The Opportunity Provider Limited (TOP)

Published date 9 February 2012 Inspection Number 385767 Unique reference number: 57860

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Name of lead inspector: Janet Rodgers HMI

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

24 Cecil Pashley Way Shoreham Airport Shoreham-by-Sea West Sussex BN43 5FF Telephone number: 0800 093 5892 HIT Training Limited

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Information about the provider

1. HIT Training Ltd (HIT Training) was founded in May 2006. The company is a private company specialising in training for the hospitality and leisure industries. Its head office is in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. HIT Training has 5,824 learners; two thirds are aged over 25. Of the current Skills Funding Agency funded learners, 3,571 are training in hospitality and catering, 1,581 in business, administration and law, 411 in health and social care and 207 in cleaning and support services. Additionally, 54 learners are on employability programmes. The cleaning and support services and employability programmes were not inspected and graded separately for this inspection. HIT Training offers its training programmes to learners across the whole of England. The Skills Funding Agency provision accounts for 92% of HIT Training’s overall business, with the remainder being privately funded.

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Information about the provider

2. HIT Training was last inspected in December 2008. Since then, the company has increased the number of learners on its programmes and introduced apprenticeships. The health and social care programme, which was relatively new at the last inspection, is now being delivered by Connect2Care (C2C), which is owned by HIT Training.

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Information about the provider

3. The hospitality and catering industry employs a much younger workforce than the economy as a whole. The number of women working in the sector exceeds men and nearly half of the sector’s workforce is part time. The hotel and restaurant industries have a high proportion of migrant workers. The sector has one of the highest labour market turnover rates in the United Kingdom.

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Information about the provider

4. The following organisations provide training on behalf of the provider:  Ann Clarke Associates (health and social care and business, administration and law apprenticeships)  Training Futures (health and social care and early years apprenticeships)  CAMPUS Training (hospitality and catering and business, administration and law apprenticeships)  Skills Training UK Limited (business, administration and law apprenticeships)  Sonja Jones Training (health and social care and business, administration and law apprenticeships and employability programmes)

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Employer provision:

Train to Gain Apprenticeships 1,569 learners 5,333 apprentices

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Summary report

Grades: 1 is outstanding; 2 is good; 3 is satisfactory; 4 is inadequate

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Grade

Leadership and management 2 Safeguarding Equality and diversity

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Overall effectiveness

5. HIT Training is a good training provider. Learners achieve satisfactorily and hospitality and catering learners achieve well. Most learners successfully complete their training within their agreed timescales, although some advanced- level apprentices make slower progress. Learners develop good skills enabling them to give better customer service and be more organised at work. Hospitality and catering learners develop good practical skills and chefs are more innovative. They gain in confidence and often reflect on ways they can increase their success at work.

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Overall effectiveness

6. Trainer assessors provide good quality and very individualised coaching sessions. They use their good industry experience to make learning relevant, enjoyable and interesting. Trainer assessors make good links between learners’ job roles and qualifications. They regularly assess learners at work and use a wide range of methods to confirm their achievements. Learners receive very useful feedback from trainer assessors which aids their development. Trainer assessors set excellent short-term targets, but not all learners have long term goals or can easily judge the progress they are making. They have good opportunities to take higher and additional qualifications and advance in their career. Employers work productively with trainer assessors to enhance the learners’ training and give support.

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Overall effectiveness

7. HIT Training has well-managed training programmes with very effective action taken for improvement. Managers and quality assurance staff regularly monitor trainer assessors’ work, providing good support where needed. HIT Training places a high priority on ensuring its learners are safe and works well with employers to risk assess the workplace. Trainer assessors promote equality and diversity satisfactorily, but some learners do not appreciate how the topic applies to them or their work. Employers’ and learners’ comments are taken seriously but HIT Training is only just beginning to collect this feedback and using it centrally. Managers know what needs to be improved but their actions sometimes lack focus. They have insufficient data at the moment to measure the impact of some initiatives.

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Main findings

 Current learners are making good progress towards achieving their qualifications. In 2010/11, achievement rates are satisfactory overall and good for hospitality and catering apprentices. This is a significant improvement on the low achievement rates in previous years. However, success rates in some geographical regions, by men and intermediate-level health and social care apprentices are lower than the overall success rates for HIT Training.  Learners develop confidence and good vocational skills which they use well at work. They are highly motivated and keen to progress to further learning and be promoted. Hospitality and catering learners develop good practical skills and creativity. Customer service and team-leading learners improve their effectiveness at work and organisational skills. Health and social care learners use the knowledge they gain to improve their service users’ care and diet.  Learners feel safe. Trainer assessors are effective role models in setting good,

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Main findings

safe working practices. They work productively with employers enabling them to promote good standards of health, safety and hygiene and carry out comprehensive risk assessments of the workplace.  HIT Training provides good individual training and coaching that is very effectively planned to meet individual learners’ needs. Trainer assessors use their strong industry experience to make learning relevant and interesting. Learners have access to good quality learning resources which are starting to be available online.  Trainer assessors plan assessment thoroughly. They use a wide range of techniques to assess learners’ achievements. They assess learners’ work very frequently and give useful and motivating feedback to help them improve. They set excellent short-term targets, but medium and long term targets are not sufficiently precise to help learners know how well they are progressing.  Learners’ and employers’ needs are met well through the broad range of

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Main findings

qualifications and levels that HIT Training offers. Trainer assessors work very flexibly around employers’ shift patterns and work priorities. Learners have good progression routes across different programmes and levels which increase their productivity and prospects at work.  Trainer assessors have very good working relationships with employers, which are enhanced through regular and effective communication. In hospitality and catering, customer service and team leading they link the vocational training well to learners’ job roles and employer training. In health and social care, a successful partnership with a major employer is resulting in very regular work- based assessment.  Trainer assessors are well trained to provide a wide range of literacy, numeracy and language support. They give excellent pastoral help which is highly valued by learners and their employers. Learners have easy access to useful

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Main findings

information, advice, guidance and external support services which aid their achievement.  Directors and senior managers run the business well, set a clear strategic direction and are managing the transition from Train to Gain to the apprenticeship programme effectively. Regional management is strong and benefits from a high level of support from directors. HIT Training has set appropriate targets for improvement but managers do not have sufficiently useful data to monitor trends or success, especially for the provider as a whole.  Safeguarding is managed well. Managers are very thorough in monitoring Criminal Records Bureau checks, risk assessments and dealing with issues. They deliver good staff training in safeguarding and trainer assessors have a sound understanding of their role, potential risks and how to report incidents. Some trainer assessors do not mention safeguarding as a distinct theme with learners

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Main findings

during their induction and progress reviews.  The promotion of equality and diversity is satisfactory. Managers take action which is successfully increasing the lower success rates by some learner groups. Trainer assessors and learners have a suitable understanding of equality and diversity, particularly following induction, but do not discuss the topic sufficiently during progress reviews or incorporate relevant examples in training sessions.  Trainer assessors are exceptionally responsive to the feedback they receive from employers and learners. HIT Training has greatly improved its systems for gathering the views of employers and learners. This has enabled managers to collect information for quality improvement but they are not yet making full use of it.  HIT Training has good systems for internal verification, the risk banding of trainer assessors and performance management which are improving the

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Main findings

quality of training and assessment and success rates. Trainer assessors are routinely observed and provided with good staff development. The self- assessment process is satisfactory and inclusive, but the report is too descriptive. The quality improvement plan has insufficient measures for success.

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What does HIT Training Limited need to do to improve further?

 Set more specific targets and action points for the areas with lower success rates and use more reliable data at a national level to monitor the progress towards improvement.  Strengthen learners’ progress reviews to have a greater focus on medium- and long-term targets and more appropriate discussion of safeguarding, equality and diversity.  Enhance the effectiveness of self-assessment and the quality improvement plan by making better use of observations of trainer assessors, feedback from learners and employers and management information.

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What learners like:

 their trainer assessors, who explain everything clearly and thoroughly, give them constant help and support and can be contacted at any time  the feedback they receive from their trainer assessors, which gives them confidence and motivates them  the useful training and support resources  the training which has helped improve their skills, knowledge and performance at work  the confidence they have gained, including in taking written tests  the way that the training is delivered, which suits them and makes them want to take further qualifications.

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What learners would like to see improved:

 some of the training which is a bit rushed, making it hard to retain what they have learned  the gaps in their training and assessment when trainer assessors have left  the information given during their induction, particularly about the content within the diploma.

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What employers like:

 the trainer assessors who are very approachable, professional, supportive and have good industry experience  the way the trainer assessors work with them, making them they feel like an extension of their own team  the very adaptable and well organised training and coaching, that suits the business needs, shift patterns and provides a different approach to work tasks  the confidence and skills their employees develop, encouraging them to continue learning and go further at work  the links that trainer assessors make between the qualification and in-house training and development  the communication and speedy responses from HIT Training to any questions they have  the opportunities they have to discuss their employees’ progress with trainer assessors.

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What employers would like to see improved:

 more industry-specific qualifications in leisure and fitness.

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Capacity to make and sustain improvement Grade 3

8. HIT Training has satisfactory capacity to improve. Learners’ success rates are improving in the context of an increasing number of learners and changes in the programmes being offered. Directors and managers have a strong ambition for the company and involve staff at all levels. Internal verification and performance management are strong and most targets are achieved. This is leading to a better experience for the majority of learners. HIT Training’s use of learners’ and employers’ feedback to secure improvements is increasing but procedures are not yet fully implemented. The self-assessment process is satisfactory, inclusive and thorough. The resulting report however is overly descriptive and does not always reflect the key strengths, areas for improvement and good quality improvement activities that take place. The quality improvement plan identifies the main areas for development but does not use internal benchmarks or easily measurable targets. HIT Training’s grades

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Capacity to make and sustain improvement Grade 3

have been maintained, but not improved, since the previous inspection.

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Outcomes for learners Grade 2

9. Over the past two years, overall success rates have consistently improved and are very high for intermediate hospitality and catering apprentices. Current learners continue to make good progress. In health and social care and business, administration and law, outcomes for learners are satisfactory. Intermediate-level apprentices’ achievement of their programme within the agreed timescales is good in 2010/11 and for Train to Gain learners it is satisfactory. Advanced-level apprentices’ achievement, including within the agreed timescales, remains below the national average.

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Outcomes for learners Grade 2

10. Asian apprentices have particularly good success rates. Over the last two years, success rates for women, who account for over 70% of HIT Training’s leavers, are better than for men. Although this is still the case in the current year, the difference is much less than in previous years. Learners in some geographical regions, including the south west of England, make better progress towards achieving their qualifications within the agreed timescale. Learners in the east of England and north west have lower success rates in 2010/11.

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Outcomes for learners Grade 2

11. Learners develop good workplace skills, knowledge and confidence. They increase their personal effectiveness and are more organised at work. Learners take on additional responsibilities and gain promotion. Many significantly increase their literacy, numeracy and language skills. Hospitality and catering learners make good use of the practical skills they develop to promote drinks and dining options and plan more innovative menus that take sustainability into account. Health and social care learners develop the confidence to reflect on

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and improve their levels of care for service users. The quality of learners’ written work is good and it is well presented.

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12. Learners feel safe. Their employers carefully assess the health and safety risks to learners, particularly those aged under 18, when arranging shift work and activities. Trainer assessors provide good role models for health, safety and hygiene through their actions, appearance and the questions they ask learners during coaching and assessment.

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The quality of provision Grade 2

13. Learners benefit from particularly good individual training and coaching. Trainer assessors are well qualified and highly experienced, display enthusiasm and clearly enjoy teaching. They encourage learners to make good contributions and skilfully bring in their experiences of the workplace. Trainer assessors carefully assess learners’ preferred learning styles and adapt training to suit individual needs. They use good quality web- and paper-based learning resources, which are continually being improved. Trainer assessors are particularly adept at working with the large numbers of learners for whom English is an additional language. During coaching sessions, they simplify technical language very effectively. A few trainer assessors do not sufficiently challenge learners to gain skills and knowledge beyond the requirements of the vocational qualification or current job role.

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The quality of provision Grade 2

14. Assessment is good and thoroughly planned. Trainer assessors use a wide variety of methods to assess learners’ skills, including observation, professional discussion, products from work, photographs and audio and video recordings. Trainer assessors give learners clear guidance on what they need to do to improve. Learners and their employers are fully involved in agreeing excellent targets which are regularly reviewed at least once a month. Some learners are not aware of their medium and longer term targets or their progress in meeting them.

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The quality of provision Grade 2

15. Trainer assessors make very flexible arrangements for training and assessment, responding well to learners’ working patterns. Employers are enthusiastic about the way training and assessment are planned around the business needs and are sensitive to customers and service users. Trainer assessors match employers’ in-house training, some of which is excellent, very well to the vocational qualifications. Learners have good opportunities to progress to higher level or complementary qualifications and gain promotion.

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The quality of provision Grade 2

16. Partnership working, particularly with the large number of small businesses with whom HIT Training works, is good. Trainer assessors maintain good communication with learners and employers. In health and social care, the very effective collaboration with a major employer gives learners frequent assessment from workplace assessors and has improved aspects of their programme such as induction. HIT Training also works productively with local

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training provider networks and schools to promote apprenticeships and employability programmes.

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17. Learners have good care, guidance and support from their trainer assessors and employers. Trainer assessors are readily available by text, email or telephone to help with training and personal problems. Learners who require it receive good individual learning support. Trainer assessors are very skilled at supporting learners for whom English is an additional language or who prefer to use digital audio and video recording to document their achievements.

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Leadership and management Grade 2

18. HIT Training’s strategic leadership and management are good. Directors have good involvement with national industry representative and policy making organisations, using these links well to plan the company’s direction. Managers are expanding the business very effectively. They are managing the transition from Train to Gain to apprenticeships well, ensuring that staff have the appropriate skills and expertise. Regional managers receive good support to plan and deliver provision that is appropriate to their regions. They take good account of local labour market intelligence and other relevant information when devising budgets and identifying staffing requirements. Directors have frequent and regular contact with staff and communication throughout HIT Training is good.

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Leadership and management Grade 2

19. Staff agree demanding targets with their managers which are thoroughly monitored. Managers use good performance management systems to identify swiftly areas of underperformance, provide support and guidance and take stronger action where necessary. They are greatly increasing the overall success rates and learners’ progress through performance management and working with trainer assessors and learners to help improve the quality of coaching and assessment. HIT Training has recently changed its management information system to cope with the increasing demand for data and does not yet have access to reliable or useful information to monitor trends or progress towards achievement of targets at a national level.

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Leadership and management Grade 2

20. Safeguarding is managed well. Managers carry out thorough Criminal Records Bureau checks on staff and maintain comprehensive records, including of actions taken that they regularly and carefully scrutinise. They work productively with safeguarding professionals to respond to issues that arise and develop policies. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding through intensive training and useful support materials, but they do not always talk about the topic with learners.

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Leadership and management Grade 2

21. Managers promote equality and diversity satisfactorily. They take focused action to increase recruitment of learners from diverse groups. Staff are appropriately trained in equality and diversity. Managers are fully aware of why some groups of learners and geographical areas have lower success rates, and their actions

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are starting to raise achievement rates by men and in some regions. Trainer assessors do not discuss equality and diversity enough with learners during coaching sessions or progress reviews. Some learners do not have sufficient understanding of how equality and diversity applies to them and their work.

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22. Trainer assessors respond quickly and positively when learners and employers make suggestions for improvement. Managers use feedback well to identify and support necessary improvements, for example producing the employer handbook. They are making better use of formal methods for collecting feedback through web-based surveys to identify improvements, but this is not yet fully developed or consistent across all regions.

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23. HIT Training has very thorough and effective systems for risk banding trainer assessors and regions, which are linked well to support and training. Trainer assessors and managers monitor learners’ progress well which is helping increase overall success rates. Directors carefully scrutinise regional managers’ reports and all staff understand their role in enabling HIT Training to achieve key performance targets. Internal verifiers regularly and accurately observe trainer assessors, which is improving the quality of coaching and assessment. Although the self-assessment process is satisfactory it does not fully incorporate judgements from the observation system or learners’ and employers’ feedback.

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24. HIT training uses resources well to secure good value for money. Staff development is particularly effective in providing trainer assessors with the necessary skills to offer a good service to learners. The company has recently made significant investment in a managers’ academy for new managers and a virtual learning environment to enhance the good quality learning resources.

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Context

25. C2C, which is a division of HIT Training, delivers health and social care programmes to 474 learners. Most of the learners are women aged over 25 who are intermediate-level apprentices. Learners work in residential care homes and domiciliary care companies, mainly in the south of England. A quarter of the learners work for one employer that has its own work-based assessors. HIT Training’s trainer assessors provide coaching and assessment to the remaining learners.

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Key findings

 Overall success rates have increased over the last three years and are satisfactory and just above the national rate for advanced-level apprentices. Intermediate-level apprentices’ overall success rates are low but were affected by the low achievement of 16- to 18-year-old intermediate-level apprentices in 2010/11. C2C now has very few learners in this age group.  Current learners are making satisfactory progress, but over the last three years learners’ achievement of their programme within the agreed timescale has been low. Trainer assessors carefully check learners’ progress and set appropriate targets to help them achieve. Learners with the largest employer are particularly well motivated by the good access they have to work-based assessors.  Learners enjoy their work and are developing good workplace skills. They gain in confidence which helps them reflect on, and improve the level of care and

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Key findings

support they provide for service users. In particular, learners make good use of their knowledge to help service users improve their diet and well-being. Learners’ written work is well presented and supported with good examples of their work.  Learners have well-planned individual coaching and learning. Trainer assessors use questions skilfully to encourage learners to evaluate the impact of their learning. They successfully build on learners’ previous knowledge and experience. They set good research tasks to develop their knowledge. Employers further enhance this coaching with a wide range of in-house training that includes safeguarding, equality and diversity, first aid and manual handling.  Trainer assessors provide very regular and frequent assessment for learners at times that suit their shift work, family commitments and work priorities. They assess learners’ achievement using a good variety of methods, including

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Key findings

observation, digital recording and discussions. They give prompt, supportive and helpful feedback to learners with clear guidance for improvement.

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 Learners have satisfactory progress reviews. Trainer assessors set good short- term targets and are clear about the progress learners are making. Trainer assessors discuss health, safety, equality and diversity with learners effectively during their progress reviews.  C2C programmes meet learners’ and employers’ needs and interests well. Trainer assessors make good links between theoretical tasks and the workplace. Learners benefit from having good progression opportunities through C2C’s and HIT Training’s programmes. Employers value highly the flexible and sensitive approach taken by trainer assessors.  Trainer assessors develop very effective partnerships with employers and learners. They communicate well with them and quickly establish strong working relationships. Their good collaboration with the largest employer has led to a more manageable learner induction programme.  Trainer assessors and employers support learners well. Learners can easily

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contact trainer assessors. They adapt their assessment methods well to meet learners’ needs, particularly those with dyslexia or English as an additional language.  Leadership and management are now satisfactory and recent changes to C2C’s management team are raising success rates. Managers are instigating a clear quality improvement plan with a more cohesive approach to staff training, team meetings and internal verification. They effectively monitor the performance of staff and challenge those who are not achieving their targets.  Internal verifiers regularly observe trainer assessors. They give them clear and sufficiently detailed feedback to help improve the quality of coaching and assessment. Internal verifiers identify appropriate areas for improvement which result in useful staff training and development.

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What does HIT Training Limited need to do to improve further?

 Implement the priorities identified in the quality improvement plan to improve learners’ success rates, monitoring the progress being made and reviewing the effectiveness of actions taken.  Share best practice identified during observations of trainer assessors more effectively to raise the quality of coaching and learning sessions.

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Context

26. HIT Training has 3,571 learners taking a range of hospitality, cookery, food and beverage service, housekeeping and food production programmes across England. Most of the learners are intermediate-level apprentices, White British and aged over 19. Learners are employed by organisations such as hotels, school catering companies, restaurants, public houses and care homes. HIT Training’s trainer assessors provide coaching and assessment for learners at work.

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Key findings

 Learners’ overall success rates are good and consistently increasing over the last three years from a previously low rate. They are very high for intermediate- level apprentices, which account for around 85% of last year’s leavers, and satisfactory for advanced-level apprentices.  Current learners are making good progress. Intermediate-level apprentices’ achievement of the planned programme within the agreed timescales is excellent and for Train to Gain learners and advanced-level apprentices is satisfactory. Many complete their key skills programmes early in their programme and pass their tests the first time. Learners enjoy their training and aspire to progress to advanced-level programmes.  Learners develop good practical skills and confidence that help them improve their opportunities and performance at work. Professional cookery learners develop good and high-level skills enabling them to create innovative menus

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Key findings

and take greater account of sustainability. Front of house and food and beverage service learners are better able to organise and set up their work environment and promote drinks, dining and facilities.  Learners feel safe at work and trainer assessors work well with employers to promote good standards of hygiene, health and safety. Trainer assessors are very effective role models in setting good, safe practices through their actions, appearance and the questions they ask learners during coaching and assessment sessions. They have a suitable understanding of safeguarding.  Learners attend good coaching and individual learning sessions that meet their individual needs well. Trainer assessors use a wide range of excellent learning resources to help learners achieve. In the best sessions, trainer assessors use their knowledge enthusiastically and adeptly to develop learners’ skills and check their understanding. A few trainer assessors do not sufficiently challenge

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Key findings

learners to develop skills beyond those required for the vocational qualification.  Assessment planning is good. Trainer assessors use skills scans effectively to plan assessment activities and particularly those that can be captured in the course of learners’ work. They set excellent, regular short-term targets and learners clearly understand what they need to do between visits. However,

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trainer assessors and learners do not agree sufficient long- and medium-term targets to help learners know how well they are progressing.  Internal verifiers provide trainer assessors with highly effective support and feedback which is contributing to the improved success rates and good assessment. They are rigorous in ensuring that the standard of learners’ work is consistently good. Internal verifiers are increasing the frequency of observing trainer assessors but they do not always make full use of this opportunity to help improve the quality of coaching and learning.  HIT Training offers a very wide range of provision that meets the individual needs of employers and learners well. Employers find the model of delivery is flexible and are pleased with the way training and assessment is arranged around work priorities and their business. Learners have good opportunities to progress to advanced level or complementary qualifications with HIT Training.

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 Support for learners is good. Trainer assessors are highly skilled and trained to provide a wide range of help for learners including language, literacy and numeracy skills development, pastoral support and careers advice and guidance. Their links and communication with learners and employers are excellent.  The hospitality and catering programmes are well managed. Managers are highly effective in leading their teams and setting high expectations. They plan well to meet the significant changes to the programme, such as the introduction of apprenticeships and key skills. Trainer assessors benefit from excellent training and development, providing them with the necessary skills to help improve learners’ success.  Trainer assessors satisfactorily promote equality and diversity. Learners are given useful information at induction and within the handbook and Employment Rights and Responsibilities (ERR) packs. However, trainer assessors do not

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sufficiently reinforce learners’ understanding of equality and diversity during coaching sessions or progress reviews.  Managers are successfully improving overall success rates. They regularly review the performance of their team members and provide support where appropriate. The self-assessment process is satisfactory, but the identified actions have insufficient focus or measures for success. Trainer assessors respond well to employers’ and learners’ feedback, but this is not sufficiently used centrally to contribute to self-assessment judgements.

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What does HIT Training Limited need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the progress review process to set and monitor medium- and long- term targets and reinforce learners’ understanding of equality and diversity.  Make better use of internal verifiers’ observations of trainer assessors and the feedback gained from employers and learners to further improve the quality of coaching and learning, increase the clarity of self-assessment judgements and inform quality improvement initiatives.

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Context

27. HIT Training has 1,581 customer service, business administration, team leading and management learners. Around 90% are intermediate-level apprentices and more than 65% are aged 16 to 24. Most of the learners are women and few are from minority ethnic heritage groups. Learners are predominantly employed in the hospitality and services sector. HIT Training’s trainer assessors visit learners at work to provide coaching and assessment.

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Key findings

 Learners’ achievement of the planned programme within the agreed timescales is satisfactory and on Train to Gain programmes is just above the national average. Apprentices over the age of 25 have satisfactory overall success rates. Despite significant increases over the last three years, overall success rates for apprentices aged 16 to 24 are low and below national averages.  Learners are well motivated and develop good workplace skills in communicating, customer service and team leading. They take on additional responsibilities as their confidence improves and some are promoted to supervisory roles. Many learners significantly improve their work-related literacy and numeracy skills, particularly after a long break from learning or where English is their second language. Learners’ written work is of a good standard.  Learners feel safe. Their employers and trainer assessors carry out thorough risk assessments at work. As a result of this, learners work safely and receive

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Key findings

good training which is often certificated in health and safety, emergency procedures, first aid and food hygiene. However, most learners have a low awareness of how to use the internet safely.  Trainer assessors provide good quality coaching and learning sessions. They quickly establish learners’ trust and confidence as they skilfully guide and encourage them through the programme. Learners enjoy sharing their commercial experience with their trainer assessors who use their good industry background to enhance learners’ knowledge and understanding of processes and challenge their ways of working.  Trainer assessors use good quality learning resources in coaching sessions and direct learners to relevant websites for further information and practice materials. They adapt workbooks and assessment well to suit learners’ individual needs. HIT Training is further enhancing the direct access learners have to resources by developing its virtual learning environment.

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Key findings

 Trainer assessors plan assessment of learners’ work particularly effectively. Learners are well motivated by the wide range of assessment methods they use. Trainer assessors mark their work promptly and give constructive comments on how to improve. Trainer assessors do not make sufficient

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distinction between coaching and assessment and learners do not always reflect on, or practice, their learning before being assessed.  Trainer assessors and employers review learners’ progress frequently. They set good short-term targets, but learners are not always aware of how much of their programme they have completed. Trainer assessors do not sufficiently record aspects such as workplace training or learners’ responses to questions on health, safety, equality and diversity.  The good range of programmes meets learners’ and employers’ needs well. Learners have good progression routes across HIT Training’s courses and to the advanced level. Trainer assessors make good links between learners’ job roles, employers’ in-house training, key skills and the vocational qualifications. They are very flexible in the arrangements they make for training and assessment to suit learners’ working patterns.  HIT Training has good and long-standing partnerships with employers, training

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provider networks and schools. Many employers offer HIT Training’s programmes to learners as part of management or career development. Some learners benefit from the excellent training, including customer service skills in preparation for the 2012 Olympics, provided by large chains of prestigious hotels.  Trainer assessors give satisfactory support, advice and guidance to learners. They can easily be contacted, visit learners frequently and give additional time to those at risk of not achieving. They collaborate well with employers to resolve any issues and give learners appropriate pastoral help.  Curriculum management is good. Managers implement effective strategies to raise achievement overall, but some age groups and regions have lower success rates. They hold very effective team and standardisation meetings where best practice is shared. Managers monitor trainer assessors closely and support them

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well. Training and development are good and new staff are supported carefully through mentoring.  Trainer assessors promote equality and diversity satisfactorily during induction, learners’ progress reviews and through the ERR workbook. Generally, learners have an adequate understanding of equality and diversity, but some do not appreciate the wider implications of the subject at work or in relation to themselves as employees.  Managers use quality improvement initiatives appropriately to improve the quality of the provision. Trainer assessors and managers are fully involved in the self-assessment process and the report is broadly accurate. Internal verifiers regularly observe trainer assessors and give them feedback that helps improve their coaching and assessment sessions.

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What does HIT Training Limited need to do to improve further?

 More closely monitor success rate trends, particularly across the different programmes, by age and geographical areas and taking focused action to improve areas not achieving targets.

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 Make a clearer break between coaching sessions and assessment to give learners time to reflect and put theory into practice.  Implement the planned training on equality and diversity for trainer assessors to increase their confidence in discussing the topic and issues with learners.

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Information about the inspection

28. Three of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and five additional inspectors, assisted by the provider’s operations director, as nominee, carried out the inspection. Inspectors also took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, the previous inspection report and data on learners and their achievement over the period since the previous inspection.

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Information about the inspection

29. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and emails to gain the views of learners and employers. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. Inspectors collected evidence from programmes in each of the subject areas the provider offers.

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Learning types: 14 – 16: Young apprenticeships; Diplomas; 16-18 Learner responsive: FE full- and part-time courses, Foundation learning tier, including Entry to Employment; 19+ responsive: FE full- and part-time courses; Employer responsive: Train to Gain, apprenticeships

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Outcomes for learners 2 2 How well do learners achieve and enjoy their learning? 3 How well do learners attain their learning goals? How well do learners progress? How well do learners improve their economic and social well-being through learning and development? How safe do learners feel? 2 Are learners able to make informed choices about their own health and well being?* n/a How well do learners make a positive contribution to the community?* n/a Quality of provision 2 2 How effectively do teaching, training and assessment support learning and development? How effectively does the provision meet the needs and interests of users? 2 How well partnerships with schools, employers, community groups and others lead to benefits for learners? How effective are the care, guidance and support learners receive in helping them to achieve? Leadership and management 2 2 How effectively do leaders and managers raise expectations and promote

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ambition throughout the organisation? How effectively do governors and supervisory bodies provide leadership, direction and challenge?* n/a

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How effectively does the provider promote the safeguarding of learners? 2 How effectively does the provider actively promote equality and diversity, tackle discrimination and narrow the achievement gap? How effectively does the provider engage with users to support and promote improvement? How effectively does self-assessment improve the quality of the provision and outcomes for learners? How efficiently and effectively does the provider use its available resources to secure value for money? *where applicable to the type of provision Grades using the 4 point scale 1: Outstanding; 2: Good; 3: Satisfactory; 4: Inadequate Overall Employer responsive Approximate number of enrolled learners Full-time learners Part-time learners 5,824 5,824

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Overall effectiveness 2 2 Capacity to improve 3 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231 or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’. Ofsted

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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