Preparing for Ofsted: Why providers need to be assertive about progress and destination

Progress and destination are important for Ofsted, but can be complicated to show in apprenticeships. Richard Moore shares how providers can respond.

Preparing for Ofsted: Why providers need to be assertive about progress and destination

It’s an issue that former HMI Richard Moore raised in our recent webinar. He questioned whether ‘destination’ is an accurate word to use in the world of apprenticeships:

“It leads to some misunderstanding by Ofsted inspectors who forget that we’re not running a sixth form college or university. I think Ofsted inspectors need to understand that the typical destination for an apprentice isn’t necessarily progressing onto another course or going off and doing something completely different, like it would be in a college,” he said.

Being assertive with inspectors

Richard’s advice is to not be afraid to be assertive with Ofsted inspectors, because you’ll likely be more of an expert in apprenticeships than they are. 

“If 98% of your learners at the point of inspection have stayed in their current role, that’s just how it is – you can’t force them into a variety of destinations. I would argue strongly with an inspector who wants to see some learners going into higher education and some into further education,” Richard said.

“I think sometimes inspectors fail to understand that some learners are just happy to get their level two or three qualification. I work with a number of providers who run the level two passenger bus driver apprenticeship, and I’ve talked to a lot of drivers who’ve done that apprenticeship and are adamant they want to stay a bus driver.”

Showing evidence of progression

Even if most of your learners continue in the same role, there are still some useful ways to demonstrate learner progress to Ofsted. Here are Richard’s top three tips.

        1. Collect evidence of internal progression

In addition to external progression, keep a record of any internal progressions between different levels of apprenticeships. It sounds obvious, but Richard explained that he’s worked with a number of providers that didn’t have that evidence or weren’t able to find it for their Ofsted inspection.