Genesis Training Limited

Further education and skills inspection report

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Inspection dates: 28 June to 1 July 2022

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Adult learning programmes Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this provider

Genesis Training Limited is an independent learning provider based in St Helens, Merseyside. It was previously a subcontractor of Kickstart2Employment Ltd which it acquired outright in April 2020. Following the acquisition, the directors changed the name of the company to Genesis Training Group Limited and focused the curriculum offer on adult learning programmes. The growth of the provider has been rapid. Adult learner numbers have grown significantly from 24 in August 2019 under Kickstart2Employment Ltd to 1,344 under Genesis Training Limited for the current academic year.

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Information about this provider

Directors work with a number of employers and agencies such as Jobcentre Plus, the Liverpool City Region Mayoral Combined Authority and non-devolved local authorities in areas such as Cheshire and Lancashire. The curriculum focus is predominantly on providing short sector-based work academy programmes (SWAPs) for residents who have recently become unemployed and are closest to the jobs market. Jobcentre Plus is the main referral agency for these programmes. 28 June to 1 July 2022

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Leaders and tutors create a safe and inclusive learning environment for their learners. Leaders ensure that learning programmes take place in venues that are easily accessible via public transport, such as city-centre locations. Start times are flexible. These enable learners with childcare commitments to attend training at convenient times.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Learners feel valued as individuals. They appreciate the support of their tutors and demonstrate mutual respect for their tutors and their peers. The minority of learners who attend a range of courses at the provider enjoy the camaraderie and the new friendships that they develop.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Learners express confidently the importance of equality in life. They recognise and respect that everyone is different. Learners understand the principles of fundamental British values, such as how respect and workplace rules promote safe and inclusive working environments. Learners demonstrate patience and confidence when working in a variety of team situations.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Tutors establish clear expectations for learners’ behaviour and attitudes at the start of each course. They challenge absence and lateness effectively and report non- attendance and poor punctuality swiftly to the relevant referral agency. Tutors set clear guidelines during the sessions to ensure good timekeeping and for learners to return promptly from comfort and lunch breaks.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

The overwhelming majority of learners who spoke to inspectors reported that they did not learn anything new from attending the courses on offer. Too many learners thought that they were overqualified for their course. They said that their contact at the referral agency thought that it would be something useful for them to do. That said, some learning programmes help a few learners to return to normal routines and to prepare for new job roles.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Learners confirm that they feel safe when attending the various training venues. A few learners discuss elements of safeguarding relating to future job roles, such as dealing sensitively with vulnerable people who are seeking asylum. They learn to understand some of the issues that prompt people to seek refuge in another country.

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better?

Leaders have not developed an ambitious, well-designed curriculum that meets the needs of unemployed adults. The curriculum consists of a series of very short courses that leaders identify as sector-based work academy programmes. These programmes do not help learners to improve their existing skills or to retrain in a different sector to gain future meaningful and sustainable employment. Leaders do not know how many learners gain sustainable employment as a result of attending any of the SWAPs. 28 June to 1 July 2022

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SWAPs are, too often, not relevant to learners’ career aspirations or previous experiences. In too many instances, the curriculum consists of low-level, unrelated and inappropriate qualifications. Learners who attend their programmes regularly are usually offered a guaranteed job interview at the end of the course. While a few learners feel prepared and confident for the interview, most learners do not develop new knowledge and skills during their programmes or gain employment.

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Learners do not receive clear, initial information, advice and guidance at the start of their learning programmes. While they attend an information event, they do not always understand what the intended purpose of the event is and the content of the course on which they subsequently enrol. The information, advice and guidance process sometimes does not take account of learners’ starting points.

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The SWAP provision is not focused sufficiently on supporting and upskilling learners who are from disadvantaged or hard-to-reach backgrounds. Far too many learners on the programmes have been made redundant very recently or have just left university. Most of the learners that inspectors spoke to, or whose work they reviewed, had higher-level qualifications than those required by the course, and some had degrees and master’s degrees. Consequently, the curriculum is not suitably ambitious or challenging for the vast majority of learners.

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Learners do not receive suitable careers information, advice and guidance. Leaders do not consider sufficiently whether learners have transferable skills to move successfully into a different sector. Nor do they consider the fact that learners want to find work in the sector where their expertise lies.

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Leaders do not give sufficient teaching time to SWAPs to enable learners to understand and absorb fully the content of the programmes. For example, in the hospitality and warehousing SWAPs, the programme content and qualifications require significantly more teaching time than the few days that leaders plan for learning and assessment activities. Feedback from learners identifies that courses are rushed and contain too much ‘chalk and talk’ and writing. Learners are unable to consolidate their learning and cannot recall fluently what they have learned.

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Learners complete the same tasks and activities regardless of their previous experiences and qualifications. Learning activities are predominantly set through qualification-specific workbooks. Workbooks identify clearly the learning outcomes and assessment criteria that learners need to achieve. However, the quality and effectiveness of the workbooks are inconsistent across the different SWAPs. Workbook activities do not demonstrate how the course develops learners’ knowledge, skills and behaviours over time.

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Tutors’ assessment of learners’ English and mathematical skills at the start of their programmes is weak. They do not use these assessments to set individualised learning targets or to help learners with low levels of literacy and/or numeracy skills to improve their understanding of these subjects. In a few instances, tutors direct learners to other providers, including those learners who speak English as an 28 June to 1 July 2022

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additional language. Consequently, learners with English and mathematical needs do not develop the skills at this provider that they need for future employment.

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Almost all learners with a declared learning difficulty/special educational need do not receive the support they need to be successful. For example, where an assessment of learners’ starting points confirms that they have dyslexia, leaders do not put in place the necessary support that will help them to overcome their barriers to learning and, ultimately, gain employment. Tutors do not routinely provide alternative assessment arrangements, or ensure reasonable adjustments, for learners who have additional needs and/or disabilities.

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Most tutors do not provide helpful and constructive feedback to learners. For example, written feedback consists mostly of positive, generic comments such as ‘very good answers’. In other instances, tutors simply ‘tick’ learners’ work. Where tutors do provide constructive feedback, there is often too little time on the course for learners to improve the standard of the work that they produce. In too many of the written activities that learners complete, tutors do not identify significant spelling and grammatical errors. Consequently, learners make the same errors frequently throughout their work. In too many instances, learners’ responses to questions and scenarios in their workbooks are the same across the group.

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Learners who want to work in the construction industry benefit from an introductory qualification that is appropriate for their needs and prior experiences. They produce work that is of a good standard and develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours through a range of activities. These include observations and written tasks. This course meets the needs of local and regional priorities.

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Tutors and associate tutors are well qualified and have the relevant knowledge and experience to teach the curriculum. They often use their significant industry experience to support the development of learners’ wider skills such as using social media platforms to further enhance job-hunting opportunities. However, leaders do not provide staff with regular and appropriate professional development activities to help them develop their curriculum knowledge and improve their craft of teaching. Leaders do not ensure that tutors have the appropriate skills and training to provide effective support to learners who have additional needs.

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Leaders and managers do not have an accurate oversight of the quality of the curriculum that they offer. Their self-assessment report is largely descriptive and does not evaluate the quality of education in sufficient depth. Leaders do not set clear and measurable targets to support their quality improvement actions. This means that leaders and governors are too slow to rectify weaknesses.

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Governance arrangements are not effective. While governors have extensive business experience and some experience in apprenticeships, their understanding of a high-quality adult learning provision is limited. Consequently, they do not have the breadth of expertise to challenge leaders sufficiently to ensure that the curriculum is meeting learners’ needs. 28 June to 1 July 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that the safeguarding and well-being of learners are a high priority. They have implemented appropriate safeguarding and associated policies and procedures that they monitor regularly. The designated safeguarding lead and safeguarding officers have the appropriate training and experience to carry out their roles effectively.

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Safeguarding

Staff benefit from high-quality safeguarding training. They know how to identify and report safeguarding and well-being concerns. Staff collect learners’ feedback at the end of each course to inform safeguarding procedures. They follow up on any concerns swiftly and effectively.

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Safeguarding

The safeguarding team has established effective partnerships with external agencies to keep themselves informed about local and national issues. They use this information to understand local risks and to refer learners to local support agencies for issues such as mental health and domestic abuse.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that they carry out appropriate pre-employment checks before staff start work at the provider.

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What does the provider need to do to improve?

 Leaders should design adult learning programmes that are ambitious, well constructed and of appropriate duration and level to help unemployed residents gain appropriate and sustainable job roles in their communities.  Leaders should ensure that the information, advice and guidance (IAG) that they provide for learners, including careers IAG, is relevant, informative and takes account of learners’ starting points.  Leaders should ensure that tutors take full account of learners’ English and mathematical skills throughout their learning programmes. They should ensure that learners develop these skills further when there are clear gaps in their knowledge and understanding of these subjects.  Leaders should support all learners with learning difficulties/special educational needs to overcome their barriers to learning and be successful. They should train tutors to provide effective support for those learners who have additional needs.

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What does the provider need to do to improve?

 Leaders should ensure that tutors provide helpful feedback to learners and that learners have sufficient time to improve the standard of the work they produce based on this feedback.  Leaders should ensure that tutors receive appropriate professional training to help them to improve their craft of teaching.  Leaders should improve their quality assurance and improvement processes to 28 June to 1 July 2022

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ensure that they have an accurate oversight and understanding of the quality of the curriculum and can rectify weaknesses swiftly and effectively.  Leaders should improve governance arrangements to ensure that all governors understand the requirements of an ambitious adult learning curriculum. Governors should ensure that they hold leaders to account fully for the quality of learners’ education and support. 28 June to 1 July 2022

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Provider details

Address YMCA Beacon Building College Street St. Helens Merseyside WA10 1TF

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Provider details

Provider type Independent learning provider

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Provider details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Provider details

Main subcontractors Rotunda Ltd 28 June to 1 July 2022

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the director of operations, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous new provider monitoring visit report. The inspection was carried out using the further education and skills inspection handbook and took into account all relevant provision at the provider. Inspectors collected a wide range of evidence to inform judgements, including visiting learning sessions, scrutinising learners’ work, seeking the views of learners, staff and other stakeholders, and examining the provider’s documentation and records.

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Inspection team

Suzanne Wainwright, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Andrea Machell Ofsted Inspector Dilys Taylor Ofsted Inspector Elaine Price Ofsted Inspector Jo Hornby Ofsted Inspector Zoe Ibbotson Ofsted Inspector 28 June to 1 July 2022

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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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