Inspire Learning celebrates becoming one of the best education providers in the region

Published 5th October 2020

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Caleb, Student, 16-24 Study Programmes & Traineeships.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Adult and Community Learning Service (delivered by Inspire) is celebrating exceptional improvements to learner achievements. Inspire Learning is out performing national achievement rate benchmarks for its provision for both 16-18 year olds and adult learners.

National Achievement Rate Tables are published in March every year. They show how well providers performed in the previous academic year. The National Achievement Rate Tables for the academic year 2018/19 were published in March 2020.

Over the past 3 years, achievement rates for Inspire Learning’s Study Programme learners, who are some of the most disadvantaged young people in the county, have improved with overall achievement rates at 82.8% in 2018/19. This is better than the national benchmark (82.6%) and better than 9 out of 10 other local providers.

GCSE results in the summer of 2020 have been the best yet. 64% achieved a grade 4 or above in Maths, against a national pass rate of 31%. The pass rate for English was 49% at grade 4 or above, against a national pass rate of 41%

“I am so encouraged to hear about the fantastic learning achievements published by Inspire. This year has been tough for many people, and particularly tough for some of these young people who come from disadvantaged communities and families. These young people have risen to the challenge and performed to their best ability. 

The results are exceptional and I wish everyone continued success with whatever steps they take next.”

Councillor John Cottee, Committee Chairman for Nottinghamshire County Council’s Communities and Place Committee 

“I’ve got my GCSE results and they’re really good. The next thing for me is a step forward, to go to college to do A Levels. I’ve got 100% support from my teachers and my colleagues, it’s been good!”

Caleb, Study Programme and Traineeship Student (Newark base)

The success continues for 19+ provision where delivery increased by 1900% over three years from just 50 learners in 2016/17 to 950 in 2018/19, whilst simultaneously increasing quality. Overall 19+ achievement rates for all qualifications has increased by 18.4% in three years (from 70.8% in 2016/17 to 82.9% in 2017/18) and now sits 0.1% above the national benchmark.

In addition, the overall rate for level 2 qualifications of 92.1% was higher than the national benchmark (87.9%) and higher than 9 out of 10 other local providers.

 “I’ve been able to fit the hours around my children and as an accredited course it’s helped me with my career progression. The tutor is amazing and helps every step of the way. They give you lots of guidance and extra sessions if needed to help with course work.”

Michaela, adult learner - Mental Health Awareness accredited course 

“Nottinghamshire’s Adult and Community Learning Service and young people’s study programme delivered by Inspire continues to go from strength to strength. The 2019/20 academic year results build on the previous years’ excellent performance. In terms of both young people’s and adult’s accredited and non accredited programmes, the service continues to improve outcomes for all.

We recruit from some of the most disadvantaged areas in the county, and the country, and we’re proud that our services produce above average results when compared nationally.

We’ve made year on year improvements since 2015 and our service continues to grow and adapt in response to local needs. In particular (in response to the Covid pandemic), our service has adapted to better support the people of Nottinghamshire to achieve their training and employment goals. We’ve invested in a brand-new Information, Advice and Guidance team and introduced more eLearning opportunities, and increased our work skills and functional skills courses, so that we can continue to support Nottinghamshire’s residents during the coming months and years.”

Ian Bond, Director of Learning

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