The Skills and Business Hub Limited (t/a Berkshire Growth Hub)

Berkshire Growth Hub Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Peter Cox, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 29 and 30 January 2025

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address: 20 Tudor Road Reading RG1 1NH Monitoring visit: Berkshire Growth Hub, 29 and 30 January 2025

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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

The Berkshire Growth Hub is an independent learning provider based in Reading, Berkshire. It offers Skills Bootcamps in sales to self-employed business owners and employees of regional businesses. At the time of the monitoring visit, 25 students were studying the sales Skills Bootcamp.

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Significant progress

Highly informed leaders have a very strong understanding of the local and regional skills need. They are passionate about helping small and medium businesses in Berkshire and the surrounding area develop the sales and marketing skills they need to grow.

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Significant progress

Leaders have implemented a very successful training course that helps learners develop core sales skills such as winning complex sales, negotiation, communication and customer satisfaction, strategy and technology. Leaders and staff have planned the curriculum so learners complete an additional level 3 qualification in sales. This contributes towards making them more employable and adds value to their reputation within the sales sector.

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Significant progress

Leaders, staff and learners share high expectations around participation and attendance, both of which are consequently high. Leaders monitor and challenge any absences effectively.

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Significant progress

Leaders have a very secure understanding of the quality of the Skills Bootcamp. They use fortnightly meetings to review learners’ progress and well-being and plan support or intervention where necessary. Staff use observations and learner feedback to further review the quality of the programme. As such, leaders identify and intervene quickly where learners may make slower progress and support them successfully to improve. Monitoring visit: Berkshire Growth Hub, 29 and 30 January 2025 Leaders provide useful support so staff continue to develop their knowledge and skills in sales. Staff are highly involved in a range of stakeholder groups that help them to keep their sector and technical knowledge current. Leaders rightly recognise they do not yet provide sufficient support to staff to help them develop their teaching knowledge and practice.

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Significant progress

Highly experienced, specialist staff plan training carefully. This ensures that learners, many of whom have little sales experience, build substantial new knowledge, skills and confidence over time. Staff use varied and engaging teaching sessions such as treasure hunts, scenario projects and online teaching resources skilfully. They use their substantial background in sales to contextualise learning skilfully. Staff tailor learning to make it relevant to learners’ wide range of experiences and businesses successfully. Staff use a range of useful assessments to check learning and correct any misconceptions. They provide learners with very helpful feedback, which learners act on quickly and successfully to improve their work.

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Significant progress

Leaders invite specialist guest speakers to lead sessions on topics such as the use of artificial intelligence in sales. This contributes to learners’ understanding of emerging and future sales strategies and processes successfully. At the conclusion of their training, staff provide learners with access to high-quality resources, which they use to consolidate and extend their learning.

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Significant progress

Leaders identify learners with specific learning needs effectively. They put in place reasonable adjustments so these learners progress and achieve as well as their peers.

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Significant progress

Staff help learners to develop essential numeracy and literacy skills. For example, they use scenarios and questions around budgeting to help learners improve their financial management and numeracy skills.

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Significant progress

Learners are highly enthusiastic about their training experience. They develop skills and knowledge which they describe as having a transformative impact on their businesses. For example, learners use their understanding of sales to increase their client base and, subsequently, their business revenue. They use forecasting strategies to plan their work and ensure they have sufficient monthly income. Learners produce work of a high standard. Almost all learners complete their programme successfully and achieve the additional sales qualification. Monitoring visit: Berkshire Growth Hub, 29 and 30 January 2025

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Significant progress

Leaders prioritise safeguarding. They use comprehensive safeguarding and ‘Prevent’ duty policies robustly to keep learners safe. Staff are appropriately trained and understand their safeguarding responsibilities securely. Leaders make sure staff are safe to work with learners.

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Significant progress

Learners feel safe and are very confident that should they have a concern, it will be dealt with appropriately. They have a detailed understanding of how to identify someone at risk of extremism and radicalisation in detail.

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Significant progress

Staff make excellent use of opportunities to explore wider, current safeguarding themes. Learners use this information to make improvements to safeguarding in their own businesses. Monitoring visit: Berkshire Growth Hub, 29 and 30 January 2025 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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Significant progress

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Significant progress

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Significant progress

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Significant progress

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

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