University of Central Lancashire Ofsted Report

Full report

Information about the provider

• The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is one of the largest providers of higher education in the North West region and the United Kingdom. The main campus is located in the city of Preston in Lancashire and provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as higher and degree-level apprenticeships. The university has approximately 32,000 students and employs 1,600 staff.
• Currently UCLan offers two level 5 apprenticeship programmes. In September 2017, UCLan began delivering levy-funded standards-based apprenticeships for healthcare assistant practitioners, which incorporate the award of a foundation degree in health and social care. In June 2018, they began delivering the nursing associate apprenticeship, which incorporates the award of a science nursing associate foundation degree. Both programmes are approximately two years in duration. There are currently 264 apprentices, with just over half on the healthcare assistant practitioner programme.

What does the provider need to do to improve further?

• Use the information on apprentices’ starting points in English and mathematic skills to provide them with clear strategies and targets to help them improve their skills.
• Ensure that apprentices can access appropriate English and mathematics support at the start of their programme, so that their skill needs are quickly addressed.
• Improve the use of information about apprentices’ existing knowledge and skills to set precise and challenging targets to help apprentices achieve the highest grades of which they are capable.
• Reinforce apprentices’ understanding and knowledge of the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism to themselves and others.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Governors and leaders have a clear ambition to expand apprenticeship provision across the university. The university’s strategy supports the Lancashire skills and employment strategic framework to increase the number of higher and degree apprentices in key priority areas with skills shortages. The apprenticeship programmes that have been developed provide clear career pathways to support apprentices into professional roles and to gain qualifications that are supported by their employers.
• UCLan is an inclusive university. Leaders have a clear vision and mission to create opportunities and enable students from all backgrounds to achieve their full potential. These are shared by their staff, who are enthusiastic and committed to supporting their apprentices to achieve their ambitions.
• Engagement with employers is highly effective. Collaboration with a range of employers, including local NHS trusts, care homes, GP practices and the prison service, is good. Staff at all levels work very closely with employers to ensure that the apprenticeship programmes are developed and delivered to meet employers’ needs. For example, medicines management has been incorporated into the nursing assistant programme at the request of employers to meet the skills required in the workplace.
• Leaders and managers have put in place effective quality assurance processes to monitor the quality of the education and training that apprentices receive. Managers carefully review standards of work through mid- and end-of-year module reviews and assessment boards. Frequent reviews involving UCLan staff, apprentices and employers ensure that professional standards of clinical and care practice are maintained.
• Leaders and managers promote high standards of teaching, learning and assessment. Staff are well qualified in their vocational subject and highly experienced. Managers carry out annual staff reviews to identify academic and performance achievements and set improvement objectives for the year. Managers support staff to participate in a wide range of continuous professional development activities, including the use of peer observations. This improves staff knowledge and practice.
• Self-assessment is mostly accurate in identifying the key strengths and areas for further development and improvement. Course team annual reports are detailed and informed by student feedback, external examiner reports and employer feedback. They provide clear actions for improvement, which are monitored closely by heads of school.
• Apprenticeship programmes are well managed. The progress of current apprentices is closely monitored. Managers ensure that intervention to support apprentices when they are struggling or falling behind is swift. Course team staff have mapped the achievement of the foundation degree award accurately to the apprenticeship standards. For example, on the healthcare assistant practitioner programme, apprentices complete multi-choice examination questions each week when studying the anatomy and physiology unit of the foundation degree award. This prepares them well for their end-point assessment.
• Leaders and managers are committed to the equality of opportunity for their apprentices. For example, male assistant practitioners have been promoted to the role of work-based educators to provide role models and encourage more male practitioners onto the programme and into the sector.
• Diversity is celebrated through a range of enrichment opportunities for apprentices. For example, they make visits abroad, including working in refugee camps. Apprentices develop an understanding of fundamental British values. They learn about different services users in the health and care settings in which they work. They understand how legislation protects those in their care.
• Leaders and managers do not give sufficient priority to the provision of English and mathematics for apprentices who enrol on their programmes without a level 2 qualification in these subjects. Arrangements to provide apprentices with support to help them quickly improve these skills have not been implemented swiftly enough. Staff have recently introduced assessments to identify apprentices’ English and mathematical skills gaps. However, they do not routinely use this information to plan or support apprentices to improve their English and mathematics skills.

The governance of the provider

• Governors demonstrate a clear ambition and commitment to the development of the apprenticeship programme at UCLan. They have a good range of skills and expertise from the public and private sectors and education. They use their knowledge to help the university develop a clear strategy and mission that is well aligned to national and regional skill priorities.
• The academic standards and quality assurance committee provides operational oversight of the quality and standards of the apprenticeship programmes and reports to the academic board. Academic board members provide appropriate challenge to managers at faculty level for improvements to the apprenticeship programmes. They set challenging key performance targets to improve outcomes for apprentices.
• Governors have identified accurately that governance arrangements need to be reviewed as apprenticeship programmes expand across the university.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders and managers have in place appropriate policies and procedures to ensure that staff understand their role and responsibilities to keep apprentices safe. They carry out frequent employment placement audits and checks on learning environments to ensure that apprentices are kept safe in the workplace.
• Apprentices have access to the university’s comprehensive student services, which provide a wide range of support services with highly qualified specialist staff. For example, apprentices have access, if needed, to specialist trained mental health nurses to ensure that they maintain good mental health. The designated safeguarding leads have effective links with a range of external support agencies, in areas such as domestic violence, sexual health and substance misuse, to keep apprentices safe.
• Health and well-being are promoted throughout the university’s campuses. For example, there are frequent promotions, such as on world mental health awareness and ‘well at UCLan’, with information on healthy eating, sleep and coping with anxiety. Apprentices have a good awareness of how to keep themselves healthy.
• Staff and apprentices receive appropriate training in safeguarding and the ‘Prevent’ duty. The university complies with its responsibilities on the ‘Prevent’ duty as a higher education institution. Managers carry out appropriate safe recruitment checks of university staff. Apprentices who work in care settings are also subject to appropriate checks.
• Apprentices feel safe and know how to report any concerns they may have. However, despite training, apprentices do not have a good enough understanding of the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism. Their understanding is not sufficiently reinforced.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Apprentices benefit from and enjoy a wide range of good-quality teaching and learning approaches. Well-qualified staff skilfully plan and deliver formal lectures and workshops to ensure that apprentices develop the advanced knowledge and skills required by their apprenticeship programmes. Workplace mentors and educators support apprentices effectively to deepen their understanding and develop their skills at work. Apprentices value the support from employers to access additional experiences outside their normal practice. For example, healthcare assistant practitioner apprentices gain a better understanding of wound care and catheterisation through shadowing specialist district nurses in the community.
• Excellent resources support learning effectively, both at the university and in the workplace. Nursing associate apprentices particularly benefit from high-quality resources in skills laboratories to develop their clinical skills. A range of staff development opportunities, focused on the specific needs of apprentices, is helping staff in the evaluation and development of the apprenticeship programmes. For example, there are staff development opportunities in increasing the use of digital media and the university’s learning environment, to help apprentices access resources to support off-the-job training sessions.
• Highly effective staff support helps apprentices to make good progress and develop the connections between theory and practice. As a result of their training, apprentices have a better understanding of the knowledge and rationale needed for their professional practice. Work-based educators provide good support through workshops and tutorials. Apprentices value the support and frequent communication they receive. For example, online support groups, texts and emails help apprentices support each other and enable them to contact staff for support when needed.
• Almost all employers support their apprentices well through highly effective workplace mentors. Additional support from other professionals is accessed when needed. For example, training in physiotherapy or speech therapy is provided for healthcare assistant practitioners working in therapy services.
• Tutors have put in place a well-planned programme of assessment and support for both academic and work-based learning. Most apprentices are clear about assessment requirements. However, a small minority of staff are less helpful in supporting apprentices with assignments. As a result, a few apprentices struggle to understand what they need to do to complete their work.
• Tutor feedback following assessment is very supportive and effective in helping apprentices to improve their work. Assignment feedback is clear, detailed, and covers academic style, referencing and quality of work. Most tutors correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. However, a few tutors limit feedback to one-word comments such as ‘good’ with no further indication of how apprentices can improve their work.
• Employer involvement in the apprenticeship programme is highly effective. They are actively engaged from the start of the apprenticeship, including in the planning of the apprenticeship. As a result, apprentices benefit from on- and off-the-job training and can quickly apply new knowledge, skills and behaviours in the workplace. Work-based educators work well with employers to ensure that opportunities for additional practice are made available when apprentices are making slow progress, or when they lack confidence in applying their knowledge and skills.
• Apprentices’ understanding and application of equality and diversity and safeguarding is enhanced when it is covered within modules. For example, nursing associate apprentices share their experiences and understanding of patient capacity and consent when studying the mental health act.
• Apprentices with specific learning needs are well supported, because of the university’s clear policy to ensure equity. Their support needs are quickly identified, assistance is provided, and, consequently, they make good progress.
• Tutors do not adequately assess apprentices’ starting points at the beginning of their programme and at the start of new modules. They do not use apprentices’ existing skills and knowledge well enough to set challenging targets, so that apprentices can achieve the highest-possible grades in their end-point assessment.
• A small minority of apprentices are not prepared for the demands of academic studies and struggle to cope with the range of demands from university and work-based learning. For example, a few apprentices are unclear about requirements for portfolio completion and consequently have not yet started to compile evidence. Targets focus too much on completing the year or module and are not specific enough to help apprentices know what else they need to achieve to be successful in their apprenticeship programme.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

• Apprentices take pride in their work and grow in confidence because of the knowledge and skills they are gaining on their programmes. Most apprentices know what they need to do to complete their studies and are incentivised by higher-level job roles on completion of their apprenticeship.
• Apprentices demonstrate professional standards of care practice that meet or exceed the standards required for the various care settings in which they work. They benefit from frequent, additional, job-specific training. For example, apprentices complete additional modules about autism spectrum disorder, Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that help them in their job roles. They are valued contributory members of their workforce.
• Apprentices routinely develop a range of wider skills for work and life. For example, apprentices use digital technologies, and research, problem solving, self-evaluation and independent study skills. They have a good understanding of how these skills help them with their course and improve their future practice.
• Apprentices benefit from effective careers advice and guidance. Highly qualified university staff provide a rich source of information through career fairs and guest speakers. Apprentices demonstrate a good awareness of career opportunities in the workplace and routes into further and higher study on completion of their apprenticeship.
• Staff provide very good support for apprentices. Apprentices access a wide range of university support services, which provide them with support for their well-being and their academic skills. University staff promote health and well-being through frequent cross campus events, such as on mental health awareness. Staff provide swift support if apprentices are struggling with their studies. Apprentices have access to a range of online academic support packages, including in English and mathematics. All apprentices have a mentor to support them in the workplace. As a result, the large majority of apprentices remain on their programme.
• Apprentices participate in a range of activities outside of university and the workplace that help their personal and social development. For example, apprentices visit a dementia care village in Amsterdam and refugee camps to study approaches to care in different cultures.
• Apprentices feel safe and are safe; they know how to report concerns in their workplaces and at university. Apprentices know how to protect themselves and others from abuse, grooming and bullying, including when online. They uphold safe working practices. For example, they understand the importance of confidentiality and general data protection through secure online and paper-based administration of patients’ records.
• Apprentices behave well and demonstrate professional standards at university and in their workplaces.
• Managers have identified that systems for recording attendance have not provided them with an accurate overview of apprentices’ attendance. They have recently put in place actions to monitor attendance for off-the-job training better. However, it is too soon to measure the impact on apprentices’ attendance.
• Apprentices do not have a deep enough understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe from the dangers of radicalisation and extremism.

Outcomes for learners Good

• The large majority of apprentices who started on their apprenticeship programme in 2017 remain on their course of study. Most are making good progress and achieving their foundation degree module assessments. Apprentices benefit from additional qualifications aligned to their job roles. For example, apprentices in their second year of the healthcare assistant practitioner programme have achieved a level 2 health improvement qualification.
• Apprentices increase their knowledge of healthcare and develop good clinical and care practice skills, which they quickly apply in their job roles. For example, healthcare assistant practitioners learn venepuncture skills and understand the impact on and damage to the different parts of the brain following strokes. This helps them to modify their care practice.
• Most apprentices have already achieved a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics before enrolling on their apprenticeship programme. The small number of apprentices in the second year and final semester of their programme who did not have the required English or mathematics qualification have now successfully completed and achieved their functional skills level 2 qualifications. However, at the time of inspection, current apprentices who need to achieve their functional skills qualifications have not yet received sufficient English and mathematics support to develop these skills.

Provider details

Unique reference number 133869 Type of provider Higher education institution Age range of learners Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year 16+ 263 Head of Academic Collaboration Lynne Livesey Telephone number 01772201201 Website http://www.uclan.ac.uk/

Provider information at the time of the inspection

Main course or learning programme level Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or above Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships) Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ - - - - - - - - Intermediate Advanced Higher 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 - - - - 2 19+ 262 16–19 - 19+ - Total - Number of traineeships Number of learners aged 14 to 16 Number of learners for which the provider receives high-needs funding At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors:

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the head of quality, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

Inspection team

Elaine Price, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Kathryn Townsley Bev Cross

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector