The Quality Mark for FE & Skills is a standard that supports providers to improve English and mathematics provision.
Through specialist support, dialogue and professional challenge and scrutiny, providers will increase their capacity to improve. A uniquely focused lens will allow for English and mathematics across all provision types to be assessed.
Its structure and model of delivery increases providers' capacity for improvement, providing staff with a deeper understanding of high-quality teaching, and supporting the professional dialogue to improve practice.
Quality Mark Further Education & Skills can be flexed to suit each provider's vision and can be embedded in day-to-day practice without adding additional burden to workloads. It provides the roadmap for your organisation’s excellence in the provision of English and mathematics.
Quality Mark provides the framework and guidance to support continuous improvement and ensure English and mathematics priorities are being addressed. It increases your staff's capacity to affect improved learner attainment.
The framework empowers staff to undertake rigorous,
evidence-based self-evaluation that identifies strengths,
prioritises key areas for development and identifies the
impact of your practice.
The Quality Mark audit tool covers all aspects of practice - structural characteristics are interwoven with process quality factors to give staff a holistic view and clear focus for improvement.
Quality Mark provides a single framework covering all funding and provision types, including Study Programme, Adult and Community Learning and Apprenticeships. It can be flexed to suit each provider’s vision and can be embedded into your day-to-day practice without adding additional burden to workloads.
Quality Mark is completely geared towards continuous quality improvement, rather than one-off consultancy, and subsequently builds your capacity and capability to implement improvements.
Provide the clear structure and process for new staff to adopt so all staff members contribute to whole-organisation improvement.
The Quality Mark is a standard has been developed in partnership with Leeds City College. It comprises 11 elements ranging from Governance and Strategy, the review process for different groups, and how providers engage with parents and stakeholders. Each element enables providers to focus on key aspects of provision with accompanying evidence. Adopting the Quality Mark involves the completion of an audit toolkit and a 2-4 day assessment visit carried out by a credible assessor with extensive educational leadership and/or inspection experience.
The Quality Mark Assessor carries out an on-site visit to validate activity as set out in the self-evaluation audit tool. Through this process, professional dialogue and evidence review enables providers to gain a deep insight into the strengths and areas for improvement of their English and mathematics provision.
As a provider, you will be awarded the Quality Mark when you demonstrate that the criteria for all 11 elements of the framework are met and provide evidence that participation in the award has had a positive impact on provision and practice.
All practitioners, and others involved with the provider, whether paid or voluntary, should be involved in helping to achieve the Quality Mark award. Involvement in the process will contribute to the development of leadership and management skills such as auditing, action planning, monitoring and evaluating, in a practical context and with a tangible outcome.
"The Quality Mark has really been the ‘rubber stamp’ of approval of our commitment and efforts to continuously improve and champion best practice. You can go into any campus and see how Quality Mark is benefitting the students and teachers."
Carol Layall, Head of English and Maths
"It’s very much current. The Quality Mark agenda reflects national policy and absolutely dovetails with pedagogy but also has the flexibility other accreditations or processes are unable to offer."
Liz Bramley, National Leader of Education and Headteacher
"Getting everyone to work towards the same high standard - the Quality Mark – will help to embed good practices and will undoubtedly improve attainment in English and mathematics. I’m anticipating that the Quality Mark accreditation will become very sought after in FE."
Carol Lyall, Head of English and Maths
