Education Development Trust

Education Development Trust (EDT) Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Roland White, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 November 2024

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

16-18 Duke Street Reading RG1 4RU Monitoring visit: Education Development Trust (EDT), 28 and 29 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

Education Development Trust (EDT) is a charity with a vision to increase life chances by improving education and skills outcomes. It offers bootcamp courses to prepare adult learners to work in the early years sector. It provides online programmes for learners across England and a blend of online and face-to-face teaching for learners in West London. At the time of the visit, there were 92 learners studying online, funded by the Department for Education and 7 learners studying in West London funded by the Greater London Authority. All learners were aged 19 or older.

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Significant progress

Leaders, managers and staff share a strong commitment to helping learners access high-quality learning and meaningful, skilled work. Staff work with a wide range of partners very effectively to recruit learners who often face barriers to accessing learning and work. Staff draw on their extensive expertise in the early years sector to design bootcamp programmes that are directly aligned to workplace requirements and learners’ needs.

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Significant progress

Leaders liaise very effectively with employers to provide learners with the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to work in the high-priority early years sector. Leaders embed in bootcamp programmes valuable additional qualifications in areas, such as paediatric first aid, food hygiene and safeguarding. These enhance learners’ future employability prospects significantly. Leaders have aligned the bootcamp curriculum to the relevant apprenticeship standard, enabling learners to easily move on to further learning and potentially complete future training at an accelerated rate.

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Significant progress

Staff provide learners with helpful guidance and useful employability skills. They enable learners to develop important digital skills and support them in job search activities, such as creating high-quality CVs and sending them to potential employers using email. They help learners to apply their knowledge, hone their skills and refine Monitoring visit: Education Development Trust (EDT), 28 and 29 November 2024 their professional behaviours in highly relevant work experience placements. This contributes to enhancing learners’ confidence and resilience.

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Significant progress

Senior staff with responsibility for oversight, leaders and managers know the provision well. They appreciate its strengths and where further improvement is needed. They act swiftly to address issues. For example, they have increased the amount of teaching learners receive prior to starting their work placement to ensure that learners are well prepared for the demands of the workplace. This has contributed to the now high proportion of learners who complete their programme successfully.

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Significant progress

Staff check what learners know prior to starting their programme carefully. They assess learners’ ability in English, mathematics and early years education to ensure that bootcamps best meet potential learners’ needs. Where relevant, staff signpost learners to other provision or careers guidance to address skills gaps before joining a bootcamp programme.

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Significant progress

Staff use their early years expertise skilfully to plan learning logically so learners’ understanding builds over time. Learners learn about different early years settings and the applicable legislation before studying the stages of child development. In this way, learners remember important information well, helping them become trusted and valued members of staff at their work placement providers.

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Significant progress

Staff use a range of helpful teaching methods that enable learners to understand important concepts very effectively. They use scenarios and discussions to enable learners to share their insight and support each other’s learning successfully. They provide activities that enable learners to develop their mathematical skills well. For example, learners calculate the indoor floor space needed for each child and the appropriate staffing ratio. Staff support learners to carry out research independently, enabling learners to develop their professional practice in areas, such as supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This contributes to learners acquiring enhanced self-esteem and being well prepared to move on to further learning or work.

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Significant progress

Staff check learners’ understanding diligently. They ask questions and mark learners’ work thoroughly. They provide learners with feedback that helps learners improve the standard of their future work. Staff track learners’ progress carefully and provide support that enables learners at risk of falling behind to catch up quickly. Monitoring visit: Education Development Trust (EDT), 28 and 29 November 2024

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Reasonable progress

Suitably trained and experienced safeguarding staff provide colleagues with helpful safeguarding guidance, so staff know how to raise concerns and keep learners safe.

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Reasonable progress

Safeguarding staff record safeguarding concerns about learners diligently and monitor the effectiveness of their actions carefully. Where relevant, they liaise with external agencies to get learners more specialist support. Leaders ensure that learners understand the risks from radicalisation and extremism. However, leaders do not have sufficient understanding of the risks local to where learners live and work, limiting their ability to support learners to identify possible issues and take sensible steps to keep themselves and others safe. Monitoring visit: Education Development Trust (EDT), 28 and 29 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

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Reasonable progress

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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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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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