Chamber Training (Humber) Limited

Further education and skills inspection report

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Chamber Training (Humber) Limited Independent learning provider

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Inspection dates 26 February – 1 March 2018

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement Adult learning programmes Requires improvement Apprenticeships Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings

This is a provider that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings

 The proportion of apprentices who complete their programmes within planned timescales has declined and was too low in 2016/17.  Arrangements to improve the quality of teaching and learning are not rigorous enough.  In too many instances, tutors and assessors do not support adult learners to develop new vocational skills and knowledge but simply accredit them for skills and knowledge they already have.  Leaders and managers place too low a priority on adult learners’ development of English and mathematical skills. Consequently, learners do not improve these skills well enough.  Too many tutors and assessors do not challenge adult learners routinely to make the most progress of which they are capable. In these cases, tutors and assessors do not provide sufficiently challenging activities or useful feedback to help learners identify what they need to do to improve their work.  Learners and apprentices do not have a well-

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Summary of key findings

developed awareness of local risks related to radicalisation and extremism.

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Summary of key findings

The provider has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings

 Learners and apprentices benefit from good careers advice that enables them to make well- informed choices about their future careers. As a result, the large majority maintain, or progress to, sustained employment  Learners and apprentices make good progress in developing their confidence and personal and social skills, including improved communication skills, as a result of the training that they receive.  Leaders and managers work well with local employers to ensure that the curriculum is very responsive to the needs of the local labour market.  Leaders, managers and staff have developed a welcoming and inclusive culture where learners behave with courtesy and treat each other with respect.

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Information about the provider

 The Humber region has a population of 927,800 and is made up of four unitary authorities, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Kingston upon Hull, where Chamber Training (Humber) Limited is located, is the third most deprived local authority in England, with half the population living in wards that are among the 20% most deprived in England. The area has a low skills base and high unemployment. In 2017, 29% of 16-year-olds achieved a good English GCSE pass, compared with 42% nationally.  Chamber Training (Humber) Limited (CTHL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping. CTHL offers adult learning programmes, mostly in health and social care, and a mix of apprenticeship frameworks and standards in a range of industries. Apprenticeships make up the large majority of the provision.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of apprentices who achieve their apprenticeships within planned timescales, by ensuring that: – tutors and assessors provide helpful feedback so that apprentices know what they need to do to improve their work – tutors and assessors provide challenging activities that enable all apprentices to make the most progress possible – apprentices complete their mathematics and English qualifications promptly.  Enhance quality improvement arrangements so that leaders and managers evaluate quality accurately, and identify and implement successfully actions to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.  Ensure that tutors and assessors help adult learners to develop new vocational skills and knowledge on their courses.  Increase the priority that leaders and managers place on developing the English and mathematical skills of adult learners so that these learners are well placed to fulfil their

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

career ambitions.  Ensure that tutors and assessors routinely challenge adult learners to achieve their full potential and provide clear and constructive feedback to help learners to improve their work.  Provide information to learners and apprentices to improve their awareness of how to stay safe from any local risks of radicalisation and extremism.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, leaders and managers have presided over a decline in the proportion of apprentices who complete their programmes within the planned timescales. Over recent months, they have taken action to tackle this decline, which resulted from protracted difficulties with Prospect Training, a poorly performing subcontractor. CTHL no longer subcontracts its apprenticeship provision and delivers all of this provision directly. This is resulting in improvements in the quality of apprenticeship provision but it is still too early to evaluate the full impact of the changes.  Leaders’ and managers’ evaluation of the quality of provision is too generous, especially in relation to the effectiveness of leadership and management. Leaders and managers set imprecise targets and actions to address areas for improvement. This results in delays to improvements in areas such as developing learners’ mathematics and English skills.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders and managers do not do enough to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the provision. They do not provide tutors and assessors with clear actions and targets following observations of teaching, learning and assessment. As a result, too many tutors and assessors do not know what they need to do to improve their professional practice and too many do not undertake training to improve their skills.  Leaders and managers do not place a high enough priority on the development of adult learners’ English and mathematical skills. They allocate insufficient resources to encourage learners to develop these skills.  Leaders and managers have established an inclusive culture based on respect for all, and on equality of opportunity, which prepares learners well for life in modern Britain. Learners and apprentices of all backgrounds feel welcome and valued.  Leaders and managers use good links with local employers and the local enterprise

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

partnership to ensure that CTHL’s curriculum is responsive to local employment needs and effective in addressing local skills gaps. Courses prepare learners and apprentices well to fill gaps in a range of industries, including health and social care and retail.  Leaders and managers ensure that learners and apprentices receive high-quality careers advice and guidance before enrolment and during their courses. For example, they provide information about apprenticeships at national careers events and in local schools. Managers work well in partnership with a range of other agencies, including Connexions, to ensure that all learners and apprentices receive impartial, external advice in addition to that provided by CTHL’s own careers staff. This enables learners and apprentices to make well-informed decisions about their courses and future careers.

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The governance of the provider

 Governors have a range of skills and expertise, including in business and finance, which they use well to ensure that the courses provided are sustainable. For example, they responded quickly to the sudden closure of hairdressing courses at Prospect Training by providing leaders and managers with increased resources to open CTHL’s own hairdressing training salon. As a result, most apprentices in hairdressing completed their apprenticeships, although with a delay.  Governors provide good support to leaders and managers to ensure that provision is aligned with the strategic priorities of the Humber Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping, and that it strengthens the local economy by helping local businesses.  Governors do not ask for or receive reports that are detailed enough for them to understand key aspects of performance, such as the development of apprentices’ vocational skills. Consequently, they do not provide sufficient support and challenge to

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The governance of the provider

leaders and managers across all aspects of provision.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders and managers ensure that comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures are in place and that staff know how to use them well to protect learners and apprentices. The designated safeguarding lead maintains a thorough and up-to-date incident log which records the few safeguarding incidents that occur and describes appropriate actions taken by staff. The designated safeguarding lead makes prompt referrals to appropriate authorities when necessary.  Leaders and managers undertake appropriate recruitment checks when appointing new staff. For instance, they have a full record of checks on references and they ensure that checks are carried out with the Disclosure and Barring Service for those who need them.  Leaders and managers ensure that thorough risk assessments are in place to help keep apprentices safe at work.  Staff, learners and apprentices receive appropriate safeguarding training and information,

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Safeguarding

including in relation to the general requirements of the ‘Prevent’ duty. However, leaders and managers do not provide enough information about the specific local risks relating to radicalisation and extremism. Consequently, too few members of staff, learners and apprentices have an accurate perception of these risks.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Too many tutors and assessors do not challenge learners and apprentices, especially the most able, to make the progress of which they are capable. They set targets which do not take sufficiently into account what learners and apprentices already know and which do not encourage learners and apprentices to proceed as promptly as they can. As a result, these learners and apprentices do not reach their full potential.  Too often, tutors and assessors provide insufficiently clear and developmental feedback to enable learners and apprentices to identify precisely what they need to do to improve their work. Feedback is often superficial and generic, and limited to noting that a task has been completed. As a result, learners and apprentices do not improve their knowledge and understanding to the levels of which they are capable.  In too many instances on adult learning programmes, teaching and assessment consists

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

of little more than helping learners to identify existing vocational skills. Too little new learning takes place, especially on level 2 courses.  On apprenticeship provision, the large majority of tutors and assessors are well-qualified and experienced and use their good sector knowledge skilfully to develop and assess apprentices’ vocational skills. They work well with employers to plan assessment that helps the majority of current learners and apprentices to make progress in line with the requirements of their programmes.  Specialist tutors provide effective additional learning support to learners and apprentices who have learning difficulties and disabilities. As a result of the support they receive, these learners and apprentices remain on their programmes and make progress in line with those who do not require such support.  Tutors and assessors plan activities that effectively develop learners’ and apprentices’

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

understanding of people from diverse backgrounds and their awareness of the importance of equal opportunities. For example, learners and apprentices in health and social care learn about the different care needs of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. This prepares them well for working life in modern Britain.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

 Learners and apprentices show respect for one another, their customers and clients, and visitors to their training centres and workplaces. They readily incorporate fundamental British values into their professional behaviour. Employers value learners’ and apprentices’ professionalism and courtesy. Learners and apprentices enjoy their learning and have positive attitudes to their studies and to employment.  Learners and apprentices develop high levels of confidence and useful personal and social skills, including improved communication skills, as a result of the training that they receive and the qualifications that they gain. For example, apprentices learn how to communicate by email more clearly and professionally. Employers appreciate the skills that their learners and apprentices develop and give them additional responsibilities at work as a result.  A large proportion of apprentices take additional qualifications which enhance their skills

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

for work and career prospects. For example, apprentices in air-conditioning maintenance have additional opportunities to develop their knowledge of electrical engineering.  Apprentices benefit from well-equipped learning environments and specialist facilities that support them to practise and develop their vocational skills. For example, hairdressing apprentices study in a professional salon environment at CTHL’s ‘Salon Apprentice’.  Learners and apprentices benefit from good careers advice and guidance that help them to understand the options open to them and enable them to progress to positions of increased responsibility in their careers. For example, around half of adult learners take on additional responsibilities or gain promoted positions at work.  Learners and apprentices understand well how to keep themselves and their clients safe, including in the workplace. For example, apprentices in warehousing and logistics know

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

when and why they need to wear personal protective equipment. Learners and apprentices know how to stay safe from bullying and discrimination and they know how to report any concerns they may have. However, their understanding of local risks associated with radicalisation and extremism is limited.  Very few adult learners develop their English and mathematical skills as a result of their learning programmes. Many of these learners have had to overcome significant barriers to learning, and for some it is their first experience of education in many years. They are rightly ambitious and many of them hope for careers in teaching or nursing. However, tutors and assessors do not encourage them routinely to develop the mathematics and English skills that would enable them to fulfil these ambitions.  A minority of apprentices’ attendance at mathematics and English sessions is too low and this delays their progress.

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

 Too many apprentices do not complete their apprenticeships within planned timescales, often because they do not gain their mathematics and English qualifications quickly enough. Leaders and managers are aware of this and have taken actions to improve the pace at which apprentices achieve these qualifications. It is too early to see the full impact of these actions.  Adult learners on level 3 programmes do not achieve their qualifications as well as those on level 2 programmes. The proportion of adult learners who achieve their qualifications at level 3 has been declining for three years and is now below the proportion at other providers.  The large majority of adult learners on level 2 programmes achieve their qualifications. Most of these learners are mandated to complete level 2 qualifications by their employers, since these qualifications are required for their roles in care homes. As a result of

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

achieving their qualifications, learners increase their career options and are better prepared for their next steps.  The majority of learners and apprentices maintain or progress to sustained employment or further education or training as a result of their courses. For example, just over half of adult learners progress to higher-level courses on completion of their initial programme. A few adult learners move progressively from qualifications at level 2 to qualifications at level 5, which equips them well for careers in care management. However, adult learning programmes do not prepare learners well to gain places on university courses, which reduces the prospects of those learners who want to progress to careers in teaching or nursing.  Current apprentices in sectors other than engineering now make progress in accordance with planned timescales. However, the proportion of engineering apprentices who

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

complete their apprenticeships within planned timescales continues to be affected by the closure of Prospect Training and remains too low in 2017/18. Since all of these engineering apprentices are male, their delayed progress means that the proportion of male apprentices who complete their programmes within planned timescales is likely to remain lower than that of female apprentices during this period.  Apprentices learn new vocational knowledge and acquire and develop useful skills. For instance, apprentices in warehousing learn how to lift pallets and operate hoists safely.

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Adult learning programmes Requires improvement

 CTHL provides adult learning programmes for 35 learners employed in the health and social care sector. Programmes are offered from levels 2 to 5, with the majority of learners on programmes at levels 2 and 3. These programmes meet the staff training needs of local care homes.  Too few learners develop new vocational skills, beyond the tasks they can already do as a result of their prior employment. Too many learners are accredited for things they could do before they started their course. Tutors provide feedback that focuses almost entirely upon the completion of tasks and units and does not give learners sufficiently useful information to help them to improve their skills well.  Too many learners do not make progress at the pace of which they are capable. Learners progress at a uniform pace through the same assessments, regardless of their individual starting points, abilities and ambitions.  The majority of learners on courses at level 4 and 5 do not produce work of a high

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Adult learning programmes Requires improvement

enough standard or develop the skills required to fulfil their ambitions to progress successfully to higher levels of study. On these courses, too many tutors and assessors do not provide appropriate resources or accurate information about the independent study skills required at this level. As a result, most learners on these courses do not develop their knowledge and skills as much as they are able.  All learners work in well-equipped care settings where they have good opportunities to put into practice the skills and knowledge covered by their qualifications. The large majority of learners are well supported in their learning by their employers. Consequently, most learners are well able to provide evidence that they have the knowledge and skills to meet the requirements of their qualifications.  Learners develop their understanding of the importance of equality and inclusion well. They link these concepts skilfully to their knowledge about the rights of their service

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Adult learning programmes Requires improvement

users.  Learners increase their confidence well as a result of the courses they take and the encouragement they receive from their tutors and assessors.

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Apprenticeships Requires improvement

 CTHL provides a mix of apprenticeship frameworks and standards at intermediate and advanced levels. At the time of inspection, there were 161 apprentices, two thirds of whom were on intermediate-level apprenticeships. The main sectors for apprenticeship provision are health and social care, retail and commercial enterprises, business and administration, and engineering and manufacturing.  A minority of apprentices do not complete their qualifications in mathematics and English quickly enough because they do not attend these sessions regularly enough. Tutors’ initial assessment of apprentices’ mathematics and English skills does not provide an accurate picture of their existing skills. This means that too many tutors do not plan learning activities in these subjects effectively to suit the needs and abilities of individual apprentices. As a result, their apprentices lose interest and their attendance declines.

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Apprenticeships Requires improvement

 A minority of tutors and assessors do not challenge their apprentices, especially the most able, to progress at the pace of which they are capable. These tutors and assessors set undemanding tasks that do not help apprentices to extend and build upon their knowledge swiftly. As a result, a minority of apprentices take longer than necessary to complete their frameworks and do not develop their knowledge to the levels of which they are capable.  Leaders and managers have taken sensible actions to address the recent decline in the proportion of apprentices who complete their apprenticeships promptly. Except for in engineering, the majority of current apprentices now make the expected progress within planned timescales. It is too soon, however, to determine whether this improvement can be sustained and accelerated.  Leaders and managers have introduced the new apprenticeship standards effectively. All

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Apprenticeships Requires improvement

of the principles of apprenticeship provision are fully met. Apprenticeship managers use their strong links with employers to ensure that they understand the new standards. As a result, employers provide effective support at work, including the necessary time for off- the-job training, which enables apprentices to develop a secure understanding of professional standards and current industry practice.  The large majority of current apprentices develop the technical and professional skills their employers need, and their standards of work equip them well for their various industries. They make valuable and much appreciated contributions at their places of work. As a result, most apprentices remain with the same employer after their apprenticeship, many in promoted positions.  Apprentices benefit from access to a range of appropriate specialist facilities at their employers and at training centres. This helps them to develop the technical skills they

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Apprenticeships Requires improvement

need in the workplace.  The majority of tutors and assessors have extensive industrial experience, which they use effectively to provide contextualised learning activities on their regular and frequent visits to apprentices. As a result, apprentices understand the relevance of their learning and can apply theory to practice well. They are motivated to learn and see themselves as part of a community of professionals.

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Provider details

Type of provider Independent learning provider Age range of learners 16+

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Provider details

Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year Principal/CEO Rachel Mendham

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Main course or learning programme level Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or above Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships) 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

– – – 18 – 9 – 6 Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age Intermediate Advanced Higher

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 72 37 11 51 – – Number of traineeships 16–19 19+ Total – – – Number of learners aged 14 to –

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Number of learners for which the provider receives high- needs funding –

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors: N/A

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the head of service, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors used 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. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

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Inspection team

Rebecca Clare, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tracey Mace-Akroyd Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Kathryn Townsley Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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

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Inspection team

Employer View Employer View is a 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. To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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