Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Learning & Development, Level 4 & 5, Unipart House, Garsington Road, Cowley, OXFORD, OX4 2PG Unique reference number (URN): 2553929

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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 and staff encourage apprentices to self-disclose any needs or barriers to learning during the onboarding process. They monitor apprentices' work and progress effectively to identify any new or temporary needs.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff use individualised support plans and regularly review learning needs or barriers to learning, including temporary barriers, effectively. They adapt support when required so that apprentices receive suitable support for their period of need.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders provide teaching staff with specialist training to help them to identify and support apprentices with barriers to learning so that these apprentices can fulfil their potential. For example, tutors have completed training to help them support apprentices with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and dyslexia. The trust's neurodiversity team provide ongoing specialist training for tutors as required.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff provide equipment and resources for apprentices to help them learn in a way that meets their needs. These include the use of noise cancellation headphones and aromatherapy.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders carefully monitor the progress of all apprentices to ensure they remain on track. However, they do not yet make good use of their data to ensure there are no significant gaps in achievement for apprentices with barriers to learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Senior leaders know the strengths and priorities for improvement of their provision very well. They receive regular detailed updates from apprenticeship managers so that they can assure themselves that the apprenticeships they provide are of high quality and support the needs of the trust and the wider healthcare sector.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The experienced board of executives use their knowledge and expertise to support and challenge leaders to continue to improve the apprenticeship journey. They are passionate about the role that apprenticeships have in contributing to the local and national economy. Governors fulfil their public duty to provide high-quality apprenticeships to upskill their local community.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff feel valued and appreciated. They benefit from wellbeing champions who organise activities such as mindfulness origami and cultural lunches to share different foods. Leaders celebrate achievements and nominate staff for awards. Leaders are considerate of tutors’ workload and wellbeing. They provide them with support where needed for both personal and workload issues, such as high volumes of marking. Line managers review workloads weekly and adapt them as needed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders provide tutors with professional development that helps them keep up to date with the healthcare sector and improve their teaching practice. Tutors regularly attend 'lunch-and- learn' sessions that focus on topics, such as the use of assessment in lessons, inclusion and use of digital tools.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders work with stakeholders very effectively to help fill gaps in the workforce. For example, they have worked in partnership with the University of Plymouth to enhance the existing apprenticeship in podiatry and support staff retention.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have developed apprenticeship curriculums that are closely aligned to local, regional and national NHS workforce priorities. They evaluate the quality of the provision accurately. Leaders have appropriate processes in place to ensure that the quality of teaching is of a high standard. They seek and use feedback from apprentices and NHS managers to review and revise curriculums so that they remain highly relevant to clinical practice.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders and tutors design high-quality curriculums that link very closely with workplace practice. For example, they provide psychological wellbeing practitioner apprentices with taught sessions, directed study and self-directed study that align with their clinical journey. Departmental or operations management apprentices develop emotional intelligence and understand how their own behaviour impacts on others. Because of this, apprentices master new skills, can apply their learning into practice seamlessly and thrive in service.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Tutors are experts in their field. They use a broad range of strategies to teach apprentices. Tutors scaffold learning carefully, breaking difficult concepts down into small chunks that apprentices can follow. They explain new and difficult concepts clearly and use role play, video clips and small group activities to teach apprentices very well. Tutors demonstrate role play highly effectively and provide examples from practice that brings learning to life. Consequently, apprentices excel in practice.

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Expected standard

Leaders provide curriculums that are accessible to all apprentices, including those facing barriers to learning. Apprentices with dyslexia receive support with their writing and access to read-aloud software. Tutors adapt their approach very effectively to support apprentices who need extra help, such as providing additional processing time. Those who do not yet have a level 2 qualification in mathematics and English are offered specialist support.

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Achievement Expected standard

Apprentices typically make the expected progress from their starting points. Leaders monitor apprentices’ progress carefully and identify quickly where apprentices need additional support. Achievement is in line with national rates. Apprentices with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning achieve broadly at the same rate as their peers.

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Achievement Expected standard

Apprentices develop substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours. Psychological wellbeing practitioner apprentices conduct initial assessments with patients before they explore treatment options and adapt treatments to meet patients’ individual needs, including perinatal patients and older adults. Operations manager apprentices become more self- aware. They skilfully adapt their leadership style to manage their teams more effectively. Apprentices develop their digital skills using NHS electronic appointments systems and electronic note-taking systems. They develop their writing skills through detailed report writing. The standard of apprentices' work is mostly high.

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Achievement Expected standard

Apprentices are prepared well for their next steps. Most progress to higher-level training or gain promotion in the workplace.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders set high expectations for professional behaviours and attendance. Apprentices attend very well, any who do miss sessions receive effective early interventions to help them catch up.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Apprentices are motivated to learn. They grow in confidence and become more resilient, which supports their practice in the workplace.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Apprentices have a good understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion and apply this in their workplace. They value hearing from expert speakers and their sessions with their tutors which help them understand how to embed learning in practice. Apprentices consider their staff and clients and how different perspectives and experiences may require different approaches.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders have developed a wider curriculum that extends apprentices' interests and helps them increase their skills and celebrate success. This includes skills competitions, apprenticeship awards and sector recognition. Apprentices generally receive helpful careers information, predominantly with reference to internal roles. Most apprentices know how to make informed choices about their next steps. However, a small number of apprentices are not aware of the broader opportunities open to them.

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Participation and development Expected standard

Leaders ensure that harassment or any form of disrespect or derogatory language are not tolerated. Instances are rare and are managed thoroughly and effectively. Apprentices are confident that any issues would be dealt with swiftly.

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

Apprentices value the nurturing, respectful and inclusive learning environment at the provider. Wellbeing is central to all learning. Apprentices develop confidence to question and challenge peers and tutors in a safe space.

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

Apprentices develop the substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours that they need for a successful healthcare career. Level 6 psychological wellbeing practitioner (PWP) apprentices skilfully carry out assessments with patients prior to providing therapies and treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy to support patients with mental ill health. Level 5 operational manager apprentices study the theories of leadership and organisational culture and put this into action in their roles.

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

Apprentices have a good understanding of trust values and demonstrate high levels of respect and tolerance. Leaders and tutors weave these values into the apprenticeship curriculums. For example, during role-play activities, level 6 PWP apprentices demonstrate inclusive practice through their communication, working with interpreters to make counselling accessible.

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

Apprentices value highly the teaching from expert tutors who provide them with a real insight into clinical practice with examples that bring learning to life so they develop the skills they need. This helps them to relate theory very well to practice and apply their new knowledge quickly.

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

Apprentices feel very well supported by their tutors and workplace buddies. Workplace supervisors provide them with valuable coaching in practice. They observe apprentices at work and provide them with useful feedback that helps them to hone their skills quickly when working with patients.

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

Apprentices benefit from support in relation to barriers to learning, such as neurodiversity, caring responsibilities and pressure points at work. This support helps them to remain on track and achieve.

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

Apprentices are signposted to wider learning to explore personal interests and to develop understanding of topics beyond the core curriculum. These include the use of podcasts on putting kindness into action and courses to develop qualities in compassion and empathy.

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Lead inspector:

Jo-Ann Henderson, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspectors:

Maggie Fobister, Ofsted Inspector Kay Hedges, Ofsted Inspector

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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.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 11 August 2026

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Next steps

Leaders should make good use of their data to understand fully the specific needs of their apprentices. Leaders should further improve their careers advice and guidance so that apprentices gain a consistently detailed knowledge of the potential opportunities available to them. Leaders should make sure that staff benefit from professional development that is individualised to their needs.

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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 apprentices, line managers, tutors, leaders and governors during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider: Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides apprenticeships in the healthcare sector. At the time of the inspection, there were 69 apprentices in learning. The majority of apprentices are studying apprenticeships at levels 5 and 6. There were 37 apprentices studying level 5 operations manager, 21 studying level 6 psychological wellbeing practitioner and 11 studying the level 7 academic professional apprenticeships. The provider operates in Oxford, and teaching and training is delivered online and face-to-face.

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About this inspection

Head of Learning and Development: Rebecca Elsworth

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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

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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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