Quality Improvement Strategy 2024 to 2025

Introduction 

The Quality Improvement strategy aims to provide a framework to improve the experience of all our learners, potential learners, partners, and employees based on our values and priorities. 

Values

• Valuing all learners and all types of learning equally
• Placing achievement and progression at the heart of the learner’s experience
• Providing learning of the highest quality
• Delivering learning that is accessible for all adults across the county
• Responding to demonstrable local need
• Planning provision in collaboration with learners, partners, and other key stakeholders
• Improving our performance through continuous self-assessment and evaluation
• Ensuring the best value for adult learners by the effective and efficient use of resources.

Priorities

• To safeguard all our learners
• Provide healthy, safe, and secure learning environments.
• Support learners particularly the unemployed, disadvantaged, and vulnerable to live independent and healthy lives.
• Promote health and wellbeing and personal development.
• Support the unemployed back into work and support local economic growth.
• Provide effective IAG to all learners enabling them to succeed and progress.
• To increase the number of residents with level 2 qualifications in English, Math and Digital.

Quality improvement objectives

• Continuously improve our learners’ opportunities that facilitate increased learner success.
• Continuously improve retention, achievement, and progression for all learners
• Meet the changing needs of all our community in a responsive and proactive way.
• Monitor and review processes and systems and continuously improve efficiency and effectiveness to the benefit all.
• Establish, monitor, and regularly review service delivery standards to ensure it meets the needs of learners.
• Provide opportunities for all staff to undertake CPD that ensures they are skilled, up to date and able to be responsible for the quality of their work.

Quality Improvement strategy 

The Quality Improvement strategy has been designed to:

• Be responsive and accountable to all our stakeholders inclusive of learners, internal and external customers, staff, the local community, and bodies which fund, validate or contribute to our provision to improve quality and customer service.
• To promote quality improvement across Adult Learning provision to constantly review and improve the services it provides.
• Foster a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement in all our staff.
• To establish and maintain quality systems and procedures, which will continuously enable us to rigorously evaluate, both our strengths and weaknesses and to respond to improvement needs effectively.

To continuously improve the learning opportunities that facilitate increased learner success.

Key Principles:

• Individual learner needs actively considered with formative and summative assessments. 
• The provision is focused on providing a range of learning opportunities, which address individual learning styles, and accommodate any specific learning and assessment needs.
• CM liaise with Learning Support for assessment of these needs.
• Learner involvement and feedback at centre level will be actively sought and used to ensure continuous improvement of learning opportunities.
• Provision will also respond proactively to changes and improvements required to facilitate increased learner success. 

How will we judge our success?

• Improved success and retention rates
• Improved learner satisfaction via surveys and feedback.

To continuously improve retention, achievement, and progression for all learners.

Key Principles:

• That all learners are provided with access to have their support needs identified and appropriate support or mentoring made available.
• That all learners have an entitlement to progression advice and guidance to facilitate their next step decision.
• Ensure robust RARPA process.
• To carry RARPA process and audit.
• Ensure robust target setting.
• Ensure effective initial assessment.

How will we judge our success?

• Improved retention and success rates
• Reduction number of early transfers and withdrawals.
• Increased internal progression.

Meet the changing needs of all our community in a responsive and proactive way.

Key Principles:

• To be responsive and accountable to our stakeholders including learners, local community, employers, bodies which fund, validate or contribute to our provision.
• To actively seek out the involvement and views of our learners, integrating these (wherever possible) which lead to a continuous improvement in our service. 
• To establish strategic and operational partnerships with communities to facilitate meeting and exceeding learners’ expectation and encouraging aspiration.

How will we judge our success? 

• Improved learners and service providers satisfaction via feedback and surveys
• Increased learner numbers and better use of targeted funding for community learning activities.
• Increased contribution to meeting local and council community targets. 

Monitor and review processes and systems and continuously improve efficiency and effectiveness to the benefit all our community and delivers.

Key Principles:

• To regularly update and improve the process systems to reflect feedback from internal and external stakeholders.
• To adopt electronic systems where they will improve access and efficiency for users (VLE).
• Be committed to embracing change and development to be highly responsive to stakeholder requirement.
• To provide high quality service that aims to exceed expectation.

How will we judge our success?

• Continued high levels of reinvestment of surplus into resources and accommodation.
• Improved use of electronic systems to aid communication and understanding.

To establish, monitor and regularly review service delivery standards to ensure it meets the needs of learners.

Key Principles:

• Set, monitor, and review service standards for all areas of activity on a regular basis.

How will we judge our success?

• Increase customer /learner service satisfaction.
• Improved levels of customer service through service standards.

To provide opportunities for all staff to undertake CPD that ensures they are skilled, up to date and able to be responsible for the quality of their work.

Key Principles:

• Committed to continuous professional development as a central mechanism for improved staff motivation and job satisfaction.
• A central focus each year is the INSET activity to improve learning and teaching which is designed to address issues from observations reports in addition to direct request from staff.

How will we judge our success?

• Further improvements to staff and learner satisfaction surveys
• Increased retention and success rates
• Improved OTLAs through targeted CPD
• Improved sharing of good practice
• High percentage of staff who are qualified and trained accordingly.

To provide a quality framework that facilitates and monitors self-assessment, target setting, learners’ views, equality and diversity measures, safeguarding, PREVENT, complaints and compliments and improvement plans. 

Key Principles:

• To establish and maintain quality systems and procedures which enable us to rigorously evaluate strengths and weaknesses and respond to improvement needs effectively.
• To ensure that staff have the awareness and skills necessary to respond effectively to the challenges of self-assessment targets and continuous improvement.
• To use the Termly Data Re view (TDR’s) and Quality Assurance meetings (QAMs) to monitor progress against improvement plans at 3 times a year and to use these meetings to proactively change and update the Quality Improvement Plans as required. 
• To respond positively to complaints and compliments and use them as stakeholder / learner feedback to contribute to continuous improvement.
• To comply with all safeguarding and PREVENT requirements. 

How will we judge our success?

• Improvement targets for in QAM and TDR action plans achieved.
• Improved stakeholder / learner satisfaction.
• Reduced number of awarding body issues which might compromise timely achievement by learners.

Provide an improvement framework that focuses on teaching and learning (observations), learner destinations, course under review, learners’ involvement and value added.

Key Principles: 

• Teaching and learning are the core business of our provision and is the main influence on learner enjoyment and success. 
• The OTLA process for the observation of teaching and learning sets out a supportive procedure to continuously develop learning and teaching to the benefit of learners.
• To be proactive in review and monitoring the quality of courses, such that underperforming courses are identified promptly and increased monitoring is actioned.
• To encourage all learners to aspire to realise their potential by targeting progression for all learners.

How will we judge our success?

• OTLA reports.
• Reduction in the number of underperforming courses.

Increase internal progression to other courses or providers.

Roles and responsibilities

The Strategic Management Team 

SMT will be responsible for driving the Quality Improvement Strategy by actively, and demonstrably, applying its principles to all aspects of their work.

• They will share, discuss, and agree the strategic thinking behind them, clearly and expeditiously with Management members.
• Ensure that all staff are fully aware of the quality improvement strategy.
• Ensure that ‘quality improvement’ targets are included as a Key Performance area in staff performance reviews. 

Area/ Curriculum Managers and Advanced Practitioners

Will take responsibility for ensuring the implementation of the quality improvement strategy within their areas of and at level of responsibility. 

• Provide feedback to SMT. 
• Develop and establish channels of communication for staff to express their views and opinions on quality improvement.
• Make quality improvement targets a key result area in staff performance. 
• Plan implementation of all aspects of the quality improvement strategy within their area
• Provide help and support where needed with quality improvement.
• Include quality improvement as part of their meetings.

Centre Managers, Tutors, Business support and Community Development Workers

• Take ownership, responsibility, and accountability for quality within their job role.
• Aspire to excellence - quality is everyone’s responsibility.
• Take pride in and celebrate our achievements.
• Be committed to finding solutions and prevent problems.
• Be committed to continuous improvement.