Innersummit Ltd

Innersummit Limited Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Charles Searle, Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

7/8 Delta Drive Road Gateshead NE11 9DJ Monitoring visit: Innersummit Limited, 21–22 April 2021

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Context and focus of visit

From October 2018, Ofsted undertook to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of apprenticeship training provision which began to be funded from April 2017 or after by ESFA and/or the apprenticeship levy. This monitoring visit was undertaken as part of those arrangements and as outlined in the Further education and skills inspection handbook, especially the sections entitled ‘Monitoring visits’ and ‘Monitoring visits to providers that are newly directly publicly funded’. The focus of these visits is on the themes set out below.

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Context and focus of visit

Innersummit started to provide management consultancy and leadership training in 2004. It became a private limited company in 2012 with a sole owner-director. In 2019, it received its first directly funded contract to train apprentices. At the time of the visit, there were 31 apprentices on the team leader and supervisor standard at level 3, 14 apprentices on the operations and departmental manager standard at level 5, and 13 apprentices on the business administrator standard at level 3. A further 36 apprentices had just been enrolled but had not yet started their training across the three apprenticeship standards.

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Context and focus of visit

The impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) has been taken into account in the findings and progress judgements below.

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Significant progress

The owner-director has a long track record in providing consultancy support to leaders who want to improve the leadership and management of their organisations. He has drawn on this experience to shape successfully an apprenticeship curriculum that aims to improve the quality of leadership and management in the public and private sectors.

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Significant progress

Leaders and managers work very closely with employers to ensure that they understand the culture of the employers’ organisations, so that apprenticeships are relevant to the way they work. For example, apprenticeships for aspiring managers include sessions on an organisation’s specific ethos and values.

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Significant progress

Leaders and managers ensure that their programmes fully meet the principles and requirements of an apprenticeship. Tutors check apprentices’ prior experience and qualifications before placing them on the right level of apprenticeship. They make Monitoring visit: Innersummit Limited, 21–22 April 2021 sure that employers understand and abide by their commitments to provide off-the- job training and that apprentices get opportunities at work to put into practice what they have learned.

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Significant progress

Leaders and managers have taken a measured approach to growing apprenticeships, to enable them to develop effective systems to assure themselves of the quality of training. They have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified during the programme for the first cohort of apprentices.

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Significant progress

Leaders and managers have a thorough understanding of the progress that apprentices make. They identify those that are struggling for whatever reason and put in place effective measures to support them quickly. For example, tutors organise additional tutorials for apprentices returning to work after periods of illness, to enable them to catch up on what they have missed.

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Significant progress

Leaders and managers have recently established a non-executive board to provide them with external support and challenge. Members of the board have provided some initial input and challenge in relation to the areas for improvement identified through the self-assessment process. However, it is still too early to see the impact that it has made on the quality of education that apprentices receive.

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Significant progress

Leaders and managers have carefully planned the order in which topics are delivered. They group together course content to help apprentices to develop their knowledge before applying their skills at work. For example, apprentices develop an understanding of their own management style before progressing onto learning how to manage others and lead teams.

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Significant progress

Tutors provide lively and energetic teaching sessions which help to build successful relationships with apprentices. They successfully encourage apprentices to participate actively in remote learning and involve all apprentices in discussions. Apprentices describe the teaching as inspirational.

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Significant progress

Apprentices develop substantial new knowledge and skills. They are provided with plenty of opportunities to practise their skills at work. For example, business administration apprentices in a central government department use the ‘6 Hats’ method to chair team meetings and apply their digital and communication skills to give presentations to their colleagues.

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Significant progress

Tutors use questioning effectively to check apprentices’ understanding. In coaching sessions, they lead discussions about apprentices’ work and identify how apprentices are developing new knowledge and skills. For example, apprentices who complete Monitoring visit: Innersummit Limited, 21–22 April 2021 online training available through their employer discuss with their tutor what they have learned about unconscious bias and how they should manage this.

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Significant progress

Apprentices are highly committed to their learning. They take immense pride in their work and produce work to a very high standard. Line managers review apprentices’ work and make helpful comments on how apprentices have applied their knowledge and skills, and suggestions on how to strengthen the evidence that they produce.

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Significant progress

Tutors support apprentices to develop a range of additional skills in areas such as English grammar, mathematics, and digital skills. For example, they provide apprentices with strategies to help improve their written work, such as regular proof reading to identify errors in their written English.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have developed appropriate policies and procedures to ensure that adult apprentices are kept safe. Apprentices know to whom they should report concerns.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices receive a thorough induction, and regular updates through progress reviews and newsletters, on how to stay safe. Although very few safeguarding concerns have been reported, the designated safeguarding lead follows these through and ensures that actions are completed.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and tutors showed good awareness of the intense mental pressures that apprentices who work in the health service and pharmaceutical industries experienced during the pandemic. They placed one cohort of apprentices on a short break in learning to give them some relief.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices do not have a sufficiently well-developed understanding of the risks of radicalisation and extremism. Some cohorts of apprentices have a good level of understanding of the risks and know how they relate to their area of work. Others, however, do not see the risks as relevant to them and their workplaces. Monitoring visit: Innersummit Limited, 21–22 April 2021 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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