Positive outcome for UCEM from first ever Ofsted monitoring inspection

Posted on: 5 September, 2018

UCEM was judged to have made ‘reasonable progress’ against three criteria for its first ever Ofsted monitoring inspection.

The Ofsted inspectors were visiting UCEM’s Reading office for the first time since the institution became a lead provider of apprenticeships 10 months ago and assessed the provision of UCEM’s Surveying Technician apprenticeship programme.

Among the comments in the inspection report, published today, are: ‘Employers say that apprentices develop very good knowledge, skills and behaviours that have contributed to their business’; ‘Online learning activities are varied and planned carefully to develop good vocational knowledge and skills’; and ‘The arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.

UCEM’s Vice Principal – Student Experience, Wendy Finlay, commented: “This is fantastic news for UCEM and testament to the high-quality programme that has been developed and the commitment of our staff to both assure and improve the quality of our provision.

“The inspectors made it very clear in their feedback that they felt we have undertaken many great developments in the 10 months we have been a lead provider, and they could see clearly the passion and drive of all staff working across UCEM to support the best outcomes for our apprentices and drive continuous improvements.”

The two-day inspection in August was part of a series of monitoring visits by Ofsted to a sample of new apprenticeship training providers which are funded through the apprenticeship levy. The three Ofsted inspectors met with staff, reviewed evidence, watched demonstrations of the institution’s systems, interviewed employers and apprentices, and explored UCEM’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) which contains all its learning resources.

Ofsted judge whether an institution has made ‘sufficient’, ‘reasonable’ or ‘insufficient’ progress against the following three themes:

• How much progress have leaders made in ensuring that the provider is meeting the requirements of successful apprenticeship provision?
• What progress have leaders and managers made in ensuring that apprentices benefit from high-quality training that leads to positive outcomes for apprentices?
• How much progress have leaders and managers made in ensuring that effective safeguarding arrangements are in place?

A judgement of ‘reasonable progress’ was arrived at for all three questions. To see the full report, click here.