A training firm which rents space at the university academy co-founded by Manchester United's Class of 92 stars has been slammed as "inadequate" following an inspection. Code Nation Limited is an independent firm based in Chester but rents a classroom, meeting room and two car park spaces at the University Academy 92 (UA92) campus in Stretford.
UA92 was launched by Lancaster University and ex-United players Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt. Code Nation, which deliver their own courses independently of UA92, provides training for people in the digital sector and has had a contract to deliver apprenticeships since October 2018.
The first group of apprentices started their course in January 2019. Training is carried out via a virtual learning environment supplemented by face-to-face skills coaching meetings. At the time of the Ofsted inspection from March 28 to 31, there were 79 apprentices on the programme.
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Some 69 were working towards a level four software developer apprenticeship and 10 apprentices were at the same level for cyber technology. A report by the four-strong inspection team voiced concern over the recruitment strategy employed by leaders and managers.
The report said: "Leaders and managers do not recruit all apprentices with integrity. A small minority of software developer apprentices are recruited following the completion of a self-funded digital bootcamp, which costs them many thousands of pounds.
"They are then expected to attend the same training, which is funded through the apprenticeship levy, from which they do not learn any further substantial new knowledge, skills or behaviours." The report also said that a minority of software developer apprentices experienced "poor communication and frequent disruption to their learning".
"Apprentices are not kept informed of changes in staffing," it said. "Apprentices are often delayed from achieving their personal goals, securing internal promotions or being able to access wider career opportunities to become software developers."
It went on: "The majority of apprentices experience inconsistencies in the quality and timeliness of feedback that they receive from instructors. Many apprentices do not understand what they need to do to improve their work, such as higher-level English skills.
"Managers recognised that the quality of feedback that apprentices receive was poor. They have recently introduced new procedures to provide better quality feedback.
"However, these procedures are not yet fully implemented." Meanwhile, software developer apprentices, employed during the Covid-19 pandemic by the provider "innovation developers", have had their learning disrupted.
This is due to them being required to support instructors on the delivery of the same apprenticeship that they are studying. "They frequently spend almost half of their working week assisting with the training of other apprentices," the report said. "This significantly impedes their learning."
It was said most apprentices have a positive attitude and enjoy their learning, but software developer apprentices requiring specialist qualifications rely on their own independent research to prepare for their examinations. "Many of these apprentices do not complete their qualifications on time and require several attempts to pass," the report said.
The overall assessment of the Code Nation was "inadequate" and it got the same rating for the quality of education, leadership and management, and apprenticeships. It was said to be "good" for behaviour and attitudes and for personal development it "requires improvement".
Responding to the findings of the report, Code Nation chief executive David Muir told the MEN his firm had been caught in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic for three of the four years since it was formed. He said he was 'desperately disappointed' at the poor Ofsted rating, which spans a period leading up to and including the Covid lockdown.
"Due to the challenges brought by the pandemic, many of our employers had to change their business models and move their staff to remote working which resulted in increased staff turnover, high levels of sickness and absence and the need to pause or terminate apprenticeships," Mr Muir said.
"There were positives highlighted through the inspection with many apprentices making a positive contribution to their workplace through the skills they have developed, which from our own employer survey in the last year, is greatly valued. We already had a detailed improvement plan against the recommendations in the report and progress against this plan was being achieved at the time of the inspection and we will continue to work on all areas identified in the report.
"We have worked tirelessly to move Code Nation and the quality of our provision across the various parts of our business and help train and secure employment for individuals during the pandemic. We have achieved positive outcomes for learners, and further external validation, including a highly successful Matrix re-accreditation in May 2022 across the entire business, but clearly, we have fallen short of the expectations from Ofsted in relation to historic Apprenticeships.
"Our learners, employers and colleagues in Code Nation can rest assured that we are committed to delivering excellence in our provision and we are working with Ofsted and the DfE on the areas highlighted in the report to safeguard the training of apprentices in learning with their employers.
"We remain committed to creating employable talent for businesses across the UK and we will continue with our quality provision in those areas."
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