Beyond 2030

Further education and skills inspection report

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Beyond 2030 Independent learning provider

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Inspection dates 30 October–2 November 2018

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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

 Arrangements to safeguard learners are ineffective. Too many learners do not know what to do if they feel unsafe.  Current learners are making very slow progress towards achieving their qualifications and learning goals.  Tutors do not plan or provide learning that meets the individual needs and abilities of learners effectively.  Learners do not develop their English and mathematics skills sufficiently. The proportion of learners studying functional skills English qualifications who remain in learning is too low.  Careers education, information, advice and guidance are weak.  Leaders’ assessment of the quality of provision is not sufficiently evaluative; it does not identify the major weaknesses in the provision.  The assessment of learners’ work is poor. Learners often copy information from the internet and submit it as their own work; too few tutors identify this approach or challenge learners about it.

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Summary of key findings

 Arrangements for governance are weak. Leaders are too slow to identify weaknesses or take effective remedial action.  Too many learners do not understand the risks of radicalisation and extremism well enough. The ‘Prevent’ duty action plan does not reflect local risks adequately.

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Summary of key findings

The provider has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings

 Leaders have a strategic vision to work with learners who face challenges in their business lives. They successfully make learners more resilient and enable them to grow their businesses.  Most learners on classroom-based programmes develop their confidence and self-esteem through effective coaching and support.

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Information about the provider

 Beyond 2030 is a privately owned independent learning provider based in York. It recruits learners from across the country. It was established in 2012 as a talent development consultancy. The main focus of its commercial work is offering tailored business support to small- and medium-sized companies.  For several years, Beyond 2030 has operated as a subcontracted training provider. In 2016/17, it secured a direct funding contract. It mainly offers courses for adults in health and social care and business-related subjects. It offers a range of distance-learning courses, access to higher education courses and courses in leadership and enterprise.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Urgently review and improve the arrangements for keeping learners safe. Managers should quickly ensure that all members of staff have completed appropriate training around safeguarding and the ‘Prevent’ duty.  Rapidly improve the progress that learners make towards achieving their qualifications and learning goals, by: – ensuring that learners are on programmes that are appropriate to their abilities and reflect their ambitions – carefully tracking the progress that learners make through frequent checks – taking swift and appropriate action when learners fall behind.  Improve the accuracy of the evaluation of the quality of provision by identifying key weaknesses and set precise actions to address the weaknesses.  Improve the quality and effectiveness of careers education, advice and guidance that learners receive so that: – staff consider learners’ existing skills and knowledge when offering courses

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

– all learners know what qualification they are studying.  Ensure that all tutors support learners to develop their English and mathematical skills within their main programmes.  Swiftly improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, by: – ensuring that tutors identify the starting points of learners effectively and use this information to plan for their individual needs and abilities – ensuring that learners receive enough contact time with delivery staff so that they can make at least their expected progress – introducing teaching methods and resources that are appropriately challenging to enable learners to achieve their full potential – reviewing and improving the assessment practices of tutors so that they identify and appropriately challenge learners who submit work for assessment that is not their own. – ensuring that leaders provide effective feedback to tutors about the quality of their

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

teaching so that they understand the areas of their practice that they need to improve.  Strengthen the arrangements for governance to ensure that there is appropriate scrutiny and challenge to hold leaders to account for the quality of provision.  Revise the ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment and action plan to ensure that they appropriately reflect the risks and threats in the locations where learners live and study. Managers should ensure that all learners have a better understanding of how to keep themselves safe from the risks of radicalisation and extremism in their everyday lives.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders do not have an appropriate oversight of the quality of their provision. They are too slow to identify the key weaknesses and they underestimate the significance of the weaknesses. As a result, actions taken to address weaknesses are too late or ineffective.  Arrangements for the performance management of delivery staff are ineffective. Most staff are self-employed associate tutors. Leaders do not formally appraise the performance of associate staff or set them targets to improve. As a result, too many tutors underperform for too long and the quality of teaching is not good enough.  Leaders are unsuccessful in developing tutors’ teaching skills. They provide feedback after observations that is too positive and unhelpful in developing teaching practice. They do not accurately identify weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment through observations or other methods. As a result, too many tutors do not improve their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

performance over time.  Leaders do not use data well enough. Although they have improved their access to information about learners, too often they do not analyse data available to them thoroughly enough. They are unaware of any achievement gaps based on the different characteristics of learners. Reports often contain contradictory information. As a result, leaders are unable to take swift action to address weaknesses.  Leaders do not collect or analyse well enough information about the next steps that learners take after their studies. They do not know the destinations of too many learners. As a result, leaders are unable to evaluate the impact of their curriculum on learners when they leave the provider or consider if they need to adapt the curriculum offer.  Leaders do not ensure that learners develop their English and mathematics skills. Leaders recognise that it is important for learners to develop these skills; however, they do not

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

ensure that staff have appropriate qualifications or experience to develop them in lessons and through assessments. As a result, too few learners develop these skills.  The chief executive has a strong vision to work with learners who lack confidence and self-esteem in their business lives. Managers and staff support this vision well. They are successful in increasing learners’ confidence and resilience. Many learners on classroom- based programmes speak highly of the support that they receive and the impact it has on their lives. For example, small-business owners better understand the financial challenges that they face during the start-up phase of their business plan.  Leaders form strong partnerships with employers. As a result, the business leaders with whom they work support their strategic vision and enrol their staff on programmes. However, leaders give too little attention to the needs and ambitions of learners when

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The governance of the provider

 Arrangements for governance are weak. The chief executive, supported by a small senior team, is responsible for quality assurance. However, leaders do not review the quality of their provision well enough. As a result, they are too slow to identify and address issues that have a negative impact on the educational experience of learners.  Action plans set by leaders do not identify precisely the issues that they are trying to address. Leaders do not consider sufficiently the impact that they want their actions to have. As a result, they are unable to assess the effectiveness of their actions.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Leaders have taken insufficient action to ensure that learners are safe. Too many learners do not know what to do or who to speak to if they feel unsafe for any reason.  Managers undertake appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service checks. However, they do not request a reference for many of their associate staff or check their previous employment fully enough. As a result, they have insufficient information to assure themselves that associate staff are safe to work with their learners.  Staff do not routinely complete safeguarding and ‘Prevent’ duty training, with too many completing the training during the inspection.  Too many learners have an underdeveloped knowledge of the risks of radicalisation and extremism within their local region. The ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment and action plan are too generic and do not recognise the significant local risks in the areas in which the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Tutors’ assessment practice is weak. Tutors do not consistently make accurate assessment decisions. Too often, particularly on access to higher education courses in nursing and midwifery, they fail to identify when learners submit work that is not their own but has been copied from internet sites, and do not challenge learners to produce work that is their own.  Learners in classroom-based business provision do not see their tutor often enough. The time between each taught session is too long to enable learners to benefit from sequenced learning. The expectation is that learners study most of the course content in their own time. While support is available from tutors between lessons, too many learners make very slow progress towards achieving their qualifications.  Tutors do not use the results from assessments of learners’ starting points well enough to establish what learners can already do or what they need to do to improve. In too many

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

cases, learners are on courses for which they have previously met the learning criteria and have the transferable skills they need. As a result, too many learners do not develop new skills through their courses.  Tutors do not plan and deliver learning to meet the needs and abilities of individual learners. They use learning resources that do not motivate or support learners to achieve their full potential. Tutors rely too heavily on handouts and workbooks that do not inspire learners to learn. As a result, too many learners produce written work of a low standard and do not develop effective study skills that prepare them for their future careers.  Tutors do not check learners’ progress in lessons well enough. Not enough tutors use questions well to check and extend learners’ understanding. Too often, tutors answer their own questions when learners do not answer quickly. Questions are often too easy

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

and answered by the more confident learners. As a result, less confident learners make slower progress than their peers.  Tutors do not set learners effective targets to promote learning between sessions. Most learners do not work well independently away from learning sessions. Tutors do not place enough emphasis on the development of the skills and knowledge that learners need for their futures. Instead, too often, they set learners targets to complete qualification units or sections within workbooks. Too many learners do not meet deadlines and, as a result, do not achieve their qualifications within their planned timescales.  Tutors do not provide helpful feedback to learners, which means that learners do not know how to improve the standard of their work. Tutors do not challenge learners to extend their knowledge or learn new skills. Learners continually make the same mistakes in their work, such as repeating spelling mistakes in technical language.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Most delivery staff are well qualified for the roles they hold. Most have appropriate experience in their areas of expertise. However, not enough delivery staff have the relevant skills and qualifications to develop learners’ English and mathematical skills. Consequently, too many learners do not make sufficient progress in developing these skills.  Most learners on business-related courses enjoy their learning. They value the personal skills that they are developing. Many can identify how this benefits their lives.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

 Too many learners do not attend their sessions regularly enough, particularly on access to higher education courses. Limited strategies are in place to ensure that learners who do not attend catch up quickly. As a result, learners who miss sessions make very slow progress towards completing their qualifications.  Learners are not encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. They do not understand the progress that they are making towards achieving their qualifications. Too many learners do not take pride in their work and often produce written work, including that submitted as part of a final project, that is not of a high enough standard.  Careers advice and guidance are weak. Staff do not provide learners with sufficient information about the content of programmes or the commitment required. Too many learners study courses when they already possess the relevant level of skills and

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

knowledge. For example, experienced managers study level 2 leadership qualifications. Too often, learners are unaware of the qualification that they are studying towards or the level of study that they are undertaking. As a result, they are not adequately prepared at the start of their course or for their next steps.  Tutors do not plan or deliver activities to develop learners’ English, digital and mathematical skills. Too many learners see these skills as irrelevant to their futures and fail to understand the importance of developing them. Tutors do not routinely support learners to improve their written English or their mathematics skills. As a result, learners make very little progress from their starting points, especially in relation to their literacy skills.  Learners state that they feel safe. However, too many learners do not know what to do if they do not feel safe when studying. Learners do not have an appropriate understanding

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

of the dangers posed by those who hold extremist views and cannot identify what actions they should take to remain safe from these dangers.  Learners on classroom-based courses receive effective encouragement and pastoral support from tutors. The relationships between tutors and learners are based on a positive ethos of coaching that successfully supports learners to improve their self-belief, self-worth and confidence. Tutors provide positive messages that encourage learners to believe in themselves and to have a sense of ambition.

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Outcomes for learners Inadequate

 Most current learners make very slow progress. Those on distance-learning programmes in health and social care, accounting for around a third of current learners, make very slow progress. Too many learners on access to higher education courses are not on track to succeed.  The proportion of learners who remain on their programme is too low. Leaders made the decision to withdraw around a quarter of learners on health and social care programmes based on their lack of engagement in learning. Over half the learners studying functional skills English have withdrawn from their courses without achieving their qualifications.  The standard of learners’ work is not good enough. The work that they present does not demonstrate enough independence in their learning or their application of acquired knowledge. Learners on access to higher education programmes often submit work that is not their own.  Too many learners do not go into sustained work or education after completing their

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Outcomes for learners Inadequate

studies. Only around half of the learners with known next steps move on to education, training or employment. The provider’s own progression data for those who completed in 2017/18 indicates that the next steps for too many learners are unknown. For those completing an access to higher education course, only a very small proportion progress into higher education.  The proportion of learners achieving qualifications in business-related courses is high. The proportion of learners achieving their access to higher education qualifications is in line with other providers. However, the proportion of learners who achieve their qualifications within their planned timescale is very low.

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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 Toni Eastwood, OBE

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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

- - - 188 - 26 - - 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 chief executive officer, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, webinars, 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

Ken Merry, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Darrell Bate 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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