Somerset Council

Somerset Council

Address: Broughton House, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2PP Unique reference number (URN): 2618991

p.1

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.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

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

p.1

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.

p.1

Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders and staff across the subcontractors have established an inclusive and nurturing culture in which learners feel welcomed and supported to achieve their goals. They use their connections and networks in the council to provide helpful support for learners, such as an inclusive travel fund to help learners with the cost of transport to course venues. Leaders make suitable and thoughtful adaptations to the timings and venues of courses, offering both in-person and online teaching to meet with learners’ other commitments.

p.2

Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders rely on staff and tutors at the subcontractors to identify and assess learners' needs. They do not have sufficient oversight of the processes that subcontractors have in place and do not monitor closely enough the support that learners receive.

p.2

Inclusion Needs attention

Staff, including those working at the subcontractors, do not receive suitable training and support to implement a graduated approach to learners' support. Leaders do not have an appropriate oversight of the suitability of the support plans or the graduation of support currently in place.

p.2

Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders seek to support learners who are disadvantaged. They measure accurately the proportion of learners from disadvantaged areas. Leaders recognise that this is too low for some subcontractors and have recently put measures in place to incentivise recruitment from these areas.

p.2

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Since the previous inspection, leaders have ceased offering apprenticeships and have started offering community learning courses for adult learners.

p.2

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders collaborate effectively with their stakeholders to plan learning and provide courses that meet the needs of learners across Somerset. They work with a wide range of subcontractors to provide learners with a diverse and broad range of curriculums, covering topics such as artificial intelligence for employment, 'bring your baby' creative sessions and English classes for speakers of other languages.

p.2

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders are aware of most of their priorities for improvement. They have undertaken pilot projects to test the viability of their ideas for improvement, such as piloting short employability courses with Jobcentre Plus to target younger people who are not in education, employment or training. Governors provide effective support for leaders and help them to further their network of professional services across the council. This helps leaders and staff to signpost learners to relevant services.

p.2

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders ensure that staff, including those working at the subcontractors, feel valued and manage their workload well. Subcontractor staff value highly the effective communication and level of support that they receive from the provider's staff.

p.2

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders do not hold their subcontractors to account well enough for the quality of the teaching and training provided. The current quality assurance process focuses too much on compliance and does not place sufficient emphasis on the quality of teaching and training, including the teaching of topics such as the risks of radicalisation and extremism. Leaders have advanced plans for a comprehensive professional learning programme for staff for the coming academic year to place greater emphasis on these topics.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Learners on tailored learning courses achieve highly. Learners, including those with with special educational needs and/or disabilities, achieve the specific objectives of their chosen courses and their personal targets well. They produce industry-quality print screen materials on new parent ‘bring your baby' courses. They develop confidence in topics such as the ethical use of artificial intelligence for more successful job applications. Learners broadly develop the English, mathematical and digital skills that they need to study the curriculum and support their personal learning goals. Those studying drawing and painting apply mathematical principals through hand-drawn grids to measure and increase the scale of their drawings.

p.3

Achievement Expected standard

Learners move on to further courses with the provider, participate in volunteering or begin further education courses, and a few gain jobs.

p.3

Achievement Expected standard

Historical achievement relates to courses that are no longer offered. None of the learners who were on these courses are currently in learning.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders effectively identify priorities for action and take suitable steps to make improvements. For example, they have taken action to improve the relevance of the content of the curriculum for courses in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). Leaders work very well with an extensive range of partners and stakeholders to develop a broad curriculum offer that supports the priority areas of the region well.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders design curriculum content thoughtfully to support the specific needs of groups of learners. Tutors structure short courses effectively to teach core content and often tailor learning to individual needs. Tutors make learning accessible through adaptations to timetabling to support learners with wider commitments and to support learners with additional needs.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Tutors are well qualified and experienced. On family learning and employment courses tutors are often experts in their field and use their extensive knowledge to design well- structured, purposeful learning activities. For example, family learning tutors encourage reflection, discussion, modelling and practice of practical applications to support learners in their everyday lives.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Tutors do not consistently use assessment well. On longer courses, particularly in ESOL, assessment is not sufficient to monitor the progress that learners make and is not used effectively to refine approaches to teaching.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Across all provision, tutors do not set individual targets to ensure that learners know what they need to work on specifically in order to improve. They do not monitor learners' progress effectively over time to ensure that learners are making the progress of which they are capable.

p.4

Participation and development Needs attention

Leaders do not have effective oversight of learners’ attendance across all of the courses they provide. A minority of learners do not attend frequently enough. Leaders do not have sufficiently rigorous processes in place to assure themselves that, where attendance is low, subcontractors take suitable action to enquire about the reasons why learners are absent and how they can be supported to attend.

p.4

Participation and development Needs attention

Leaders do not ensure that learners are taught well enough so that they know how to keep themselves safe from the risks of radicalisation or how to recognise extremism.

p.4

Participation and development Needs attention

Learners who receive specialist one-to-one guidance from the council’s specialist career adviser benefit from helpful support for their next steps. Learners value this advice and use it well to plan their next steps.

p.4

Participation and development Needs attention

Leaders and staff create safe, respectful and collaborative learning environments which support learners to share their thoughts, ask questions and to study well.

p.4

Participation and development Needs attention

Tutors plan a suitable range of wider activities for learners that are relevant to learners' courses. Learners studying courses in English for speakers of other languages visit libraries to develop their language and reading skills as part of leaders' focus on increasing the use of functional English. Learners participate in guided learning walks and conversational groups. Those studying art visit art exhibitions.

p.4

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

Learners increase their confidence, develop useful practical skills, reduce their sense of isolation and improve their wellbeing because of the support that they receive from staff. Learners speak positively about the impact that their learning has had on their personal and family lives and how they participate in their own communities. Learners develop communication, interpersonal and collaborative skills through group activities and peer support.

p.5

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

Learners value feeling part of a community of peers in similar situations to themselves and often find friendship as a result of their courses. Many keep in touch with each other after courses finish, creating their own communities that helps with the social isolation sometimes felt in rural communities.

p.5

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

Learners are welcomed into calm learning spaces, both in person and online, and develop positive, respectful relationships with their tutors and peers. Learners have a good understanding of fundamental British values and learn in harmonious environments free from prejudicial language. Many learners who may face additional barriers, such as neurodiversity, social isolation or financial difficulties, find the support that staff and other learners provide helps them to access learning and opportunities to develop their skills. However, leaders do not have sufficient oversight of learners' support needs. Consequently, some learners who need it do not receive targeted supported to help them make rapid progress.

p.5

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

Learners move on to a wide range of positive next steps, including further learning, volunteering, community engagement, higher-level study and self-employment. Many learners continue with their learning and support networks beyond their initial programme.

p.5

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

Few learners have a thorough grasp of the impact of radicalisation and extremism because tutors do not spend enough time explaining it and discussing it in lessons. Many learners on courses in English for speakers of other languages have arrived in the UK recently and need to understand this information to help keep their new communities safe.

p.5

Next steps

Leaders should improve tutors' assessment of learning, particularly on longer courses, to ensure that tutors can monitor the progress learners make, identify gaps in learning and adapt their teaching in response to assessment. Leaders should improve their oversight of the processes that their subcontractors use to identify, assess and support learners who experience barriers to their learning. They should ensure that staff responsible for these processes are suitably trained to carry out their roles. Leaders should improve their oversight of the quality of teaching and training that the subcontractors provide and use the results of these activities to plan suitable professional learning programmes. Leaders should improve their oversight of the attendance monitoring processes that their subcontractors follow and use the results of these activities to understand and tackle the

p.5

Lead inspector:

Sarah Alexander, His Majesty's Inspector

p.6

Team inspectors:

Lowenna Bradley, His Majesty's Inspector Cliff Shaw, His Majesty's Inspector Helen Flint, Ofsted Inspector Rachel Lane, Ofsted Inspector

p.6

Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

p.6

Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 7 July 2026 reasons for non-attendance. Leaders should ensure that tutors teach learners how to keep themselves safe from the dangers of radicalisation and extremism.

p.6

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.

p.6

About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with leaders, tutors, learners and stakeholders across the range of subcontractors during the inspection.

p.6

About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider:

p.6

About this inspection

Somerset Council is a community learning and skills provider that is based at Broughton House in Taunton. At the time of the inspection, there were 360 learners. Learners study a range of tailored learning courses to help build their confidence and employability skills. Leaders subcontract all teaching and training through their 15 subcontractors, known as community learning partners. The largest of these, and the core partner, is Somerset Skills and Learning, accounting for around two thirds of all training offered by the provider. The remaining partners include Brighter Horizons Training, Clearer Horizons, MC Inspired, The Old Stores Studio, Edventure, M&M Supported Employment, Heads Up, Autism Somerset, Oak Partnership and Carymoor.

p.6

About this inspection

Keith Ford: Responsible Officer: ITT and Training

p.6

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'.

p.7

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'.

p.8

Exceptional

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

p.8

Strong standard

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

p.8

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.

p.8

Needs attention

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

p.8

Urgent improvement

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

p.8

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.

p.8

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 . 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 .

p.8

Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Urgent improvement

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

p.9