A third of new apprenticeship providers visited by Ofsted since March have at least one “insufficient progress” judgement, chief inspector Amanda Spielman has said.
The Ofsted boss said only a relatively small number of new providers were making significant progress - and that this could not be blamed on Covid.
She said almost 100 on-site new provider monitoring visits had been completed, adding: “It’s a concern that about a third of providers we’ve visited had at least one ‘insufficient progress’ judgement. It’s also disappointing that only a relatively small number of providers were making significant progress.
“And let’s be frank, this can’t be blamed on Covid. This is the same pattern we were seeing before the pandemic. To have such a high proportion of ‘insufficient progress’ judgements is troubling. The quality of apprenticeship training does need to improve.”
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Background: Ofsted concerns at one in five new apprenticeship providers
She went on to say that providers that are “overly reliant” on standard training programmes don’t always serve their apprentices as well as they could.
Ofsted: ‘The quality of apprenticeship training needs to improve’
Ms Spielman added: “Apprentices then don’t get the opportunity to develop their wider knowledge and interests beyond the standard or framework. And replicating standard programmes without working with employers and taking local context into account can produce cohorts of apprentices who don’t have the knowledge or skills required in their local job market.”
She also raised concerns about a lack of high-quality careers guidance, saying: “Without this, apprentices don’t understand their career options post-apprenticeship, either in their organisation or the wider industry.
“Providers need to go beyond just getting apprentices through their training programme - they need to work with employers and their own apprentices to make sure they truly do gain the right knowledge, skills and behaviours to make their next steps successfully, and to thrive in a professional environment.”
AELP: “Let’s not tarnish all new providers with the same brush”
Jane Hickie, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “We agree that the short term priority needs to be conducting outstanding new provider monitoring visits to ensure all providers have had some level of quality oversight. There is also an issue around who gets admitted to RoATP in the first place and hopefully the refresh and the white paper reforms will result in improved quality overall across the sector.
“But let’s not tarnish all new providers with the same brush. Some have been judged as making significant progress and have added a lot of the sector. However AELP recognises that Ofsted still needs to work through the whole cohort of new providers.”
