Skills for Security maintains OFSTED Good Provider status

Under the new leadership team, which was introduced back in August 2019, the organisation has increased its apprenticeship provision from 100 live apprentices in one location to over 500 enrolled across the UK from Scotland right down to Cornwall.

As part of the organisation’s strategy to be a national provider that delivers high-quality and accessible training, Skills for Security has opened six sites across the UK in Warrington, Watford, Glasgow, Mansfield, Birmingham and Oxford, while in parallel supporting regional and local objectives by increasing its staff base from nine to 46.

In January this year, Skills for Security secured a direct Education and Skills Funding Agency contract for the delivery of 16-18 traineeship provisions, which is seeing strong outcomes of unemployed learners progressing into full-time employment within the fire and security business sectors.

Maintaining OFSTED Good Provider status showcases the senior management team’s desire to deliver a quality training provision while supporting the sector, ensuring that a strong infrastructure of training centres exists.

Shared vision

Richard Cooper, director of education at Skills for Security, explained: “The passion for the sector from our learners really shone through during the inspection process. The intent for what we do is clear to see for all and this vision is shared across the organisation. We will continue to strive for improvements and look forward to seeing the inspectors again, but not for a few years. We’re going to push to become an OFSTED Outstanding Provider.”

David Scott, managing director at Skills for Security, stated: “After what has been a rollercoaster three years of growth, with new centres and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m over the moon to have maintained our Good Provider status with OFSTED. With seven inspectors across three of our delivery sites, the dedication, time and effort expended by the Skills for Security team is to be commended.”

Scott went on to state: “It’s great to read in the inspection report just how close we were to achieving Grade 1 (ie ‘Outstanding’) in a number of areas of the inspection. For context, only 3% of training providers achieve a rating of ‘Outstanding’, but this is our aspiration going forward.”

In recent times, Skills for Security has forged a partnership with The Banks Foundation, appointed Arevika Stepanian as a non-executive director, introduced new cyber security training in partnership with ID Cyber Solutions and also launched a Security Officer Services Apprenticeship in Scotland.

On Wednesday 9 November, as part of the Security Matters Digital Conference 2022, Darrell Gilmour (director of technical training at Skills for Security) delivered an excellent presentation under the heading ‘Security Apprenticeships and Training’. Watch the session On Demand by visiting the event website.

*Further information on Skills for Security is available to view online at www.skills4security.com