Issue date: 1st July 2024
Renewal date: July 2025
Author: Olivia Woodhams, Skills & Quality Assurance Manager
Approved by: Joanna Mulgrew, Skills Academy Lead
Notes: Please also refer to HBXL’s Quality Management System.

1.     Aims and Scope

HBXL Group is committed to delivering high quality training for all learners. In order to help learners achieve the best possible outcomes, HBXL aims to continuously improve the quality of its educational provision in response to learner and employer feedback.

This document sets out HBXL’s governance structure. It also outlines HBXL’s approach to quality assurance.

2.     Governance

HBXL is a small private provider and as such does not have a separate board of governors, instead the Skills Academy Lead whose role it is to oversee and ensure;

  • Clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  • Financial performance of the Training arm of the business and ensure funding is well spent.

Separately, the Skills & Quality Assurance Manager (SQAM) holds the Skills Academy Lead to account for educational provision performance, that of its learners, and staff performance management to meet EIF Framework.

3.     Quality Assurance

HBXL’s approach to continuous quality improvement is based on a robust Quality Management System which comprises several strands.

A review, evaluation and planning cycle is in place to identify priority areas for continuous improvement and development. The HBXL Skills Academy has a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) which is officially reviewed and updated on a quarterly basis. In addition, an annual Self-assessment report (SAR) is used to review systems, processes, teaching standards, plus learner and employer feedback.

Quality of Curriculum

Based on its work with SME building firms over the last 24 years, HBXL’s courses have been developed to meet the digital and business needs of SMEs. The majority of learners on HBXL courses work for their own building firm, either as an employee or sole trader. Therefore, the learners are often employers as well and this continuous contact with employers shapes our curriculum directly.

HBXL routinely obtain feedback from self-employed learners and employers of employee learners via close-out meetings and surveys at the end of each course. These feedback mechanisms enable learners and employers to provide input which shapes our provision for the next cohort. Before each cohort commences, the curriculum plan is reviewed and updated in response to learner and employer feedback.

Quality of Teaching

Learner numbers are restricted to between 4 and 12 learners per course, to ensure sufficient opportunities for peer interaction and optimal tutor: learner ratios.

Quarterly observations of each tutor enable the senior leadership team to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning. During these observations, the senior leadership team monitor the quality of learning materials, pitch and pace of delivery, the tutors’ subject knowledge and their interaction with learners. A key focus of these observations is learner progression. Recommendations are given to tutors on ways in which they can improve their planning and delivery. Tutors also have opportunities to observe one another and share best practice in peer-to-peer observations.

Lesson plans and materials are critically reviewed by the QTS level SQAM and ongoing lesson planning support and mentorship is provided by the SQAM. Tutors are offered opportunities for continuous professional development where areas for development are identified during lesson observations or team meetings. In addition, tutor assessments are moderated by the SQAM during each assessment milestone.

Staff Training and Continuous Professional Development

Thorough recruitment checks and staff inductions, underpinned by a staff code of conduct and tutor standards, are in place to ensure staff are suitable and capable of delivering high quality education.

All tutors have been recruited on the basis of extensive technical, industry experience. They have strong subject knowledge in the area of the curriculum they are delivering. All tutors continue to work in roles in the construction and software sectors, alongside delivering our courses, to ensure knowledge and skills remain relevant and up-to-date. This helps the HBXL Skills Academy to maintain alignment of the curriculum with the skills needs of learners and the industry today.

All tutors attend “train the trainer” courses to strengthen their knowledge, skills and understanding of pedagogy, with a specific focus on online training delivery. All tutors attend Adult Safeguarding, Prevent and GDPR training and refresh their knowledge through annual training. A formal training log records training attendance and highlights when refreshers are due.

Bi-annual staff appraisals are an opportunity for tutors and the senior leadership team to discuss areas for development, set targets and agree actions to help tutors to further develop their pedagogic skills and subject knowledge.

Obtaining Feedback from Learners and Employers

A broad range of monitoring processes are employed to enable HBXL to evaluate the impact of its courses on learners and employers, identify areas for development and enhance our provision accordingly.

Feedback from learners and employers, where appropriate, is elicited during close-out meetings and surveys. These provide a forum for learners to give individual feedback on their course experience and to offer their opinions on the strengths and areas for development of the course. In addition, learners are invited to give feedback via an email link enclosed in each module follow-up email.

Suitability of Candidates

Prior to course commencement, the HBXL Skills Academy ensures that learners have the skills they need to succeed on their course. Suitability is assessed during a multi-stage process which includes an initial assessment meeting, identification and eligibility check, training needs analysis meeting and Maths and English initial assessment.

Learner Attendance, Progress and Achievement

Weekly staff meetings allow the Skills Bootcamp Lead, SQAM, Tutors and Learner Engagement Manager to review attendance, progress and outcomes for each learner. These meetings are used to identify learners who may need additional pastoral or academic support to achieve positive outcomes.

Before commencing, each learner completes a “Skills Scan” self-assessment to establish a baseline of their knowledge, skills and understanding on the course subject. This Skills Scan is repeated at the end of each course to demonstrate progress against the key course skills.

Learner portfolio and homework submissions are assessed at two interim assessment points and at one final assessment point. The interim assessments enable tutors to track progress, give rapid feedback on next steps and identify where learners may need additional tutor input, either during group learning sessions or through additional 1:1 sessions.

As part of QIP, learner milestone data is monitored from monthly DfE Data Returns to ensure overall performance of each cohort is on track.

Compliance

HBXL have the following policies in place:

  • Learner Attendance Policy
  • Learner Behaviour and Disciplinary Policy
  • Learner Anti-Bullying and Anti-Harassment Policy
  • Health Safety and Welfare Policy
  • Cyber Security Policy
  • GDPR Policy
  • Prevent Policy & Risk Assessment
  • Adult Safeguarding Policy and Procedure
  • Modern Slavery Policy
  • Anti-corruption and Bribery Policy
  • Equality & Diversity Policy
  • Complaints, Appeals and Whistleblowing Policy
  • Conflict of Interest Policy
  • Maladministration and Malpractice Policy

These policies are designed to log, manage, escalate and resolve issues, complaints and risks.

Subcontractor Quality and Compliance

Subcontractor agreements are in place with all subcontract tutors.

Subcontractor delivery is subject to the same quality assurance checks as HBXL tutors including:

  • Quarterly observations of subcontract tutors
  • Continuous tutor mentorship
  • Lesson plans and material critically reviewed
  • Subcontractors attend weekly staff meetings so they operate to HBXL standards
  • Subcontractor SLAs in place.

As part of Safer Recruitment, subcontractors are DBS checked and provide HBXL with evidence including, insurance, GDPR, Adult Safeguarding and Prevent policies. This is managed by the SQAM.