Ofsted round-up – This week: Further Education with healthcare links

BUPA Care Homes Ltd, Rochdale

 

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

Capacity to improve Good: Grade 2

Achievement and standards Good: Grade 2

Quality of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

Leadership and management Satisfactory: Grade 3

Equality of opportunity Contributory Grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

Sector subject area:

Health and social care Satisfactory: Grade 3

 

BUPA is a global health care organisation and the UK’s leading private health care provider. BUPA Care Homes (BUPA) is one of the UK’s largest providers of care homes. Since August 2007, BUPA has held a contract with the National Employer Service (NES) to deliver work-based learning through NVQs, apprenticeships and Train to Gain programmes. Currently, 495 learners are enrolled on health and social care programmes; 45 are advanced apprentices, 105 are apprentices, and 345 are Train to Gain learners.

Ofsted reported that BUPA’s effectiveness of provision was satisfactory and the capacity to improve was good. Achievement and standards were good. The success rate on apprenticeships was a satisfactory 53%, though this was below the national average, and the overall success rates on Train to Gain programmes at levels 2 and 3 stood at 85% and 80% respectively. A key strength was the ‘outstanding’ success rate for skills for life qualifications. Progression opportunities and standards of work were satisfactory.

The quality of teaching and learning was satisfactory, as identified in the self-assessment. Inspectors said, “some teaching is effective, [but] other sessions have less direction.” Some assessment practices were described as poor and singled out for improvement. The range and use of resources was felt, by the learners, to be insufficient and could be improved. Inspectors thought that advice and guidance could also be better, though support for learners in the work place was good.

Leadership and management were satisfactory and Ofsted said that BUPA, “have developed good arrangements to support strategic development and planning for training with NVQUK.” They listed good communication between BUPA and NVQUK as another key strength. Their main criticism in this area was that quality improvement arrangements were underdeveloped. Equality of opportunity was graded as satisfactory.

 

Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Brain Injury Centre, Banstead, Surrey

 

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Good: Grade 2

Capacity to improve Good: Grade 2

Achievement and standards Good: Grade 2

Quality of provision Good: Grade 2

Leadership and management Good: Grade 2

Equality of opportunity Inadequate: Contributory Grade 4

 

The Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Brain Injury Centre is an independent specialist college that offers assessment, neurorehabilitation and education for young adults, 16 to 35 years of age, with disabilities and/or learning difficulties resulting from a brain injury. There are currently 24 learners at the college who are provided with individualised learning programmes.

Ofsted said that Queen Elizabeth’s was a good college where, “learners make outstanding progress in developing their independence skills and self-confidence.” Achievement is good to the extent that a high percentage of learners are able to progress into further education, work-based learning or employment of some kind. One criticism was that the college offered an insufficient number of externally accredited qualifications.

Teaching and learning were good and lessons were said to be planned very well. Inspectors felt the individual programmes for each learner were also well planned, allowing the learner to negotiate the content. The “rigorous” and ongoing assessment was considered a key strength, but arrangements to support literacy and numeracy needs were thought to need improvement. Learners are able to take part in a wide range of enrichment activities, and support and guidance was outstanding.

Ofsted graded leadership and management as good. While the college’s focus on promoting disability equality was very strong, Ofsted said it had, “not responded adequately to the recent race, gender and disability legislation.” Monitoring of the college’s performance was a strength with lesson observations and self-assessment both being “mostly accurate.”

 

Barchester Healthcare, Epsom

 

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

Capacity to improve Satisfactory: Grade 3

Achievement and standards Satisfactory: Grade 3

Quality of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

Leadership and management Satisfactory: Grade 3

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

Sector subject area:

Health, public services and care Satisfactory: Grade 3

 

Founded in 1993, Barchester Healthcare Ltd (Barchester) is an independent company that provides nursing and residential care, throughout the UK, for older people in care homes and for other adults with specialist healthcare needs. There are currently 300 learners undertaking health, public services and care training through apprenticeships or Train to Gain programmes. The company also offers training in business, administration and law, and hospitality and catering, but these were not included in the inspection.

The overall effectiveness of provision at Barchester was satisfactory; as were most areas of the inspection. Achievement and standards were satisfactory with success rates showing an improvement for apprenticeships and Train to Gain programmes. Advanced apprenticeship success rates had also improved, but were still unsatisfactory according to Ofsted. Slow progress for some learners was an area for improvement noted by the company’s self-assessment and the report.

The quality of provision was judged to be satisfactory, though additional training received a good grade and was listed as a strength. Inspectors stated: “One-to-one coaching is effective. Group sessions are well planned and delivered at a lively pace.” However, they felt that individual learning plans were not used effectively to monitor progress, and target-setting was weak. Barchester had identified these issues in their self-assessment. Good learning resources were seen to be another key strength.

Leadership and management were given a satisfactory grade. Ofsted found that staff had good opportunities for training and development. They said that, “on- and off-the-job training is well co-ordinated [ensuring] that learners effectively cover all aspects of the programme.” Quality improvement arrangements were described as “insufficiently development” and could be improved. Equality of opportunity was satisfactory overall.

 

Dolland & Aitchison Ltd, Birmingham

 

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Good: Grade 2

Capacity to improve Satisfactory: Grade 3

Achievement and standards Good: Grade 2

Quality of provision Good: Grade 2

Leadership and management Good: Grade 2

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

Sector subject area:

Retail and commercial enterprise Good: Grade 2

 

Established in 1750, Dolland & Aitchison (D&A) is a retailer specialising in providing optical eyecare and eyewear. Since 2002, the NES has funded D&A to provide work-based training through apprenticeships, NVQs and Train to Gain programmes in optical retailing. During the inspection, there were approximately 154 learners on different programmes. Training is mostly delivered in the workplace, but learners also undertake off-the-job training at D&A’s headquarters.

The overall effectiveness of provision by D&A was good, as were achievement and standards. The report stated: “Success rates for Train to Gain learners are high at 86% in 2006/07, as are advanced apprenticeships.” The success rates for the optical retailing apprentices were satisfactory, and there had been a general improvement across all the programmes. Excellent career progression and good development of technical and interpersonal skills were two key strengths noted.

Ofsted deemed the quality of provision good and said that, “lessons are well planned providing good and lively interaction.” Training in the workplace was considered “highly effective” because it was tailored to meet the needs of learners and the business. Inspectors thought progress reviews could be improved as they found inconsistent practice in different branches and some learners were not sure how much work remained to complete their qualification. Arrangements to support learning were very effective.

Leadership and management were good with, “very strong strategic promotion of learning,” seen as a strength. Management of training was good with useful data ensuring that learners’ progression could be accurately monitored. The main areas for improvement focused on quality improvement systems and the promotion of equality, both of which were felt to be insufficient.