Omni Academy of Beauty Limited

Name of lead inspector: Steven Tucker, Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection date(s): 17 and 18 August 2022

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

14 Church Street Walton-on-Thames Surrey KT12 2QS Monitoring visit: Omni Academy, 17 and 18 August 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

Omni Academy was established by the current owner in 2008 to provide privately funded training to the beauty industry and apprenticeships as a subcontractor to other training providers. It became eligible to offer its own apprenticeships in 2021. Apprentices are mostly employed in south-west London. Currently 18 apprentices are on level 2 or 3 apprenticeships in beauty, and three are on level 2 or 3 apprenticeships in hairdressing. All but one are aged 18 or over. At the time of the monitoring visit, 21 of the 24 apprentices who started an apprenticeship had been retained on their programme.

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Reasonable progress

Senior leaders are effectively meeting the needs of employers in the beauty and hair industries. Senior leaders use their knowledge of, and their extensive contacts within, the beauty sector to ensure apprentices are employed in high-quality jobs. They successfully find jobs for prospective apprentices who want to take their first steps into the industry. Employers place a very high value on the time apprentices spend training at Omni Academy. They recognise that leaders have designed a curriculum that prepares apprentices well for a career.

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Reasonable progress

Apprenticeships at Omni academy meet the requirements of an apprenticeship. Employers support their apprentices well and work closely with staff at Omni Academy to provide the time apprentices need to complete their studies and to practise their newly developed skills in the workplace. Arrangements for teaching English and mathematics are effective.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have designed the curriculum well to ensure that apprentices are taught, and practise, the skills and knowledge they need to work in the hair and beauty industries. Mostly, the training is linked well to the jobs that apprentices complete in Monitoring visit: Omni Academy, 17 and 18 August 2022 the workplace. While the curriculum includes a wide range of knowledge and skills apprentices need to develop, it does not contain enough training on some of the behaviours that apprentices need to develop. For example, how to develop their confidence to communicate with clients and, for female apprentices, how to feel comfortable treating male clients.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have an excellent attitude to continually improving their apprenticeships. They have taken very good steps to establish their apprenticeships and are highly ambitious to provide apprenticeships of the highest quality. They readily seek advice from their industry and from training professionals in order to make well-informed improvements. They have yet to put in place external governance but are in the process of identifying how this could benefit apprentices and further improve the business.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors are well qualified and have extensive experience as beauty therapists and hairdressers. Most have teaching experience and qualifications. They teach the curriculum well and enrich it with examples from their time working in their own salons, spas and on cruise ships.

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Reasonable progress

Employers act as good role models to apprentices. They develop the apprentices’ skills and knowledge by giving them opportunities to build on the training provided by tutors. This includes ensuring that their apprentice learns specific techniques relating to the products they use in their salon.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices enjoy and value their training and quickly develop good, industry standard skills. Apprentices produce work of a high standard in their portfolios. Tutors provide positive and constructive feedback on the work they complete for external assessment. However, they do not provide the same level of feedback on other aspects of their apprenticeship, such as apprentices’ development of life skills.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors review apprentices’ progress but do not use reviews to set clear targets for the apprentice or to check apprentices’ knowledge thoroughly. In many cases, they consist of little more than a basic check on the apprentices’ completion of work for their externally assessed portfolio. Tutors do not routinely include employers in the review.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have not incorporated impartial careers guidance into the apprenticeship programme sufficiently. Apprentices gain valuable insight into the industry from tutors and visits but these are not a substitute for a well-considered programme of careers information and guidance. Monitoring visit: Omni Academy, 17 and 18 August 2022 Senior leaders train and encourage their tutors to maintain and develop their beauty therapy and hair-dressing skills and knowledge. They do not pay the same attention to developing tutors' teaching skills or encouraging them to reflect on their decisions about how to implement the curriculum.

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Reasonable progress

Senior leaders have successfully established a culture in which staff prioritise the safety and well-being of apprentices. Trainers teach apprentices a wide range of topics relating to personal safety, risks of radicalisation and extremism, and well- being. Apprentices are aware of how to stay safe online and are aware of the risks they face while using social media.

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Reasonable progress

The member of staff designated to lead safeguarding is well qualified and experienced. However, this member of staff does not hold a senior role in Omni Academy.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices feel safe and are aware of how to report, or get help with, concerns. They are confident that any concerns they have will be dealt with well. Senior leaders take appropriate actions when apprentices or staff raise welfare concerns.

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Reasonable progress

Senior leaders do not ensure that all staff records are up to date and have yet to fully implement all requirements for recruiting staff who may work with apprentices aged under 18. Monitoring visit: Omni Academy, 17 and 18 August 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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Reasonable progress

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

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