Protocol Consultancy Services Ltd

Protocol Consultancy Services Ltd

Address: The Old Guild House, 1 New Market Street, Birmingham, B3 2NH Unique reference number (URN): 54008

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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 Strong standard

Leaders have fostered a highly inclusive culture that enables learners and apprentices who face barriers to their learning or wellbeing to thrive. Leaders are prompt and diligent in identifying barriers to learning or wellbeing that learners and apprentices encounter. Once identified, leaders ensure that learners and apprentices receive highly effective support to overcome these barriers. Staff provide learners and apprentices with special educational needs and/or disabilities with well-informed support that is skilfully tailored to their needs.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders diligently monitor the progress of learners and apprentices. Each month, they review the support provided to learners and apprentices who face barriers to their learning or wellbeing. Leaders work alongside staff to assess the effectiveness of this support and determine any adjustments needed to promote independence or to arrange additional support. This ensures that barriers to learning and wellbeing are swiftly removed or reduced.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders ensure the curriculum is accessible to learners. Many young learners face financial barriers and leaders provide tailored support, such as help with travel costs, free meals and work clothing to help them overcome these barriers. The curriculum for young learners is designed to allow them to join at several points during the year, which is important for young people not in education, employment or training.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders possess a comprehensive understanding of their strengths and areas for development. They closely monitor a wide range of key performance indicators monthly to gain insight into performance. When leaders identify areas for improvement, they act swiftly and implement highly effective measures to enhance the provision.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders appoint highly skilled governors who are experts in their fields. Governors use this expertise to challenge leaders when they identify areas for improvement and to support leaders in implementing measures that enhance the learning experience.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Staff feel valued by their leaders, and their wellbeing is supported. They report that their wellbeing is considered through regular checks with their line manager. They receive training sessions on topics that help them maintain their mental health.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders provide staff with highly tailored training to improve their teaching practice. All teaching staff are expected to undertake teaching qualifications. Teaching staff also benefit from weekly training to continue to develop their teaching practice and stay up to date with their expertise in their specialisms.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders build highly effective relationships with stakeholders to enrich learners' and apprentices' learning experiences. They develop relationships with many employers who provide highly beneficial work placements and offer learners and apprentices masterclasses. Leaders also collaborate with a wide range of charities to help learners to understand their community responsibilities and the importance of helping others. Leaders care about their learners and apprentices, most of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and work diligently and purposefully to prepare them for successful careers and life in modern Britain.

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Participation and development Exceptional

Leaders set exceptionally high expectations for learners' attendance, participation, and behaviour, consistently communicating and embedding these across the provision. Attendance remains exceptionally high, especially given many learners' low starting points and prior poor attendance at school or college. Leaders implement a highly effective range of expertly tailored strategies to identify and overcome barriers to attendance. Consequently, learners develop excellent habits of attendance, reliability, and commitment that prepare them exceptionally well for the workplace. This transformative support profoundly and sustainably boosts learners' confidence, engagement, and future employment prospects.

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Participation and development Exceptional

Leaders offer extensive, highly valuable development opportunities for learners. They focus on developing personal attributes such as integrity, commitment, loyalty, truthfulness, enthusiasm and reliability. Leaders systematically measure and assess learners' progress in developing these attributes. Additionally, leaders create a variety of high-quality charitable and community-based activities to engage learners, giving them a deep understanding of the value of contributing to the community and the importance of helping others.

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Participation and development Exceptional

Leaders expertly embed British values and promote cultural diversity. Learners not only learn these values but also understand how to apply them in their classrooms, during their work experience, and in their personal lives. This transforms learners' perspectives and prepares them extremely well for life in modern Britain.

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Achievement Strong standard

Most learners complete their studies. Each year over the past 3 years, an increasing proportion of learners have finished their studies. Learners make sustained and significant progress throughout their studies, with the quality of their work improving rapidly.

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Achievement Strong standard

Learners acquire substantial new skills, knowledge and behaviours. They improve their ability to write formal letters, perform well in interviews, solve mathematical problems involving percentages, calculate the mean, and understand the relationship between speed, distance and time. They also develop the skill to deliver effective oral presentations. As a result, learners feel more confident and become socially comfortable enough to make friends and converse with unfamiliar people. They become more self-disciplined, establishing better routines in preparation for employment.

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Achievement Strong standard

Learners are very well prepared for their next steps, often completing substantial work experience in their chosen area of interest. Most then move on to positive destinations, with many securing paid employment or apprenticeships.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders design and sequence the curriculum effectively. In pre-apprenticeship courses, training advisers focus on improving learners' English, mathematics, and digital skills, as well as employability skills, during the first 12 weeks. Learners consolidate these skills by applying them on a work placement of up to 10 weeks. Business administration topics are taught alongside the work experience, helping learners develop portfolio-building skills that supports progression to an apprenticeship. Employers influence the curriculum by requesting the development of customer service and skills, such as punctuality and communication. Leaders make sure that the timetable scaffolds attendance expectations, increasing from one day to four days over time to account for many learners' low starting points. As a result, learners prepare well for their next steps into an apprenticeship, employment, or further learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Training advisers generally deploy a range of effective teaching strategies to support learning. They model concepts by demonstrating procedures and problem-solving methods during lessons, then practise these with learners in group activities. Learners later complete individual tasks to consolidate their understanding and contribute actively. Most learners gain useful new knowledge during classroom sessions that enhance their comprehension. Training advisers also explain concepts effectively. In digital skills, they provide clear explanations with useful examples on topics related to online safety, such as phishing.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders make the curriculum accessible for learners. They develop individual support plans for learners with identified barriers, such as dyslexia, to help reduce the barriers they face.

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Achievement Strong standard

The proportion of apprentices completing their studies is high and is substantially above national rates. Most apprentices achieve a distinction in their final tests.

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Achievement Strong standard

Apprentices make substantial progress from their starting points, gaining new knowledge, skills, and behaviours that they confidently apply in the workplace. For example, business administration apprentices use project management techniques, digital presentation skills, and professional communication to contribute effectively to business operations, including supporting crisis management activities.

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Achievement Strong standard

Apprentices produce work of a high standard and which aligns with industry expectations. Their assignments and presentations require practical application of the theoretical concepts, careful planning, and professional communication, preparing them well for final tests and employment.

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Achievement Strong standard

Apprentices are very well prepared for their next steps. The vast majority of apprentices move into sustained employment, take on increased responsibility, or gain promotion, including into senior administrative and property management roles, demonstrating readiness for their future careers.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have a thorough understanding of the quality of the apprenticeships. They carry out a range of quality assurance activities and carefully analyse evidence from these to ensure the intended curriculum is implemented consistently and that apprentices develop and retain substantial new knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Leaders use this information to refine the curriculum, strengthen teaching, and respond to emerging needs, resulting in a curriculum that continually improves and is highly responsive to apprentices and the evolving needs of employers in the business, management and professional services sector.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Training advisers skilfully develop apprentices' knowledge and skills by carefully selecting effective teaching strategies. They break down complex topics into smaller, manageable parts to enhance understanding. Training advisers demonstrate best practices in their sectors, and apprentices have ample opportunities to practise and refine their skills. They also use realistic scenarios and structured preparation activities that significantly boost apprentices' confidence and readiness for final tests. Human resource support apprentices learn to apply emotional intelligence and communicate professionally in the workplace, and they practise these skills through a variety of classroom scenarios.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Training advisers use assessment very effectively and provide constructive feedback, enabling apprentices to understand their progress, identify areas for improvement, and work towards distinction grades.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Employers actively participate in curriculum delivery. Dedicated workplace mentors receive coaching and mentoring training from leaders and collaborate closely with training advisers to strengthen the connection between on- and off-the-job learning. Employers arrange meaningful workplace experiences that allow apprentices to apply and expand their knowledge, and training advisers conduct regular workplace visits to ensure the training they provide remains aligned with the employer's organisational priorities.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Leaders emphasise apprentices' personal development, ensuring they learn and work in safe, respectful, and supportive environments that prioritise their wellbeing and growth. Leaders set high expectations for attendance, professional conduct, and participation. Apprentices attend regularly, participate actively in learning, and demonstrate behaviours that employers expect. They trust that leaders will not tolerate bullying or harassment.

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Participation and development Strong standard

The curriculum prepares apprentices very well for life in modern Britain. During induction and throughout the programme, apprentices develop a secure understanding of safeguarding, online safety, healthy relationships, knife crime, and the dangers of radicalisation and extremist views. Frequent ‘topical talks’ encourage apprentices to consider current affairs, challenge prejudice and discrimination, respect protected characteristics, and understand British values. Apprentices can explain how climate change affects weather patterns and discuss actions individuals and organisations can take to reduce environmental impact, demonstrating awareness of sustainability and their broader responsibilities as citizens and employees.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Apprentices benefit from a structured programme of high-quality careers guidance delivered throughout the apprenticeship, with support from employers and consequently apprentices have a sound understanding of their progression options.

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

Young learners thrive in environments that are exceptionally safe and welcoming. Training advisers respect and care for learners, helping them feel valued and supported. The staff's dedicated focus on learners' wellbeing ensures they receive personal attention throughout their studies. As a result, learners speak highly of their staff and peers and enjoy their studies.

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

Many young learners come from disadvantaged backgrounds; most have recently been absent from education and employment, or have experienced difficulties in larger educational institutions. Tailored curriculums transform their future prospects for both employment and personal life by quickly identifying barriers, building essential skills such as attendance, and developing qualities needed to succeed, including integrity, commitment, loyalty, truthfulness, enthusiasm, and reliability. They learn to embody fundamental British values in their personal lives and workplaces. This learning is transformational for young learners. Most young learners complete their studies. Upon completing their studies, most either secure an apprenticeship or paid employment.

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

Most apprentices complete their studies and achieve a distinction in their final tests. They quickly become highly skilled in their workplace. Support is skilfully provided to help apprentices build their confidence through regular practise of the new knowledge and skills they have gained. Apprentices, including those who are disadvantaged, are very well prepared for their next stages of learning or future employment opportunities.

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

Young learners and apprentices feel very happy with the training and education they receive. They highly value the positive culture that leaders have established, where bullying, harassment, and derogatory language are not tolerated. They are very committed to their studies because they understand the value it brings to their lives now and in the future.

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

Young learners and apprentices with barriers to their learning or wellbeing are identified quickly. Expertly tailored support is promptly implemented and closely monitored, allowing for any necessary adjustments. This process removes or reduces the barriers they face, enabling learners and apprentices to progress rapidly.

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Next steps

Leaders and those responsible for governance should continue to improve the quality of teaching that young learners receive so that it reaches an expert level.

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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 HMI.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with learners, apprentices, employers, workplace mentors, training advisers, senior leaders and governors 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

Transworld Publication Services Limited, trading as Protocol Consultancy Services, is an independent learning provider based in Birmingham. There is one site in the Birmingham city centre that offers apprenticeships and a study programme designed to prepare young people for further study, apprenticeships and employment.

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About this inspection

At the time of the inspection, there were 28 apprentices, 6 of whom were under 18. They were studying across 10 different apprenticeships, the largest of these was the level 3

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Team inspectors:

Robert Mottram, Ofsted Inspector Joanne Keatley, Ofsted Inspector Randeep Sami, 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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Education programmes for young people

business administrator with 13 apprentices. There were also 25 young learners studying the pre-apprenticeship course.

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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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