North East Business and Innovation Centre Limited (trading as Sunderland Software City - NE BIC)

North East Business and Innovation Centre 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:

Sunderland Software City Sunderland Software Centre Tavistock Place Sunderland SR1 1PB Monitoring visit: North East Business and Innovation Centre Limited, 6 and 7 November 2024

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Context and focus of visit

Ofsted undertakes to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of adult learning provision where the provision offered is in scope for inspection. 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

North East Business and Innovation Centre Limited is based in Sunderland, with several other offices in the local area. It offers three adult skills bootcamp courses that are designed specifically for the digital skills sector. Since September 2024, 11 learners have been enrolled on the level 3 work experience course, 27 learners on the level 3 skills for business course and 15 learners on the level 5 development operations course.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have a well-defined curriculum that matches the local and national skills priorities for the digital sector. They have designed three main courses that lead to employment. These are a level 3 skills for business course for learners who want to learn about working in the digital sector, a level 3 work experience course for those who have sector knowledge but need real work experience and a level 5 development operations course for learners who have digital qualifications but need more specific training, such as in web development, understanding infrastructure and digitisation of work systems.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have excellent links with a wide range of employers, including well-known national companies in the digital sector. They use these links well to develop bespoke courses that meet employers’ business needs and provide employment opportunities for learners. Employers provide work experience placements, talk to learners about the various roles in the industry and provide opportunities for learners to practise their interview skills.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders employ subject specialists from the digital skills sector. Many staff still work in the industry alongside their teaching role, so their knowledge and skills of digital practice are current. Those staff who come straight from industry into teaching are Monitoring visit: North East Business and Innovation Centre Limited, 6 and 7 November 2024 supported to work towards initial teacher training qualifications and assessor awards. A few staff continue to carry out research in topics, such as cyber security.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have a good understanding of a few of the weaker aspects of their provision and have taken appropriate action to improve these. For example, they recently identified that the progression rate of learners into employment was too low and needed to improve. Subsequently, they introduced lesson visits and detailed conversations with work experience partners. This has led to a higher proportion of learners progressing into work. However, leaders do not evaluate all aspects of their provision well enough. They have recently engaged with a consultant and other training providers in their network to improve how they evaluate the quality of training.

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Reasonable progress

Staff have successfully designed and developed a range of courses in conjunction with specialist training providers and employers. Employers test the currency of learning programmes and participate frequently as guest speakers. Learners deliver a presentation to staff and employers at the end of the course that illustrates what they have learned.

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Reasonable progress

Teachers deliver lessons effectively using realistic digital projects and employer- designed scenarios. For example, on the level 5 development operations course, staff teach learners about cyber security, networks and Python computer programming language. Learners develop their skills by practising on live project briefs. This helps them to consolidate and deepen their understanding of the subject and prepares them well for employment.

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Reasonable progress

Teachers provide helpful feedback to learners throughout the course and annotate learners’ work fully. For example, when level 3 skills for business learners are working remotely, teachers can access their computer systems, identify errors and ensure that learners’ written work is of a professional standard. Learners use the feedback that they receive to produce work of a consistently high quality.

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Reasonable progress

Teachers support learners very well to ensure that their social and emotional needs are well catered for. For example, on the level 3 work experience course, staff provide learners with access to suits if they cannot afford them so they can present professionally at their interviews.

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Reasonable progress

Staff provide learners with access to a careers tutor during training. These tutors often maintain contact with learners for over a year after the course to provide ongoing careers support. Monitoring visit: North East Business and Innovation Centre Limited, 6 and 7 November 2024 Although leaders collect a lot of information about learners at the start of the course, staff do not use this information well enough to plan training for learners. This results in a few learners making slow progress. In addition, a few level 5 development operations learners do not get sufficient support to address the barriers that are preventing them from securing employment.

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Reasonable progress

Staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding. Those responsible for leading safeguarding are trained at level 3 in safeguarding and all other staff have completed level 1 training.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have appropriate processes to deal with safeguarding incidents. When staff identify a need to escalate incidents further, such as to the police, they do so without delay to ensure the safety of learners. They record these instances fully and clearly.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders undertake appropriate pre-employment checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable adults. These include taking references from previous employers and completing enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. However, leaders have not completed safer recruitment training, although there are plans in place to do so imminently. Monitoring visit: North East Business and Innovation Centre Limited, 6 and 7 November 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

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Reasonable progress

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

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