set apprentices challenging learning targets”.

“The proportion of adult learners who successfully completed their courses was low in 2016/17,” the report noted.

Skills Edge Training, an apprenticeships and adult learning provider based in Norwich, was found to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in three of the five areas under review in a follow-up report published September 28 and based on a monitoring visit in late August.

The visit followed a full inspection in December 2017, when Skills Edge was rated ‘requires improvement’.

It was deemed to be making ‘insufficient progress’ in securing rapid improvement in the areas of weakness identified at that inspection; in ensuring that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is at least good; and in planning apprenticeship programmes to ensure apprentices make good progress and achieve on time.

But it was found to be making ‘reasonable progress’ in ensuring that learners and apprentices receive high-quality training to improve their English and mathematics skills, and ‘significant progress’ in safeguarding.

Independent learning providers Inspected Published Grade Previous grade
Kaplan Financial Limited 24/07/2018 28/09/2018 3 2
Skills Edge Training 22/08/2018 28/09/2018 M M