The results of the early monitoring visits to new apprenticeship providers are “concerning”, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE has said, after a quarter were given ‘insufficient progress’ verdicts.
Paul Joyce (pictured) hit out at the newcomers in his speech at the AELP conference today, asserting that apprentices “deserve better than that”.
“Our monitoring visits to new directly funded providers are designed to give an early assessment of the quality of provision,” he told delegates.
“I have to say that the outcomes to date are concerning. Around a quarter of the judgements inspectors have awarded have been ‘insufficient progress’ – meaning that providers are making slow progress and the demonstrable impact on learners has been negligible.
“Apprentices deserve better than that.
“This is a concern to me and Ofsted continues to work closely with the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency to discuss and agree arrangements for the quality monitoring of these new directly funded providers.”
Numerous new providers have failed to come up to scratch over the last few months – including Mears Learning, Key6 Group, Mooreskills, and Apprentice Team.
Perhaps the most damning report was for Key6, whose training Ofsted described as “not fit for purpose”.
The ESFA banned it from delivery, but this only lasted for two months.
Mr Joyce pointed out that the monitoring visits show a “really mixed picture in relation to quality”.
“It has been pleasing to see some new providers making significant progress and apprentices receiving high-quality training that develops substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours that are beneficial to them and their employers,” he said.
“In the best examples, apprentices and employers are extremely complimentary about the high-quality training, excellent resources and the support and guidance provided by experienced training provider staff.”
However, it is “less pleasing to see existing employees with almost all the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for the apprenticeship being recruited as apprentices and a train-to-gain, assessment-only programme delivered”.
“Or where the quality of training provided is simply not good enough, where training is not well planned or coordinated and where apprentices and employers feel let down,” he continued.
“Wherever inspectors come across this substandard provision, they will have no hesitation in reporting insufficient progress.”
Speaking to FE Week after his speech, Mr Joyce said he is expecting a policy announcement “imminently” in relation to intervention at these failing providers.
“We continue to talk with the DfE and ESFA about how best to monitor the new apprenticeship providers,” he said.
“That is in terms of our resources and conversations in terms of their intervention policy as a result of our judgements.
“Those negotiations are continuing, progressing well, and I am expecting the DfE to make a policy announcement imminently in relation to their intervention policy, and I do hope to hear very soon about the additional resources we are likely to get to carry out more monitoring visits.”
FE Week revealed last month that the watchdog will soon be given as much as £7 million to visit every new apprenticeship provider.
Critically, it will also have the final say over quality, after the skills minister Anne Milton admitted in May to the education select committee that it wasn’t clear who was accountable for quality at these new providers.
Issues with the 10-per-cent fee that small businesses must pay when they take on apprentices have been “noted”, but there will be no announcement on a rule change anytime soon, the skills minister has said.
There was a lot of anticipation over whether Anne Milton would scrap the fee altogether during her speech at the AELP national conference this morning, after she told FE Week she was “keeping an open mind” on the policy last week.
She did not rule out binning it, but told delegates she is not sure the co-investment is the real reason for the sluggish apprenticeship starts numbers.
“I’m sorry I’ve not made any big announcement but I see this conference as an important opportunity to gather your thoughts and feedback,” Ms Milton said.
“Co-investment for 16- to 24-year-olds, noted.”
Addressing the policy again in a Q&A session following her speech, she said: “What one battles with and all governments do is to demonstrate causality.
“I think that is a hard thing here. If you took away the 10-per-cent co-investment there would be less money in the pot to do apprenticeships. You get less apprentices for your money.
I’m sorry I’ve not made any big announcement
“But it is about demonstrating causality and that us the key for me. When you have a lot of other factors out there it is quite hard to demonstrate.”
AELP boss Mark Dawe hit back at Ms Milton’s claim.
“Providers take the 10-per-cent hit so there would be no impact on numbers,” he said.
“Numbers are a concern but at the moment it is from lack of demand and we need to change that.
“We will be in almost daily communication on this matter.”
The apprenticeship levy is paid by employers with an annual payroll of £3 million or more, who can then spend their contributions on apprenticeship training.
Smaller employers can also access the funds generated through the levy, although they must pay 10-per-cent towards the cost of the training.
There was no mandatory charge before May last year, simply an assumed contribution for apprentices aged 19 and over.
We will be in almost daily communication on this matter.”
Since last May, only 16- to 18-year-olds at employers with fewer than 50 staff are fully funded and therefore free to train.
The AELP has been heavily campaigning to remove the 10-per-cent rule as it believes it puts SMEs off apprenticeships, and is the reason why starts have fallen so much since the introduction of the levy.
Latest figures show that starts for March were down 52 per cent compared with the same period in 2017.
FE Week is media partner at the AELP national conference 2018. Follow @feweek on Twitter for live updates.
Basically, here @AnneMilton keen to say she’s not sure the 10% co-investment really reason for sluggish starts. Struggling with determining ‘causality’. #aelpnc18pic.twitter.com/53CTzIAqpa
Learndirect has a new owner, after striking a deal with entrepreneur Wayne Janse van Rensburg for his firm Dimensions Training Solution to take the reins.
But it remains unclear how many jobs will be saved at the troubled provider, as government income beyond July will be limited to Learndirect Apprenticeships Limited (LDA) which began recruiting apprenticeships last May.
As previously reported by FE Week, PeoplePlus Group Limited had been in talks with the owners of Learndirect, Lloyds Development Capital (LDC), but it is understood this deal fell through early last week.
LDC then turned to entrepreneur Wayne Janse van Rensburg with the offer of a deal.
Mr Janse van Rensburg is the Managing Director of the Stonebridge College Group, which supplies Learndirect with a Virtual Learning Environment known as PEARL.
Stonebridge College Group includes Dimensions Training Solution (DTS), a training provider that Mr Janse van Rensburg purchased in 2015.
Within just a few days the Education and Skills Funding Agency had approved the change in ownership of LDA on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers.
A deal could then be struck in which LDC would financially support a DTS business plan to own and run Learndirect.
It is understood that the deal means DTS will take ownership of Pimco 2090, which includes the subsidiary companies of Learndirect Centres Limited, Learndirect Limited and Learndirect Apprenticeships Ltd.
Speaking exclusively to FE Week, Wayne Janse van Rensburg said: “The acquisition of Learndirect has protected the future of the Learndirect group and its learners and apprentices.
“We have the building blocks through which to deliver a service of the highest quality and respond to the ever changing face of the skills and apprenticeship market.
The LDA brand will remain, as it is well respected by our employers and recognised as the brand of the largest dedicated provider of levy apprenticeships in the country.”
A new code of governance will be unveiled today at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ annual conference.
The code, which is still in draft and out for consultation, sets out the principles the AELP believes any independent learning provider should adopt in order to conduct its business in the best interest of its trainees, employers, key stakeholders and funders.
It has been developed by Dr Sue Pember (pictured), director of policy at HoLEX, and former Ofsted inspector Karen Adriaanse, in partnership with AELP, which is encouraging all its members to adopt the code.
“The governance of many independent training providers has much to commend and it is been a major factor in their growth,” said Mark Dawe, AELP’s boss.
“However the sector recognises that there is always room for improvement and this is why it has come together to produce this code.”
With independent providers delivering government-funded training worth £1.8 billion every year, good governance “helps ensure that funds are well spent, are focused on government priorities and are delivering high-quality teaching and learning for the benefit of employers and learners”.
“Adoption of the code should not limit innovation in guidance or stifle the dynamic nature of ITPs for which they are renowned,” he continued.
Dr Pember, who is also an FE Week contributor on governance, will present on the code during her speech at today’s conference.
“Effective governance is a major contributor to the success of a business and the sector’s reputation as a whole,” she said.
By adopting the code, providers are “signalling a willingness to enter into a new era of governance with an energy and commitment to ensure the very highest standards for their stakeholders”.
The code is based on the seven Nolan principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.
These principles provide an ethical framework for the personal behaviour of a provider’s board members and leadership.
It incorporates a number of expectations of good governance, including putting the trainee, apprentice and employer first, and providing strong strategic leadership and challenge to the senior team.
The code is designed to apply to all independent training providers which deliver publicly funded skills programmes on behalf of the government.
Its development was supported by the Further Education Trust for Leadership.
Dame Ruth Silver, FETL’s founding president, said the new code “should have a direct impact on the quality of skills training because it can make a real difference for providers of all sizes”.
The code touches on the following principles:
Putting the trainee, apprentice and employer first
Promoting high expectations and ambitions for trainees, apprentice and staff
Listening to trainees, apprentice employers and staff
Promoting inspirational training, teaching and learning and assessment
Creating a safe environment for trainees and apprentices to train, learn and develop
Providing strong strategic leadership and challenge to the senior team
Demonstrating accountability to all stakeholders, including publishing accurate and timely information on performance
Ensuring the achievement of equality of opportunity and diversity throughout the organisation
Six months ago the FE commissioner embarked on a series of new initiatives designed to support colleges before they get into too much difficulty.
Using diagnostic assessments and peer-to-peer support, Richard Atkins aims to avoid a repeat of the high-profile college failures of recent months.
These new measures are all the more important, given the impending insolvency regime, which will allow colleges to go bust for the first time.
At the same time, both the restructuring facility, which provides cash for colleges to implement major changes, and exceptional financial support will be withdrawn.
In an exclusive interview with FE Week, Mr Atkins discusses what he and his expanded team of deputies and advisers have been doing to ensure that colleges are ready for the coming changes.
Interventions are down – but diagnostic assessments are up
The backbone of the FE commissioner’s work has always been interventions with failing colleges: those with an ‘inadequate’ rating either from Ofsted or for financial health.
Mr Atkins has begun formal involvement with just nine institutions in 2017/18, down from 18 the previous year.
At the same time, the team has also carried out 29 diagnostic assessments at colleges in difficulty but not yet failing, “which is more than I thought we’d do”.
These assessments are designed to sniff out areas for improvement before a college falls too far into difficulties.
“I think we’re having some success in getting to places a bit earlier, trying to provide advice, help and support to avoid a college slipping too far, too fast,” he says.
Of those colleges that have fallen into scope of intervention, “financial difficulty this year has been more frequently a cause than quality”.
And, while the restructuring facility has “helped resolve the longstanding difficult cases” in the sector, it is likely that colleges will “occasionally get into difficulty” in the future and funding is still needed to “oil the wheels in these situations”.
Mergers, mergers, mergers
The surge in mergers is showing no signs of slowing down.
Last year there were 15, and “I would expect to see a similar number” this year.
These partnerships are “beyond area review”, and many have been brokered through an FE commissioner-led structure and prospects appraisal.
This process, which he has previously likened to “going to an introduction agency and having a courtship”, allows a college to thoroughly weigh up its options.
All of the 19 SPAs that he and his 15-strong team have led have ended with a proposal to merge.
It’s not just for failing colleges, either.
New guidance on the process, published last week by the Department for Education, “emphasises the point” that a SPA is “not only for colleges in intervention” but also for those who “come to us voluntarily” to consider their “strategic options”.
Principals’ reference group
Mr Atkins’ crack team of principals is already starting to have an impact at the DfE.
The team, which is designed to act as a sound board for Mr Atkins and to help shape policy, has met three times so far since it was formed in January.
They’ve been involved in consultations on T-levels, high needs and workforce development, and are set to get stuck into the internal review announced by Anne Milton earlier this year, looking at FE funding and resilience.
“I would say that most of the policy teams here in the department now see them as one of the key groups that they consult with,” he says.
Peer-to-peer support
The national leaders of FE programme, first announced last November, is one of the means by which Mr Atkins aims to encourage a culture of colleges supporting each other.
The names of the seven leaders were announced in January, and they’re all now working with at least one college.
They are “really critical to helping” at a college in difficulty, following an intervention or diagnostic assessment by his team.
These colleges are implementing a range of initiatives, including “developing better costed curriculum plans to quality improvement implementation practices, such as teaching observations”.
The main phase of the fund is expected to open for application very soon.
His overall aim with the fund and his other initiatives is to “try to avoid the catastrophe we’re seeing at the moment at one or two colleges” by supporting them at an earlier stage.
The Institute for Apprenticeships has been told to “get its act together” after it emerged that its panel of apprentices has gone nearly 10 months without actually convening.
The panel is made up of current or recent apprentices who are supposed to discuss issues from the learner’s perspective and raise them with the main IfA board.
But a Freedom of Information request has revealed that the panel has only held four meetings since its launch last March, with the most recent being on October 12.
This is being viewed as a snub both by the chair of the parliamentary education select committee and the leadership at the National Union of Students, which has led calls for greater learner influence over the IfA.
The next meeting is not scheduled until July 4 – which will mean there’s been a gap of nearly 40 weeks between meetings. During this time, the IfA has launched its “faster and better” promise to speed up its processes and policies, while many issues from the apprenticeship reforms have emerged.
“It beggars belief that during this crucial time for boosting apprenticeships, the IfA panel could be so conspicuously abdicating its responsibility to hear the voices of apprentices,” said the chair of the education committee Robert Halfon, who set up the panel during his time as skills minister.
“The IfA need to get its act together and make far greater effort.”
The NUS’ vice president for FE, Emily Chapman, described the gap as “deeply worrying”.
“At a time when they should be listening to the needs of apprentices more than ever this is simply not good enough,” she continued.
A spokesperson for the IfA did not manage to explain why it has taken so long for the apprentice panel to meet since its last meeting.
“The institute’s apprentice panel is peer-led and the members can set the frequency of the meetings,” she said.
The number of approved apprenticeship standards has exceeded those awaiting sign-off for the first time, but the skills minister still wants to see things done ‘faster and better’.
In fact, a tough-talking Anne Milton told FE Week that she has pursued the Institute for Apprenticeships over the need to pick up the pace with “a big stick”.
At the time of going to press there were 265 standards listed on the IfA’s website as awaiting approval, and 279 cleared for use. That tips the proportion approved up to 51 per cent.
Sir Gerry Berragan
“We are pleased that the positive impact of our faster and better initiative is being demonstrated through the increased pace at which standards are getting through the standards development process,” said an IfA spokesperson.
The institute’s chief executive Sir Gerry Berragan launched his “faster and better” campaign last December to “streamline the approvals process”, after employers and providers complained that the process was too slow and bureaucratic.
The pace of approval has been mixed since then. Nine went through in January, 21 in February, 10 in March, and four in April. The IfA appeared to pick up the pace last month by approving 19, but it has fallen back to three so far this month.
Ms Milton said the IfA had “definitely got faster and better, but are they faster enough and better enough?”
“Probably not yet,” was her verdict.
I always have a big stick in my hand when I meet the IfA
“I have been in there with a big stick. I went to the launch of their faster better thing. And I meet Gerry Berragan and their chair Antony Jenkins on a regular basis, and with Gerry Berragan on an extraordinarily frequent basis. I always have a big stick in my hand when I meet the IfA.
“If it’s more standards, then push on the IfA but also push on employers, because at the end of the day they need to get together to design the standards.”
Apprenticeship standards, which are developed by groups of employers, are gradually replacing the old frameworks.
Each contains a list of the skills, knowledge and behaviours an apprentice will need to have learned by the end of their apprenticeship.
Approval delays have been blamed for the slowdown in apprenticeship starts, which were down 52 per cent for March compared with the same period in 2017, and the apparent lack of success of the apprenticeship levy in boosting employer investment.
This follows complaints from companies that they have been unable to find suitable approved standards to meet their training needs.
Since January, the average number of monthly approvals for standards has been 12.
There are currently 265 standards in development – so at that rate it would take nearly two years to clear them all.
Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ boss Mark Dawe does not believe this rate is good enough.
“I would say the IfA’s definition of ‘faster’ needs to be 0 to 60mph in six seconds rather than 60,” he said.
Teresa Frith, the Association of Colleges’ senior skills policy manager, added: “The IfA is right to make the approval process quicker and slicker, and we can see the progress they are making on that.
“What we also want to see is more openness and transparency in the process. There could be much more shared knowledge as to the nature of hold-ups, which will help employers navigate through to approval – for example around the allocated funding band.”
Hull College chief executive Michelle Swithenbank probably has the toughest job in FE right now. The former nurse has been charged with taking a college which has received the largest ever government bailout to any FE institution out of intensive care and back on the road to recovery.
It’s a task that would challenge the most experienced of college leaders – but Ms Swithenbank is in her first chief executive role, and she’s already in the middle of a huge fight with angry unions. How does she plan to turn things around? Jude Burke headed to Hull to find out.
Michelle Swithenbank greets me warmly at reception, asks about my journey and offers me a cup of tea, which she makes herself.
The venue for our meeting is the college’s main campus, at Queen’s Gardens in the centre of Hull.
It’s a rather grey, dated-looking place, dominated by an eight-storey tower block: a faded grey and blue brutalist monument that has seen better days.
Inside it’s little different. Plain white walls and scuffed wooden floors add to the institutional, characterless feel.
But as we walk through the college, Ms Swithenbank tells me of her plans to change all that, to make it more “learner friendly” – more “open, more attractive, more colourful”.
Michelle Swithenbank
The senior leadership team’s spacious offices, tucked away on a second floor corridor, will be converted into social areas for the learners, and management will move into the “heart of the college” so they are “more accessible and more visible”.
It’s all part of her “open, honest, approachable” style of leadership, which will prioritise “communication and transparency”, and through which she aims to drive culture change and reverse the college’s fortunes.
She has a difficult job ahead of her, though some would say it’s closer to impossible.
The scale of the college’s debts is, in the words of Richard Atkins, the FE commissioner, “eye-watering”.
Mr Atkins himself described it as “one of the largest financial – and in human terms, staffing – crises that I’ve known”.
While acknowledging the scale of the task, Ms Swithenbank remains upbeat: “It is a big job. It’s a five-year recovery plan. Nobody in this organisation feels that from September everything is going to be wonderful. We’re working towards that, but it’s all going to take time.”
I like to see the potential in things,” she says. “That’s what’s exciting for me, the fact that I can come in, with a team, and make things better.
At the heart of this recovery plan is the funding the college has received. As I’ve been told before, and as Ms Swithenbank reminds me during the interview, “the terms of the grant restrict me from talking about that”.
This is frustrating, as without being able to talk about the figures, we’re only getting half the picture.
Nonetheless, she professes herself “optimistic for the future”, and doesn’t hesitate when I ask her if she’s confident she’ll be able to turn things around.
“Absolutely,” she says.
At just 37, this is her first chief executive role, although she has had a number of leadership positions, most recently as interim vice-principal at Grimsby Institute.
Her appointment was one of a number of changes to the senior leadership team following Mr Atkins’ intervention at the college. She was initially recruited as the deputy chief executive in January 2017, at a time when the college was “still unravelling”, as she describes it.
“I like to see the potential in things,” she says. “That’s what’s exciting for me, the fact that I can come in, with a team, and make things better.”
She returns repeatedly to the idea of culture change: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast. If you don’t change the culture, it doesn’t matter what strategies and process you’ve got in place, you’ve got to have that buy-in from your staff.”
Getting that staff buy-in while cutting the workforce by almost 250 can’t have been easy.
Hull’s staff costs, at around 78 per cent of the college’s income, were deemed “unaffordable” by Mr Atkins in his first visit to the college in November 2016, and reducing them to 65 per cent – the sector benchmark – is essential to the college’s survival.
The cuts are being made “across the board”, rather than in specific areas.
“We’ve looked at every part of the organisation, the whole organisation has been restructured for it to be able to function sustainably and with stability for the future,” she says.
So why did it have to be done so quickly? Her answer is honest and direct: to avoid going bust. With the imminent introduction of the FE insolvency regime, “we had to become a solvent college by the end of this academic year”.
“They’ve gone through a very difficult time, but they really want to see this organisation be fabulous again, and for a leader that’s fantastic as I’ve got what I need to work with,” she says.
Apart from the wholesale restructuring of the organisation, her focus so far has been on getting a handle on the college’s finances, developing the recovery plan and reforming systems and processes.
She uses the learner journey to illustrate her approach.
After getting “every team that’s involved in that journey” to map out the existing processes – of which, it transpired, there were many – they were asked to design how they wanted those processes to be.
“That was done with the staff directly involved in those processes, because there’s no point in a senior team going ‘this is what we’re going to do, because it’s not them running it’,” she says.
As a result of these exercises, “we’ll have a new structure, new systems, new processes that will be able to deliver the service we need to be able to deliver”.
The college’s road to recovery is about more than just leadership – it’s also about governance, and “having the right balance of both, and making sure those are working well”.
The governing board now meets each month, rather than quarterly, a move she says has been a “real turning-point for us”.
The board “all collectively take responsibility for the recovery of the college”, and are “aware very early on and can help intervene, support and challenge”.
They will also soon have access to live data, via a dashboard on the college’s new systems.
“You can’t get more transparent and open than that,” she says.
Ms Swithenbank shrewdly describes the journey she’s been on over the past year as “character building”.
She’s committed to ensuring everyone with a stake in the college’s recovery – the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the FE commissioner, the local enterprise partnerships, the local authorities, the MPs, the unions, the learners, the staff – are kept abreast of where things are.
Applications for September from 16- to 18-year-olds are slightly up on last year – an achievement given everything the college has been through. Ms Swithenbank says this is a “reflection of the staff’s dedication, all the professionalism they’ve shown throughout all of this”.
At the end of the five-year recovery period, she has an ambitious vision for a “buoyant and vibrant” college, “where learners and students are loving coming to, where staff feel they can really do their job effectively and well – the flagship in the sector, all being well”.
It’s a long way from here to there, and she admits there will be some “bumpy roads” along the way. Only time will tell if they will all make it through in one piece.
Hull College – How did it get here?
November 2016 – Richard Atkins is called into the college, following a request for exceptional financial support after its bank withdraws support
January 2017 – His report is published, detailing a cumulative deficit of “around £10 million over the past four years”. Michelle Swithenbank is appointed deputy chief executive as part of sweeping changes to the college’s leadership
March 2017 – The previous chief executive Gary Warke resigns and Swithenbank is promoted, on an interim basis until June 2017, when she is made permanent
February 2018 – The college receives cash from the government’s restructuring facility to fund its five-year recovery plan. This is reported to be worth £54 million.
March 2018 – Proposals to shed over 200 staff are published, provoking anger from staff and unions who call a series of strikes
June 2018 – The college’s 2015/16 accounts are finally published, revealing a massive £12.8 million deficit over the year
June 2018 – Seven days of strikes are called off, after unions and management reach an agreement which means no jobs will be lost through compulsory redundancies
What the FE commissioner said
In an exclusive FE Week interview, Atkins described Hull as “one of the largest financial and, in human terms, staffing crises that I’ve known”.
“The rate at which money poured out, the financial controls and the lack of this carefully costed curriculum plan, and the speed at which income dropped and staff numbers didn’t, was eye-watering,” he said.
He attributed this to “poor governance and leadership, the lack of a carefully costed curriculum plan, staffing levels that were out of line significantly with income, and a failure to be concentrating on running a college that could remain sustainable”.
The terms of the restructuring facility grant to the college remain shrouded in secrecy, as it’s subject to a confidentiality agreement.
This means neither the college nor the government is able to confirm the amount awarded, nor what it’s being spent on.
However, according to Mr Atkins, a “significant amount” of the cash has gone to repay emergency financial support given to the college to “keep it going” – without which it would have been “completely insolvent, unsustainable”.
FE Week asked the Department for Education how much it had dished out, but it does “not comment on the amount of individual college payments”.
Despite the “shocking” numbers involved, Mr Atkins believes the college can get better.
“I do believe that they’re doing the things that have to be done,” he said. “I want to get right behind the college in September and help with its recruitment and ensure that the college can have a sustainable future.”
Weir Training Limited, based in Surrey, was rated grade one across the board as it progressed from its previous ‘good’ ranking.
Inspectors lauded directors and managers for “successfully establishing a culture where they and their staff are passionate advocates for high-quality apprenticeships and for the success of their apprentices”.
They found that governance is “excellent” because of “good strategic direction and overview and the rigorous monitoring of performance by directors”.
Apprentices “value their programmes highly, make excellent progress and achieve consistently high standards”, while “very skilled” training specialists provide “highly effective training, delivered in successful partnership with employers and which they relate to apprentices’ and employers’ priorities”.
The provider currently has 340 learners on a mix of frameworks and standards at different levels, in areas such as retail and commercial enterprise, business, administration and law, and in information communication technology.
“Training specialists use employers’ business objectives to set challenging and relevant projects for apprentices, which successfully extend their learning, develop skills, and enhance job progression,” Ofsted said.
A jubilant Julie Ridley, one of Weir’s directors, said: “We have always strived to build a reputation as a Quality Provider, achieving these grades is the realisation of that dream. We are so proud of our staff, the grades are a testament to their great work and them all as individuals. We are very lucky to have such a strong team.”
Meanwhile, NCG and its private training provider, Intraining, were both downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ in separate inspections.
Inspectors observed that the group’s “leaders’ and managers’ actions do not bring about rapid enough improvement to rectify weaknesses in, for example, learners’ attendance, the quality of training on apprenticeships and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment on too much of the study programme provision”.
Achievement rates were also of high concern.
“Leaders and managers have not been successful enough in rectifying many of the weaknesses in learners’ outcomes. Too many learners are not achieving their potential, particularly in English and mathematics.”
NCG’s chief executive, Joe Docherty, has since claimed that the current inspection framework is “no longer fit for purpose when inspecting college groups”.
Three “new” apprenticeships providers have fared better, according to monitoring visit reports published this week.
Cqm Training And Consultancy Limited, based in Derbyshire, was praised the most after being found to be making ‘significant progress’ in ensuring that apprentices benefit from “high-quality training that leads to positive outcomes”, while achieving ‘reasonable’ ratings in the other two areas.
“Business change facilitators provide apprentices with clear and detailed explanations of the requirements of their programmes,” Ofsted said.
“As a result, apprentices understand the commitment that they need to make, the training that they will undertake and the assessments that they will complete.
“Apprentices know how much progress that they have made and can explain what they still need to complete.”
Group Horizon Limited, based in Gateshead, was deemed to be making ‘reasonable progress’ in all three fields judged.
“The standard of apprenticeship programmes is high,” inspectors said. “Leaders and managers ensure that employers and apprentices are fully aware of all the requirements of an apprenticeship. They work effectively to ensure that employers understand fully the on- and off-the-job training requirements of standards-based apprenticeships.”
And Ginger Nut Media Limited, based in Colchester, was also making ‘reasonable progress’ in all three areas.
“Directors are following an extremely well-thought-out strategy for developing the apprenticeship offer,” Ofsted said. “They have focused well on ensuring that the provision grows at a manageable pace by staying within their capacity to deliver the programmes.”
Lastly, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council retained its ‘good’ rating following a short inspection.
