Apprenticeship programme ‘highly commended’

MarkerStudy Group’s apprenticeship programme has been highly commended by OFSTED.

Its Apprenticeship Learning EXperience programme demonstrated progress in all areas, from effectively safeguarding young people to delivering high-quality learning opportunities. This bucks the trend for new providers across the UK, where one in five are judged to have made ‘insufficient progress’.

Interviews, data analysis and Q&A sessions with the ALEX leadership team were held, along with further meetings with managers from the business, during the three-day inspection at the Group’s Chesterfield site. Apprentices were also interviewed and observed during training sessions.

Ewan Freeman, Markerstudy Group’s apprenticeship programme manager, said, ‘We have strived to go above and beyond in creating enhanced apprenticeships and are extremely proud that OFSTED has recognised our achievements. In particular, they complemented us on our enrichment training, including an Institute of Customer Service (ICS) qualification and an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Young Leader Award.’

The Group currently employs 28 apprentices. All will complete a Level 2 or 3 apprenticeship in their chosen subject area before graduating the ALEX scheme.

Ewan added, ‘The apprentices we’ve recruited have added significant value to our business and we want to keep developing the programme to benefit both them and the Group. The OFSTED report confirmed our strengths and we have already put in place improvements to advance ALEX further.’