Reliance Precision Limited

Reliance Precision Limited Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Ian Frear, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

Rowley Mills Penistone Road Fenay Bridge Huddersfield HD8 0LE Monitoring visit: Reliance Precision Limited, 29 and 30 August 2024

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Context and focus of visit

Ofsted undertakes to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of apprenticeship training provision funded 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

Reliance Precision Limited is an independent learning provider based near Huddersfield. It started to deliver engineering apprenticeships in August 2023 and currently offers the level 3 machining technician standard. At the time of this visit, six apprentices aged 16 to 18 were enrolled. Leaders subcontract the level 3 diploma in engineering that apprentices also study to a local further education college with which they have a long-standing working relationship.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have designed a training programme to equip apprentices with the essential knowledge, skills and behaviours that they need to work in precision engineering. They have planned training to meet the immediate needs of the workforce and the wider engineering industry. For example, apprentices use computer numerical controlled (CNC) millers and lathes to produce work in microns relevant to the precise requirements of the aerospace, medical and gear manufacturing industries.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders are starting to develop their understanding of quality assurance. They now hold frequent standardisation events to identify and improve assessment practice. However, the actions for improvement that leaders identify following self-assessment do not focus sufficiently on the quality of teaching.

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Reasonable progress

Staff are qualified engineers and have achieved degree and higher-level degree qualifications during their time in the industry. Leaders support staff to undertake industrial update training on new machinery and to carry out visits to manufacturers. This ensures that staff keep up to date with the use of efficient and high-quality equipment that meets exacting industry standards. Leaders continue to invest in the resources for apprenticeships, such as the recently purchased CNC machines that apprentices use during their training. Monitoring visit: Reliance Precision Limited, 29 and 30 August 2024 Leaders support staff to take initial teacher training qualifications and assessor awards. Staff who have been working for a significant time in the organisation are supported to achieve level 5 teacher training qualifications and internal quality assurance certification to enhance their teaching and assessment practices.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders use meetings with the subcontractor to discuss apprentices’ attendance and progress, and the grades that apprentices achieve when they complete qualification units. They have recently begun to carry out quality assurance activities but remain too reliant on what the subcontractor tells them about the quality of training. As a result, they do not have a thorough enough understanding of how well the training meets apprentices’ needs.

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Reasonable progress

Apprenticeship leads receive sufficient challenge from senior leaders within the organisation about financial performance, resource requirements and apprentices’ progress. However, senior leaders do not challenge apprenticeship leaders well enough in relation to the quality of education and safeguarding.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors sequence training well to develop apprentices’ knowledge, skills and behaviours. Apprentices first practise manufacturing basic billets and blocks with drilled holes on milling machines and lathes, before progressing to produce more complex extruded shapes, such as a clamp with chamfers, rebates and V-cut shapes.

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Reasonable progress

Staff use an engineering-focused initial assessment to identify the skills that new apprentices already have in spatial awareness, mechanical reasoning and electrical principles. Tutors use the outcomes of initial assessment to determine where apprentices may need more support, such as with mathematical concepts.

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Reasonable progress

Staff ensure that apprentices have sufficient opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours. Once apprentices have developed a core set of skill competencies, staff rotate them around different departments to build their knowledge and skills in specialist areas, such as in gear cutting, toolmaking and CNC machining. This also helps apprentices to understand the wider range of potential career opportunities within the company.

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Reasonable progress

Staff hold frequent progress reviews with apprentices. They use these to measure apprentices’ progress towards the level 2 foundation competence qualification and the level 3 diploma in engineering, which apprentices study as part of their programme. However, staff do not review apprentices’ progress closely enough against the knowledge, skills and behaviours in the apprenticeship standard. Therefore, they are not clear enough about the specific aspects of their programme that apprentices need to focus on to help them improve as engineers. Monitoring visit: Reliance Precision Limited, 29 and 30 August 2024 Staff coach and assess apprentices well. They supervise apprentices when operating machinery and encourage them to recall the correct procedures that they follow at work. Most apprentices use the feedback that they receive from staff to improve their hand-tool and machining skills. As a result, apprentices produce practical work

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Reasonable progress

Tutors embed meaningful opportunities to develop apprentices’ English, mathematical and digital skills throughout the curriculum. Apprentices produce written reports that evaluate the work that they complete. They calculate correct measurements with the required degree of accuracy when setting out component parts and use computer aided design software to draw detailed engineering drawings.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders responsible for safeguarding and staff who have frequent contact with apprentices have not completed adequate training to ensure that they know how to keep apprentices safe.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders do not ensure that staff who they recruit are suitable to work with young people. They do not carry out Disclosure and Barring Service checks, despite the fact that that they work with apprentices under the age of 18.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders do not have in place a complete ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment or action plan. They have started to draft an initial version but have not taken account of the risks that apprentices may face, including the dangers of radicalisation and extremist behaviours and how apprentices may be vulnerable to these risk when, for example, using the internet.

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Insufficient progress

Apprentices feel safe and know who to contact should they have a concern for themselves or someone else, both at work and at the college when they attend day release training. Monitoring visit: Reliance Precision Limited, 29 and 30 August 2024 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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Insufficient progress

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Insufficient 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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