Futures Training Group Ltd

Futures Training Group Ltd

Address: 192 Allerton Road, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside, L18 5HU Unique reference number (URN): 2791038

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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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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders promote an inclusive approach across the organisation. They embed inclusive practices to make learning accessible for all learners, regardless of disadvantage, barriers to learning or starting points. Leaders use effective enrolment and recruitment processes to assess learners’ suitability for the course and to identify quickly any support needs that learners may have. They use the information that they collect from these processes to plan and adapt support to meet learners' needs.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders take a pragmatic and individualised approach to reducing and removing barriers to learning. They provide hard-copy resources and voice recordings for learners who speak English as an additional language, and coloured paper for learners with dyslexia. Leaders help learners to access technology to ensure correct spelling and grammar and provide individual support sessions when learners struggle with challenging content or concepts.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders monitor the impact of the support they provide for learners. When they identify that the support has had a positive impact, they encourage learners to work with peers to communicate the impact of the support. Leaders use pairwork, practical demonstration and application, peer learning, group dynamics and individual support as part of their teaching and training to the benefit of all learners. They provide support where needed and promote independence where possible. Learners mostly make their expected progress regardless of barriers to learning, disadvantage and starting points.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and governors articulate high expectations for their learners. They plan inclusive and ambitious curriculums, informed by industry practice, that are highly relevant and responsive to learners' and industry needs. Leaders work well with their employer partners to develop bespoke curriculum content, such as teaching business topics to make sure that learners understand the different employment and self-employed opportunities in personal training.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders know the strengths and weaknesses of their provision. They combine strategic and operational roles to keep a close oversight of learners' experience. Leaders use a range of activities to monitor the quality of teaching and training. They use lesson observations to identify and recognise the quality of work that staff do, to share practice and to identify any areas for development.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Despite governance being newly established, governors have an increasingly accurate oversight of the quality of the provision. They ask the right questions and seek out the right information to drive continuous improvement. Governors know the strengths and areas for development of the provision. They hold leaders to account effectively.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders are qualified and experienced personal trainers and tutors. They use a range of activities to inform and prioritise their own professional updates and training. However, leaders recognise that much of the training that they complete is unplanned and responsive rather than well planned and proactive. Members of the small team look after each other and share workload appropriately. Leaders are considerate of the demands of the team's roles on making the business successful. They work with team members to maintain an appropriate work-life balance. Leaders make sure that staff teach an appropriate caseload and have the time to complete the other activities needed to provide high-quality training.

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Achievement Expected standard

Learners, including those who are disadvantaged, have special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning, mostly achieve their personal training qualifications and Skills Bootcamp milestones. They meet their learning goals and secure employment or self-employment as personal trainers.

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Achievement Expected standard

Throughout the Skills Bootcamp, learners develop key knowledge, skills and behaviours incrementally. They mostly produce work of a high standard. While the course is either a pass or fail, leaders expect learners to develop their learning beyond the basic requirements for a pass. Learners practise their skills before working with real clients. They develop their confidence and communication and social skills alongside the technical knowledge and skills of personal training. Learners use video recordings to review and improve their techniques. They make their expected progress and mostly compete their training within the expected time.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders are passionate about the Skills Bootcamp that they offer. They are experienced and qualified experts in health and fitness and have lived experiences that enhance their teaching and the curriculum content. Leaders have high expectations of what their learners can achieve. Learners develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that they need for a career in personal training.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders take account of what learners already know and can do at the start of the Skills Bootcamp. They plan the curriculum to make sure that it is accessible to all learners, including those who are disadvantaged or have barriers to learning. Leaders know their learners well and adapt their training to meet the needs and experiences of each cohort of learners. Leaders structure and teach the curriculum in a way that supports learners, who often have little or no knowledge of being a gym instructor and personal trainer, to be successful and gain relevant employment. Learners quickly develop an understanding of the different components of fitness, such as the difference between muscular strength and muscular endurance. They consider the psychology of exercise and how to encourage clients to adhere to fitness programmes long term. Learners find that the knowledge and skills that they gain are extremely helpful for their future careers.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders assess learners using a range of different techniques. These include the completion of written assignments, peer feedback and reflection, and observations of and feedback on practical activities. Leaders use their assessments of learners to make changes to the curriculum, where necessary. They reteach difficult content when learners have not fully grasped a specific concept.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Learners benefit from constructive and developmental feedback across all activities on their course. Leaders provide extensive and helpful written feedback that helps learners to understand what they have done well and what they need to do to improve the quality of the work.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Learners enjoy and appreciate the calm, professional learning environments that leaders have created and the excellent practical facilities that they use. Leaders share their expectations about learners’ conduct in classrooms and practical areas. Learners take part in training enthusiastically, thrive on their course and quickly develop their confidence and competence.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders have high expectations for learners’ attendance and punctuality. Attendance rates are high, and learners attend on time. Learners quickly learn and appreciate that it is an industry expectation for personal trainers to be at the venue before their clients. This prepares them for future employment and for meeting industry standards.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders have recently introduced broader curriculum content for learners. They provide workshops on themes including drugs misuse in fitness and professional trainer–client relationships and boundaries. Leaders provide useful contextualised training on fundamental British values, safeguarding and the dangers of radicalisation and extremism. Learners learn how to conduct themselves in a fitness environment, have a welcoming demeanour, be respectful of values and beliefs and ask permission, such as when needing to touch clients.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Learners mostly benefit from useful careers education, advice and guidance that prepare them well for their next steps. They learn about routes into employment and self- employment, as well as specialist pathways such as pre- and post-natal training.

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

Learners thoroughly enjoy their training. They gain highly relevant skills that help them to gain meaningful employment in the fitness industry. Many learners describe their training as life-changing. They explain how it supports them to find work in an industry that they find interesting and rewarding. For most learners, training provides opportunities for a complete career change and helps them to give something back to their community and to help others.

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

Learners talk articulately about how the course has improved their confidence, provided greater financial security and developed their communication skills. In a few instances, learners develop skills to enter niche training areas, such as working with clients with ante- and post-natal, menopausal and specific strength and conditioning needs. They know how they can follow specialist career pathways, working with specific groups of people or moving into related careers, such as becoming a dietician.

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

Learners study the overarching health and wellbeing factors of exercise that relate to children, younger adults and older adults. They learn how to use technology to support clients and how to communicate with clients who have different needs. Learners consider exercise and fitness in relation to different groups of clients, such as those who are ante- or post-natal, menopausal or those who have contraindications. They learn about the impact of cultural practices on exercise, such as Ramadan and fasting, kosher foods and holy days. Learners benefit from broad and inclusive curriculum content that prepares them well for their transition into employment as personal trainers.

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

Learners build friendships on the course. This helps them to create professional networks to break into the fitness industry. Leaders and learners create podcasts about their experiences that learners use for their own marketing purposes.

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Next steps

Leaders should strengthen and formalise their professional learning further to deepen their expertise and sustain the culture of continuous improvement. Leaders should further enhance the curriculum so that learners receive significant, meaningful and additional learning opportunities that go beyond the planned outcomes. Leaders should ensure that learners make extensive progress from their starting points and consistently achieve ambitious personal learning targets and goals. Leaders should develop their careers education and guidance to include a more structured approach to work with additional employers and direction to further learning, networks and conferences.

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Lead inspector:

Alastair Mollon, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspector:

Suzanne Wainwright, His Majesty's 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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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

Inspectors spoke with governing board members, leaders, tutors, learners and employer partners during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider:

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About this inspection

Futures Training Group Ltd is an independent learning provider with headquarters in Liverpool. The provider began offering Skills Bootcamps in April 2024. Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington provides funding for the Skills Bootcamps.

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About this inspection

At the time of the inspection, there were 30 adult learners studying on 16-week level 3 diploma in gym instructing and personal training Skills Bootcamps in Wilmslow and Warrington. Learners attend face-to-face training one day per week. This training is supplemented by online and distance learning as well as individual additional sessions where needed.

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About this inspection

Directors: Jake Worrall and Richard Moore

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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. 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

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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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