Deep dives, data and deliverables… what to expect during an OFSTED inspection

Since apprenticeships at Level 6 and 7 came within scope for Ofsted inspection in 2021 the pace of inspection activity of Higher Education Institutions’ (HEI) apprenticeship provision has steadily increased. Over 30 HEIs who have received a new provider monitoring visit from Ofsted have still not had their full inspection at the time of writing - they can expect to receive the call at some stage in the 23/24 academic year

Think recently worked with a large HE apprenticeship provider during their latest Ofsted inspection under the newly introduced ‘deep dive’ methodology. Here are a few reflections from the experience.

The Call (part 1)

The dreaded call. It’s arrived and ruined your weekend. The urban legend that says you’re safe if you’ve made to Thursday evening without hearing from Ofsted has proved to be just that. It’s Friday morning and you’ve got bad news to share. Call your partner, arrange dog/child/other dependent care and cancel any plans. You’ve got work to do.

Own your quality improvement story

Having a robust self-assessment report (SAR) is the starting point for your quality improvement journey – and inspectors will read it before they arrive. Your SAR is your opportunity to tell your story, demonstrate that you clearly understand the strengths and weakness of your provision, and even start to shape the statements you want to see in your Ofsted report.

Inspectors will expect to see a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) to address the areas for improvement. You should be able to demonstrate that your QIP is ordered in a logical way with the most serious issues affecting the largest number of apprentices being tackled first. When you have completed an action on your QIP make sure that you can evidence the impact that action has had. Imagine a moody teenager, add a mental ‘so what?’ in response to any statement you make regarding the action you’ve taken, if you can’t answer the ‘so what?’ of your actions, then you may have missed the point.

Know the rules of the game

As a nominee the Ofsted Further Education and Skills Handbook is your friend. It describes the main activities that inspectors carry out when they inspect, and the evaluation criteria that inspectors use to make their judgements and on which they report. You should read it and always keep a copy with you during inspection.

Know your data

Over the course of your inspection, starting from the initial call with the lead inspector, you can expect to receive many requests for data and additional evidence. Gathering data with a short turnaround can be near impossible if you are not adequately prepared. You should ensure that you are able to access all the crucial details of an apprentice’s journey – at the click of a button if possible – and report on data at different levels.

The deep dive

 Further education and skills handbook - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

The deep dive methodology is relatively new – and may feel different even if you have previous experience of Ofsted. Inspectors will select a sample of apprentices and as far as possible they will want to relate their observations and evidence back to these learners’ experience. You may find you are asked to schedule calls with the selected learners and their line managers, and to identify taught sessions, progress reviews etc that will include the sample learners.

One you have the deep dive sample you should collate as much information as possible about those learners. The inspectors will want to see their learner commitment statements/training plans/ individual learning plans, details of any breaks in learning, and any adjustments put in place to address additional learning needs. In ‘work scrutiny’ sessions, inspectors will want to see examples of the sample learners’ work, tutor feedback and how the apprentice has developed over time.

Prepare your team

You should identify the core group of colleagues who will make up your team. As well as having a designated nominee, consider including a shadow nominee who can attend meetings and help make notes. In addition, you should have a lead for each area of your provision, and designated leads for recording and responding to additional evidence requests, and managing scheduling and logistics.

Engage the organisation

Engaging all stakeholders with what to expect, what your key messages are, and what your expectations of them are, is crucial to success. Your plans to brief colleagues should cover everyone from governors, board members, senior team, delivery staff and professional services. In professional services think of colleagues in welfare services, HR, and careers services for whom this may be a new experience but who will play a critical role.

The Call (part 2)

The lead inspector will schedule a planning call with your nominee. Use this to gain the information you need to inform the actions you need to take in the (short) period before the inspection starts. Crucially they will tell you how many inspectors to expect and which areas they will focus on. Use this to make final decisions as to how to deploy your team.

The lead inspector will discuss the schedule for the inspection, and this will give you a sense of the week ahead. But every inspection takes on a life of its own, so expect some twists and turns on the way.

In summary

There is no dark art to a successful Ofsted inspection. You can try flattery, bribery or intimidation but I wouldn’t recommend it. If your provision is good you should approach it confident that inspectors will see that. A successful inspection outcome is built on months and years of identifying your strengths and weaknesses, learning and improving. Thorough preparation can be a major asset. Effective staff and stakeholder engagement, communication, and data management are what will ensure you can show your provision to best advantage.

Dave Hitchen has an extensive, successful track record of delivery in project and programme management including operational and change management programmes. He has built Project Management Office (PMO) operations at some of the best-known education providers in the sector, establishing and embedding project management processes and procedures within organisations and with key FTSE-100 clients. Most recently Dave worked as the Director of Corporate Services for a large FE provider group, responsible for end-to-end transformation programmes across the group. His experience includes leading multiple ESFA funding audits and contributing to successful Ofsted inspections (including the first ever ‘Outstanding’ grade for traineeship provision in a college).