Chic Beauty Academy Ltd

Further education and skills inspection report

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Chic Beauty Academy Ltd 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 Requires improvement Outcomes for learners Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings

 Leaders have been too slow to resolve significant weaknesses in the quality of provision and learners’ achievements.  Too many learners, particularly those studying at level 3, make slow progress in developing the practical and work-related skills that they need to pass their qualifications and obtain work in beauty therapy.  Leaders and managers do not have a clear picture about learners’ attendance, progress and achievements or what learners do after they complete their courses. As a result, they are not able to identify and act on weaknesses in the provision.  Leaders and managers have not recognised that too much teaching, learning and assessment is poor. As a result, they have not done enough to bring about improvements.  Tutors do not take enough account of what learners know and can do before starting their programmes. They do not plan and teach programmes that help and challenge learners to do as well as they can.

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Summary of key findings

 Tutors do not plan well enough the work that learners carry out outside the academy or monitor learners’ progress as they complete this work. As a result, learners do not practise and improve their skills to a high enough standard.  Tutors do not give enough help to learners who have additional learning needs to enable them to make progress and achieve.  Tutors do not give learners clear enough advice and guidance. As a result, learners cannot make well-informed decisions about whether the learning programme suits them before they take out loans and enrol.

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Summary of key findings

The provider has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings

 Students demonstrate professional standards of interaction with clients during learning sessions in the training centres.  Learners enjoy attending the academy; they value the friendliness of staff and the support of their peers which help them to improve their confidence.

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Information about the provider

 Chic Beauty Academy Ltd was established in 2011. After providing beauty therapy training as a subcontractor, in 2016 the company was awarded a contract to provide adult learning programmes at level 3, funded through advanced learner loans. The provider began offering beauty therapy programmes funded through the adult skills budget in the spring of 2018.  Chic Beauty Academy delivers programmes in beauty therapy massage, nail technology, and fashion and photographic makeup from training centres in Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham and Luton.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of learners who achieve their qualification and obtain employment, by: – improving the effectiveness of leaders’ oversight of all aspects of beauty therapy programmes – establishing and implementing clear plans to bring about rapid improvements to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and in the skills that learners gain – ensuring that all learning is properly structured and assessed, including that which takes place outside of the academy.  Take urgent action to ensure that leaders have access to and use reliable information about all aspects of learners’ programmes, including learners’ attendance, progress and achievements, and how many learners move into employment, so that they can quickly identify areas of concern and take appropriate action to bring about improvements.  Strengthen the arrangements to monitor the quality and impact of teaching, learning and

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

assessment so that leaders and managers can accurately identify areas of weakness and take action to help tutors to improve the quality of provision.  Provide tutors with training and support so that they make accurate assessments about learners’ existing skills and knowledge and use this information to plan and provide teaching and learning that better meet learners’ individual needs.  Ensure that learners who need it have access to high-quality learning support so that they can make good progress and achieve.  Improve the quality of pre-course information, advice and guidance so that learners can make well-informed choices about the appropriateness of the programmes they are considering before they take out an advanced learner loan or enrol with the academy.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have failed to recognise many of the significant weaknesses that exist in the design and implementation of adult learners’ programmes, including in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and the outcomes that learners achieve. They have identified a few weaknesses, such as the high number of learners who do not complete their programmes and their own lack of access to accurate information about learners’ progress and achievements. However, they have been too slow to act to resolve these.  Leaders and managers have not had access to the accurate information that they need to manage the provision effectively. In particular, they lack vital information about learners’ attendance, the progress that learners make, and the proportions of learners who complete their programmes and achieve their qualifications. As a result, leaders have not been able to evaluate the impact of programmes or identify weaknesses.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders do not collect sufficient information about learners’ next steps into further training or employment in the beauty therapy industry to ensure that the programmes that they offer meet learners’ career aspirations. The next steps of around two thirds of learners who have completed programmes are unknown. For the small number of learners where information is available, only superficial information such as the intent to work from home is recorded.  Leaders and managers use too narrow a range of activities to inform their evaluation of the quality and impact of programmes. The methods that they do use lack rigour. As a result, they have not recognised that poorly planned and delivered teaching has led to poor progress and outcomes for learners. When observing lessons, managers focus too much on the activities taking place in the lesson rather than identifying the slow progress that learners make or the high number who leave the course early or do not achieve.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have made recent changes to the way that they evaluate and improve the work of staff. They now take swifter action when they identify clear evidence of staff not complying with required practice. However, staff are not set targets or held to account for improving the quality of their teaching or for the progress and achievements of learners.  Leaders and managers have not consulted sufficiently with employers or local stakeholders, such as local enterprise partnerships, to ensure that training programmes meet local needs or provide learners with the skills and qualifications to gain employment where they live.  Leaders have not given sufficient attention to the importance of helping learners to practise and improve their practical skills and techniques in beauty therapy massage, providing nail treatments and applying makeup. Learners spend around two thirds of the specified hours for their qualifications studying, researching and practising their practical

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

techniques unsupervised and away from the academy. Although leaders ensure that learners record the time spent on these activities for audit purposes, they fail to ensure that the activities are well planned or have clearly defined outcomes. Learners’ opportunities to learn are limited further by the absence of work experience and lack of access to professional resources of a high commercial standard.  Leaders have failed to ensure that learners improve their English and mathematics skills through their learning programmes. Tutors assess learners’ skills in these subjects when learners join programmes but take insufficient account of the results to plan learning activities that build on and further develop these skills. Learners who have not previously achieved at least a grade C or grade 4 at GCSE in either English or mathematics receive misleading advice that they must enrol on functional skills qualifications with Chic Beauty

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

Academy.  Leaders and managers have not ensured that learners receive impartial and appropriate advice and guidance before they enrol on courses. A few learners who are entitled to receive free or subsidised training have been advised inappropriately to take out advanced learner loans.

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The governance of the provider

 Governance is ineffective. The owner of the company has until recently had sole responsibility and accountability for the strategic direction of the business and the quality of provision. With the support of an external consultant, the owner and the quality manager have recognised the need to strengthen governance and have put plans in place to engage an external partner to support them in their oversight of the provider. These plans are yet to have any impact and, as a result, leaders have been unable to challenge managers and staff or hold them to account for the quality of their delivery or the outcomes that they achieve.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The designated safeguarding lead officer maintains up-to-date records of appropriate checks on staff and the safeguarding training that they have received. Staff and learners have a good understanding about the process for raising concerns. A confidential log records the steps taken as a result of any concerns.  Leaders promote health, safety and well-being effectively in the learning centres and through the beauty therapy curriculum. As a result, learners have a good understanding about how to stay safe, including when using the internet and social media. Learners have an appropriate awareness of the risks of radicalisation and extremism and how to protect themselves and others. However, although leaders have produced a ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment for the provision, they have not focused on specific local risks in the various geographical locations where they deliver programmes, the majority of which are

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Tutors do not plan and deliver activities well enough to enable learners to improve their skills sufficiently in beauty therapy massage, nail technology and fashion and photography makeup. As a result, too many learners make slow progress, leave their programmes early and do not achieve their planned qualifications. Teaching does not prepare learners well enough for their next steps in learning and employment.  Tutors do not plan learners’ programmes carefully enough. They take little account of learners’ very different levels of existing skills and qualifications. They expect all learners to follow the same tasks at the same pace. For example, on nail technology courses at level 3, learners who have previously studied and carried out manicures when taking level 2 courses repeat these tasks again alongside learners who join level 3 programmes with no previous experience.  Learners often have limited opportunities to practise and improve their practical skills.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

They do not undertake any work experience or training within the industry as part of their programmes. Although learners train using specialist equipment and resources that meet the minimum requirements for the qualifications, they rarely practise using equipment of a high commercial standard. Nail technology learners often carry out practical training activities on classroom tables rather than specially appointed nail stations. Clients for learners to practise on are not always available when required, slowing the learning of a few who have to act as clients for their peers.  Learners receive insufficient direction and guidance about the learning that they should undertake and the skills that they need to practise during the substantial proportion of their programmes which they are required to study away from the academy. For most of the time that they are expected to study independently, learners decide for themselves

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

what activities they are going to undertake. Their choices are often dictated by their access to the internet and the willingness of friends and family to allow learners to practise techniques on them. As a result, too many do not spend enough time, or find a sufficient range of clients, to improve and hone their skills to a high enough standard.  Tutors do not provide learners with sufficiently helpful feedback on work that they have completed to challenge them to make rapid progress in developing the skills and behaviours that they need to be successful in the beauty therapy industry. Tutors rarely set targets for learners that are related to the skills and knowledge that they will need to work at an advanced level in salons and with private clients. Targets are often too general, such as to revise waxing or practise on clients, and do not help learners to understand the precise skills that they need to work on and improve.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Managers and tutors do not monitor the progress of learners closely enough, including those who would benefit from additional support, to ensure that learners are making the progress of which they are capable. As a result, where learners are at risk of falling behind, tutors do not act swiftly enough to prevent this.  Where learners identify that they have additional support needs, tutors do not use this information to put sufficient help in place or make allowances in training and assessment activities. As a result, learners who require additional support make slow progress.  Tutors do not help learners to improve sufficiently the work-related skills that they need, including in English and mathematics, to obtain work in the beauty therapy, nail treatment and fashion makeup industry.  Tutors set high expectations about the professional presentation and behavioural standards required when learners are dealing with clients. They insist that learners wear

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

appropriate uniforms and deal with clients sensitively and with courtesy.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

 Attendance to lessons during the inspection was not consistently high. Inspectors noted high attendance in a few of the lessons that they visited but low attendance in others. Leaders and managers do not hold sufficient information to enable them to evaluate how well learners attend.  Learners make slow progress in gaining the work-related skills that they need to gain employment and be successful in the beauty therapy industry. Leaders and managers do not know the next steps in education and employment for a large majority of learners who have completed programmes.  Learners receive insufficiently comprehensive and sometimes misleading advice and guidance about how the choices they make about courses will help them to achieve their career goals. Learners do not have access to impartial careers advice before they enrol on courses through the academy’s call centre. Learners whose ambition is to work from

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

home receive little support and guidance about the steps that they need to take to be successful in self-employment.  Learners enjoy attending the academy. They value the friendliness of staff and the support that they receive from their peers. Many learners have not participated in education or training for some time. They gain in confidence through their participation in programmes provided by the academy.  Tutors include a range of learning activities, usually linked to units within learners’ main programmes, that raise learners’ awareness well about life in modern Britain. Learners know how to keep themselves safe and healthy and how to recognise and protect themselves and others from the risks of radicalisation and extremism. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and social media.  Learners behave well. They respond appropriately to tutors’ high expectations of

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

professionalism when dealing with clients.

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Outcomes for learners Inadequate

 Too many learners make slow progress in gaining the skills and knowledge that they need to achieve their planned qualifications.  The proportion of learners who achieve their qualification is much too low. Just over half of all learners who left their programmes in 2017/18 achieved. Too many learners left the programme early. A significant minority of the learners who stayed to the end of their planned learning did not gain sufficient skills or knowledge to achieve the qualification.  Only a small proportion of learners who completed programmes at level 2 have progressed to level 3 programmes.  Only a small proportion of learners who have completed programmes with the academy are known to have obtained work in the industry. The majority of the learners whose next steps are known by the provider have stated that they intend to work from home.

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Provider details

Unique reference number 1248004 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 Safeen Ali

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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

- - - 60 - 66 - - 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 quality manager, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans. Inspectors used group and 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, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

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Inspection team

Malcolm Fraser, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Simone Collpitts 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

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