Ofsted: Multiverse Apprenticeships are "Outstanding"

That’s the verdict of Ofsted, the education inspector for England, who visited us in July for a full inspection.

We’ve been training apprentices for five years, and this was our first full inspection. It’s a huge moment for anyone involved in education.

Ofsted judged us to be Outstanding - their top available ranking. They also found us to be outstanding in each of the individual categories they judged us:

As the inspectors put it in their final report:

“From apprentices’ very first interaction with staff at Multiverse, they are welcomed into a kind and inclusive environment. Apprentices are inspired to have high aspirations by exceptional coaches who are experts in their field

Apprentices thrive in an environment where they rapidly learn advanced technical knowledge and skills...and learn how to apply them in the workplace”

Just 13% of apprenticeship providers receive an ‘outstanding’ rating. To achieve it in every category is even more rare - putting us in a unique position for our scale.

In their feedback, which you can read in full here(opens new window), Ofsted praised us for:

“Coaches are highly qualified, knowledgeable and experienced in their professional fields. They have exceptional teaching skills and subject expertise.”

“Coaches provide high-quality one-to-one support to apprentices. They know their apprentices exceptionally well and ensure that apprentices are clear about their personal objectives and how they will work towards them. Coaches provide excellent advice and guidance.”

“There is a comprehensive set of online community opportunities for apprentices to develop their personal and professional attributes and explore their career options. Apprentices consider their next steps and career options through a mentoring system.”

“Inspirational business leaders give outstanding masterclasses where apprentices are given valuable opportunities to network with industry professionals and other apprentices.”

“As a result, apprentices have high aspirations for their own careers.”

“Leaders ensure that coaches plan a coherent, challenging and diverse curriculum that enables apprentices to rapidly build substantial new knowledge, skills and behaviours.

“Leaders have a detailed insight into the training needs of the employers with whom they work. Leaders and coaches work in an exceptionally collaborative way with employers to plan and teach an ambitious curriculum that closely reflects what employers need so that apprentices make rapid progress.”

“Online sessions hold the interest of apprentices. They produce and use high quality resources that stimulate apprentices and help consolidate their learning. Coaches make sure sessions are interactive through the use of breakout rooms and group tasks.”

We achieved an outstanding level of training while rapidly scaling our provision and moving completely online during a pandemic. We tripled the number of apprentices on our programmes and improved quality during the same time.

Euan Blair, founder and CEO of Multiverse, said: “We are building an outstanding alternative to university and to corporate training, so hearing that exact verdict - outstanding - from the Ofsted inspectors is a huge vindication of our work. This incredible verdict is the culmination of so much work, effort and care that our amazing teams put in on a daily basis.”

Lisa Barrett, VP of Learning, Innovation and Operations, said: “Our applied learning model offers something totally unique: relevant, actionable skills delivered through close coaching and a community of support. It’s now been validated by thousands of professional apprentices, hundreds of clients, and now the rigorous inspectors at Ofsted. It’s a crucial validation of our processes and diligence and reflects all of the hard work put in by the entire Multiverse team, from curricula design and operations to our incredible team of coaches.”

Read the full report here.(opens new window)

Download our remote delivery white paper to see how we adapted to a fully remote apprentice experience and made a success of online teaching.