Our National Professional Qualifications “exceed expectations” according to DfE’s NQAA

A recent review of our National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) by the Department for Education’s National Quality Assurance Agent (NQAA), Tribal Education, has found our courses “exceed expectations”, awarding us a mean score of 8.8 out of 10 across 15 areas assessed.

The comprehensive report covers all areas of the course delivery, from recruitment and admission to design of content. Tribal highlighted a number of areas in which Real Training excelled, with 11 of the 15 performance criteria achieving a score of 9 out of 10, and one scoring top marks.

Tribal were particularly impressed by our approach to ‘practice-led learning”; a philosophy we stand by as a way to allow our delegates to make an immediate impact in their educational setting:

“The ‘practice-led learning’ approach which underpins the design of the programmes is a key strength. The provider has used its expertise in online professional development to devise an approach which engages participants in practical school-based activities, which are reinforced through the online platform with structured learning experiences.”

The report also focused on our delegate’s feedback to Tribal about their experience studying their NPQ with Real Training. They note that:

“Participants are highly positive about the level of support they receive, with some saying that it was ‘above and beyond’ what they had expected from an online provider… Tutors have recent experience as senior school leaders relevant to the programme they are supporting and are from schools deemed to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by OFSTED. The engagement of professional partners who are serving headteachers, and leadership coaches with high levels of expertise, is noted to be of significant support by NPQH participants.”

This is borne out in our own delegate feedback analysis, where 93% of NPQ delegates rated the tutor support as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

They go on to detail the key factors that led to the decision to study with us:

“Participants report that the key factors in choosing Real Group as their NPQ provider are the ability to choose a programme which is delivered online and which is flexible in its approach and the reputation of Real Group as a training provider.”

We at Real Training are very proud of the reputation we have built for being ‘online by design’; our NPQs were designed from the ground up to be delivered through our Campus Online platform, not adapted in the face of external circumstances, in order to fit a square peg in a round hole. Because of this, delegates feel fully supported by tutors, administration and technical staff, while allowing full flexibility to fit around the oft-tumultuous lives of education professionals. In fact, our delegates have rated the online presentation of the NPQ courses with a score of 86%.

Tribal summarise the report by highlighting the areas of exceptional performance from Real Training:

•  “A unique provider with a strong history of bespoke online learning to provide accessibility for participants across England.”
• “Reflective leadership with a strong moral purpose, which ensures that the NPQ programmes are underpinned by the values of Real Group in developing future school leaders.”
• “The ‘practice-led learning’ design of the programmes to ensure online learning is integrated with, and relevant to, real-life school environments.”