Ofsted delivers ‘needs attention’ blow to Multiverse after starts stop on weakest apprenticeships

Leadership and training at apprenticeship giant Multiverse ‘needs attention’, Ofsted has said after inspectors found some apprentices were enrolled on courses that did not match their work roles and staff were overstretched.

It comes as FE Week learned the company has paused starts on multiple apprenticeship standards where performance is poor, following an agreement with the government.

The latest Ofsted result for Euan Blair’s firm marks a significant fall from grace since it was judged ‘outstanding’ in 2021 under the watchdog’s previous rating system.

The company, valued at an estimated £1.6 billion despite never turning a profit, has grown rapidly over the past five years, with apprentice recruitment soaring fourfold to 14,000. But achievement rates have consistently stayed low and barely half of apprentices successfully completed their training last year.

Ofsted inspected the company under its new report card approach in February and returned for an extra day in April to gather additional evidence after the latest qualification achievement rates were published by the government in March.

Leadership and governance, apprenticeship achievement, curriculum and teaching, and participation and development were all judged ‘needs attention’ – the second lowest of five possible ratings.

One ‘expected standard’ grade was handed out for inclusion.

‘Too many leave before completion’

Ofsted found that leaders have a “clear vision and commitment to work mainly with existing employees in large businesses to upskill and equip apprentices to work effectively and efficiently with artificial intelligence (AI) and data”.

But it added: “Apprentices do not have a consistently positive experience. The content of the apprenticeships for some apprentices is not well matched to their role at work, and too many leave before completion.”

Inspectors said that leaders are working to reduce the proportion of aborted apprenticeships by “improving initial advice and guidance so more apprentices are on courses that match their roles at work” – but the impact was “yet to be seen”.

A Multiverse spokesperson said the company “fundamentally does not accept that it is as blunt as people are on apprenticeships that are not suitable for them”.

They added: “We are delivering training in an emerging frontier technology, which the regulated system is beginning to catch up with. We told people extensively that we were going to be delivering AI apprenticeships, and in fact got encouraged and applauded on that journey, and we have also been completely transparent about the job titles, the different areas that our people work in, and [are] very, very proud of that.”

High workload

Ofsted said “too many” staff reported that their workload was “too high, with a large number of apprentices to support”.

Ofsted outlined this was largely due to staffing changes which leaders are in the process of resolving through increased recruitment and the use of AI to reduce administrative burden.

Inspectors found that apprentices “mostly” enjoy their online coaching and workshop sessions, but “many” feel these are “rushed, with limited time to ask questions”.

Ofsted reported that leaders have reduced the duration of some apprenticeships to meet employer demand – leading to “some” apprentices struggling to complete their learning in the time allowed.

Leaders also “do not work closely enough with employers to coordinate apprentices’ on- and off- the-job training”, while careers advice was found to be lacking.

Inspectors did however praise Multiverse’s “skilled” coaches and instructors, as well as the company’s inclusive culture, “appropriate support” from governors, and professional development opportunities for staff.

Ofsted stated that apprentices who remain and achieve gain “substantial new knowledge and skills” in AI, use of data and business analysis and management. They mostly remain in employment and gain promotion or increased responsibility.

Chloe Barker, senior director of quality at Multiverse, told FE Week the company is a “completely different provider” from when it was judged ‘outstanding’ in 2021, a time when it was only delivering to new employees in areas such as business admin and digital marketing.

She claimed inspectors came away from the latest inspection admiring Multiverse’s approach of delivering apprenticeships in “cutting-edge areas in domains where people don’t have job titles that perfectly match occupational-led standards” but while managing to achieve “a meaningful impact for them”.

Barker quoted internal statistics that show 70 per cent of the company’s withdrawing apprentices “deliver at least one project in their apprenticeship that has measurable return on investment”.

Some starts stopped

Training providers that receive ‘needs attention’ Ofsted judgments in leadership and any provision-type level evaluation area for apprenticeships are placed in the ‘needs improvement’ category under the government’s apprenticeship accountability framework.

Multiverse told FE Week that the government already intervened in the months leading up to the Ofsted visit as officials had early sight of their declining achievement rates.

The firm said it volunteered to pause starts on some apprenticeships, including leadership standards and the business analyst standard. Multiverse refused to provide the full list of apprenticeships where a pause has been contractually applied, but claimed it was a “small number”. It added it would continue to grow its data and AI-focused standards.

Leaders believe the pause will be lifted when qualification achievement rates improve.

Multiverse confirmed it was not invited to deliver the government’s flagship apprenticeship units, which include three new AI short courses funded through the growth and skills levy.

Multiverse’s overall achievement rate fell from 59 per cent in 2023-24 to 52.6 per cent last year. Its most popular standard, data analyst, recorded an even lower achievement rate of 50.1 per cent based on 2,770 leavers, while its lowest achievement rate was 42.3 per cent for the business analyst standard which had 760 leavers.

Starts at the training provider soared from 3,050 in 2020-21 to 12,030 in 2024-25. The business is on course to grow again in 2025-26, having recorded 8,390 starts in the first two months of the year – more than any other training provider in England.

‘We know what it takes to be an outstanding provider’

Multiverse is typically scrutinised by the national media due to its high-profile chief executive, high valuation, international AI work and growing apprenticeships division. The Times reported recently that it was accused of placing learners on apprenticeships ill-suited to their careers due to an “aggressive” focus on learner recruitment.

Examples from The Times included funeral planners and security guards enrolled on data and artificial intelligence apprenticeships.

Blair, son of former prime minister Tony Blair, defended the approach in a blog post where he admitted completion rates were too low and that his firm had not always managed the strain caused by fast growth “as well as we should”.

For Multiverse’s AI programmes, his team chose an “inclusive approach to enrolment” at the expense of completion rates.

Blair wrote: “Employers asked us to reach frontline workers – the people who typically get passed over for formal training. The result is a 50/50 gender split on our two biggest AI programmes and genuine reach across the country. That approach comes with a real trade-off on completion.

“One of our NHS apprentices reduced missed appointments in a hospital department by 30 per cent. A pay rise or promotion during or after the programme is the majority outcome for our learners.”

He added that Multiverse also hit “friction” because the regulated apprenticeship system hadn’t caught up with AI.

“The release of the first general purpose AI apprenticeship is now imminent; but nearly four years after ChatGPT launched. The right answer was never to simply ignore AI from an apprenticeship perspective – but we paid a price in our QARs for innovating ahead of the programmatic standards available. We’re working to close that gap.”

Multiverse has attracted more public funding to deliver apprenticeships in recent years than any other training provider.

Despite this, the company openly admits it “optimised for mass adoption of AI skills over completion rates”.

Responding to Ofsted’s report, a Multiverse spokesperson told FE Week: “Ofsted have recognised some of our strengths. They’ve also given us areas where we need to pay additional attention.

“We know what it takes to be an outstanding provider, because we have been that in the past, but our mission today is to prioritise mass adoption and reach as many people as possible.

“We work with the regulators, they’ve given us scenarios to pay attention to, and so we’re going to do that.”