An elite school in Reading dedicated to fostering the next generation of business titans has been rated ‘Good’ by the government’s education watchdog.

The Henley Business School is a specialist education institution focused on providing courses in business and management.

It is operated from two locations, one being the University of Reading Whiteknights campus, and the other being situated at Greenlands Park outside Henley.

Henley Business School was recently inspected by the government’s education investigator Ofsted.

The school was visited by Ofsted inspectors as it provides apprenticeship courses that require educational oversight as apprenticeships are for those aged 16 and over.

Examples of courses it provides include management courses and digital and technology solutions apprenticeships.

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Inspectors observed that apprentices are highly motivated and staff support them well by providing helpful tools and strategies.

The recent Ofsted inspection report states: “Tutors help apprentices to develop professional behaviours such as demonstrating curiosity, managing their time and dealing with pressure.

“Consequently, apprentices take responsibility quickly for their own learning, and most achieve high grades in their final assessments.”

The provision was also praised for making good use of the University of Reading career advice service, with apprentices benefiting from up to three individual coaching sessions to plan their future development.

However, inspectors judged that apprentices haven’t benefited from opportunities to “develop and deepen their understanding of fundamental British values”.

To improve, the inspectors said that leaders at the school should ensure that apprentices can apply their understanding of British values to their job roles and training effectively, focus on providing high-quality opportunities to help apprentices prepare for their next steps and ensure that they work with employers when apprentices start their programmes so that work training can be planned effectively.

Ultimately, Henley Business School’s apprenticeship provision was rated ‘Good’.

Celebrating the rating, Professor Elena Spasova, the Dean of Henley Business School, said: “We are very proud of the transformational impact that our apprenticeship programmes have on our learners and their organisations alike.

“Since introducing apprenticeships back in 2017, we’ve been able to develop stronger relationships with employers, working closely to design programmes that successfully address their skills and productivity challenges.”

The inspection took place over four days at the end of June, with the report being published this month.

This was the first full inspection of apprenticeship provision at the school, with the only previous inspection being a monitoring visit in March 2020.

That visit was conducted after Ofsted began inspections of apprenticeship providers in October 2018.