Setting

Mr James Clements Smith Managing Director Prevista Limited United House North Road London N7 9DP

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

Following the short inspection on 12 and 13 June 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the provider was judged to be good in August 2014.

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

Your apprentices and trainees continue to benefit from good-quality education and training, leading to good achievements. You have further promoted your inspirational vision and culture for Prevista, which have learners’ priorities and success at the heart of what you do.

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

The vision and culture positively permeate all aspects of leaders’, managers’ and staff’s work and are reflected in the high expectations you have of staff, learners, subcontractors and employers. The management of subcontractors is good. Learners are well supported to make good progress on their programmes, to progress to further learning, and to take on more responsible roles in their workplaces.

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

Prevista is well respected by its training peers and by employers. Leaders and managers have made particularly good use of the time since the previous inspection, to ensure that Prevista’s work has kept pace with key changes to local and regional employment markets and to training and qualifications for work. Managers and staff work closely with employers and vocational, professional and regulatory bodies to develop, and maintain, a relevant curriculum for learners in such areas as business, health and social care, customer service, and supporting teaching and learning in schools. Similarly, members of the non-executive board often play key roles in influencing the development of training for work across London, and more widely.

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

Since the previous inspection, responding well to employers’ and learners’ needs, leaders and managers have increased apprenticeship provision, which is largely for Ofsted

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 01622 718563 www.gov.uk/ofsted adults. In 2015, Prevista subcontracted industry sector specialists, allowing a wider range of apprenticeship vocations to be offered by Prevista, across London and nationally. Prevista currently works very effectively with 15 subcontracting partners, which significantly complements your own direct delivery of apprenticeships. Prevista began direct delivery of traineeships in 2016, opening this to the more accomplished subcontractors.

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements, including awareness of the ‘Prevent’ duty, are fit for purpose. Leaders have established a strong culture of keeping learners safe, which positively impacts upon decision- making at every level of Prevista. Learners are safe and develop quickly a good understanding of how to live, work and travel safely. Tutor assessors focus closely on learners developing their personal resilience. Tutor assessors’ careful planning and individual coaching help learners to overcome the personal barriers that many experience and complete their qualifications successfully.

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Short inspection of Prevista Limited

Learners apply their understanding of fundamental British values to their workplaces very effectively. The recently introduced monthly ‘focus on’ briefings and updates from tutor assessors incorporate the key themes of staying safe, ensuring equality and promoting diversity, promoting learners’ health and well-being, understanding British values and understanding the risks of radicalisation. Tutor assessors make good use of the briefings during their frequent reviews with learners, to discuss and explore further learners’ understanding of living and working harmoniously in a cosmopolitan society.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders and managers successfully promote a culture where learners’ progress and success are paramount, and they ensure that the quality of provision and outcomes for learners continue to improve.  The large majority of learners make good progress on their courses, and develop good levels of practical skills, competence and confidence. Learners’ progression within their jobs, and to more demanding jobs is good.  Leaders and managers do not have a comprehensive enough overview for all learners about what they progess onto on completion of their apprenticeship, although they do have plans in place to improve this.  Apprentices and trainees achieve well, although achievement within planned timescales for apprentices is not consistently good and requires improvement for a minority of subcontractors.  Learners’ first-time achievement of their functional skills qualifications is good, and the small percentage not achieving first time usually do so at the second

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Inspection findings

attempt. Only for level 2 information technology is the pass rate low.  The rigorous quality assurance noted at the previous inspection continues, and leaders pay very good attention to the performance management of subcontractors. Leaders’ and managers’ capacity to improve training has been enhanced by recent additional posts for quality improvement.  Leaders and managers have paid good attention to rectifying the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Managers have established a centralised quality team, with a rigorous training observation process, providing a consistently effective approach to improving training. Quality improvement teams work constructively together to share good practice in training.  Prevista’s experienced and knowledgeable non-executive board provides very good challenge and support for the managing directors and the managers. Board members promote clear strategic aims and ambitions, with learners and their

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Inspection findings

success at the centre of their actions.  Learners benefit from constructive and developmental guidance from their tutor assessors and use this well to improve their work and practice. In a small minority of training sessions, tutor assessors do not ensure that learners’ answers to questions are sufficiently detailed or fully extend their understanding.  Tutor assessors ensure that actions for improvement at reviews and assessments are identified and that any outstanding issues from previous meetings are discussed with learners. Tutor assessors provide learners with thorough and detailed feedback on the standards of their work, including after workplace observations. In a small minority of cases, tutor assessors do not provide learners with sufficient detail on how to improve.  Leaders have implemented very effective staff development initiatives that are closely related to staff’s and Prevista’s development priorities, promoting

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Inspection findings

improvement in the best interests of learners’ success.  Leaders and the non-executive board place a high value on wide-ranging and inclusive careers advice and guidance for learners. Prevista’s direct delivery learners benefit from a detailed assessment of their skills, behaviours and knowledge. With tutor assessors, they plan their career and next steps carefully, identifying accurately the transferable skills employers require. Following on from their most recent self-assessment of performance, managers have committed to ensuring that from September, learners studying with subcontractor partners, nearly all of whom are adults, will benefit from the same detailed assessment and careers planning as those taught directly by Prevista.  Leaders have made the development of learners’ English and mathematics skills a high priority. A recently appointed functional skills tutor effectively supports learners to develop their skills and helps tutor assessors to improve their training

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Inspection findings

skills in these subjects. As a result, most learners make good progress with English and mathematics, and a high percentage are successful in their tests.  Managers ensure that learners develop their English and mathematics beyond the requirements of their qualification and all learners continue to work towards level 2. However, learners with a grade 4 or better in GCSE English and mathematics are not always sufficiently prompted to develop their skills further.  Leaders, managers and staff are all knowledgeable about the newly introduced apprenticeship standards. They have taken a sensible approach to their introduction, based upon their assessment of the quality of particular standards and the readiness of agreed end-point assessments. A small number have been introduced and are being well managed.  Managers and staff ensure that employers are fully involved in the development of their learners’ training plans and employers support learners well to develop

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Inspection findings

and use their skills at work. As a consequence, learners understand the value of their studies to their employment, are highly motivated and keen to learn, and make positive contributions in their workplaces.

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Next steps for the provider

Managers and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the provider

 the quality of provision and outcomes for learners further improve, including the timely achievement rates for some subcontractors, through the continued rigorous application of quality assurance arrangements  the positive work to better identify and quantify learners’ destinations continues and contributes fully to shaping the content and delivery of training  their existing action plan to further develop the English and mathematics skills of learners with high GCSE grades in these subjects is implemented speedily  the well-advanced plans to extend comprehensive, good careers advice and guidance to all subcontractors, especially for the small number of learners aged 16 to 18, are fully implemented by September 2018.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, inspectors were assisted by the provider’s head of quality, as nominee. Inspectors met with the managing director, managers, tutors and assessors, members of the non-executive board, subcontractors, employers and learners. Inspectors observed teaching, learning and assessment, including at subcontractors, and reviewed learners’ work. They reviewed key policies and documents, including those relating to self-assessment, performance and safeguarding. They also considered the views of learners.

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