Achieving Excellence Uk Ltd

Achieving Excellence Uk Ltd

Address: 8 Belmont Hill, Lewisham, London, SE13 5BD Unique reference number (URN): 2495240

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, learners are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect providers for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The provider has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The provider has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders clearly understand the strengths of their provision, such as the commitment of staff, the connection with the care industry and communication with employers and apprentices. They have worked, with external support, to improve the accuracy of their understanding of areas for improvement. Leaders have implemented actions to improve achievement and reduce the number of apprentices who remain in study after their planned end date. They recognise that this work continues to be an area of focus and are ambitious for achievement to rise further.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a focused strategy to support recruitment and professional training in the care sector. They are committed to offering individualised learning and supporting apprentices with barriers to their learning to succeed. They invest in resources and additional support for apprentices and offer flexible learning times to support those apprentices who work night shifts in areas such as domiciliary care to access training.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders work to create a positive staff culture. They empower staff to drive improvements, carefully manage staff workload and provide annual team events, weekly wellbeing checks and flexible working conditions. Staff feel highly valued and are proud to be part of the team.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders support staff to develop vocational and teaching skills. They encourage staff to spend days in industry to refresh their knowledge and maintain their professional qualifications and competency through training. Leaders plan programmes of professional learning based on personal development targets. However, this professional development is not yet focused enough on teaching skills to drive a consistently high standard of teaching and learning.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders and staff foster a welcoming and inclusive learning environment. Tutors reinforce and role model this by offering flexible working arrangements that suit apprentices' circumstances and celebrate their cultures, traditions and lived experiences. Leaders have redesigned policies and procedures, including onboarding and induction processes, to identify quickly and accurately apprentices' support needs. Tutors work closely with apprentices and build positive relationships. Leaders have introduced new procedures that empower apprentices to declare their support needs at any time during the course. As a result, more apprentices confidently declare and discuss their welfare and support needs.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have recently introduced professional development opportunities to raise tutors’ awareness of special educational needs and/or disabilities and neurodiversity, so they can develop individualised support strategies for their apprentices. Learning support managers have started to review regularly and adapt the personalised support that apprentices receive to enable them to complete their programme.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have not adequately considered the range of disadvantages that apprentices may face, including those who are care-experienced and face considerable financial difficulties. Leaders are aware of this and have begun encouraging more learners to access additional funding, allocating more staff time to support and trialling different resources to help apprentices develop their own learning strategies.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Tutors establish what apprentices already know and can do at the start of their learning. In some cases, they collaborate with employers to agree this assessment and ensure that employers understand the areas of development that are a priority. Tutors and employers work together to adapt and prioritise key topics for apprentices. However, this is not consistently completed so that all apprentices benefit from a curriculum that is specific to their needs. While in the majority of cases tutors ensure that employers understand training needs, a few apprentices struggle to access enough time in work to complete their training.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Tutors use a range of teaching techniques to help apprentices gain the knowledge and skills needed. They use reflective cycles to help apprentices review their own practice and identify areas for improvement. Tutors use realistic care home scenarios to explain escalation procedures and link new knowledge to their prior work experience. However, in a small number of cases, tutors do not focus enough on apprentices retaining this knowledge, ready for their end-point assessment.

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Needs attention

Tutors support apprentices to develop their English and mathematics skills. Level 3 adult care worker tutors include number-based starter activities in each session to ensure apprentices keep developing mathematical skills. Tutors give clear developmental feedback on assessed work that helps apprentices develop their written English skills, including about sentence structure and spelling and grammar. This supports apprentices to develop report writing skills in the workplace.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders ensure that apprentices study and work in safe and respectful online and work environments where their wellbeing is prioritised through regular check-ins with highly supportive tutors. Tutors teach apprentices, particularly those aged under 19, how to stay mentally and physically healthy and how to develop healthy relationships both inside and outside of the workplace. They encourage apprentices to incorporate mindfulness into their working day to reduce stress and to stretch their bodies to prevent injury in physically demanding roles.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Tutors foster an inclusive culture in which apprentices can express their individual views and perspectives. Tutors and apprentices discuss how to give children and adults in residential care a voice in how support is given and encourage difficult conversations about standards of care.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Apprentices receive coherent careers coaching and tailored guidance from tutors. This helps them develop wider skills that support and identify their personal and career goals. Tutors develop apprentices’ leadership skills and confidence and work with apprentices to develop the communication and behaviour management skills needed for more senior roles. Apprentices have the skills needed to apply for and achieve promoted roles and further study.

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Achievement Needs attention

The proportion of apprentices who complete their apprenticeship and achieve their qualification is too low. While leaders have clear plans in place to improve this and have improved achievement rates for adult care apprenticeships, too many apprentices studying children, young people and families apprenticeships leave early and do not achieve their qualifications or go beyond their expected end date.

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Achievement Needs attention

Apprentices, including those with barriers to their learning, develop a solid understanding of the knowledge and skills needed for their roles from the start of their studies. They evidence them well, both in the high quality of work they produce and in the workplace tasks they can confidently carry out. They develop in confidence through their studies and many take on additional responsibilities and promoted roles as a result.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices experience highly supportive, individualised teaching to develop their understanding and empathy as well as the care skills needed in children and adult residential care settings. Where apprentices face barriers to their learning, such as family responsibilities, mental health issues and bereavement, tutors put in place additional support and flexible coaching sessions to prevent apprentices falling behind in their studies. However, leaders and tutors do not collect information about potential barriers to learning at the start of apprenticeships to enable them to put early support in place and ensure the measures have the desired impact.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices with special educational needs and/or disabilities make the same progress as their peers as a result of the well-considered support that tutors provide. Tutors plan and implement effective adaptations to learning to ensure that apprentices feel well supported throughout their studies.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices and employers value the skills and knowledge developed through the apprenticeships. Apprentices develop their confidence in communicating with their teams and their service users and their knowledge of safeguarding in their settings and in their professional practice. They understand the importance of respect, tolerance and individual liberty in care. As a result, apprentices recognise where the level of care they give meets and exceeds professional standards and how to continue developing their care skills.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Leaders and tutors have high aspirations for apprentices to achieve in their studies and progress into roles in key skills shortage areas in the care sector. However, too many apprentices progress slowly and remain in study after their expected end date, and too many leave before achieving their apprenticeship. While apprentices often go on to achieve professional qualifications outside of their apprenticeship and remain in their roles, leaders recognise that they need to continue to develop strategies to support apprentices to succeed in their apprenticeship studies.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to take action to improve achievement rate for apprentices, particularly for those studying children, young people and families apprenticeships. Leaders should continue to focus on increasing the number of apprentices who achieve within the anticipated time frame. Leaders should further strengthen professional development for trainers to deepen awareness and expertise to support apprentices with special educational needs and/or disabilities and further improve the quality of teaching and learning that apprentices experience. Leaders should develop strategies to identify apprentices' wider support needs, including for those who are disadvantaged, in order to meet their needs more effectively. Leaders should ensure that employers are consistently involved in the assessment of apprentices' prior skills and knowledge before the start of programmes, so apprentices can build upon what they already know.

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Team inspectors:

Steve Kelly, His Majesty's Inspector Ravinder Jhite, Ofsted Inspector Debbie Griffin, Ofsted Inspector Ramita Tejpal, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data is from 24 March 2026 Tutors should ensure that apprentices can recall the new information they have received and can confidently apply this in their workplace and in preparation for their final assessments.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspection activities: Inspectors spoke with leaders, managers, tutors, apprentices and employers during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider: Achieving Excellence UK Limited is a national independent learning provider based in Lewisham, London. It offers apprenticeships from level 2 to level 5 in children, young people and families, adult care, early years and leadership in these areas. Training takes place through a variety of one-to-one sessions online and face-to-face in the workplace.

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About this inspection

At the time of the inspection, there were 427 apprentices in learning of whom 3 were aged under 19. The majority of apprentices study level 4 children, young people and families practitioner, level 5 children, young people and families manager, level 3 lead adult care worker and level 5 leader in adult care apprenticeships.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other providers can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The provider reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The provider is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The provider needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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

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