Beckett Corporation Limited

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs Valerie Malik Quality Manager Beckett Corporation Limited Unit 5 College Fields Business Park 20 Prince Georges Road London SW19 2PT

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

Following the short inspection on 7 April 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The inspection was the first short inspection carried out since the provider was judged to be good in May 2012.

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

Directors and managers have continued to ensure that a very high proportion of learners achieve their qualifications in transporting vulnerable adults and children and those with disability and develop good skills for work. Learners, many of whom have been out of work for long periods of time, develop greater self-confidence, gain skills for transporting vulnerable passengers and improve their skills for job interviews. Directors have a clear strategy for the company to deliver high-quality training and assessment to help their learners gain jobs and to ensure that vulnerable clients receive a high-quality service when they require specialist transport.

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

Trainers work effectively to help learners develop their vocational skills in transporting passengers and, where appropriate, their English and mathematics skills. Managers have developed good partnership arrangements with the local college for those learners who need to gain qualifications in English and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

Directors and managers continue to work effectively with local and regional partners, such as Jobcentre Plus, to provide training for long-term unemployed people to help them gain skills and confidence to return to work. While a small proportion of learners gain employment in the passenger transport sector as a consequence of their training, managers at partner organisations and agencies recognise the wider benefits that learners gain from achieving their qualifications, such as improving their confidence, self-esteem and skills for work. These assist them in moving on to other positive destinations, such as further training or part- time work.

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

Your directors and managers continue to place a high priority on ensuring their learners are taught in a safe environment, that they are taught safe working practices and that they learn how to safeguard the clients they work with.

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

You and your managers ensure that background checks are completed for all new training staff, new learners and all new employees who will have contact with potentially vulnerable clients, to ensure they are appropriate people to work with learners and vulnerable clients. The human resources manager maintains an up-to- date record of checks on learners and staff and ensures that these are updated when required, to ensure the continuing suitability of staff to work with vulnerable clients.

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Short inspection of Beckett Corporation Limited

Your trainers ensure that learners develop their understanding of the types of actions, behaviours or other evidence that clients may present to indicate that they should refer their concerns to relevant agencies or local authority staff. Trainers also help learners develop their understanding of how to keep themselves safe from the dangers of extremism and radicalisation, but they recognise they have further work to do on this topic and in helping learners develop a greater understanding of British values to prepare them for living and working in modern Britain.

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Inspection findings

 A very high proportion of learners achieve their qualifications. They develop good skills for employment as a result of their training. For example, their rates of attendance and punctuality at lessons are high and they receive good support from trainers to write their curriculum vitae. A high proportion of learners have been out of work for significant periods of time or have been suffering from mental health problems; as a result of their training and achievement of their qualifications, they improve their self-confidence, self- esteem and motivation to find full- or part-time work.

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Inspection findings

 Trainers are effective in helping learners develop their vocational skills, such as securing a wheelchair user safely in a vehicle prior to transportation. They use a good range of teaching resources, including work books, demonstrations and practical work very well to help learners make good progress. Trainers check learners’ understanding frequently in lessons to ensure that they understand the subject or have mastered skills thoroughly. They check learners’ spelling, punctuation and grammar and support them well to improve these skills in their written work. Trainers are adept at supporting learners with a wide range of prior achievement, to ensure all learners, regardless of their ability are able to make good progress.

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Inspection findings

 Trainers assess learners’ skills in English and mathematics well at the start of the course, but they do not yet use the results of the assessments to inform learning and development in these skills while the learner is on the course. As a consequence, they do not know if learners have improved their English and mathematics skills as a result of being on the course. Where learners need to gain qualifications in English and mathematics, staff refer them to the local further education college to achieve these.

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Inspection findings

 Directors and managers have worked effectively to improve the provision and achieve the recommendations for improvement from the previous inspection. They have remained highly focused on providing training that meets the needs of both learners and the clients with whom learners will work when qualified. Directors are passionate about high-quality training and they have adapted the provision well to meet the skills development needs of their learners. For example, they have recently introduced qualifications in employability skills to help learners develop further the skills and confidence they need to apply for jobs.

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Inspection findings

 Managers have identified several elements of the provision that need to be improved, but their assessment of the strengths and areas for improvement is not sufficiently wide ranging to ensure that all areas for improvement are identified. For example, managers’ observations of training sessions focus on the actions of the trainer and not what the learners can do as a result of the training; action plans following observations do not then contain sufficient appropriate actions to improve the quality of training further.

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Next steps for the provider

 observations of training evaluate clearly the skills, knowledge and understanding learners develop as a result of their training and that trainers’ action plans that arise from observations have clear and specific actions for improvement

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Next steps for the provider

 trainers are supported to help learners develop a greater understanding of British values and how to keep themselves safe from the dangers of extremism and radicalisation

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Next steps for the provider

 the skills learners develop and the personal goals they achieve as a consequence of attending the course are recorded and their progress in achieving these evaluated

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Next steps for the provider

 following identification of learners’ English and mathematics skill development needs at the start of the course, trainers identify clearly how they will support learners in improving these skills

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Next steps for the provider

 managers’ self-assessment and quality improvement planning uses all of the available information about the provision to make judgements and set actions for improvement. I am copying this letter to the Skills Funding Agency and the Education Funding Agency. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, inspectors were assisted by the quality manager, as nominee. We met with learners, trainers, directors, and senior managers. Inspectors observed training sessions and reviewed learners’ assessments and written work. We reviewed key policies and documents, including those relating to self-assessment, performance and safeguarding. We also considered the views of learners.

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