UK Training & Development Limited

Published date 19 November 2009 Inspection Number 342716 Unique reference number: 55149

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Name of lead inspector: Julia Horsman HMI

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

MLS Business Centre, 41 The Marlowes Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 1LD Telephone number: 01422 230130

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Information about the provider

1. UK Training and Development (UKTD) is a private learning provider established in 1988. Its head office is in Hemel Hempstead. UKTD provides hairdressing training to learners in salons across West London, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex. At the time of the inspection, there were 233 apprentices and 34 advanced apprentices working in 157 salons.

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Information about the provider

2. UKTD contracts with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to provide work- based learning. Hertfordshire LSC is the lead. UKTD staff visit learners’ salons every two to four weeks and a few learners attend the UKTD academy in Watford for additional training and/or assessment. UKTD employs 34 staff and around 20 staff visit learners in their salons for recruitment, training, assessment and/or internal verification. In addition, approximately 40 salon staff are work-based assessors. Eleven percent of the learners are men, 4% are from minority ethnic groups and 18% have additional learning needs.

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Information about the provider

3. Around 5% of UKTD’s provision is private National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) training at level 3 in hairdressing, and assessor awards.

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Summary report

Grades: 1 is outstanding; 2 is good; 3 is satisfactory; 4 is inadequate

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Grade

Leadership and management 3 Safeguarding Equality and diversity

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Overall effectiveness

4. The overall effectiveness of UKTD’s provision is satisfactory. Learners gain good hairdressing skills. Success rates for advanced apprentices are much improved since the previous inspection and in 2008/09 are high at 81%. Success rates for apprentices in 2008/09 are satisfactory at 63%, having remained around the national averages for the last three years. Since 2005/06, the number of learners achieving their framework in their expected timescale has increased, but too many still take too long to complete and rates remain slightly below the national averages. They are especially low for London apprentices at 21%.

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Overall effectiveness

5. Learners receive good practical training in their salons from senior staff and through activities organised by their employers. The hairdressing theory and key skills training provided by UKTD staff visiting salons is mostly satisfactory and trainers use technolgy such as on-line asessment and DVDs on laptop computers. A few UKTD staff make good use a wide range of interesting resources including colourful visual images, hairdressing text-books and other relevant stimulating materials. The pace of assessment varies. Well-motivated learners prepare well for assessor visits, including practising new skills and arranging clients for assessment, which help them progress. Around 20% of learners have work-based salon assessors. Support for apprentices with additional learning needs is effective and their achievement of qualifications is higher than for other UKTD apprentices. 6. Arrangements to safeguard learners and promote equality and diversity are

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Overall effectiveness

satisfactory but opportunities for UKTD staff to illustrate how these subjects relate to every-day salon work are missed. Learners say they feel safe and enjoy hairdressing. The improvements since the previous inspection are satisfactory, although these were slow in starting and at the time of the inspection it was too early to evaluate their effectiveness. UKTD managers have increased the monitoring of learners’ progress by giving their trainers/assessors new performance targets with the aim of higher numbers of learners achieving qualifications and at a faster pace.

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Main findings

 Development of learners’ work-related skills is good. They work in high quality hairdressing salons and demonstrate both good technical and customer service skills, which increase their employability.

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Main findings

 Overall success rates are satisfactory. Those for advanced apprentices are high and well above national averages. Success rates within expected timescales have increased but they remain low, especially for London apprentices.

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Main findings

 Success rates for apprentices with additional learning needs are higher than for other UKTD apprentices and they receive effective support.

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Main findings

 Attendance at UKTD training sessions is satisfactory. However, preparation by learners for sessions at their salons is variable. For example, well-motivated learners practise skills and have clients ready for assessments, while others are too busy with salon duties or absent.

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Main findings

 UKTD staff visiting salons provide good quality individual support for their learners. Most have significant skills, although the sharing of good practice across UKTD staff in training and progress reviews is insufficient.

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Main findings

 Initial assessment is satisfactory and includes skills tests for prospective advanced apprenticeships. Staff adjust initial targets frequently and well to meet individual learners’ needs and abilities.

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Main findings

 Training, assessment and internal verification are satisfactory. Salon training by employers is good. UKTD training sessions vary in quality, however many do have good aspects providing effective learning.

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Main findings

 UKTD provide effective flexible arrangements to suit learners’ and employers’ needs. However, the involvement of salon trainers in planning and reviewing their learners’ progress is not always sufficient in supporting good progress towards qualifications.  The development of learners’ literacy and numeracy skills is ineffective as it does not sufficiently support improving skills and focuses too much on providing coping strategies for passing key skills and hairdressing qualifications.

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Main findings

 UKTD has an appropriate safeguarding policy and an experienced, designated safeguarding officer. UKTD provides ‘safe learner’ guidance, but learners lack awareness of how aspects of safeguarding relate to salon work.

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Main findings

 UKTD monitors the impact of its policy for equalities closely, and evaluates the outcomes for different groups. While learners develop a satisfactory understanding of equality and diversity, trainers/assessors miss opportunities to reinforce learners and employers’ awareness of how this relates to hairdressing.

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Main findings

 Self-assessment is satisfactory. The provider has substantially revised its quality improvement arrangements and has introduced a revised system for the observation of teaching and learning. However, UKTD does not use the criteria for Every Child/Learner Matters in evaluating the provision.

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Main findings

 UKTD has identified its key priorities for improvement and has introduced substantial changes to most aspects of its operations, following initial slow progress to remedy issues identified at the previous inspection.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Ensure assessment and internal verification processes identify more promptly learners who are not progressing effectively.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Increase the awareness of salon trainers of their learners’ progress towards qualifications, so more learners can complete their frameworks within their expected timescale.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Make much better use of the good range of skills and knowledge of UKTD staff by sharing good practice and reducing variations in the quality of learners’ experience.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that all learners experience an appropriate and stimulating range of hairdressing theory learning strategies and materials.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Provide support that focuses on the development of all learners’ literacy and numeracy skills.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Further develop and implement the new performance management arrangements to ensure that managers monitor effectively learners’ progress and take prompt action when issues arise.

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What does UKTD need to do to improve further?

 Continue to raise UKTD staff and employer awareness of safeguarding, equality and diversity and Every Child/Learner Matters to enable them to better develop the learners’ knowledge of how these relate to their salon employment.

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What learners like:

 Regular contact with their UKTD assessors/trainers  Being able to do all of their training in their salon  The high quality of the practical training by their salon’s staff  On-line assessment for theory tests  Individual contact with UKTD trainers and assessors  Feeling they are making good progress.

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What learners would like to see improved:

 More clients in the UKTD Academy  More practical training in some learners’ salons  The relevance of literacy and numeracy skills to hairdressing salon work  More help with hairdressing theory.

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What employers like:

 Regular communication with UKTD trainers/assessors  When their learners make good progress  The flexibility and support from UKTD trainers/assessors  Good links between NVQ training/assessment and employers’ training in the salon.

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What employers would like to see improved:

 Better communications from UKTD about changes of trainer/assessors visiting employers’ salons to support learners  More and longer visits by trainers/assessors when they have more than one learner at a salon  Knowing more about the things that UKTD trainers/assessors ask learners to do for the next visit to a salon  Quicker and speedier replacement of trainer/assessors for salon visits by UKTD when staff leave their employment.

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Capacity to make and sustain improvement Grade 3

7. Since the last inspection, UKTD has made satisfactory progress in improving outcomes for learners. Overall success rates for advanced apprentices are now substantially above the national average. Those for apprentices have remained around the national average for the last three years. Success rates within expected timescales have increased for all learners over the last three years but remain slightly below the national average.

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Capacity to make and sustain improvement Grade 3

8. UKTD has now identified its key priorities for improvement and made substantial changes to most of its operations, including improving staffing arrangements and performance monitoring, but progress to resolve issues from the last inspection, initially was slow. Some new initiatives have already brought about improvements for learners. Others are not fully embedded and too recent to have had an impact on learners.

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Capacity to make and sustain improvement Grade 3

9. Self-assessment is broadly satisfactory. UKTD uses the self-assessment process appropriately to identify its strengths and areas for improvement and to develop its quality improvement plan and targets. Managers routinely update the plan and targets to reflect progress. The use of data and other management information to support improvement is satisfactory.

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Outcomes for learners Grade 3

10. Learners enjoy their training programmes and their success rates are satisfactory. For advanced apprentices in 2008/09, the overall success rate is high at 81% and substantially above the national average. Overall apprenticeship success rates are satisfactory and at 63% in 2008/09, having remained around the national averages for the last three years. Success rates for apprentices with additional learning needs are higher than that of other apprentices. Success rates for learners completing within their expected timescales have increased substantially since 2005/06 for both advanced apprentices and apprentices, but remain slightly below national averages, and are particularly low for London apprentices at 21%.

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Outcomes for learners Grade 3

11. Learners develop good salon skills, increasing their employability. They work in high quality hairdressing salons and demonstrate both good technical and customer service skills. Learners benefit from working alongside senior salon staff with high standards of skills. Salons offer a good range of additional training from product manufacturers, specialist training courses and visits to exhibitions, shows and competitions with their salons’ staff, enhancing learners’ skills. 12. Learners feel safe at work. They clearly understand their rights and responsibilities at work. Learners have safe working practices and a good understanding of the health and safety procedures in their salons.

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The quality of provision Grade 3

13. Training and assessment effectively supports learning and development. Initial assessment is satisfactory. Prospective advanced apprentices now take a hairdressing skills test. The provider has substantive plans to introduce hairdressing related skills tests for apprentices. Trainers/assessors frequently adjust standardised initial learning targets to take better account of learners’ individual needs and abilities.

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The quality of provision Grade 3

14. Training, assessment and internal verification are satisfactory. Salon training by learners’ employers is good, particularly for apprentices with regular weekly practise carrying out clients’ treatments. Theory sessions by UKTD staff are mostly on an individual basis. Some are good and use particularly effective learning strategies and resources, including technology, such as on-line assessment and DVDs on laptop computers. A few UKTD trainers make good use of a wide range of interesting resources including, colourful visual images, hairdressing textbooks and other relevant stimulating materials. However, an over-reliance on self-study restricts a few learners from learning effectively, as insufficient support is given. While key skills training and assessment use appropriate hairdressing-related projects, learners do not relate these sufficiently to their salon work.

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The quality of provision Grade 3

15. UKTD trainers/assessors visiting salons provide good quality individual support to learners. Learners and employers report much recent improvement in the approach and support from UKTD staff visiting their salons. Most staff have significant skills, although sharing of their good practise in training and progress reviews is insufficient.

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The quality of provision Grade 3

16. The provision is good at meeting the needs and interests of learners. The responsive, flexible, salon-based training UKTD provides learners and employers meets their needs particularly effectively.

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The quality of provision Grade 3

17. Partnership working with employers is satisfactory overall, with many offering training which complements UKTD’s training for qualifications. However, learners’ progress reviews do not sufficiently involve salon trainers. Progress reviews do not identify where good use can be made of salon training and assessment opportunities to help learners make effective progress towards completing qualifications promptly. For example, a minority of learners do not prepare sufficiently well for UKTD visits, or are busy at work or absent from their salon.

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The quality of provision Grade 3

18. Development of learners’ literacy and numeracy skills is insufficient. Additional support focuses too much on coping strategies for passing key skills and hairdressing qualifications.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

19. Leadership and management at UKTD are satisfactory. Leaders and managers have set a clear strategic direction, which responds appropriately to national, regional and local priorities. UKTD has introduced substantial changes to most of its operations and while progress to address weaknesses identified at the last inspection was initially slow, UKTD has now identified its key priorities for improvement.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

20. Recent changes, including the re-structuring of management staffing arrangements, have clarified the roles and responsibilities of staff. UKTD now provides assessors/trainers with performance targets and manages then more closely. UKTD has moved to modern premises, better suited to its operations and improved its electronic communications. However, at the inspection it was too early to judge the impact of these changes on the learners.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

21. UKTD’s safeguarding arrangements are satisfactory. Appropriate policies and procedures are in place, as well as an appropriately experienced, designated safeguarding officer. All staff have a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, and the company holds a central list. UKTD has developed a ‘safe learner’ policy and the revised guidance for learners includes training in internet safety. Learners have an appropriate understanding of harassment and bullying, and are clear on what actions to take should this arise. However, they lack awareness of how a few aspects of safeguarding relate to their salon employment. UKTD has recently developed updated guidance for employers on safeguarding but has not fully circulated this information to all salons.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

22. Promotion of equality and diversity is satisfactory. Regularly updated and appropriate policies and procedures are in place. Staff receive regular training in equality and diversity. UKTD has set clear and relevant recruitment targets to reflect the population for each of the regions in which it provides training.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

23. UKTD monitors the impact of its policy for equalities very closely, including a careful evaluation of outcomes for different groups of learners. Recruitment of male learners has increased, but UKTD recognises their success rates are lower than the success rates for all learners. It has taken steps to resolve this issue. The company provides effective support for learners with additional learning needs to complete their training.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

24. UKTD effectively promotes equality and diversity. In particular, it has increased its promotion of hairdressing within local schools and is developing its partnership links with ethnic minority providers, including an African-Caribbean hairdressing academy. UKTD recognises the need to improve equality and diversity promotion with employers and is involved in a regional project to develop of fact sheets and case studies. However, assessor/trainers miss opportunities within salons to reinforce the understanding of equality and diversity and the Every Child/Learner Matters five areas with learners and employers.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

25. UKTD has satisfactory arrangements to engage with its users. It has close and productive working relationships with most employers. Since the previous inspection, it has strengthened its formal arrangements to collect both learners’ and employers’ feedback. However, not all employers are sufficiently involved in this process. UKTD uses feedback to improve provision and is effective at communicating the improvements to employers and learners. A recent initiative to create an employer forum was unsuccessful.

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Leadership and management Grade 3

26. Self-assessment is satisfactory. The process includes all staff and uses employers’ and learners’ views. Actions identified through the self-assessment are included in a detailed action plan, which is appropriately monitored and routinely updated. The most recent self-assessment report, in December 2008 correctly identified the main areas for improvement but overstated strengths on learners’ achievements and did not include judgements relating to Every Child/Learner Matters criteria. Since the last inspection, UKTD has substantially revised its quality improvement arrangements. A recently appointed manager monitors learners’ progress more closely through regular performance review meetings with individual assessors. The provider, with external support has successfully introduced a revised system for the observation of teaching and learning. However, these changes are too new to have fully affected the

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Leadership and management Grade 3

27. UKTD manages its resources carefully, and provides satisfactory value for money. Managers have appropriate arrangements for allocating and monitoring staff caseloads. The company has recognised the risks to learners of staff turn over. UKTD now has much improved arrangements for recruitment and covering staff absence. Staff development has a high priority in promoting greater value for money. UKTD has made substantial investment to improve its use of electronic communications. It adequately monitors the overall effectiveness of its provision.

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Information about the inspection

28. Two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and three additional inspectors, assisted by the provider’s senior management team co-ordinator, as nominee, carried out the inspection. Inspectors also took account of UKTD’s most recent self- assessment report and development plans, the 2006 previous inspection and 2007 re-inspection reports, the report from the 2008 inspectorate’s quality monitoring inspection, and data on learners and their achievement over the period since the previous inspection.

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Information about the inspection

29. Inspectors carried out visits to learners’ work-place salons and to UKTD’s academy. They conducted learner, employer and staff interviews and made telephone calls to employers and received employer email communications. Inspectors observed learning, assessment, recruitment and support sessions and examined learners’ portfolios and documentation. They also examined a wide evidence from the advanced apprenticeship and apprenticeship hairdressing programmes UKTD offers. Record of Main Findings (RMF)

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UK Training and Development

Learning types: 14 – 16: Young apprenticeships; Diplomas; 16-18 Learner responsive: FE full- and part-time courses, Foundation learning tier, including Entry to Employment; 19+ responsive: FE full- and part-time courses; Employer responsive: Train to Gain, apprenticeships

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UK Training and Development

Outcomes for learners 3 3 How well do learners achieve and enjoy their learning? 3 3 How well do learners attain their learning goals? How well do learners progress? How well do learners improve their economic and social well-being through learning and development? How safe do learners feel? 3 Are learners able to make informed choices about their own health and well being?* n/a How well do learners make a positive contribution to the community?* n/a Quality of provision 3 3 How effectively do teaching, training and assessment support learning and development? How effectively does the provision meet the needs and interests of users? 2 How well partnerships with schools, employers, community groups and others lead to benefits for learners? How effective are the care, guidance and support learners receive in helping them to achieve? Leadership and management 3 3 How effectively do leaders and managers raise expectations and promote

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UK Training and Development

ambition throughout the organisation? How effectively do governors and supervisory bodies provide leadership, direction and challenge?* n/a

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UK Training and Development

How effectively does the provider promote the safeguarding of learners? 3 How effectively does the provider actively promote equality and diversity, tackle discrimination and narrow the achievement gap? How effectively does the provider engage with users to support and promote improvement? How effectively does self-assessment improve the quality of the provision and outcomes for learners? How efficiently and effectively does the provider use its available resources to secure value for money? *where applicable to the type of provision Grades using the 4 point scale 1: Outstanding; 2: Good; 3: Satisfactory; 4: Inadequate Overall Employer responsive Approximate number of enrolled learners Full-time learners Part-time learners Overall effectiveness 3 3 Capacity to improve 3 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

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UK Training and Development

care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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UK Training and Development

If you would like a copy of this report in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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UK Training and Development

You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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UK Training and Development

Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann’s Square Manchester, M2 7LA

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UK Training and Development

T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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