Keywords
Citation
(2000), "Tackling standards in work-based training", Education + Training, Vol. 42 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2000.00442aab.006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited
Tackling standards in work-based training
Tackling standards in work-based training
Keywords: Training, Inspection, NVQs
The quality of Government-funded work-based training in the UK varies from outstanding to very poor, says David Sherlock, chief inspector of the Training Standards Council. In his first report, he comments that there are already signs of rising standards in work-based training. Some unsatisfactory training organizations are showing rapid improvement. Others have lost Government funding and closed.
The report covers the first 300 inspections carried out by the Training Standards Council during which inspectors judged the quality of training on offer to about 81,000 trainees. Inspectors looked at the quality of training in each occupation, support for trainees, equal opportunities, management of training and quality assurance. Some 40 per cent of the training inspected was good or outstanding. However, 15 per cent of the training was less than satisfactory or poor and almost half of the inspected organizations had at least one area of weakness and will be reinspected within a year.
The report comments on the lack of rigour in some of the monitoring and assessment of trainees undertaking national vocational qualifications. The council has announced a formal partnership with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which is responsible for overseeing standards in NVQs, in order to tackle these problems. Inspectors found that many trainers had no qualifications in training or education. Training in some occupational areas was weaker than in others and inspectors found particular problems in agriculture and care. Almost a quarter of the inspected organizations were judged less than satisfactory for the management of training. Some 40 per cent of the inspected organizations were judged less than satisfactory for their quality assurance systems.