CSA receive Ofsted GOOD rating in first official inspection
The Credit Services Association (CSA), the voice of the UK debt collection and debt purchase industry, has received the highly sought-after Ofsted GOOD rating for its apprenticeship training provision.
The Ofsted report praises the CSA’s delivery to over 200 apprentices across seven apprenticeship programmes covering credit, collections, compliance, risk, counter fraud and debt advice. Ofsted’s verdict on CSA Apprenticeships states, “a culture of high expectations, characterised by ambitious curriculum content, high standards of integrity and professional behaviour, and effective support for apprentices, staff and employers. Apprentices are prepared well for their whole careers, not just for their current jobs.”
Fiona Macaskill, Director of Learning and Development at the CSA said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved, in particular the feedback from the report which states our contribution to establishing a culture of high expectations, high standards of integrity, and professional behaviour. She continues, “It was also pleasing to receive overwhelming feedback and support from our member employers – the message very much that we tailor to our employers’ needs while sticking to the integrity of the standard. For our training provision to be externally regulated, and to receive this GOOD rating, reflects on the reputation and professionalism of our sector and our members – we are pleased that this result will reassure our stakeholders of the positive and high quality services delivered by the CSA.”
From October 2018, Ofsted undertook to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of apprenticeship training provision. The focus of the monitoring visits is to assess the progress made by providers against a series of targets and criteria including safeguarding and delivering high-quality training.
Harvey Watson, Senior Tutor at the CSA praised his tutors for their contribution to the rating received, “As a team of tutors we are very proud of what we have achieved but this is the end of the beginning – now we need to achieve that next level. We are experts in what we do so want to keep pushing on.”
Chris Leslie, CEO of the CSA commented on the significance of receiving a GOOD rating, “I’m absolutely delighted that the CSA has achieved this rating, which reflects the many benefits the apprentices gain from our courses and the skills and expertise of our team of experienced tutors. Our corner of the financial services sector can be proud of the access they have to specialist learning and development support from the Credit Services Association.”
