Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Information about the school/provider
Associated Community Training (ACT )are an independent training provider, delivering apprenticeships, employability programmes, and skills development training across a wide range of sectors in Wales.
ACT works closely with 12 partner providers through the ACT Network to support learners in achieving qualifications and progressing in their careers.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
The provider recognised that effective questioning is fundamental in ensuring high-quality teaching, learning, and assessment. An analysis of sector group discussions, quality assurance findings, and feedback from learners highlighted the need for:
- more consistent use of questioning techniques to develop learners’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- a structured approach to using questioning in assessments to support deeper learning and accurate evaluation of competency
- enhanced professional learning for staff and partner providers to refine their questioning methods in classroom-based, online, and workplace settings
Description of nature of strategy or activity
- Sector Groups: The provider facilitated a series of regular meetings focussed on sharing best practices in questioning techniques, including the use of open-ended questions, socratic questioning, and competency-based questioning to assess industry skills.
- Quality Assurance Processes: The processes for undertaking session observations and mechanisms for offering feedback have been refined to more effectively evaluate how practitioners use questioning to engage learners, check understanding, and promote deeper learning.
- Partner arrangements: The provider facilitates effective collaboration between it’s network of partner providers – and ensures that effective partner quality assurance supports the standardisation of effective questioning techniques in teaching, assessments, and professional discussions.
- Targeted Training and CPD: The provider has ensured that practitioners across the ACT network receive specialist training on questioning strategies, ensuring they can:
- Adapt questioning to suit different learner needs and levels.
- Use higher-order questions to encourage analysis and evaluation.
- Implement reflective questioning to develop learners’ metacognition and self-assessment skills.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
The have a clear focus on improving questioning techniques has led to measurable improvements in both learner outcomes, learner satisfaction and the quality of provision across the ACT network.
Learners are reporting higher levels of engagement and challenge, with most feeling they are making good progress, and stating their programme met or exceeded expectations. Most feel they are being stretched and challenged, contributed to by use of structured, higher-order questioning strategies that promote critical thinking.
Practitioners are now more confidently using differentiated questioning to meet individual learner needs, resulting in more inclusive and responsive delivery. This tailored approach ensures that learners across the network are appropriately supported and extended, contributing to greater learner confidence, independence, and depth of understanding.
Assessment practices have become more robust, with a noticeable shift away from surface-level knowledge recall towards learners demonstrating application, reasoning, and deeper conceptual understanding. This has enhanced the accuracy of assessments and ensures that learner progress is more meaningfully captured.
The initiative has fostered a stronger culture of professional collaboration, with tutors, assessors, and sector groups working more closely to share and embed effective practice. This collective focus on high-quality questioning is contributing to a shared language of teaching and learning across the network.
How have you shared your good practice?
- Embedding questioning techniques into professional learning workshops and coaching sessions for ACT and partner staff
- Developing resource toolkits with effective questioning frameworks, examples, and case studies
- Using peer observation and feedback loops to refine questioning strategies
- Disseminating best practices via sector groups and training sessions