Eden Training Solutions Limited

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs Lorna Newbould Managing Director Eden Training Solutions Limited Bridge House 28 Wheldon Road Castleford WF10 2JD

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

Following the short inspection on 25 and 26 July 2018, 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 June 2015.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

The board of directors, senior leaders and managers have sustained the good quality of education and training for learners and apprentices. You and your team have continued your focus on improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Consequently, a high proportion of learners and apprentices are making at least the progress expected of them.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

You and your team have ensured a clear strategy and direction for the business. You work successfully with employers to meet their priorities and demands for an effective workforce. For example, you have recently withdrawn from a few areas where performance was deemed to be poor in order to concentrate more effectively on your areas of expertise, such as in childcare and sports fitness.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

Learners and apprentices benefit from useful and helpful resources. These include workbooks that encourage and help apprentices improve their English and mathematics skills, a comprehensive skills scanning process to determine learners’ starting points and online learning materials. You have ensured that learners and apprentices use your resources effectively. Consequently, they gain the skills, values, attitudes and behaviours required by employers.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

You and your managers provide critical challenge to your performance managers and learning consultants by using data and other information to compare the progress and achievement of learners and apprentices against your high expectations. You are well informed about the performance and strengths of your business as well as about the few areas that require further improvement.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

You and your management team have taken appropriate and crucial action to improve most aspects identified by inspectors as requiring improvement at the previous inspection. As a result, an increasing number of learners and apprentices complete their programmes successfully and achieve their qualifications.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

Leaders and managers ensure that safeguarding arrangements are effective. Staff at all levels undertake appropriate training, which is reviewed and updated on an annual basis. Staff are aware of their responsibility to protect learners and apprentices from possible radicalisation and the risks associated with extremist views. Learners and apprentices demonstrate high levels of awareness of health and safety issues and carry out their work in a safe manner. They say that they are safe and know how to keep themselves safe.

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Short inspection of Eden Training Solutions Limited

Managers responsible for safeguarding have good relationships with employers and external agencies to ensure that all learners and apprentices are safe. They work well with partners to ensure that safeguarding processes and procedures are followed effectively and any issues are followed through to a successful conclusion.

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Inspection findings

 The large majority of learners and apprentices make good or better progress towards completing their programme and qualification outcomes. Staff utilise an effective and wide range of assessment methods to determine learners’ and apprentices’ starting points and prior attainment. Learning consultants make good use of this information to plan personalised learning for learners and apprentices. However, not all learning consultants consistently complete the documentation to the same high standard.  Where appropriate, employers are fully involved in the planning of learning, which ensures that apprentices develop skills for specific job roles. The development of employment behaviours and attitudes are an integral aspect of learning.  Learning consultants liaise very well with employers and apprentices to ensure that achievement milestones and improvement targets are appropriate to the workplace and accelerate learning. Learners and apprentices benefit from helpful

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Inspection findings

feedback that supports them to make good progress and improve the standard of their work.  Leaders and managers have implemented a clear and positive strategy with the introduction of essential skills tutors, who support learners and apprentices to improve their English and mathematics skills. Learning consultants use the information gained from detailed skills scans effectively to determine their starting points and any additional support needs that apprentices may have. Support and the provision of useful learning resources are put in place in a timely manner. A very high proportion of apprentices achieve their English and mathematics qualifications as part of their apprenticeship. The large majority achieve their qualifications at their first attempt. However, only a very small proportion of apprentices study English or mathematics at a higher level than that required by the apprenticeship programme.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders and managers have a good focus on continually improving teaching, learning and assessment. The processes for observing teaching, learning and assessment are well established, and observers make effective and mostly accurate judgements. However, observers do not consistently identify the areas for improvement in teaching sessions, and very occasionally norms are recognised as strengths.  Support from learning mentors is good. Leaders and managers use the information gained from their observations of teaching, learning and assessment effectively to allocate mentors to learning consultants where improvements to their practice are identified. Learning consultants benefit well from the help and guidance that their mentors provide. Learning consultants form useful and effective relationships with their learners, apprentices and the employers, resulting in an increasing proportion of learners and apprentices achieving their

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Inspection findings

qualifications and gaining employment.  Leaders know their provision well. They review and monitor the performance of managers and learning consultants rigorously and effectively through the collection and analysis of data and information. Consequently, leaders have a good awareness and understanding of the progress that learners and apprentices make. Leaders and managers intervene successfully when they identify underperformance. They ensure that achievement outcomes across the very large majority of subject areas demonstrate improvement. While most apprentices remain in employment on completion of their programme, leaders do not collate or use information on the destinations of learners or apprentices effectively. Consequently, leaders do not access sufficiently robust information to plan for the introduction of new provision or to inform judgements in the self- assessment report.  Learners and apprentices benefit from effective, useful and impartial careers

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Inspection findings

advice and guidance. Leaders have a clear strategy to ensure that learners and apprentices are supported in their quest to gain sustainable employment or an apprenticeship. Staff guide and support prospective applicants well, including directing them to other providers to gain the necessary skills prior to starting an apprenticeship. Ongoing advice and guidance are good and help learners and apprentices to make informed decisions about their future careers or about accessing higher education.

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Next steps for the provider

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the provider

 the destinations of learners and apprentices are collated more effectively and used to inform the self-assessment process and the planning of future provision  observers become more adept at recognising more accurately the strengths and areas for improvement when observing teaching, learning and assessment sessions  learning consultants consistently record the job-specific skills that apprentices have at the start of their programmes.

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Next steps for the provider

I am copying this letter to the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, we were assisted by the managing director, as nominee. We met with you, your senior leaders, performance managers and learning consultants. We visited learning sessions with members of your management and observation teams to observe teaching, learning and assessment and to look at apprentices’ and learners’ work. We spoke to apprentices and learners, held meetings with staff and reviewed key documents, including those relating to self-assessment, performance and safeguarding. We considered the views of learners, employers, parents and carers by reviewing the comments received on Ofsted’s online questionnaires and by seeking the views of learners during the on-site inspection activity.

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