Derby City Council

Derby City Council

Address: Allen Park Centre, Allen Street, Allenton, Derby, DE24 9DE Unique reference number (URN): 50216

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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 culture in which staff meet learners’ needs and support their progress. Leaders use their thorough understanding of the backgrounds of their learners to shape provision that meets learners’ needs and aspirations.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders identify learners’ needs promptly through structured enrolment discussions, initial assessment and conversations with tutors. This enables staff to understand learners’ starting points and put appropriate support in place to reduce barriers to learning. Staff use a range of adaptive approaches, including modelling, visual prompts and targeted interventions, which help most learners to access learning and make appropriate progress. In most cases, leaders allocate support workers swiftly.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders support disadvantaged learners and those facing wider barriers well. They use trauma-informed practice, small-class sizes and structured routines. Staff provide focused interventions and targeted support, including one-to-one assistance and interpreters where required. These arrangements help learners to engage with learning and work towards their goals.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff support learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and high needs well. They use learner profiles effectively to inform support planning. Learners benefit from access to specialist services, including careers guidance, travel training and a clinical psychologist. These services support learners to develop confidence, independence and strategies to manage their wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a clear vision to develop provision that meet the needs of the most vulnerable citizens within the community, particularly the large proportion of learners with learning difficulties and disabilities. Learners access courses such as English for speakers of other languages and supported internships to support their progression into further learning, volunteering or work.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders largely have an accurate understanding of the strengths and key priorities for improvement for their adult education provision. They take precise action to rectify swiftly concerns in the quality of training that learners receive. Leaders’ quality assurance processes are suitable, and a comprehensive quality calendar is in place.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have developed a very small provision for learners with high needs since the previous inspection. They have begun to strengthen their leadership and oversight of this new provision. They have introduced more frequent monitoring, clearer expectations for teaching and support and closer liaison with specialist partners. However, these actions have not yet secured consistently effective curriculum delivery.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Governors have a suitable understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the provision. They meet with leaders frequently to provide support and challenge. Leaders take suitable steps to support staff to manage their workload and wellbeing. Staff have access to flexible working and extensive wellbeing initiatives to help them cope with personal challenges.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders provide suitable opportunities for staff to develop and update their vocational skills. However, they do not provide enough opportunities for teachers to develop their pedagogical skills further.

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Achievement Expected standard

Most learners achieve their qualifications. Leaders have taken effective action to analyse the causes of historic variable achievement rates, including low outcomes in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and teaching assistant courses. They have introduced targeted stepping-stone courses and strengthened attendance and progress monitoring, acting swiftly when they identify a learner is at risk of dropping out. Their actions have reduced early withdrawals significantly this year, with a large proportion of learners on target to complete their course.

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Achievement Expected standard

Learners mostly develop new knowledge and skills that help them in their everyday lives or to prepare for employment. In ESOL, learners develop the skills to converse with their children’s teachers, and digital technology learners become more adept with basic tasks such as how to bookmark webpages and undertake safe website searches.

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Achievement Expected standard

Learners make good progress towards their personal goals. They are well prepared for their next steps.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have taken effective action to redesign their adult education offer to focus on preparing adults for work, in line with the local skills improvement plan and other regional priorities. Courses now focus on basic English, mathematical and digital skills along with a small number of vocational skills such as book-keeping.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a broadly accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement. Their assessment of the standard of teaching is mostly accurate. However, they have not identified all the specific elements of weaker practice, such as the variability of assessment practice.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Tutors generally use appropriate methods to check and strengthen learners’ understanding and frequently revisit topics to strengthen their recall. They use probing questions to help learners to deepen their understanding. However, in a few cases, tutors set assessment tasks that are imprecise, do not assess work thoroughly enough and provide feedback that is too generic to be helpful.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Tutors organise topics logically so that learners can gradually build their knowledge and skills through small, manageable steps. For example, in entry-level English for speakers of other language, learners firstly study nouns, verbs and basic sentence structure. Then, as the course progresses, they learn about more complex topics such as comparatives, superlatives and gerunds.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Most tutors demonstrate suitable subject knowledge and teaching expertise. They provide clear explanations and use relevant visual aids, workbooks and activities so that learners grasp key concepts.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders deploy individual support workers effectively to support learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders’ increased expectations and targeted actions have resulted in improvements in attendance, and learners now attend classes well. Learners are consistently respectful to tutors and peers, participate well in group and pair activities and work hard on individual tasks. Many learners are initially nervous about attending lessons, and leaders provide small-group sizes that help them feel secure. Tutors create relaxed and supportive environments that enable learners to grow in confidence.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders provide a suitable range of wider activities that develop learners’ awareness of personal safety, community issues and equality. Visiting speakers discuss topics such as healthy relationships, online safety, local community services and women’s rights, which help learners understand how to keep themselves safe and engage positively in their communities. Learners also take part in safer internet days and activities linked to International Women’s Day. In lessons, tutors promote discussion and provide guidance on wider themes, including health and wellbeing, safe online behaviours and fundamental British values.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Learners receive suitable support to plan their next steps. Tutors organise job fairs, and careers staff visit adult learning classes regularly to signpost learners to available support. Dedicated employment officers undertake frequent visits to learning centres so learners can speak with them during break times.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Learners rarely experience bullying or other inappropriate behaviour. On the rare occasions when concerns arise, leaders take appropriate steps to remind learners of expectations.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders provide clear strategic direction for participation and development. They create safe, respectful and inclusive environments where learners feel valued and supported. Strong partnerships with employers ensure that learners on supported internships work in safe settings and develop positive workplace behaviours. Most learners grow in confidence, independence and resilience.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Staff act quickly when learners struggle with punctuality or engagement. They work with learners to identify barriers and put practical strategies in place, such as planning routines and practising work-ready behaviours. Learners behave well and show kindness towards each other. They demonstrate professional conduct in work placements.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders take a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, discrimination and harassment. Learners understand expectations clearly and are confident that staff will act promptly if concerns arise. Travel training and preparation for adulthood activities strengthen learners’ understanding of personal and community safety.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Learners benefit from suitable wider opportunities that build confidence, teamwork and community awareness. They take part in volunteering, wellbeing sessions and employer-led projects, such as charity hikes and green skills activities.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Learners receive high-quality personalised careers education. Staff support learners to develop clear progression plans to help them make inform decisions about their futures.

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Achievement Needs attention

Too few learners make sufficient progress. Learners develop their confidence, independence and employability skills, but their progress against planned education, health and care plan targets is not consistently rapid enough.

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Achievement Needs attention

Learners on the supported internship pathway gain the intended knowledge, skills and behaviours and apply these effectively in vocational and workplace settings. Learners demonstrate growing independence and secure workplace routines and produce work that meets employer expectations. They confidently demonstrate tasks step-by-step to classmates, such as showing peers how to complete routine duties, organise equipment or follow workplace procedures.

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Achievement Needs attention

Learners develop English, mathematical and digital skills and apply them in the workplace, including handling money and written communication.

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Achievement Needs attention

Most learners who complete their course are well prepared for their next stage of education, employment, training and greater independence. However, the proportion of learners who progress to positive destinations such as sustainable paid employment, although improving, is not high enough.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have a largely accurate understanding of the quality of curriculum, teaching and training and have taken timely action to improve the provision. They have strengthened management capacity, commissioned an external quality review and set clear improvement priorities. However, it is too early to see the impact of these actions on improving classroom practice.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have carefully designed 2 learning pathways that are highly personalised and vocationally relevant, with clear distinctions between pre-supported internship (Pre-SI) and supported internship (SI) curriculums. The SI curriculum is suitably employment-focused and based on workplace competencies, including 3 days per week in the workplace.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Most tutors teach a curriculum that builds logically on prior learning. Learners develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for independence, employability and adult life. Strong employer partnerships ensure that vocational learning is relevant and purposeful, with learners accessing high-quality external work placements.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Tutors do not consistently teach effectively. Teaching quality varies too much, particularly in the Pre-SI curriculum. Where teaching is most effective, tutors check prior learning, connect new content to learners’ education, health and care plan outcomes and give clear explanations that support recall. Where it is less effective, the content is overly ambitious for learners’ starting points, which reduces the time that learners have to practise their skills and consolidate their learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Most tutors provide constructive feedback to help learners improve their work. However, tutors who teach the Pre-SI curriculum do not use information from assessment well enough to adapt teaching and swiftly close gaps in learners' knowledge.

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

Most learners across the adult education provision achieve well and develop suitable knowledge, skills and behaviours. Learners develop skills in reading, writing and communicating independently. Learners with high needs on the supported internship pathway gain new skills in self-management, resilience and citizenship. However, learners with high needs on the pre-supported internship pathway make slower progress.

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

Learners in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), mathematics, digital and vocational courses benefit from well-planned teaching, helping them build their understanding over time. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and mental health needs or barriers such as anxiety or memory difficulties, get the appropriate support to reduce these barriers, enabling them to participate fully and make sustained progress.

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

Learners feel a sense of belonging due to the welcoming, respectful and inclusive culture. They feel treated as adults and valued as individuals. Learning extends beyond qualifications and gives learners the opportunities to explore important topics such as healthy relationships, life in modern Britain and how to contribute to their communities. In ESOL, learners develop increased confidence in speaking and integrating socially. Learners with high needs typically improve their independence through travel training and community participation.

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

Most learners thrive. They value their approachable tutors, structured support and the encouragement to persevere, ask questions and build resilience. Learners benefit from wider opportunities such as visiting speakers and safer internet use activities. Learners with high needs take part in citizenship and community projects which strengthen confidence, teamwork and independence. Most learners show strong motivation and aspiration to move on to further study, employment or volunteering.

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Next steps

Leaders should take action to improve the quality of curriculum, teaching and training in the pre-supported internship pathway for learners with high needs. Leaders should take action to increase the proportion of learners with high needs who progress to sustainable paid employment. Leaders should improve assessment practices so that they are thorough and enable learners to receive constructive feedback. Leaders should strengthen the professional training offer, so that tutors develop their teaching skills further.

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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 senior leaders, managers, learners, employers and key stakeholders during the inspection.

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Team inspectors:

Nikki Brady, His Majesty's Inspector Russ Henry, His Majesty's Inspector Sarah Le-Good, Ofsted Inspector Kerry Smith, Ofsted Inspector Vicki Locke, 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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858

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider:

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858

Derby City Council provides adult learning courses and a small discrete high-needs provision. Adults study at one of many community-based centres in Derby. Most adults study courses that lead to accredited qualifications, including English for speakers of other languages, English, mathematics and digital skills. The council no longer delivers apprenticeship provision.

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858

At the time of inspection, there were 858 adult learners. A small number of adults had special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There were 13 learners on the discrete high-needs provision located at the designated hub in the Friar Gate Studios Skills Centre.

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858

Principal Education and Skills Manager: Debbie Tansley

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national average

'This provider' and 'national average' figures are taken from the publicly available DfE achievement rates. Where the DfE have supressed the figures, usually due to small cohorts, this has been mirrored in the Report Card and will be shown by an 'S'.

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national average

2022/23 60 55 Close to average 'This provider' and 'national average' figures are taken from the publicly available DfE achievement rates. Where the DfE have supressed the figures, usually due to small cohorts, this has been mirrored in the Report Card and will be shown by an 'S'.

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Year This provider National average

'This provider' and 'national average' figures are taken from the publicly available DfE achievement rates. Where the DfE have supressed the figures, usually due to small cohorts, this has been mirrored in the Report Card and will be shown by an 'S'.

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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

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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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