UK Training & Development Limited

UK Training and Development Limited Re-inspection monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Ruth Harrison, HMI

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

Ground Floor West IMEX 575–599 Maxted Road Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP2 7DX Monitoring visit: UK Training and Development Limited, 17–18 April 2018

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Context and focus of visit

This is the first re-inspection monitoring visit to UK Training and Development Limited (UKTD) following its most recent inspection between 17 and 20 October 2017 and publication of the inspection report on 28 March 2018. At the inspection in October, inspectors judged UKTD to be inadequate for overall effectiveness, effectiveness of leadership and management, and personal development, behaviour and welfare. UKTD’s quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for learners, and its apprenticeships provision were judged as requiring improvement. The vast majority of apprentices are enrolled on hairdressing and barbering apprenticeships.

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apprentices?

Leaders and managers have reviewed safeguarding arrangements thoroughly since the previous inspection. As a result, they have updated the information guides that go to apprentices, employers, training consultants, ‘in-salon’ trainers and assessors, parents and carers. This information provides clear guidance for safeguarding and well-being referrals. It also provides a comprehensive list of established external agencies who are able to provide additional assistance to apprentices seeking independent help and support. This follow-up work is commendable, although its efficacy can only be judged when adults and learners are seen to follow and implement the updated guidance and leaders can confidently say that there is a strong safeguarding culture.

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apprentices?

Leaders now carry out safer recruitment practices. Leaders and managers ensure that training consultants who meet apprentices in the workplace regularly receive refresher safeguarding training. They know how to implement the provider’s policies and processes and have a good understanding of their role in ensuring that apprentices are safe.

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apprentices?

Leaders and managers recognise the need to maintain good mental health in employment. Consequently, recent training for the designated safeguarding officers has had a strong focus on mental health. As a result, workplace mentors are identified to support any individuals identified with concerns affecting their progress, so they now receive effective one-to-one support. These mentors are fully aware of how to access additional help from UKTD safeguarding officers when necessary.

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apprentices?

As yet, training consultants do not do enough to ensure that apprentices and employers have a good understanding of British values and the dangers associated with radicalisation and extremism. Nonetheless, training to rectify this is beginning to Monitoring visit: UK Training and Development Limited, 17–18 April 2018 demonstrate impact with those apprentices and employers who have started working with the provider since the previous inspection.

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Priorities for improvement

 Maintain a strong focus on safeguarding training for all staff, including ‘in-salon’ trainers and assessors.  Ensure that all employers have access to the updated employers’ guide so they can benefit from the broad range of information available to help them to understand and access support for apprentices, including the use of appropriate external agencies.  Maintain rigorous safer-recruitment practices.  Ensure that all training consultants and assessors receive appropriate training to enable them to broaden apprentices’ understanding of life and work in modern Britain.  Ensure that all apprentices have a good understanding of the dangers associated with radicalisation and extremism.

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account for the quality of all aspects of the apprenticeships provision?

Despite the implementation of a number of new quality-improvement initiatives, leaders and managers do not have an accurate understanding of the quality of aspects of the apprenticeships provision. Leaders and managers recognise that the new arrangements for the observation of teaching, learning and assessment have been limited to working with UKTD staff and have not yet included ‘in salon’ trainers and assessors and therefore have not had sufficient impact across all the provision. These new arrangements provide leaders with good information regarding apprentices’ progress towards the completion of their qualifications. However, leaders do not monitor effectively the progress apprentices make against their aspirational targets. As a result, leaders do not ensure that training consultants provide teaching and assessment that deepens their apprentices’ knowledge and skills to standards beyond the expectation of the qualification.

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account for the quality of all aspects of the apprenticeships provision?

Leaders effectively track the frequency and volume of the off-the-job training that apprentices receive. As a consequence, almost all apprentices receive their training entitlement.

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account for the quality of all aspects of the apprenticeships provision?

Leaders’ self-assessment lacks rigour. Their self-assessment report is limited to a summary of the two previous inspection reports with the addition of descriptive commentary of the actions taken by the provider. The self-assessment report and the subsequent quality-improvement plans are insufficiently focused and detailed to bring about rapid improvements or to improve the consistency of practice across all aspects of the provision. Leaders and managers have not identified precisely who is responsible for implementing the actions, and the projected periods for making Monitoring visit: UK Training and Development Limited, 17–18 April 2018 improvements are too vague. The quality of the skills apprentices develop continues to be too highly dependent upon the employers the apprentices work with.

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Priorities for improvement

 Strengthen the self-assessment and quality-improvement arrangements so staff are clear about their individual responsibilities and are held to account for actions delegated to them, including their completion within agreed time periods.  Ensure that quality-improvement activities apply to all workplace settings to enable all apprentices to have learning experiences of the highest quality.  Maintain the rigorous monitoring of apprentices’ entitlement to off-the-job learning.

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standards of work?

Leaders and managers recognise that training consultants’ expectations for what apprentices can achieve are too low. Training consultants do not routinely set targets that challenge apprentices to excel beyond the achievement of their units. To address these concerns, since January, managers have worked with training consultants to introduce skills developments and extension task activities. The skills development tasks are designed to ensure that training consultants enable apprentices to make good progress and explore learning beyond the requirements of their qualification. For example, apprentices who are already competent in shampooing as a result of Saturday work in a salon can now progress quickly to their summative assessment in shampooing. An apprentice with an interest in vintage styling improved her setting and pin-curling techniques to enable her to carry out advanced styling techniques and add a ‘niche’ specialism in her salon.

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standards of work?

Leaders and managers recognise that apprentices’ theoretical knowledge and understanding are less well developed than their practical skills. Too often, training consultants’ and assessors’ questioning is insufficiently demanding and their feedback does not deepen or extend apprentices’ knowledge, understanding and skills. The extension tasks are designed to respond to this by providing apprentices with a new approach to theory learning introduced through a range of practical project-based activities. In the very limited number of cases where extension tasks are being used, they are motivational and they enhance apprentices’ learning beyond the requirements of the qualification. However, is too soon to judge the effectiveness of this new initiative since it is not yet being used throughout the provision.

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Priorities for improvement

Ensure that training consultants and ‘in salon’ trainers:  provide demanding learning activities that motivate apprentices to develop their practical skills, and recognise the value and application of their theory work Monitoring visit: UK Training and Development Limited, 17–18 April 2018  give feedback that extends apprentices’ knowledge, understanding and skills beyond the achievement of units, and provides them with opportunities to excel in their studies  implement effective assessment activities within appropriate timescales so that apprentices have sufficient opportunities to meet their end point assessments with confidence  are trained to improve their use of questioning techniques in order to challenge apprentices to deepen their thinking and understanding of the work and services they offer.

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how this informs the improvement of trainers’ and assessors’ practices?

Leaders’ and managers’ actions to focus quality-improvement activities on the impact of teaching, learning and assessment have been implemented too slowly. Leaders provide timely opportunities for staff to undertake relevant professional development activities, including training on safeguarding policies and procedures. However, there are insufficient arrangements to rapidly improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the provision. The observation process of UKTD training consultants and assessors does not focus sufficiently on the improvement of teaching, learning and assessment. Observations do not include monitoring of the quality of trainers’ and assessors’ practice in workplaces that undertake their own training and assessing. Observations are not sufficiently evaluative and subsequent action plans do not focus specifically on how the practice of training consultants and assessors can improve.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that the observation process focuses sharply on teaching, learning and assessment including evaluating accurately the quality of practice in all workplaces.  Ensure that action plans resulting from observations are specific about how to rectify identified weaknesses within agreed time periods.  Provide opportunities for all staff involved in training and assessing apprentices to work together to identify and share best practice that will lead to apprentices receiving high-quality training.

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and mathematical skills?

Actions to improve training consultants’ skills and confidence in improving apprentices’ English and mathematics skills remain limited to UKTD staff. Training consultants who take up training are better equipped to identify where apprentices Monitoring visit: UK Training and Development Limited, 17–18 April 2018 are struggling. These training consultants benefit from timely interventions from UKTD specialist English and mathematics staff that enable their apprentices to make better progress. However, some training consultants do not provide apprentices with sufficient opportunities and resources to improve their industry-specific English and mathematics skills.

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and mathematical skills?

Training consultants often provide apprentices with detailed written feedback about their technical aspects of learning. However, too often this feedback contains little or no reference as to how they can improve their English or mathematical knowledge and skills or why it is important to do so. Training consultants assessing vocational competencies provide more effective verbal feedback than previously to enable apprentices to improve their speaking and listening skills.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that all training consultants and assessors are trained to ensure that apprentices understand the value of, and improve, their English and mathematical skills.  Make sure that training consultants provide apprentices with opportunities and resources to improve their industry-specific English and mathematics skills.  Train training consultants to provide challenging feedback that leads to the improvement of apprentices’ use of English and mathematics. Monitoring visit: UK Training and Development Limited, 17–18 April 2018 the 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 . Learner View Learner View is a website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or

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Priorities for improvement

provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too. To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Priorities for improvement

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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Priorities for improvement

regulates and inspects to 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 children looked after, 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

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Priorities for improvement

the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Priorities for improvement

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Priorities for improvement

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

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