Pro-Development

Name of lead inspector: Mark Keen, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 February 2025

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address: Unit 4 Forest Farm Business Park York YO19 4RH Monitoring visit: Pro-Development, 18 and 19 February 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

Pro-Development is an independent learning provider that currently provides Skills Bootcamps in leadership and management for learners working in a range of industries. At the time of the visit, there were 14 learners on a Skills Bootcamp funded by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. All learners are aged 19 or over and are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers design and deliver Skills Bootcamps that develop the leadership and management skills of learners from a range of industries, including hospitality, engineering, waste management and construction. The ultimate manager’s toolkit Skills Bootcamp clearly meets a skills priority of the combined authority to ensure that regional employers have vital leadership and management skills to support economic growth.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders target the Skills Bootcamp at small and medium-sized enterprises in North Yorkshire, enabling these organisations to access affordable training for their employees. They have designed the course to meet the specific needs of the ‘accidental manager’, who has been promoted due to their loyalty and length of service with an employer but not necessarily due to their leadership skills, as well as learners who are new to management roles or intending to move into management roles.

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Reasonable progress

Learners benefit from a high-quality course covering a range of useful topics, including understanding team dynamics, developing delegation skills and implementing change. Staff work effectively with employers to ensure that the content of the Skills Bootcamp meets the needs of employers and learners. For example, after consulting employers staff included content on the development of digital skills. Monitoring visit: Pro-Development, 18 and 19 February 2025 Trainers are experienced and well qualified in delivering leadership and management training. Managers provide trainers with high-quality professional development to develop their teaching skills further and to keep their subject knowledge up to date. Trainers have recently benefited from training in the DiSC (dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness) communication model, and now deliver this content more effectively and in a way that is highly valued by their learners.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers use an appropriate range of quality assurance processes. They have useful monthly business review meetings, which monitor a set of key performance indicators. However, at present, each Skills Bootcamp is reviewed in isolation, and the findings of quality assurance activities are not drawn together to evaluate overall strengths and areas for improvement.

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Reasonable progress

Trainers carefully sequence the curriculum so that learners can develop their understanding of leadership and management concepts. They start with the fundamental principles of being an ‘inspiring manager’. As the course progresses, they help learners to develop their coaching and mentoring skills, and their ability to reflect on their management practice.

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Reasonable progress

Trainers accurately identify learners’ prior experience and their career goals. However, they do not assess sufficiently learners’ current strengths and areas for development in their leadership and management skills. As a result, trainers do not have a clear enough picture of learners’ progress from their starting points to the end of the course.

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Reasonable progress

Trainers skilfully use a range of practical and imaginative teaching activities. They use quizzes, questioning, acronyms and visual aids to help learners remember more. Trainers give learners plentiful opportunities to reflect on what they have been taught and to explore the application of this new knowledge in the workplace. Learners find the ‘jelly baby tree’ tool particularly helpful in managing workplace challenges.

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Reasonable progress

Trainers use assessment well to identify gaps in learners’ understanding. They then adjust their teaching accordingly. For example, trainers identified a common misconception around the use of open and closed questioning in the workplace and spent time in the following lesson addressing this.

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Reasonable progress

Learners are highly motivated, attend well and enjoy the course. They gain confidence in undertaking challenging roles in the workplace, such as managing exit reviews for colleagues who have been made redundant. Learners develop their Monitoring visit: Pro-Development, 18 and 19 February 2025 understanding of ‘push/pull’ strategies available to managers when coaching and mentoring staff.

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Reasonable progress

A very high proportion of learners successfully complete the course. They use their newly acquired skills and knowledge to make positive changes at work in how they manage others, resulting in high levels of satisfaction from learners and their employers. Many employers send other staff on Skills Bootcamps with the provider on the strength of this success.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders, managers and trainers promote a positive culture of safeguarding. A senior manager takes overall responsibility for safeguarding, ensuring that all staff are appropriately trained in the provider’s policies and procedures. Trainers understand how to raise safeguarding concerns. These concerns are carefully recorded and monitored and, where appropriate, learners are directed to external agencies.

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Reasonable progress

Staff display relevant information about the prevention of radicalisation and extremism in training rooms. However, trainers focus more on equality and diversity issues rather than the risks of radicalisation and extremism relevant to learners’ personal and professional lives. During the monitoring visit, leaders and managers took immediate action to address this. Monitoring visit: Pro-Development, 18 and 19 February 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

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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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