CIH ‘exited apprenticeships market’ following inadequate Ofsted rating

Around 25,000 staff will be required to have an appropriate housing management qualification equivalent to a Level 4 certificate, Level 5 diploma or a foundation degree from the CIH. 

The CIH, which offers the courses through its Housing Academy, also offers Level 2 and Level 3 certificates. 

It has accredited 26 institutions across the UK to provide housing training, 16 of which offer the qualifications that will be mandatory for senior managers. 

However, the qualifications are regulated by Ofqual, not Ofsted. 

At the time of the inspection in 2021, Ofsted rated the organisation inadequate overall and for everything except for behaviour and attitudes, which “required improvement”. 

According to the report, “in too many cases” apprentices did not receive the teaching and support they needed. 

“Apprentices are too frequently left to work independently and do not have regular communication with their tutor or associate, and are not being supported well enough to develop the full range of knowledge, skills and behaviours. 

“When they start their programme, apprentices are motivated and positive about their learning. 

“However, due to the poor-quality training they receive, many apprentices lose motivation towards their apprenticeship over time. 

“As a result, too many apprentices are making slow progress and withdraw from their programme,” the report states. 

Inspectors also found that senior leaders had not done enough to “promote and assure a culture of safeguarding at the provider”. 

“For example, they have not taken sufficient steps to protect apprentices from the risks associated with living in modern Britain. 

“Leaders do not develop apprentices’ understanding of safeguarding topics, such as the ‘prevent’ duty and the risk of radicalisation, well enough. 

“Apprentices have only a cursory understanding of such topics,” according to the report. 

Inspectors found that a minority of apprentices learn some “useful new knowledge”, while apprentices benefit from membership of the CIH and receive “detailed and useful” feedback on assignments. 

“However, the vast majority of apprentices are not developing significant new knowledge, skills and behaviours,” the report states. 

Gavin Smart, chief executive of the CIH, told Inside Housing that the inadequate rating was “disappointing”. 

He said: “As a professional body we don’t want to offer products and services that don’t meet the high standards we’d like, so we made the decision to exit this market and focus on maintaining the quality of our qualifications and training. We continue to support apprenticeship development in the sector as part of the trailblazer development group and as an assessment provider.

“CIH’s qualifications are regulated by Ofqual rather than Ofsted and we are proud to have been consistently successfully audited, remaining compliant on the Ofqual register of recognised organisations since 2012.

“Although the Ofsted rating was specifically related to apprenticeships, we hold ourselves to high standards and undertook a review of all our qualification provision. We have further strengthened our education resources, and we’ve taken the opportunity to streamline some systems and processes to ensure we are maintaining best practice.”

Mr Smart added that the CIH is committed to continually raising standards in the services and products it offers to the housing sector.