The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) has awarded leading UK education company Tribal the contract to jointly deliver a new LSIS support service for the sector.

Known as the Sector Support Service this new provision will build on the success of the former LSIS Improvement Adviser Service (IAS) in overcoming underperformance and driving sector-wide improvement.

Rob Wye, LSIS Chief Executive said: "Tribal convinced us of the strength of their bid by their proven ability to engage with high performing providers and use their sector expertise in supporting those with identified underperformance issues. They will be working with our regional team to help identify strengths and weaknesses in provider performance as part of our organisational health checks."

Tribal has been contracted to work on the Sector Support Service until the end of March 2012 following a rigorous and open selection process.

Liz Powell, Tribal’s Programme Director said: "The success of the IAS has been based on the high calibre of staff, the majority of whom are sector employed. We will ensure that LSIS is confident that timely and appropriate support will help sector staff to improve the quality of their provision and the financial health of the sector.

"Over 70% of all adviser support last year was delivered by sector based colleagues and we are grateful to our sector provider partners and their staff for their valued contribution in helping the sector to help itself."

LSIS is a sector-owned and sector-led body driving improvement in teaching and learning on behalf of its education provider partners including further education colleges, independent, work-based, adult and community learning providers.

The LSIS Sector Support Service matches organisations requiring performance support with an improvement adviser or advisers, high quality managers and also organisations awarded LSIS Beacon status for the quality of their provision.

Advisers deliver direct support to the providers, as well as co-ordinating a package of remedial help that draws on the resources and expertise available across all LSIS programmes.

As the next generation IAS, the Sector Support Service comes with many testimonials for the success of its activities. These include acknowledgements from Tyne Metropolitan College, City College Peterborough, Sprint Training in South Yorkshire and Ludlow College.

Notes

1

 The tender for the Sector Support Service was let through competitive tender for the period August 2011 to March 2012, with options to extend for a further 24 months.

2

 It is a rebranding of the Improvement Adviser Service, a programme set up in April 2006 that worked across the spectrum of performance in all types of learning and skills provider, other than school sixth forms.

3

 The new Sector Support Service will focus only on those colleges, work-based learning providers and adult learning providers in the most significant categories of underperformance – those with a Finance or other Notice to Improve issued by the Skills Funding Agency, and those failing inspection. LSIS will also provide up to 40 organisational health checks by spring 2012. These OHCs are an audit of performance in providers who volunteer to be interviewed in depth about areas of their own performance and quality improvement.

4

 Separate quality improvement arrangements will be made for advising sixth form colleges and independent specialist colleges for people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.