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Thursday 16 August 2012 0:00
One of the country’s biggest and most successful education groups – NCG which runs national training company Intraining - has been given a glowing report by inspectors which says it helps learners “transform their lives”.
Inspectors from the Government education watchdog, Ofsted, ranked NCG as one of the top providers of further education in the country.
NCG has four divisions:
Rathbone, which merged with NCG earlier this year, was not part of the inspection.
The Ofsted inspection’s overall assessment of the group says: “NCG provision is outstanding in meeting the needs and interests of learners.
“An excellent range of apprenticeship pathways are available through Intraining, with plans to develop higher-level apprenticeships in priority areas. Work-based provision is widely spread across the country and caters for a broad and diverse range of learners.
“The breadth of the curriculum and progression routes available throughout NCG are outstanding. Resources for learning are, on the whole, superb. NCG’s partnership work produces outstanding benefits for learners. Pastoral support for learners, especially those who need extra help, is excellent.
“For a significant proportion of learners, their success has the potential to transform their lives.
“The organisation makes a significant contribution to improving the life chances of a large number of young people and adult learners, both in the communities served by the colleges and nationally.”
Inspectors singled out the work of Intraining with apprentices for special mention, commenting: “Intraining ensure that an excellent range of apprenticeship pathways are available across the country. Curriculum innovation, including successful initiatives targeting the unemployed, is habitual and focused closely on local and national skills priorities.
“Partners, including employers, are impressed by the responsiveness and flexibility of NCG.
“NCG has established many strong and effective partnerships with employers, other public sector agencies and community groups that provide clear benefits to current learners and underpin successful initiatives to widen participation.”
“In most vocational areas and in work-based provision, teachers’ and assessors’ high expectations, accompanied by superb learning environments, help learners to aspire to producing high calibre work that reflects professional standards.”
Employers told inspectors they liked:
“NCG has high aspirations and an ambitious vision that is focused on meeting identified needs and priorities through expansion. Management structures are highly effective and business planning processes are outstanding. Governors are extremely supportive and monitor financial performance and group developments very effectively. Accommodation and resources to support learning are of high quality.”
“NCG’s leaders are extremely ambitious for the organisation, and their vision has led to a rapid and successful expansion of NCG in a relatively short space of time. The management structure created by NCG has ensured the different divisions focus well on ensuring that learners succeed.”
NCG’s Chief Executive, Jackie Fisher, said: “The inspectors’ report reads just like that of the handful of other outstanding providers, which is no surprise because I know we are outstanding.
“As the inspectors’ found, we offer exceptional teaching and learning which is among the best in the country,” she said.
“This is due to the absolutely wonderful work our staff do every day, which the inspectors recognised inspires and motivates learners to help transform their lives. This view is backed up by the feedback from the thousands of learners we help every year and the hundreds of employers we work with.”
ENDS
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