Hays Travel apprenticeship scheme achieves high rating from Ofsted

Hays Travel’s apprenticeship scheme has maintained its ‘good’ rating from Ofsted inspectors, with two areas rated ‘outstanding’.

The report, published following a visit on July 4-7, highlighted a “very supportive and highly inclusive culture”, with apprentices and staff alike praised for their attitude as well as their quality of work.

Apprentices are well prepared for employment as a result of their course, the report stated.

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Dame Irene Hays, the agency’s owner, said: “We are thrilled with the result, which recognises the dedication of colleagues throughout the organisation, and of course our hard-working apprentices who embody our Hays Travel values. We are proud of them all.”

Hays Travel, which has about 420 branches, had a total of 215 apprentices at the time of the inspection, the report stated, of which 37 were enrolled on the level 2 customer service practitioner standard while 178 were on the level 3 travel consultant standard.

Ofsted rated the programme’s overall effectiveness as ‘good’, with the ‘outstanding’ rating given for ‘behaviour and attitudes’ and ‘personal development’. A rating of ‘good’ was applied to ‘quality of education’, ‘leadership and management’ and ‘apprenticeships’.

The report stated that apprentices benefit from an “extremely friendly and welcoming environment”.

It added: “Leaders and managers promote a very supportive and highly inclusive culture across all apprenticeship programmes.

“Apprentices support each other and grow in confidence due to their improved knowledge and customer service skills. They are highly motivated and supported well by their line managers.

“Learning and development coaches know their apprentices well, and they use this knowledge to build extremely positive, respectful and nurturing relationships.”

Apprentices’ standard of work is “very high” and exceeds the expectations of the programme, the report said.

The apprentices, who are mostly younger than 19, are well prepared for employment following the scheme, the report stated.

It added that apprentices make active contributions to the wider community, taking part in charity work including sponsored walks and bike rides.

Hays chief operating officer Jonathon Woodall-Johnston said: “As someone who started my career with Hays Travel as an apprentice, I have firsthand experience of how well we prepare young people on our programme for successful and exciting careers in travel and tourism.

“It was particularly pleasing that the inspectors highlighted this in their report.”

The previous inspection, on September 13, 2016, also resulted in an overall rating of ‘good’.