City of Wolverhampton College is one of the leading providers of further education in the West Midlands region and was graded ‘good’ by Ofsted in January 2023.
The college was formed in September 1999 following the merger of Wulfrun College and Bilston Community College – initially known as Wolverhampton College, it adopted its current title after Wolverhampton gained city status in December 2000.
In a typical year, the college provides training to around 10,000 students, as well as over 600 apprentices working for employers across the Black Country, West Midlands and beyond.
The college offers apprenticeships in automotive, business and management, business improvement, construction, drinks dispensing, engineering, hairdressing & barbering and science – and supports around 300 employers with apprenticeship training each year.
Whilst the majority of employers are local SMEs, the college also provides training for a number of major organisations, including Bentley Motors, Budweiser Brewing group UK&I, as well as West Midlands Combined Authority and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
Participation in the AWD programme, including key priorities and problems
City of Wolverhampton College became engaged with the Apprenticeship Workforce Development (AWD) Programme around two years ago. The college had appointed a number of new staff and the Head of Apprenticeships and the newly-appointed Quality Manager for Apprenticeships were researching a comprehensive CPD programme to support the new team and instil a positive and collaborative culture within the department. Their research led them to AWD which mapped well to what the college was looking for in terms of training.
The real appeal of the programme is its specific focus on Apprenticeship delivery and the ways in which this differs from the delivery of more mainstream FE. The staff could see the direct relevance of the courses to their work. Richard Hewitt, Head of Apprenticeships, City of Wolverhampton College
The college was seeking to ensure consistency and quality across its apprenticeship offer, using the progress review cycle as central to this endeavour. It was keen to improve retention and achievement, particularly in programmes where these were weaker, as well as improve both apprentice and employer engagement and satisfaction with their delivery. It was also seeking to improve apprentices’ perception of its provision and to encourage employers to be more involved and engaged in apprenticeship delivery.
The AWD programme provided the college with relevant courses that reinforced and supported its own in-house CPD and, with the support of the Principal, AWD was promoted to the apprenticeship delivery team. The approach was a mix of ‘coaching and empowerment’ with some staff encouraged towards particular courses with most free to self-select. Over the last two years the college team has accessed seven of the live on-line courses with the most popular being ‘Enhancing Coaching Skills’, ‘Motivating Apprentices’ and EPA-related courses. The college continues to engage with the programme and intends to remain involved, using it as an integral part of its CPD offer for the Apprenticeship Team.
Outcomes and impact and supporting data and statistics
The college has clearly invested in its apprenticeship team and is now reaping the rewards. Results are not instantaneous, it takes time to embed effective practice and shift culture, particularly in a new team.
We have invested time and energy into the team. The CPD and other work behind the scenes is important and beneficial. Since we started our engagement with AWD as a part of our internal improvement drive, we have not lost a single member of the team. We now have a competent and settled workforce and are seeing the positive changes reflected in our data. We remain invested in AWD as a part of our CPD offer and look forward to continued improvements and enhancements as a result. Richard Hewitt, Head of Apprenticeships, City of Wolverhampton College.
The college was keen to see improved commitment and involvement from its employers in programme delivery and wanted this to manifest as support for their apprentices in the workplace. College surveys for this year show a 14% improvement over last year with 98% of apprentices satisfied with their college experience so far.
95.5% of apprentices agreeing that their workplace mentor contributes and supports them in the workplace. The content of the live on-line courses ‘Effective Communication with Apprentices and Employers’ and ‘Improving Apprenticeship Review’ supported this shift.
The college wanted to ensure that apprentices had an enhanced level of satisfaction with their programmes. College surveys showed a staggering 98% satisfaction rating from apprentices – a 14% increase from last year. The content of ‘Enhancing Coaching Skills’, Motivating Apprentices’, ‘Improving Apprenticeship Review’, ‘Supporting Apprentices with English and maths’ and ‘Effective communication with apprentices and employers’ supported this shift.
The college wanted to improve success across its provision and has seen a 10% increase in Distinctions across its offer so far this year (March 25) when compared to last year and this is only likely to increase as the academic year continues. The content of ‘preparing apprentices for End Point Assessment’ as well as the other courses mentioned above has contributed to this success.
The college has seen the ‘spin off’ bonus of investment in the delivery team in terms of staff retention. Issues with staff retention remains a key issue for most colleges. Results have not come immediately, but they have most certainly come. It would be unrealistic to expect anything else. The college has managed to achieve a cultural shift in less than two years which is impressive, and it is now seeing this translated into improvements in key metrics across its provision.