Bradford's Barnardo's team given 'good' Ofsted rating

The report found a very high proportion of learners who leave Barnardo’s go on to further education, employment or apprenticeships. Almost all apprentices remain in employment on completing their programme.

It says staff provide extensive and highly effective support to help learners and apprentices to overcome significant barriers to learning and that leaders and managers have strong, supportive partnerships with local authorities, employers and charities that they use to help learners most in need.

Barnardo’s Employment, Training and Skills helps some of the UK’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable young people to access training and employment across a range of roles, from retail to work in the hair and beauty and the construction industry. Most of the learners who study with Barnardo’s face significant barriers to engaging in education, with many not in education, employment or training (NEET) before they start with the charity.

Geoff Mount, head of operations for Barnardo’s ETS, says: “At Barnardo’s, we believe every child should be given the chance to fulfil their potential. For many vulnerable young people, further training, apprenticeships and employment are a vital step on the path to independence and Barnardo’s is proud to give so many of them such opportunities. We are delighted that our ETS service has been found to be Good by Ofsted.

"The rating is the result of a lot of hard work and dedication from the team in Bradford, our partners across Yorkshire and the other services in England.

“We are particularly proud of the additional support we provide to young people to take them to the next step in their lives and their careers – whether that is employment, further education or an apprenticeship.”

Barnardo’s nationally trains and supports more than 3,000 young people across 30 specialist services each year in partnership with local and national employers, schools, colleges and other charities.