Active Lifestyles

Further education and skills inspection report

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Active Lifestyles Independent Learning Provider

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Adult learning programmes Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings

 Most learners do not make enough progress from their starting points, and very few achieve their qualifications.  Managers rely too much on informal arrangements for quality assurance, and these have not resulted in any substantive improvements.  Too few learners show sufficient commitment to their studies, and the actions staff take to encourage them have very little impact.  Leaders have not made any arrangements for oversight of their own work, and the absence of challenge and support has contributed to the lack of improvement.  Learners do not develop their English and mathematical skills.  Staff do not monitor the progress of learners well enough and do not provide them with sufficient guidance to help them improve.

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Summary of key findings

The provider has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings

 Those learners who attend practical sessions benefit from effective teaching that develops their practical skills, their theoretical knowledge and their interpersonal skills.

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Information about the provider

 Active Lifestyles (PSP) Limited is a small independent learning provider based in Nottingham. It provides programmes for adults that are funded through advanced learner loans. Most of its learners undertake level 3 programmes leading to qualifications for personal trainers. Learners use online learning resources to develop their theoretical knowledge and understanding, and participate in practical training sessions at venues in Nottingham and Birmingham.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Review initial information, advice and guidance processes to ensure that staff only enrol learners who are fully committed to their programmes.  Develop a full range of formal processes to measure the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and, through these processes, develop clear and specific actions for improvement.  Take robust action to support current learners who do not participate fully in their own learning. Where staff are unable to re-engage learners, remove those learners from programmes.  Improve quality assurance processes so that they include effective analysis of staff performance, clear and detailed action to improve provision and support for managers.  Improve outcomes for English and mathematics and equip trainers with the skills they need to support learners.  Improve processes for monitoring learners so that managers can identify those who do not make enough progress, and take timely remedial actions.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not translated their aspirations to become a significant national player in the training of fitness instructors, and their ambitions for their learners, into a clear and coherent strategy for growth and improvement. Although they set targets for the learners who start programmes, they have established few other meaningful objectives. Leaders and managers have not identified the ways in which they will measure how well teaching, learning and assessment lead to positive outcomes for learners. As a result, very few learners make the expected progress or achieve their qualifications.  Managers have not successfully implemented appropriate and effective processes for quality assurance. The company is small and relies heavily on informal mechanisms to monitor the quality of the services it provides. These approaches have not helped the company to improve the quality of programmes. Managers have not implemented clear

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

processes for reviewing curriculum plans, the quality of lessons or the achievements of learners. They do not review the standard of their programmes well enough or develop appropriate plans for improvement.  Managers do not promote the development of learners’ English and mathematical skills. They do not place sufficient focus on helping learners to continue to improve these important skills. Managers do not provide trainers with training to help them support this aspect of learners’ development.  Managers do not use information about the progress of learners to plan and implement actions to help them to succeed. Leaders do not fully recognise their responsibility for helping learners to succeed. Few learners achieve their qualifications and most of those who do take far longer than they should. For those few learners who have recently completed their work, staffing changes have resulted in substantial delays to certification,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

and managers have been too slow to resolve this difficulty.  Those few learners who achieve their qualifications progress to positive destinations, including employment and self-employment. However, managers do not explore what happens to the large majority of learners who leave without completing their qualifications. Attempts by managers to re-engage these learners so that they finish their qualifications have met with very limited success.  Leaders do not have a clear and coherent curriculum plan. They do not involve employers in curriculum design and do not pay enough attention to the careful sequencing of learning. As a result of this, for example, learners can undertake practical work for which they have not developed the necessary underpinning knowledge.  Managers have not yet done enough to help staff prepare learners for life in modern Britain. They have not fully grasped their responsibilities in this area and, although

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

trainers provide a small amount of guidance to learners on these themes, this support is not extensive.  Managers have developed good relationships with employers that they use to help learners secure work experience placements and to access guaranteed interviews at the end of their programmes.

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The governance of the provider

 Leaders have not made any arrangements for oversight of their work. As a result, they have not benefited from the support and challenge that such arrangements might bring. Managers are not sufficiently aware of the expectations placed on providers of government-funded training or the standards to which they should aspire.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Learners are safe and feel safe during learning sessions. Staff complete risk assessments of the environments in which training takes place. Managers undertake appropriate checks to ensure that staff are who they say they are, are appropriately qualified and are suited to employment in a training role. Staff follow the conduct guidance set out briefly in the staff handbook.  Managers and staff do not do enough to help learners to understand the risks they, or their clients, may face when working in a gym environment. They do not do enough to help learners understand the risks of, for example, drug abuse, the dangers of radicalisation or the potential for grooming by predatory individuals.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Few learners participate fully in their own learning. They are required to develop much of their knowledge and understanding using online materials and most learners do not complete this component of their studies. In many cases, learners defer attendance at practical training sessions because of other commitments. As a result, most learners make very limited progress, and actions to support them are largely ineffective.  Staff do not use the results of assessments undertaken by learners at the start of their programme to inform discussions about any specific help they need. As a result, learners who have additional needs do not receive the help that they require.  Staff do not always check learners’ existing English and mathematical skills. Where learners take diagnostic assessments of these skills, staff do not make use of the results. Trainers do not help learners to develop their use of technical vocabulary, such as

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

complex anatomical and physiological terminology, or mathematical techniques relevant to personal training.  Training staff do not monitor the progress of learners well enough. Their records have too many gaps and missing dates. Trainers do not set clear and measurable short-term targets that help learners to understand what they need to do to make progress. Neither learners nor their trainers have a clear picture of how well they are doing or what their next steps should be.  Learners often do not receive feedback on their work that helps them to identify what and how they need to improve. This is a contributory factor in their very limited progress. However, in practical sessions, trainers provide effective oral feedback that learners value.  The few learners who are well motivated receive effective tutoring in face-to-face sessions. In these sessions, tutors demonstrate high expectations. They are appropriately

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

qualified and use their good subject knowledge to plan and teach interesting and engaging lessons. They take great care to explain the practical aspects of personal training well. Tutors are good role models for these few learners, who respect and aspire to emulate them. These sessions help to equip learners with appropriate skills and knowledge to become effective personal trainers.  During practical sessions, trainers make effective use of challenging directed questioning and group discussion to gauge and develop learners’ understanding of theoretical topics. Learners demonstrate a good understanding of anatomy and physiology and how to apply this knowledge to resistance training. For example, learners develop a good understanding of concentric and eccentric types of muscle contraction. They apply this when developing routines that use specific sets of resistance training exercises to focus on building strength and endurance for a specific group of muscles. Learners learn how to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

develop a range of safe exercises that will improve the health of a client’s heart through cardiovascular training or that will build an individual’s physical fitness over time. Learners in these sessions develop a good understanding of safe working practices in the gym environment.  Staff provide effective support for those learners who are motivated and participate well in their studies. Support takes a variety of forms, including face-to-face and telephone discussions and online learning. Staff have developed a range of online materials that sit alongside those supplied by the awarding organisation and other commercial resources. Online learning materials are easy for learners to access and those who use them find them helpful.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

 Too few learners are well motivated or take pride in their work. Attendance at practical sessions is sporadic and this severely curtails the progress that most learners make.  Learners do not develop their English and mathematical skills, either in practical lessons or through the online elements of their programmes. However, in practical sessions, learners develop appropriate vocational skills that prepare them effectively for employment.  Learners improve their interpersonal skills through the interactions they have with their chosen client, with whom they work to develop their coaching skills. For example, one learner used what she had learned in a training session to help her have relevant discussions with her client about the importance of diet.  Managers use their relationships with employers to secure good work experience for learners who wish to undertake a placement. However, although work experience is

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

available to learners after completion of the level 2 elements of their studies, only a very small number take advantage of this opportunity.  Staff provide only basic careers information, advice and guidance to learners. They give a small amount of careers guidance during enrolment and supplement this with a more detailed handout. However, learners do not receive detailed guidance and support as they progress through their studies.  Training staff do not promote wider aspects of safeguarding, such as themes related to radicalisation or online safety, well enough. They do too little to help learners develop a broader understanding of topics related to life in modern Britain. However, learners who attend practical sessions develop a clear understanding of safe working practices when using gym equipment. They develop a deeper appreciation of how to keep themselves and others fit and healthy.

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Outcomes for learners Inadequate

 Most learners do not make enough progress from their starting points. Many current learners are well beyond their expected end date and have completed very little work. Although staff contact them and encourage them to complete their studies, this has very little impact. The small number of well-motivated learners make progress in line with expectations.  In 2016/17, only a very small minority of learners achieved their qualifications. Although a slightly higher proportion did so in 2017/18, this proportion remains well below that of other providers. Although managers acknowledge this, their actions have little, if any, impact on learners’ achievement. Managers do not have an effective strategy to support learners to complete within the planned time and allow them to extend their programmes. In too many cases, this results in learners drifting along until, ultimately, they drop out completely.  The few learners who achieve their qualifications progress to positive destinations. Most

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Outcomes for learners Inadequate

take up roles as personal trainers and a small number establish their own small businesses. Those few learners who are well motivated, and attend practical sessions, develop their practical skills well. They make effective use of a range of online learning materials to develop their theoretical knowledge and understanding.

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Provider details

Type of provider Independent learning provider

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Provider details

Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year Principal/CEO Mr Jonathan Marritt

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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

- - - - - 102 - - 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+ - - - - - - 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: -

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the director, as nominee. Inspectors used group and individual interviews and telephone calls to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, and advice and guidance sessions. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

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Inspection team

Russ Henry, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Maureen Deary 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

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

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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

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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