On-demand webinar

The Quality Series #2: Prioritising Equality

Name: The Quality Series #2: Prioritising Equality
Start: 2021-11-11T00:00:00.000Z

Marina Gaze, Beej Kaczmarczyk and Kelly Townend on practical ways to put equality at the centre of quality, from initial assessment to staff training. Recorded in 2021.

Recorded · 11 November 2021

This is an older recording. Some of it is out of date: see what's still relevant and what has changed.

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The Quality Series #2: Prioritising Equality

Speakers

Dr Louise Karwowski
Former VP Neuro-inclusion Training, Cognassist
Marina Gaze
Former Deputy Director, FE and Skills, Ofsted, Independent
Beej Kaczmarczyk
Director, Learning Curve Group
Kelly Townend
Quality Manager, West Yorkshire Learning Provider Network

Prioritising Equality

Part 2 of The Quality Series looks at practical ways your organisation can prioritise equality in everything it does. Dr Louise Karwowski is joined by Marina Gaze, former Deputy Director for FE and Skills at Ofsted; Beej Kaczmarczyk, a director at Learning Curve Group; and Kelly Townend, Quality Manager at the West Yorkshire Learning Provider Network.

“I can’t see equality as something separate from quality. I just see them so integrated.” Beej Kaczmarczyk

What we cover

Why a strong starting-point assessment matters
Closing the gap between equality policy and what happens in practice
Supporting staff, employers and mentors with ongoing training
Where to start: small, practical first steps

Part 3 of the series, Embedding Equality, follows on.

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Recorded November 2021 · reviewed October 2026

What's still relevant

Why a strong starting-point assessment, done before the programme begins and by the right person, sets up everything that follows.
How equality has to show up in practice, not just in policy: leaders go and see delivery and ask learners how it feels.
Why staff training must be ongoing and tested for impact, and why employers and workplace mentors need support too.
The panel's advice to start small, with recruitment, marketing and starting points, rather than a root-and-branch review.

What's out of date

Inspection grades (from 31:55). An inadequate grade for leadership and management is described as the consequence if leaders don't put equality into practice. Now: Ofsted's renewed framework, in use since November 2025, gives report cards on a five-point scale with no overall grade, and grades inclusion in its own right.
Intent, implementation and impact (from 7:38). The quality framework is described as breaking down the inspection framework's intent, implementation and impact. Now: The three I's are not a requirement of the renewed framework, though they remain a sound way to structure evidence.
Initial assessment rules (from 4:34). It says the ESFA requires initial and diagnostic assessment of English, maths and digital skills for apprenticeships. Now: The ESFA closed in March 2025; DWP's 2026 to 2027 rules require an initial assessment covering four areas, with English and maths assessment mandatory only at 16 to 18.
Where guidance lives (from 4:57). It points to reasonable adjustments guidance on the Institute for Apprenticeships' website. Now: IfATE was abolished on 1 June 2025 and its functions moved to DfE and Skills England; check current guidance.
Functional skills exemptions (from 43:16). The panel wants the limited exemptions from functional skills for learners with a learning difficulty or disability extended. Now: Under the 2026 to 2027 rules, an apprentice with an EHC plan or a thorough, evidence-based assessment by an appropriate professional can use the Entry Level 3 English and maths flexibility; self-declaration alone isn't enough.