MTC Limited

Name of lead inspector: Mike Finn, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 October 2022

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

1st Floor Alison House 638 High Road Leytonstone London E11 3DA Monitoring visit: MTC Limited, 26 and 27 October 2022

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Context and focus of visit

From March 2019, Ofsted undertook to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of adult learning provision which began to be funded from August 2017 or after by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. 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

MTC Limited provides training to adult learners with the aim of helping people to get closer to, or to secure employment. The curriculum is focused on learners developing their English, mathematics and digital skills. There are 49 learners taking English courses from entry level 1 through to level 2. Twenty-seven learners take mathematics courses from entry 1 to entry level 3. All courses are taught face to face in the training centre. Last year, 355 learners took courses at MTC, including an employability award.

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Significant progress

Leaders have developed a highly effective curriculum. This meets closely the needs of unemployed adults seeking work in the community. Leaders work exceptionally effectively with partners at agencies such as Job Centre Plus to ensure that they teach the skills learners need to gain employment. Leaders have rightly selected courses that develop further learners’ mathematics, English and digital skills.

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Significant progress

Leaders recruit teachers who have the required skills and knowledge to be effective in their teaching roles. Staff are either subject specialists or are being supported to gain this expertise. As a result, teachers explain concepts clearly in lessons, so that learners understand what they are being taught.

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Significant progress

A high proportion of learners progress into work or further study at the end of their course. Leaders have effective plans in place to track learners’ destinations over a longer period of time and offer them more support if they need it.

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Significant progress

The board of trustees includes members with good knowledge and experience of education. They are clear about aspects of the provision that require further development and have the expertise required to challenge leaders to improve the quality of the provision. Monitoring visit: MTC Limited, 26 and 27 October 2022 Leaders provide very effective training to develop teachers’ skills. For example, leaders identified the need to improve teachers’ knowledge of mathematics. Staff are now studying a higher-level numeracy programme. This has developed their subject knowledge and has improved the quality of teaching in mathematics.

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Significant progress

Teachers use a range of highly effective assessment methods to check learners’ understanding. They only move on to new topics once they are sure that learners have fully understood the current content. For example, in English, when teaching learners about providing advice and suggestions, teachers use questioning well to check that learners can give advice or make suggestions verbally. Learners then put this into practice in written tasks, where they provide advice to people about how to prepare for a job interview.

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Significant progress

Learners make excellent progress in developing new knowledge and skills. Most learners have little knowledge of English at the start of the course, and by the end they can speak and read with much greater accuracy and confidence. For example, learners are aware that sentences should contain a subject, a verb and an object. This development of skills and knowledge enables learners to become more independent in their lives.

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Significant progress

Teachers give learners exceptionally helpful feedback during lessons and on their work. For example, they highlight errors in learners’ use of spelling, punctuation and grammar, and require them to correct mistakes using a dictionary. As a result, learners develop standards of work appropriate to the level of the qualifications they study.

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Significant progress

Teachers ensure that the curriculum is suitably challenging for all learners. For example, they set relevant and interesting activities that include additional content beyond the specification, so that learners learn over and above the requirements of the course.

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Significant progress

A very high proportion of learners remain on their courses until the end and the majority achieve their qualifications. This helps learners to progress to positive next steps, such as progression to work or further courses. Monitoring visit: MTC Limited, 26 and 27 October 2022

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have developed an effective culture of safeguarding. The designated safeguarding lead ensures that staff receive specialist training in safeguarding vulnerable adults.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have recently taken steps to develop a clearer safeguarding policy, so that it contains more useful guidance for staff. For example, leaders have very recently set out processes for how staff should manage any incidents of harmful sexual behaviour.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have put in place a suitable ‘Prevent’ risk assessment. This includes a range of risks, as well as the actions taken to minimise them. However, the risk assessment does not refer to specific risks in the borough where learners live and work.

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Reasonable progress

Staff use induction sessions to raise learners’ awareness of how to keep themselves safe. For example, most learners know how radicalisation can lead to people forming extremist views. However, a few learners cannot remember enough about what they have been taught.

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Reasonable progress

Learners report that staff care about them, and this makes them feel safe. Monitoring visit: MTC Limited, 26 and 27 October 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

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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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