Driving learner success through partnership and collaboration.
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Information about the school/provider
The B-wbl Consortium is a long-established provider of apprenticeships and employability programmes in Wales. This partnership of ten partners, with a shared ethos of continual improvement, works in a culture of collaboration, transparency, openness, and trust, with a vision of achieving excellence. The partnership delivers apprenticeships at foundation apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and higher apprenticeship level to approximately 4500 learners across a range of learning areas.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
The B-wbl Consortium, formerly known as Skills Academy Wales (Southwest), was established in August 2010. Pembrokeshire College is the lead provider, with the contract managed by an independent Consortium Management Team of twelve, led by a member of the senior leadership team at the college.
The partnership consists of providers across southeast and west Wales working collaboratively to ensure they provide first-class education and training opportunities. The Consortium is immensely proud of their progress and aspirational about their future but crucial to success, is the shared understanding of the benefits and value of working together to create a culture which aims for excellence.
Highly effective partnership working has enabled the Consortium to establish a strong sense of purpose and vision for achieving excellence. Partners contribute fully to establishing the mission, vision and strategy resulting in a shared ethos of continual improvement which maintains a sharp focus on learner experiences and outcomes.
Partners work within a culture of openness, transparency, trust, honesty, and quality which enables them to share practice and work together to address challenges which present themselves. A well-established meeting structure provides scrutiny and accountability, with a collaborative approach to sharing successes and identifying and supporting partners in overcoming challenges.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The strong and highly effective partnership working across the Consortium has resulted in a shared ethos and proactive approach to continual improvement. Key to the success of the partnership is how everyone has worked to create a learning culture across the partnership which recognises the value and contribution all partners have in sharing their approaches to support the improvement journey. This approach recognises a collective vision to improve, whilst celebrating the individuality and strengths of the organisations within the partnership.
Partners are fully involved in agreeing annually aspirational improvement targets and key priorities to improve learner experiences and outcomes. This involvement ensures a culture of transparency, openness and trust which enables the Consortium to work collaboratively to learn from each other in a variety of ways to secure improvement. Partners all have access to a wide range of benchmarking data to support this culture; sharing practice and approaches where necessary. A key feature of ensuring this is effective is the importance placed on learning from each other and how all partners are involved in developing systems and processes to support the improvement journey.
Key features of our approach
- A meeting structure which ensures all partners are fully involved in supporting and driving the improvement journey. Meetings repeatedly ask partner to present on key aspects and share their approaches to support improvement. In 2025, a focus on improving timely achievement has enabled everyone to reflect on approaches and learn from those with strong timely outcomes to strengthen performance. Annually the Executive Board agree the key priorities for each group and receive reports on progress. Papers presented include all partner performance data on all aspects of compliance and quality ensuring a level of scrutiny and accountability. This approach has been key in enabling groups to share successes, lessons learnt and overcome challenges within an environment of collaboration.
- All partners complete a self-evaluation using a wide range of quality and outcomes data to inform their judgements. On completion the Quality Management Committee, consisting of representatives from all partners moderate these documents. This has supported partners to develop robust and comprehensive reports with clear targets for improvement. Once final documents are submitted these are also scrutinised by the Executive Board.
- Comprehensive and robust quality assurance processes developed in collaboration with partners ensure processes provide a sharp robust focus on learner and employer experiences, learning and teaching and improving outcomes for all. Quality assurance approaches used are evaluated annually by the Quality Management Committee to ensure the intelligence captured supports improvement. An annual quality review process, fostered as a critical friend approach includes reviewers from across the partnership in completing a range of activities. Activities include peer observations, learner and employer focus groups and meetings with practitioners. Focuses for the review are agreed annually and the report and action plan developed in collaboration. Strong and effective practice and areas for developments are disseminated through our conferences, meetings and task and finish groups.
- Since 2016, annual practitioner conferences have focused on disseminating practice and shared ambition for excellence across our network. The agenda is developed in partnership with the Quality Management Committee reflecting areas of focus from the annual quality review process, quality assurance intelligence or aspects detailed within our quality development plan. The workshops are delivered by staff from across the partnership providing an excellent opportunity to learn from each other. These events are evaluated annually, and impact is measured through comprehensive quality assurance processes. Workshops have included developing critical thinking skills, approaches to stretch and challenge, effective questioning, embedding cross cutting themes and supporting learners who not English as a first language. Events have also developed shared resources.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
There have been multi-faceted benefits and impacts from this approach to working in partnership. This has enabled achievement of outcomes for apprentices which were all above the final national comparator for 23/24, overall, and across all levels. Beyond outcomes collaboration ensures that we a positive culture is created that continually looks to enhance learners’ experiences.
A key feature has been how partners work collaboratively to agree and promote the high standards expected of learners and staff and how dissemination and sharing of effective practice is ensured which is meaningful and aligned with aspects requiring improvement. A culture of professional learning means partners and their staff benefit from working together to support the improvement journey.
How have you shared your good practice?
- Meeting structure and contract review meetings
- Practitioner Conferences
- Case studies
- Practice sharing agenda items
- Task and finish groups
- Quality review process