Auto-Assess Limited

Auto-Assess Limited Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Victor Reid, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 September 2022

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

Minerva Mill Innovation Centre Station Road Alcester B49 5ET Monitoring visit: Auto-Assess Limited, 21 and 22 September 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

Auto-Assess Limited is a privately owned independent training provider based in the market town of Alcester. The company was established in 2014 with a focus on providing commercially funded training in vehicle accident repair trades, including paint refinishing, body repair, and mechanical, electrical and vehicle-related trim repair to clients’ vehicles located across the United Kingdom. In January 2021, the organisation was admitted to the register of apprenticeship training providers and its first cohort of levy-funded apprentices commenced training in June 2021.

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Context and focus of visit

At the time of the monitoring visit, 45 apprentices were in learning, of which the large majority were adults. Most apprentices are following a standards-based apprenticeship at level 3 in either paint, panel or accident repair technician pathways. A small minority of apprentices are on a level 2 apprenticeship in metal recycling linked to the end-of-life disposal of vehicles. In addition, a few apprentices are on a level 4 apprenticeship in vehicle damage assessor. Apprentices are based in many regions across England, with training provided in the workplace by a team of regionally based training staff.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have developed a clear vision and strategy to meet the business needs of the employers with whom they work. They use their extensive operational experience and specialist knowledge of the automotive accident repair and refinishing industry to establish an apprenticeship curriculum that is closely aligned with the skills needs of the sector.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers work effectively with employers to ensure that the sequencing and planning of learning are responsive to the working patterns of the Monitoring visit: Auto-Assess Limited, 21 and 22 September 2022 industry, and that all apprentices routinely receive their full entitlement to off-the-job training.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices benefit from the expertise of regionally based apprenticeship development coaches (ADCs), who skilfully draw on their extensive industrial experience to support apprentices in extending their technical knowledge and fluency in their vocational skills. Most apprentices develop new significant knowledge, skills and behaviours that aid them in their jobs and helps them to make an effective contribution to their employers’ businesses.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders ensure that training staff benefit from access to relevant professional development that enables them to provide apprentices with impactful training. Employers and apprentices value the up-to-date technical insight that ADCs have of current automotive accident repair practices.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders place a high priority on assuring the quality of apprentices’ learning experience. They have introduced suitably self-critical procedures relating to their oversight of the apprenticeship programme, for example in prioritising investment in information technology to strengthen their operational understanding of the effectiveness of their apprenticeship programmes. In addition, leaders have established effective systems to manage the performance of ADCs who are delivering training at some considerable distance from the provider’s offices.

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Reasonable progress

In a small number of cases, a few quality improvement actions are not focused sufficiently on the intention of proposed initiatives or set against precise and time- bound indicators. These restrict leaders and governors from fully evaluating or reviewing the impact of proposed actions.

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Reasonable progress

Training staff accurately identify apprentices’ starting points by assessing their level of knowledge, skills and behaviours at the start of their programme. They make good use of this information to ensure that apprentices are placed on the correct level of programme and the vocational specialism that meet their needs and interest.

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Reasonable progress

ADCs use their extensive and wide-ranging industry experience well to ensure that learning is organised in a logical order, enabling apprentices to acquire up-to-date practical knowledge, skills and behaviours. For example, apprentices learn early on in their apprenticeship about the importance of adhering to health and safety procedures before being supported to develop their insight of more complex topics, such as how to correctly mix and apply auto-body filler, undertake vehicle frame alignment, or seamlessly colour match a replacement or repaired car panel. Monitoring visit: Auto-Assess Limited, 21 and 22 September 2022 ADCs carefully plan each stage of learning by closely working in partnership with employers to coordinate on- and off-the-job training and who in turn provide useful opportunities for apprentices to extend their learning at the workplace. As a result, apprentices develop their knowledge and skills in a meaningful order. Most can

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Reasonable progress

successfully recall and correctly apply key learning concepts with ease to the vocational tasks allocated to them at work.

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Reasonable progress

ADCs meet with apprentices and their employers often to discuss their progress. They provide detailed and helpful feedback to apprentices so that they know what they have done correctly and what they need to do to improve the standard of their work, so that it meets the requirements of their end-point assessment.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and training staff do not systematically support all apprentices to develop their English and mathematical skills beyond the level required for the apprenticeship. While apprentices are provided with access to specialist online resources in these essential skills, they receive little in the way of direct support or help to make effective use of these learning materials to enable them to extend their confidence in literacy and numeracy.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders ensure that designated safeguarding personnel are appropriately trained to carry out their roles effectively. Staff with responsibility for safeguarding maintain accurate records and monitor reported concerns effectively to full resolution. Apprentices know what steps to take if they want to report any incidents or occurrences that make them feel unsafe.

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Reasonable progress

Directors and managers have developed a range of appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures that have a clear focus on the health, safety and well-being of apprentices. Leaders ensure that all training staff have undergone appropriate checks to assure their suitability to work with apprentices.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices have a good understanding of the arrangements to keep them safe at work. Their understanding of the importance of safe working practices is appropriately developed during induction, in off-the-job training sessions and through ‘toolkit talks’ in the workplace.

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Reasonable progress

Younger apprentices’ understanding of matters such as informed consent and how to be safe while using the internet and social networking is not systematically developed by training staff as an integral part of the apprenticeship curriculum. Monitoring visit: Auto-Assess Limited, 21 and 22 September 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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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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