We don’t usually write articles to boast about what we do but we did feel that it was worth sharing some of the positive things Ofsted have said about us following their recent, 2 day visit (forgive us)!!

This was a ‘Monitoring Visit’, not a full inspection and it was undertaken remotely which meant a lot of colleagues spending a lot of time on Zoom! Inspectors interviewed staff, client employers and apprentices as well as reviewing a range of documentation and data management tools in forming their judgements.

The report itself is extremely brief (around 600 words) so it can’t say a huge amount and an Ofsted report wouldn’t be an Ofsted report if it didn’t include some areas to work on. However, there are only three of these in an overall very positive report. Here are some quotations:

“Leaders have a clear and sensible rationale, informed by the needs of local and regional employers, for the range of business-related apprenticeships they offer. Leaders work effectively with employers to plan their apprenticeships carefully.”

“Staff work closely with employers to develop a coherent, practical and flexible curriculum for apprentices. This helps them build the skills and knowledge that their employers’ businesses need.”

“Apprentices acquire the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to be effective business employees…. They understand how to keep data safe and how to comply with data protection regulations. They learn the skills they need to plan meetings successfully and work independently as well as in a team.”

“Apprentices benefit from well-qualified tutors, all of whom have relevant and useful industry experience…. They use assessment skilfully to identify gaps in apprentices’ knowledge and support apprentices well to help those falling behind catch up.”

“Since the previous monitoring visit, leaders have improved the ways that they help apprentices develop their knowledge of English and mathematics. Apprentices now receive detailed feedback on their written work which helps them improve their writing skills.”

“Staff ... adapted apprentices’ learning plans sensibly to ensure that apprentices continued to learn and make progress throughout lockdown periods.”

Of course there is always more to do and we will never rest in our drive to improve the support we provide both to our client employers and our apprentices but we were really happy to have an independent voice such as Ofsted confirm that we are already doing well and making reasonable progress.  You can read the full report here.

We’d also like to say a huge thank you to the apprentices and employers who took time out to speak to inspectors during the visit and for saying nice things about us!