Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) is celebrating the publication of its Ofsted inspection report after being awarded a Good: Grade 2 overall.

During the week commencing 11 May 2009, the service was inspected by Ofsted, the government department responsible for setting and monitoring standards in education. The purpose of the inspection was to assess the quality of education provision for adults provided by WAES, and to consider the effectiveness of the service along with its capacity to improve.

The inspection also assessed the service for leadership and management and quality assurance procedures. The Ofsted report found that the overall effectiveness of provision, including capacity to improve was Good: Grade 2.

The inspectors found that: ‘The quality of provision is good as is teaching and learning. Enthusiastic teachers, many with good professional experience, provide strong support for learners and develop good relationships with them. The service is responsive to government and local priorities and has developed a wide range of accredited provision that develops employability and life skills for learners well. The service has made good progress in addressing the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. Success rates for learners improved significantly in 2007/08. Provision for literacy and numeracy is much improved and three of the curriculum areas inspected were judged to be good. The curriculum has been shaped to meet local needs and government priorities. Train to Gain success rates are very high. Learners very much enjoy their lessons and their standards of work are high. They gain self-confidence and develop essential skills’.

Since WAES’ last inspection in 2005, the Service has shown improvement in many areas. Teaching and learning observations have also improved since the last inspection with 72% graded as good or better, with no sessions graded as inadequate. Train to Gain, a new provision for WAES, was also inspected and awarded a Good: Grade 2.

Sandra Ugalde, WAES Director of Curriculum and Quality said: “The inspection results confirm our position within Westminster, and acknowledge the hard work of the services’ staff and learners. The report also confirms that the provision at WAES is responsive to government and local priorities through the development of our wide range of accredited provision that support employability, life skills, progression routes as well as learners self confidence.

Barbara Holm, WAES Head of Service said: “We are extremely proud to be recognised as a good Adult Education provider that meets the needs and interests of our learners. Everyone at WAES works very hard to provide the very best experience for all our learners. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their commitment and dedication.”

Summary of grades awarded: