Black Country Housing Group Limited

Black Country Housing Group Limited 134 High St, Blackheath, Rowley Regis B65 0EE

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monitoring inspection report:

During the monitoring inspection, inspectors focused on the following themes:

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monitoring inspection report:

 leadership and governance - specifically the progress leaders and managers have made in designing and delivering relevant adult learning provision that has a clearly defined purpose, and in identifying and supporting the needs of adult learners

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monitoring inspection report:

 inclusion - specifically the progress leaders have made in identifying the needs of individual learners putting suitable support in place, in particular for those who are disadvantaged, those with SEND or high needs, those who are known (or previously known) to social care, and those who may face other barriers to their experiences and opportunities, including those without level 2 English and/or mathematics

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monitoring inspection report:

 curriculum, teaching and training - specifically the progress leaders and managers have made in ensuring that learners benefit from high-quality adult education that prepares them well for their intended job role, career aim and/or personal goals  safeguarding arrangements - specifically whether leaders and managers have ensured that effective safeguarding arrangements are in place

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Leadership and governance

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Leadership and governance

Leaders work within their community to support digitally excluded adults to develop the core skills needed for their lives and work. Through their long established and close links with the community, they have identified the barriers to accessing housing, financial support and healthcare that arise through lack of digital skills.

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Leadership and governance

Tutors and leaders have designed an individualised programme of study that enables learners to develop practical digital skills. Learners identify their own targets at the start of learning. For example, by applying for council services online and using job-application Monitoring inspection report: Black Country Housing Group Limited 24 and 25 June 2026

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websites or the NHS app to book appointments. Tutors work carefully to plan the steps that learners need to take to meet these targets.

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Leaders review the provision regularly through meetings with senior leaders. They report project outcomes to the executive board and are supported by senior leaders with suggestions for improvement, should they need them. While leaders do not yet have an action plan to develop the quality of the provision, they work with tutors to identify areas for improvement and work to action these. For example, they have identified the need to implement a new assessment form and enrolment paperwork to more clearly identify learner needs.

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Inclusion

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Inclusion

Leaders are committed to working with learners, regardless of their barriers to learning. Tutors work to understand the needs of learners and put support in place to help them learn. However, while some tutors have experienced training to understand the support needs of those with hearing impairments, dyslexia and neurodiversity, not all have experienced this training, and leaders do not provide training on emergent issues as new learners are recruited.

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Inclusion

Leaders ensure that tutors engage in discussions with learners at the start of courses to establish whether learners have any barriers to learning. Tutors know their learners well and ensure that learning is individualised to learners’ needs. Leaders have recently designed a new process for the enrolment of learners. This ensures that comprehensive discussions take place to establish information from learners about both barriers to learning and strategies that help them to overcome these barriers. However, it is too soon to see the impact of this change.

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Inclusion

Tutors support learners well, such as using simplified language for those with language barriers, using rhymes for those with memory issues and checking regularly on those with mental health issues. Learners feel welcome and supported by tutors.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Leaders use their links with local partner organisations to understand learners’ needs and local skills needs. They ensure that the curriculum covers the West Midlands Combined Authority’s priorities relating to digital inclusion and is flexible for learners. Staff have Monitoring inspection report: Black Country Housing Group Limited 24 and 25 June 2026

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made good links with the local college. This partnership work has helped to ensure that the curriculum is planned and tailored to help learners develop the skills they need to progress onto higher levels of study.

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Tutors monitor learners’ progress carefully. They assess competence and use this to plan further teaching to help learners develop independence with digital tasks. Tutors encourage learners to practise their skills in between lessons, where possible.

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While tutors ask questions about learners’ prior knowledge at enrolment, they do not complete a thorough enough assessment of digital knowledge and skills at the start of the course. Consequently, learning is not consistently well aligned to the knowledge and skills that learners need to build on their existing skills.

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Learners gain confidence and independence in using digital devices. They learn to use their smart-phone devices to access healthcare services. They produce CVs and cover letters and upload them to job-search platforms to apply for work.

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Safeguarding arrangements

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Safeguarding arrangements

Leaders have ensured that safeguarding is a priority across the organisation. They have trained staff and developed appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures to keep adult learners safe. Leaders have effective systems to log and track any referrals to ensure that they are dealt with swiftly and accurately. Where learners disclose welfare and wellbeing risks, these are added to learner information and reviewed as part of the wider progress review process to ensure that they do not become safeguarding issues or present a barrier to learning or completion.

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Safeguarding arrangements

Leaders have recently updated the safeguarding policy to include the ‘Prevent’ duty. They have trained staff to recognise the risks of extremism and radicalisation. During the inspection, leaders completed a ‘Prevent’ risk assessment and action plan to mitigate risks to learners and staff further.

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Safeguarding arrangements

While leaders ensure that learners feel safe, know who to contact with any safeguarding concerns and know how to stay safe online, they have not yet ensured that learners develop their understanding of local risks or radicalisation or extremism.

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About this inspection

Monitoring inspection report: Black Country Housing Group Limited 24 and 25 June 2026

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Ofsted carries out monitoring inspections to all newly directly funded providers of adult learning provision where the provision offered is in scope for inspection.

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The purpose of this monitoring inspection was not to determine grades for any of the evaluation areas set out in the further education and skills inspection toolkit. The purpose was to report on the provider’s progress in relation to the 4 themes set out above.

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Black Country Housing Group Limited is a housing and care provider, working across Birmingham and the Black Country. It works with the local community to provide free services in career development, training and employment. It provides adult education courses funded by West Midlands Combined Authority in basic digital skills in libraries, colleges and community venues in Sandwell. In total, approximately 140 adult learners have participated in this course. At the time of the inspection, there were 17 learners on programme.

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programmes at time of inspection

Number of apprentices at time of inspection 0

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funding at time of inspection

Monitoring inspection report: Black Country Housing Group Limited 24 and 25 June 2026

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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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