12.1
The Service has been recognised by Ofsted as being a ‘Good’ provider of education and skills at an inspection in February 2023 and has ambitions to be outstanding. The Service also holds matrix accreditation for Information, Advice & Guidance.
12.2
The Service has a Quality and Performance Framework which ensures that quality thresholds and performance expectations are defined across the Service, including procured and non-procured delivery. The standards stem from the Community Learning purpose and vision and contribute to the achievement of our outcomes and priorities.
12.3
The Quality and Performance Framework supports the Council to evaluate its performance as part of self-assessment reporting, and to identify and address areas for improvement or development. It supports the Council to evidence how standards expected by Ofsted and the ESFA are achieved, as well as against national benchmarking of education data.
12.4
It informs quality improvement in that information from internal monitoring, self-assessment, and external inspections is appropriately shared so that:
- under-performance in quality or achievement against Contract can be systematically addressed through a range of support and capacity building activities, and
- good practice can be built on, with the intent to continuously improve quality and performance.
12.5
The Quality and Performance Framework covers key areas such as:
- the measures required to ensure learner and staff safety,
- teacher qualifications and development to support innovative and creative delivery including development of learners’ wider skills,
- effective processes for recognising and recording of learner progress and achievement, including effective information and advice to maximise learner progression to positive destinations,
- compliance, eligibility, and administrative processes to ensure value for money.
12.6
To ensure that quality and performance management is evidence-based and focused on the Learner experience, the Community Learning critical success factors within the Skills and Employability business plan are distilled into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are to be used to measure overall contract compliance, quality, delivery, and performance of Providers.
12.7
Key Performance Indicators cover:
- Safety
- Satisfaction
- Quality
- Impact
- Value for money
