The Shaw Trust Limited

FE&S report The Shaw Trust Limited Independent learning provider

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is an inadequate provider

 The number of learners who achieve their qualifications is extremely low. In 2014/15, no apprentices achieved their qualifications. At the time of the inspection, fewer than one in eight were successful.  Achievement of English, mathematics and information and communication technology (ICT) functional skills is very low.  Action plans lack detail and do not set clear and measurable timescales by which managers can measure and evaluate improvement. Consequently, the pace of improvement is too slow.  A minority of apprentices do not develop the required skills because their training programmes do not meet the requirements set out for them.  Assessors do not identify those learners who are falling behind or take appropriate and timely action to speed up their achievements.  Because managers and assessors do not identify what learners know and can do at the start of their programmes, too many apprentices, capable of

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This is an inadequate provider

working at higher levels, are on programmes that are not sufficiently challenging.  More than four in 10 apprentices are studying beyond their expected completion dates.  Assessors do not provide learners and apprentices with detailed feedback that specifies how they can improve their work, or develop their vocational skills.

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This is an inadequate provider

 Learners benefit from good-quality support and guidance in making career choices. Most learners who complete their apprenticeship or study programme gain permanent employment, or move into further education or employment with training.  Learners behave with respect for others because staff model the core values of the organisation and actively promote learners’ awareness of equality and diversity.

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Information about the provider

 The Shaw Trust is a registered charity that focuses on helping people with disabilities, and financially and socially disadvantaged people. They support individuals to gain skills, prepare for work, find jobs and live more independently. The trust is governed by a board and led by a chief executive officer. The board consists of non-executive directors and volunteers, who meet five times a year.  The trust receives income from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), the Education Funding Agency (EFA), charitable fund-raising, the European Social Fund (ESF), the national lottery and other sources. It prepares people to return to work, and provides self-directed support services for people with disabilities, social enterprises, and learning and skills services.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Improve outcomes for apprentices, and ensure that they complete their programmes on time, by setting clear learning targets and by tracking and monitoring apprentices’ progress against them. Quickly identify any learners or apprenticeships who may not complete their courses and take effective action to help them succeed.  Meet the requirements for the delivery of apprenticeships and ensure that managers keep complete and accurate records of apprentices’ on- and off-the-job training.  Ensure that the provider’s action plans for improvement have clear, measurable targets to monitor progress. Managers and trustees should scrutinise these and provide sufficient challenge where staff do not complete actions or meet targets quickly enough.  Ensure that assessors across all programmes provide detailed, accurate and helpful feedback to learners and apprentices on their written work, so that they know what to do to improve. Assessors should

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

consistently challenge and support learners to improve their English and mathematical skills to promote the skills needed to gain employment, and provide additional tasks to challenge more advanced learners.  Extend the assessment of learners’ and apprentices’ skills at the start of their learning to accurately measure the vocational, English, mathematical and ICT skills that learners have already, and those they need to gain. Ensure that assessors use the findings to place all learners on the correct level of study. Managers should make consistent use of the findings to monitor accurately the progress that all apprentices make in developing their skills ready for their next steps.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Since the last inspection, the quality of provision has declined significantly. Until recently, leaders and trustees were very slow to identify and address this decline. In their reviews of their work, managers have over-stated strengths, and have not identified the root causes underlying the dramatic decline in standards. Despite increased focus on improvement since November 2015, the recovery action plans lack focus and urgency. The appropriate actions they have taken have not yet brought about significant improvement.  Leaders and trustees have established a clear mission and set of values for the Shaw Trust. The Shaw Trust develops personal and vocational skills that help its clients to live more independently, secure long- term employment and contribute positively to family and community life. In line with the core values of the organisation, staff actively promote learners’ awareness of equality and diversity.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Assessors and teaching staff are not sufficiently involved in reviewing the quality of provision and are not aware of the priorities for improvement. Recent appointments have broadened the expertise of the team, but at the time of the inspection, this has had little impact on raising standards.  Leaders do not place enough emphasis on how learners feel about their learning and work experiences and have only basic processes in place to gather their views as part of the quality assurance process. This means that the range and breadth of curriculum provided by the organisation do not meet the developmental needs of all learners. In addition, the advice and guidance provided by staff do not ensure that they recruit learners onto the most appropriate programme. For example, learners who have already achieved qualifications at level 3, some of whom are carrying out supervisory roles in their workplace,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

have been placed on level 2 apprenticeships. As a result, the programme fails to provide sufficient challenge for all learners, contributing to the high drop-out rate from the programme.  The majority of accommodation is suitable for the range of learning and assessment activities taking place. However, assessors and learners do not always have access to suitable computer resources. This limits learners’ ability to access learning resources, particularly those associated with the delivery and assessment of English and mathematics.  Most staff have adequate experience and qualifications to enable them to deliver the work-related aspects of their courses. A minority of staff do not have appropriate qualifications, experience or confidence to deliver all components of English and mathematics functional skills.  Managers have recently updated and implemented a suitable performance management process. They

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

have also recently introduced new procedures to underpin the observation of teaching and learning. Managers are beginning to use the information from observations increasingly effectively to help identify priorities for the development for assessors and teachers. This has recently focused on developing the capacity of the management team and ensuring that assessors have the opportunity to gain suitable qualifications in English and mathematics to improve achievement in these vital subjects.  The governance of the provider Trustees support managers well in helping to define the mission and strategic priorities of the trust, and to assure the financial status of the organisation. However, until very recently, trustees had not provided sufficient scrutiny and challenge to leaders in response to the decline in standards and had not done enough to hold leaders to account for bringing about improvements in quality. Although it

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

has recently improved, managers have not provided sufficiently detailed or accurate information to trustees on the quality of provision, for example by providing regular, accurate and timely data on retention and achievement rates.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective The Shaw Trust has appropriate policies and procedures in place to help assure the safety and welfare of its learners and staff. Staff actively promote safe working practices at all times. As a result, learners and staff feel safe. Managers follow safe recruitment practices for new staff. Not all learners demonstrate a sufficient insight and understanding of British values, or the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

 Learners make very slow progress, and many are already beyond their intended programme end-dates. Assessors do not use tracking systems well enough to identify those learners who are falling behind; nor do assessors take appropriate action to speed up learners’ achievements.  Initial information, advice and guidance are not always effective. This means that learners study on programmes that are not sufficiently challenging. For example, apprentices on an intermediate programme in customer service and business administration have already achieved qualifications at the same or a higher level. These apprentices’ job roles and career ambitions would better suit an advanced- level programme; the intermediate programme they are enrolled on is not tailored well enough to provide additional challenge in the light of their prior learning.  Additionally, apprentices who support adults with learning difficulties in health and social care take units

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

of qualifications that do not match their job roles well. As a result, these apprentices fail to see the relevance of their studies and are unable to practise and apply their learning at work.  Staff do not use the outcomes of the assessment of learners at the start of the programme to plan learning effectively and set challenging individual learning targets, including for English and mathematics. Consequently, learners do not always focus on developing the specific skills and knowledge they need to succeed.  Induction programmes for most learners are not fully effective because assessors and teaching staff do not check that learners understand the information they provide. The recently devised induction programme for the very small number of study-programme learners is comprehensive and prepares them for their learning well.  Progress review discussions between assessors and learners are too brief. They do not cover all aspects

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

of the programme and do not involve employers sufficiently. Targets emphasise the completion of tasks and do not promote rapid progress because they are too general and lack detail. The pace of learning in individual sessions and over time is too slow. The quality of learners’ work usually does no more than meet the minimum standards required for the qualification. Learners’ written work is often copied directly from internet sources with little interpretation to demonstrate their own thinking and ideas.  Learners do not develop their English and mathematical skills well enough. Assessors do not routinely help learners to improve their writing effectively; nor do they encourage learners to develop their English and mathematical skills beyond the minimum requirements of the apprenticeship or study programme. In one work setting with around 20 apprentices, poor access to the internet prevents apprentices from

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

undertaking their external assessments readily. Assessors are working towards their own functional skills qualifications and are becoming better equipped to support learners, particularly in their use of the available online learning materials. The impact of this staff development is not yet evident.  In most cases, assessors do not provide learners and apprentices with detailed oral and written feedback that specifies how they can improve their work, or develop their vocational skills. Assessors comment readily on the efforts that learners make but fail to provide specific comments on how to improve further, contributing to the slow progress that learners make.  Assessors do not record the number of hours of on- and off-the job learning each apprentice undertakes to ensure that they meet the requirements for their apprenticeships. In a small minority of apprenticeships, it is clear that apprentices do not get the required amount of training.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

 Although they make slow progress, apprentices enjoy learning and understand the positive impact it has on their work performance and career prospects. For example, by improving their communication skills, customer service apprentices who had found routine telephone calls difficult to answer are now able to initiate successful sales calls.  The great majority of employers provide good learning opportunities, encouragement and good career prospects, enabling apprentices in fast-food outlets to gain management roles. In care-home settings, apprentices are often able to progress to senior carer roles with responsibility for supervising others.  Assessors provide very effective care and support for learners, which develop their confidence well. Assessors know their learners well and cater effectively for their personal circumstances and difficulties, such as caring responsibilities, domestic situations and relationship difficulties. Learners benefit from

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

frequent and flexible assessor visits, including during the evenings and nights for those working shifts in care homes.  Assessors promote equality and diversity very effectively. For example, in customer service, good emphasis is placed on respecting and providing for customers’ cultural differences or sensory impairments. Assessors take opportunities readily to discuss topics such as women’s rights, and the history of slavery. The Shaw Trust has recently produced a training module on modern British values, which learners are beginning to study. The impact on learners’ understanding is not yet evident.

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requires improvement

 Too many learners do not make the progress that they should and the large majority fail to complete their qualifications in the time allocated to them. Achievement of English, mathematics and ICT functional skills is very low. Almost all apprentices take these qualifications very late in their programme, compounding further the slow progress they make.  As a result of recent and effective training, staff have begun to promote awareness of radicalisation and extremism through teaching and assessment reviews. Learners are not yet sufficiently aware of how these issues could affect them or how they should respond to protect themselves and others.  Learners know how to keep themselves safe while they are at work and in their daily lives. They know what they should do if they have concerns about bullying and harassment and recognise the importance of appropriate behaviour and commentary when working online. They show respect and tolerance for

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requires improvement

their colleagues, clients and customers and understand well the need to keep vulnerable children and adults safe.  Learners consider personal, social and ethical issues well. Assessors and teaching staff apply the values of the organisation effectively, helping learners to be more mindful of their mental health, to think about the impact of diet and behaviour on health and well-being, and to be active and responsible members of their local and national communities.  Learners conduct themselves well and behave professionally. Most have positive attitudes to work. As a result of more frequent meetings with their assessors and teaching staff, they enjoy their learning and value the support they get. Learners turn up to work on time. When apprentices need to rearrange assessment and training sessions due to changes in shift patterns or illness, they keep their assessors, teaching staff and employers informed so that they can organise alternative visits quickly. Employers

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requires improvement

appreciate the value that their apprentices bring to their organisations. Most learners gain confidence in their job roles and so develop the readiness to take on roles that require greater levels of responsibility.  Learners benefit from good-quality support and guidance in making career choices. High numbers of learners and apprentices leave early because they want to work full time. Advisers provide targeted support to help them gain work, even though it may mean that they do not complete their qualifications. Consequently, the number of learners who leave their programmes and go into sustained work or further education is high.

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Outcomes for learners are inadequate

 The number of learners who achieve their qualifications is extremely low. In 2014/15, no apprentices achieved their qualifications. Of the 179 apprentices due to complete their apprenticeships at the time of the inspection, only one in eight were successful.  Apprentices benefit from a review of their previous qualifications and initial assessments in English and mathematics as they begin their training and development. Despite these assessments, too many apprentices capable of working at higher levels are on programmes that do not challenge them sufficiently.  Most apprentices do not make the progress expected of them. Too many are not meeting the targets for completing on time. More than four in 10 are studying well beyond their expected completion dates. Managers review the number of learners whose progress is too slow, and have an increased sense of urgency to improve the speed at which apprentices work towards achieving their qualifications, but the

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Outcomes for learners are inadequate

impact of this analysis and challenge is too slow.  With such small numbers of successful learners, analysis of the achievement rates of different groups of learners is not meaningful. Achievement rates vary significantly across different apprenticeship programmes. Apprentices on level 2 health and social care or retail and customer service apprenticeships, expected to finish by the time of the inspection, have yet to achieve. This applies also to those following level 3 business administration or retail and customer service apprenticeships.  Those apprentices who complete their programmes remain in employment; most of these apprentices gain extra responsibility, promotion or an increase in their pay. Most 16–18-year-old apprentices who complete their apprenticeship gain permanent employment or study higher level qualifications. The few study-programme learners who are successful progress to apprenticeships or further education and

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Provider details

Type of provider Independent learning provider

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full contract year

Principal/CEO Roy O’Shaughnessy Website address www.shaw-trust.org.uk

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Intermediate Advanced Higher

16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 23 197 6 162 0 0 Number of traineeships 16-19 19+ Total 1 0 1 Number of learners aged 14–16 0

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Intermediate Advanced Higher

Funding received from Education Funding Agency Skills Funding Agency

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Inspection team

Christopher Jones, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Peter Nelson Her Majesty’s Inspector Pat Hornsby Ofsted Inspector Allan Shaw Ofsted Inspector Jonny Wright Ofsted Inspector Heather Hartmann Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

The above team was assisted by the regional director – north and Scotland, as nominee, and carried out the inspection at short notice. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider. guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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 reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk Learner View is a website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too.

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Inspection team

To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk

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Inspection team

Employer View is a new website where employers can tell Ofsted what they think about their employees’ college or provider. They can also see what other employers think about them too.

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Inspection team

To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk

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