Member Article

NECC Praised by Ofsted Inspectors

Training provider awarded ‘Good’ by new Ofsted Inspection Framework

The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) has been awarded a rating of ‘Good’ for its training services by national regulatory service Ofsted.

Ofsted inspectors visited NECC, one of the largest independent training providers in the North East, at the end of last year observing teaching, learning and assessment, also taking into account feedback from students and employers themselves.

NECC was one of the first training providers in the UK to be inspected under the new Ofsted framework, launched in September 2015, where good providers must demonstrate their effectiveness in two days or face a lengthier inspection.

Andrew Robson, NECC Head of Training, is pleased the inspection was successful and he continues to concentrate on NECC’s Manifesto ‘Working North East’ campaign to ensure businesses are able to access the right talent and invest in skills for the future.

“I’m extremely proud of our training team and the work we do with our students and businesses across the North East. As a membership organisation we understand the needs of businesses and our courses are designed to reflect this,” said Mr Robson.

“NECC’s training and educational provision develops highly-skilled employees and ensures businesses benefit from an effective and efficient workforce.”

In a letter announcing NECC’s Ofsted success, Paul Cocker, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education, Children’s Services and Skills commended NECC on the quality of its training courses.

“NECC’s training team has been relentless in their focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning, leading to the large majority of apprentices completing their programme within the planned timescales,” said Mr Cocker

“Apprentices receive well-planned off-the-job learning linked to their apprenticeship, which enhances their skills and is suitably applied in the workplace, meeting the apprentices’ and employers’ specific needs.”

Kelly Pattison, NECC Head of Quality, said, the inspection process was challenging but very rewarding. We have been focused on driving improvements to the quality of our teaching, learning and assessment to ensure that our apprentices get a valuable and engaging learning experience and achieve their aspirations. It was fantastic that Ofsted were able to see so much of this good work during inspection.

Although apprenticeships are a major part of on-the-job training NECC is also working with companies across the region to up-skill employees of all ages and experience.

Suzanne Slater, regional manager for the business and professional sector for the NECC, works with a number of North East companies that are looking to increase IT skills.

“We are often asked to go into a business and upskill staff in essential IT skills such as using email, the internet and software products such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint,” said Ms Slater. “We’re also seeing more demand for IT security training as well as in social media and higher level IT qualifications such as programming and networking”

An NECC Apprenticeship can last from one to five years and leads to a respected national qualification. They are available across a wide range of industry sectors including: IT Professional/IT User; social media; business administration; ILM Management; accountancy; engineering; construction; customer service; warehousing, and more. For more information see www.necc.co.uk/training

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laura Facey .