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Andrew Collinge is known worldwide for his hairdressing. And his Liverpool-based company is renowned for the quality of its training. For three consecutive inspections it has been awarded a grade 1. David Porteous discovers what keeps this provider at the very top of the profession.

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The full inspection report on Andrew Collinge Training Limited is indexed at TD/TNC 92.788. Show less

While most teachers enjoy teaching and are positive about their workplace and their colleagues, self-reported well-being at work is generally low or moderate. Positive factors - such as school culture and relationships with colleagues - contribute to teachers' well-being. However, they are counterbalanced by negative factors, such as high workload, lack of work-life balance, a perceived lack of resources and a perceived lack of support from leaders, especially for managing pupils' behaviour. This report examines different aspects of occupational well-being and asks: (1) What are the current levels of teacher well-being in schools and FES providers?; (2) Do levels of well-being at work vary across different dimensions for example by job role or education phase?; (3) Which positive and negative factors affect teacher well-being; (4) Which factors do teachers consider as most influential to their level of well-being?; and (5) Which factors could be linked to low or high levels of teacher well-being?

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This survey examines the key factors that have contributed to reducing the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training in 12 local authority areas. In the most successful areas, local authorities worked closely with a wide range of partners, including those in the voluntary and community sectors, to develop a shared vision for reducing disengagement by young people. This was consistently reflected in all key strategies and plans. A coordinated approach to gathering and sharing information ensured that support focused on specific schools, wards or groups of young people likely to be at risk. Local political commitment, strong leadership, and a readiness to align and pool resources and funding ensured that individual programmes which had proved successful were sustained and integrated into the overall strategy. The close involvement of young people in developing, reviewing and revising programmes ensured that provision was carefully matched to their needs. The most effective partnerships recognised the factors, such as poor school attendance and a family history of unemployment, that were most often associated with disengagement from education, training and employment. The partnerships focused on giving early support to the young people most affected by such factors, so that the effects might be countered. Finding ways of preventing young people from needing to be permanently excluded from school formed an important part of this approach. The most successful providers recognised that young people who had dropped out of education and training often needed help to resolve personal and social problems before they could return. Local services that worked, and were often located, together were a crucial part of this process.

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This project forms part of Ofsted's improvement activity and professional engagement with Greater Manchester further education (FE) and skills providers, the Chamber of Commerce and New Economy. It was commissioned by Ofsted's North West Regional Director to identify and disseminate aspects of good practice and the barriers facing providers when developing their curriculum to meet local needs. The research methodology and the providers visited by the three of Her Majesty's Inspectors that completed the project are outlined in Annex A.

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British Gas, the largest single employer and trainer of gas engineers in the UK, opened the industry’s first academy to train them. Its apprenticeship programme, judged outstanding by Ofsted, lays at the heart of its ambitious growth plans. The author visited the academy’s training centre in Leeds to discover how the apprentices there are engineering a brighter future for the company and for themselves.

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The full inspection report on the British Gas Engineering Academy is indexed at TD/TNC 93.435. Show less

This report presents some of the common factors that have led to high performance in the work of 15 providers who are extensively involved in delivering apprenticeships to young people. It explains how the providers have successfully recruited young people as apprentices: introducing them to the world of work; supporting them in developing vocational skills and completing their apprenticeship frameworks; and supporting their progression into employment and further study.

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Her Majesty's Prison and Young Offender Institution (HMP and YOI) Askham Grange is an open prison for women situated near York. It currently holds 96 residents although its certified normal accommodation is 128. The prison provides 10-bed residential accommodation and day nursery facilities for mothers and their babies aged up to two years old. All residents are sentenced and are sent to Askham Grange from other prisons. For many residents Askham Grange is the last prison in their sentence before release. The average length of stay is one year, but approximately 27 per cent of learners serve 12 weeks or less.

The education department offers qualifications in: family learning through Share accreditation at entry level and at levels 1, 2 and 3; literacy and numeracy at entry levels 1, 2 and 3, and at levels 1 and 2; information technology at introductory level and levels 1 and 2 and advanced; customer service at levels 1 and 2; business administration and hairdressing at levels 1, 2, and 3. The prison service offers qualifications in first aid, food preparation, food hygiene, health and fitness and horticulture to levels 1, 2 and 3. Craven College provides Catalyst, a programme of motivational and personal development. Learning provision is part-time with most learners attending classes in more than one subject.

Summary of grades awarded: Effectiveness of provision Outstanding: Grade 1; Capacity to improve Outstanding: Grade 1; Achievement and standards Outstanding: Grade 1; Employability training Contributory grade: Outstanding: Grade 1; Literacy, numeracy and ESOL Contributory grade: Outstanding: Grade 1; Personal development and social integration Contributory grade: Outstanding: Grade 1; Quality of provision Outstanding: Grade 1; Employability training Contributory grade: Outstanding: Grade 1; Literacy, numeracy and ESOL Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2; Personal development and social integration Contributory grade: Outstanding: Grade 1; Leadership and management Outstanding: Grade 1; and Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Outstanding: Grade 1.

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Westminster Kingsway College, in the heart of London, has provided some of the finest hospitality and catering education for close to 100 years. Former students include celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriott and Antony Worrall Thompson. The training at the college has been judged outstanding by Ofsted and is as real as it can get, giving young men and women the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their culinary careers.

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The full inspection report on Westminster Kingsway College is indexed at TD/TNC 96.806. Show less

This report sets out the findings from the inspection of the initial teacher education and training for further education and skills teachers, on courses leading to awarding body qualifications to teach in the lifelong learning/further education and skills sector.

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This annual report presents evidence from the first full year of inspection and regulation undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, which came into being in April 2007. The report draws on evidence since July 2007 and reflects the first full year of inspection and regulation by Ofsted across its expanded remit, including findings from childcare, children's social care, and education and skills provision for learners of all ages.

As in previous years, the first part of the report offers an overview of findings from inspection and regulation from across the full range of Ofsted's remit, from childcare and early education to adult learning. The evidence is drawn from our inspection and regulatory visits to providers and from the focused survey inspections we carry out in order to collect more detailed information about subjects and aspects of provision in education and skills. Increasingly, our inspections are proportionate and our resources are focused where there is the greatest need for improvement.

The second part of the report explores three important themes. The first, 'Improving life chances: outstanding education and social care', examines the means by which providers achieve and sustain excellence and, in so doing, make significant improvements in the life chances of the most disadvantaged children, young people and adults. The second thematic section reports on the progress which has been made in ensuring that children grow up safe from harm and neglect, and with the personal skills needed to enter adult life successfully; this section draws on the third joint chief inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children. Finally, in 'Skills for working lives', we report on the quality of provision which seeks to enable learners to acquire the skills needed for successful working lives.

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