Setting

Context

Milltech Ltd is based in Sunderland and provides apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships for young people in motor vehicle and business, administration and law. The company subcontracts with Springboard, a private training provider, for the training of entry to employment (E2E) learners. This monitoring visit follows the inspection in September 2006 at which all three sector subject areas were satisfactory. Arrangements for leadership and management, equality of opportunity, quality improvement and capacity to improve were also satisfactory.

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progress

Milltech has made insufficient progress in improving achievements and standards. Overall, success rates in 2005/06 were at 52%, just above the national average. In 2006/07 success rates were still at 52%, falling below the national average of 61%. Data for the current year is showing overall success rates of 58% compared with the national average of 63%.

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progress

Advanced apprentices achieve well with success rates of 75% in 2006/07. This was a strength noted at the previous inspection. However, apprentice success rates are poor at 45% for the same year. In engineering, advanced apprentice success rates rose significantly to 88% in 2006/07 while apprentice success rates fell to 36%. Current in-year data show an increase in engineering apprentice success rates to around 51%, which is still below the national average. In business administration advanced apprenticeship success rates show a steady profile of 53% and 56% in 2005/06 and 2006/07. Current in-year figures show a slight rise in 2007/08 to 60% which is still below the national average. Business administration apprenticeship success rates show a steady improvement though are still below national averages, rising from 54% in 2005/06 to 57% in 2006/07, with a current in-year rate of 60%.

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progress

In E2E, the proportion of learners who progressed into further training or employment in 2004/05 was 54%. This figure improved to 67% in 2005/06. However, in 2006/07 it fell to 46%, just under the national average. In the current year, progression rates stand at 62%. Milltech has implemented many actions to improve provision and success rates. Some have yet to make an impact.

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progress

Milltech has made reasonable progress in improving the quality of off-the-job training. At the previous inspection Milltech had a range of staff training needs to resolve. After the inspection many key staff were replaced and new teams formed. Assessors no longer perform dual roles in delivering training as well as assessing. Trained and qualified tutors who deliver the training across the provision are now dedicated. In motor vehicle assessment practice is improved. Learners have more varied assessments, and are visited in the workplace more regularly. Employers now have improved information to better support learners. Theory resources have been improved. Teaching is more varied and interesting. However, learners do not have access to sufficient practical training activities as the accommodation and resources are still severely limited. In E2E tutors have revised the planning of teaching and learning and the teaching of vocational skills has improved. In business

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progress

administration, assessors make good use of the e-portfolio and learners have good access to both staff and relevant materials via the internet. A qualified business administration tutor now gives structured teaching sessions. Learners’ individual learning plans are easier to use. However, learners are not given a timetable of the planned off-the-job teaching activities to incorporate into their individual plan. The observation of teaching and learning process is comprehensive. Milltech has completed one full cycle of observations and is part way through the second. Observation grades are improving. The process is leading to specific staff training and is pivotal in sharing good practice. However, the process insufficiently concentrates on learning and action points are not clearly recorded.

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progress

Milltech has made insufficient progress in reinforcing learners’ awareness and understanding of equality and diversity issues. At the previous inspection learners were introduced to equality and diversity at induction, but their awareness was insufficiently consolidated during training. Milltech has devised a company-wide three year equality scheme which covers legislative requirements and current developments. In the two years since inspection staff have had some training in equality and diversity but they are insufficiently confident to explore issues with learners. More training, including an accredited course is planned. A new computer- based learner induction pack has been devised, which is colourful, interactive and interesting. However, it is not yet being used with learners. The learner progress review system has been changed to encourage tutors to ask a range of open questions to assess learners’ understanding of equality and diversity issues. This is

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progress

not yet being consistently implemented. Some specific training sessions have been delivered for learners to raise their awareness of bullying, harassment and discrimination. These have been successful for those learners who have attended. However, these sessions are not delivered to all learners in a planned or systematic way. Milltech is based in a grade 2 listed building which inhibits building alterations. While Milltech has a written account of the ‘reasonable adjustments’ it makes to accommodate learners with mobility difficulties, in practice, no such access to any part of their building exists, not even the reception area.

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progress

Milltech has made reasonable progress in using management information to bring about improvement. At the previous inspection use of management information was broadly satisfactory, but training teams had not yet begun to use the available learner monitoring software. The learner monitoring system has now been fully implemented throughout the organisation. Staff are confident in using the system. Learner progress reviews are more frequent. The internal verifier tracks each assessor and the progress of each learner. The system enables staff to monitor partial, as well as full unit achievement. The monitoring of key skills and technical certificate achievements has improved. Learners’ individual learning plans are still hand written but plans are in place to integrate this into the computerised system. Assessors access clear and accurate data for every learner before workplace visits, enabling them to monitor progress and discuss this with learners and employers.

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progress

Milltech produces a graphical representation of learners’ progress which is helpful to learners and employers. Although the management information system is much improved, tutors and staff do not yet use data to assess their relative success rates in comparison to national or local benchmarks. They are insufficiently aware of their success rates over time.

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progress

Reasonable progress has been made in improving the quality of provision. At the previous inspection, some quality monitoring arrangements were insufficient. New staff teams have since been formed with more appropriate experience and skills for the revised job roles. Staff have a clear understanding of those roles. Meetings for standardisation of processes are frequent and lead to ongoing sharing of good practice. New documents have been developed to record learner progress reviews. These include use of the progress monitoring and monitoring data obtained from the management information system. Milltech tracks progress well. It has clear systems in place to check the quality of completed of documents. However, in learner progress reviews completed targets set are very broad and relate to full national vocational qualification (NVQ) units. Often, learners do not complete the targets set. Employers are now more involved in the review process. The quality of assessment

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progress

planning is now monitored effectively. The quality of feedback obtained from learners and employers has improved and is now used when planning training. However, Milltech is not yet monitoring and evaluating the on-the-job training sufficiently.

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progress

Milltech is making insufficient progress in using self-assessment and development planning for improvement. At the previous inspection the self-assessment process was satisfactory. It was inclusive and identified most of the strengths and some of the weaknesses found by the inspection team. The quality improvement plan was comprehensive. However, managers did not use it effectively as a working document to monitor continuous improvement. The most recent self-assessment report was compiled following consultation with all staff and involving feedback from learners and employers. The self-assessment report and quality action plan are insufficiently specific or judgemental. They are very lengthy, descriptive documents. Although staff were consulted in the self-assessment process, they do not readily recognise the provision outlined in these documents, nor do they use them as working documents to improve provision. Data on learner success rates used in the self-

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progress

assessment report was for 2005/06 only; the 2006/07 data was not used to judge in- year trends. Managers have identified that the monitoring of the quality improvement plan was unsatisfactory and have developed a more concise quarterly action plan. This includes risk assessment and identifies individual responsibilities for actions. This process is well used and well understood. It prioritises areas for development, has specific objectives and is time-bound. Milltech is planning to expand this format to lead to a system of self-assessment that is more fit-for- purpose for its organisation.

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progress

provided that the information quoted is reproduced verbatim without adaptation, and the source and date of publication are stated. Inspection reports are available on the Ofsted website (www.ofsted.gov.uk).

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