Ofsted report highlights quality of Rathbone Training’s support for apprentices

Rathbone Training, part of national training and college group NCG, has had the high quality of their work with employers and apprentices praised in a newly published Ofsted report.

The leading national training provider’s apprenticeship provision in England was inspected in May and achieved ‘good’ status in all areas.

Inspectors looked at the quality of teaching, learning and outcomes for learners at Rathbone Training, which is a youth education and training charity within NCG; one of the UK’s leading education and training providers.

The outcome means over the past 12 months all five NCG colleges (Newcastle College, Newcastle Sixth Form College, Kidderminster College, West Lancashire College and Carlisle College) and both training divisions (Rathbone Training and Intraining) have been inspected and all rated Grade 2 Good.

The week long inspection involved individual and group interviews and telephone calls with Rathbone Training colleagues, learners, subcontractors and employer partners across the country.

“It is extremely encouraging that our valuable work with young people and the great support we receive from our partner organisations has received such positive external recognition from Ofsted. It provides real impetus to continue improving our services for young people across the UK even further,” said Ian Webber, Managing Director of Rathbone Training.

“Over a century ago our charity’s founder Elfrida Rathbone believed that every young person should have the opportunity to learn and fulfil their potential and the latest Ofsted report is a clear demonstration of our continued commitment to this aim and NCG’s purpose of unlocking potential through learning.”

Some of the key findings in the report include:

• Leaders and managers have nurtured highly effective relationships with many small- and medium-sized local enterprises, local enterprise partnerships, and large organisations nationally to provide education and training to meet sector skill priorities.
• Leaders and managers have been successful in maintaining good standards of education and training since the previous inspection.
• Apprentices develop good vocational and employability skills and make a very effective contribution to their employers’ businesses.
• Leaders and managers ensure that all tutors prioritise English and mathematics throughout all apprenticeship programmes, resulting in a high proportion of apprentices passing at the first attempt at a higher level than required.

“The recent Ofsted report highlights Rathbone Training is successfully and consistently making a positive difference to young people’s lives across the UK,” said Joe Docherty, Chief Executive of NCG.

“The report also builds on the extremely positive run of recent reports from all of the colleges and training providers within NCG showing we are giving a consistently high quality of service to all of our learners across the country.”

You can access the full report here.

Rathbone Training has centres across England, Scotland and Wales and last year supported over 5,100 young people across the UK.