University Of Ulster

University of Ulster Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Ruth Stammers, Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Higher education institution

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Address: Cromore Road Coleraine BT52 1SA Monitoring visit: University of Ulster, 9 and 10 May 2022

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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 the Education and Skills Funding Agency 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

The University of Ulster is a higher education institution based in Northern Ireland. The university has six campuses in Northern Ireland and England. Campuses are in Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Coleraine, Jordanstown, London and Birmingham. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in a variety of different sectors. It has been training apprentices in England since 2018. At the time of the visit, there were 23 apprentices studying the level 6 chartered manager degree apprenticeship. These apprentices were based in England. Apprentices based in Northern Ireland were not in scope for this monitoring visit.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders began offering the level 5 operations/departmental manager and level 6 chartered manager apprenticeships to employers based in England, due to their need for skilled staff working in shared services organisations, mostly in customer contact centres. Following an increase in apprenticeships in Northern Ireland, they have rationalised their curriculum and are exiting the apprenticeship market in England to concentrate on meeting skills demands in their locality.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders continually improve their provision as a result of consultation with employers. They removed the level 5 provision and replaced it with level 6 provision to better align with employer needs. For example, they added a higher-level data driven module in response to employers’ feedback that their employees required enhanced skills in data analysis and data management.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders’ oversight of apprenticeships when they began training apprentices in England was not robust enough. Many level 5 operations/departmental manager apprentices left the programme before completion of their end-point assessment. Around a third of these apprentices left the programme before completion of the Monitoring visit: University of Ulster, 9 and 10 May 2022 higher education certificate. The remaining two thirds completed the certificate but did not progress to the end-point assessment. Leaders acknowledge that their first cohorts of employers and apprentices did not have enough awareness of the requirements of the end-point assessment. They now provide effective training for employers and apprentices and have appointed staff dedicated to preparing apprentices effectively for assessments. Apprentices are now better prepared to achieve.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders responsible for quality assurance and governance in the university are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. They provide appropriate scrutiny and challenge to support the programme team. They are aware of the challenges with the completion of the end-point assessment. They keep a close oversight of the current apprenticeship provision to ensure that apprentices and employers are made fully aware of their commitment to the apprenticeship.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices develop new knowledge, skills and behaviours as a result of their apprenticeship. They apply this new learning in the workplace and make an effective contribution to their employers’ businesses. For example, apprentices learn about sales and unit costs to analyse profitability. They use this information to improve resource utilisation of the workforce. As a result, they increase efficiency and improve their organisations’ profitability.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and tutors coordinate on- and off-the-job training effectively. Employers are aware of the topics apprentices are learning and provide opportunities for them to develop their skills in the workplace. For example, when studying business finance, line managers discuss relevant and job-specific data with apprentices so that they can apply their knowledge to the business.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors plan the curriculum effectively to enable apprentices to incrementally build their knowledge, skills and behaviours. Apprentices learn about self-awareness before moving onto more challenging topics such as project management. This enables apprentices to identify their own skills gaps before they analyse the skills required to create an effective team.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices improve in confidence throughout their apprenticeship. Apprentices work using their own initiative and problem-solving skills to identify key issues. They are now able to find potential solutions for their employers.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices that need to complete English and mathematics functional skills do not receive sufficient ongoing support to develop their knowledge. Apprentices have access to an online learning platform to carry out practice tests, however a few Monitoring visit: University of Ulster, 9 and 10 May 2022 apprentices have not accessed these resources. As a result, these apprentices have not completed their apprenticeship on time and are yet to complete their functional skills examinations.

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Reasonable progress

Most apprentices and line managers are aware of the progress apprentices make. However, formal reviews are not frequent enough and do not have sufficiently robust actions to enable a few apprentices to make swift progress and achieve their potential.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices feel safe and know who to contact at the university if they have a concern. The university has a qualified designated safeguarding lead and deputies in place. There is an appropriate procedure for referring and following up on any concerns.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have an appropriate safeguarding policy and procedure in place. They provide online training for staff in safeguarding and the ‘Prevent’ duty. Apprentices are aware of safeguarding topics because of the training they receive in the workplace. For example, apprentices working in the finance industry are aware of cyber security and the importance of protecting information.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have an appropriate procedure for recruiting staff safely. However, staff recruitment records held in paper form are not easily accessible. Leaders have recently moved to an electronic system for storing and recording documentation so that information is easier to retrieve. Monitoring visit: University of Ulster, 9 and 10 May 2022 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 and child protection.

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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

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