Ofsted round-up – This week: Association of Learning Providers in Surrey achieves good results

Develop-u, South Yorkshire

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 Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

Sector subject area:

Customer service Good: Grade 2

Based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Develop-u is a private company that has been trading since October 2005. LSC funded provision comprises 90%of Develop-u’s revenue and the company have recently gained approval to provide Customer Service NVQs and Call Centre NVQs at Level 2 and Level 3. Develop-u has 134 learners on its’ Train to Gain programmes.

The overall effectiveness of Develop-u is good with current learners making good progress and developing very good social and work based skills. Courses meet the needs and interest of learners exceptionally well and learners receive good information, advice and guidance. The inspection has found that Develop-u offers good encouragement to those without previous qualifications to complete their qualification.

Since the previous inspection of the Train to Gain provision changes have impacted well on the programme with success rates being very high and effective working relationships being built with employers. The investigation found that Develop-u’s key strengths are their high success rates, good development of social and workplace skills, very good coaching, their programmes are very carefully matched to learners and employers needs, they have very effective leadership, good programme management and make very good use of learner and employer feedback.

In 2007/08 20 learners left the programme and the overall success rate was 90% with timely success rates also being high at 86%. Twenty-four learners have left the programme in the 2008/09 year to date, of whom 23 have completed their qualification successfully and within time. These figures represent an impressive 96%.

ALPS Partnership Limited, 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 Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

Sector subject areas:

Hospitality and catering Good: Grade 2

Sport, leisure and recreation Good: Grade 2

Education and training Good: Grade 2

Business, administration and law Good: Grade 2

In August 2006 ALPS was awarded a contract by Surrey LSC to deliver National Vocational Qualifications under Train to Gain programme through 15 consortia members. Of the current eight partners making up the consortia, six have direct contracts for work-based learning with the LSC and have been inspected since 2005. This was the first inspection of the reconstituted ALPS Train to Gain consortium.

Overall effectiveness of the provision is good and although learners have been working in the sectors for a long time, programmes give a national accreditation to their skills and improve their knowledge of their employment sectors and reach them new and valuable skills. However, a third of the learners are making slow progress as their learning is not sufficiently planned to offer them appropriate challenge.

ALPS self-assessment process and report are both good with the development plan being used well and frequently reviewed to bring about improvements. The grades awarded b the inspection team match closely with the provider self-assessment report. Key strengths of ALPS recognised in the inspection include very good application of knowledge and skills in the workplace, very good training, highly motivating support for learners, well planned training programme to meet learners’ and employers’ needs, good partnerships with employers, thorough monitoring of and support for subcontractors and a highly effective sharing of good practice.

Achievement and standards are good, a strength that is correctly identified in the self-assessment report. Success rates are particularly good at Level 2, being high at 81% and 84% in 2006/07 and 2007/08. Success rates for the first three months of the year are good at 77%.

Pera Innovations Limited, Melton Mowbray

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

Capacity to improve Good: Grade 2

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:

Business management Satisfactory: Grade 3

Based in Melton Mowbray, Pera Innovation Limited (Pera) was established in 1946 as a publicly owned body with a mission to improve the effectiveness of British industry after the Second World War. The company is now a thriving public sector with a presence in eight European countries and describes itself as one of Europe’s leading innovation and business support organisations. At the time of inspection, Pera has 515 learners on programme.

The overall effectiveness of the provision is satisfactory and capacity to improve is good. Pera recognised its problems with the quality of the provision before the failure of the subcontracting arrangements. Pera planned and acted effectively to ensure the continuation and improvement of the provision and have made significant progress since taking over the business improvement techniques contract. Timely success rates, which were very poor, are now considerably improved.

The self-assessment report is clear, succinct and largely accurate. The process is particularly inclusive, honestly self-critical and all staff share its judgements. Key strengths recognised by the investigation include very high success rates, good development of skills, highly effective programmes that meet employers’ needs and clear strategic direction for the development of the business improvement techniques programme.

Success rates for 2007/08 are very high. Of 206 learners who left the programme, 95% achieved their NVQ in business improvement techniques. This is a significant increase on the 66% achieved in 2006/07. However, progress towards completion is too slow for many learners as most learners who started on in 2007/08 are still on programme and behind target; of those who left in 2007/08, only 15% completed on time. In order to improve this, provider has recently restructured the programme, reducing the planned timescale for completion, and there are indications that this is improving learners’ progress.

Natalie Hailes