Ofsted welcomes 31 new apprentices

A group of 31 talented young apprentices started work at Ofsted this morning, taking up a variety of roles and responsibilities in five of the organisation’s offices across England.

Today’s intake is the result of Ofsted’s hugely successful apprenticeship recruitment process, which was launched in June this year as part of the government’s drive to create three million apprentices by 2020. It is the first time Ofsted has embarked on such a large-scale apprenticeship scheme.

There were over 200 applicants for the apprenticeship programme, which was advertised on the National Apprenticeship Service and Ofsted websites. The Ofsted HR team also directly contacted schools, Children’s Services Departments and Youth Centres, specifically to reach out to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The scheme will last for two years, with apprentices completing a level 2 qualification in Business Administration during their first year, and a level 3 qualification in their second year.

The 31 new apprentices are aged 16 years old and upwards. Some have come straight from school, others from college and some were previously employed. 

They are all now full time, permanent members of Ofsted staff, and will be filling various positions across the organisation’s operations, including:

• Contact centre advisors and administrators
• Inspection support administrators
• HR Advisors
• Regional support administrators
• Social care policy administrators
• Education policy administrators
• Management information support administrators

Matthew Coffey, Ofsted’s Chief Operating Officer said:

“I’m delighted to welcome these young apprentices to Ofsted today, and I wish them every success in their new roles. The programme proved to be more popular than we had hoped and the recruitment process was very competitive, so their success in getting to this point shows just how bright and talented they are.

“We want to provide individuals with a genuine opportunity to improve their lives, by offering them an alternative career path from the traditional university route. Following our critical report on apprenticeships last year, this scheme is also an opportunity for Ofsted to demonstrate how valuable, enjoyable and genuinely life-changing a well-planned and robust apprenticeship programme can be.”