Setting the standard: Elevating your training provision
What sets a training provider apart from the rest? For professionals working in the sport and physical activity sector, identifying high quality learning, training and development to enhance their career can be a minefield.
The quality of education and training programmes can significantly impact a professional’s ability to elevate their skills, performance, job satisfaction and their ability to deliver for their clients and/or employer. Therefore, for an individual to stay current, evolve their practice and develop their career, it’s crucial that quality training is easily accessible. It’s also important that those looking to enter the sector know that the qualifications and training they are doing will give them the best start to their career.
Consequently, choosing a training provider with a strong quality assurance (QA) rating is essential. QA ratings indicate how well a provider is meeting or exceeding a range of quality criteria.
Strengthening the provision
Working in collaboration, CIMSPA and awarding organisation Active IQ are helping to communicate how training providers can ensure that they have insight into best practice as well as actionable strategies to elevate their training provision and support learner success.
As part of this initiative, they have produced a webinar which explores how training providers can:
- Deliver quality education through regulated qualifications
- Strengthen their reputation by partnering with CIMSPA
- Showcase real-world career opportunities to learners using tools like the CIMSPA sector jobs board
Quality assurance framework update
Since the introduction of the quality assurance framework for CIMSPA Education Partners in 2023, training provider organisations have undergone detailed reviews against the framework which rate them across three areas:
- Quality of education
- Learner journey
- Marketing and promotion
Find out more about the framework and process.
Following the review, partners receive one of three ratings:
- Enhancing (three star) – providers identified as Enhancing have evidenced good practice within their operations, processes and procedures and are seen by CIMSPA to be offering the highest quality education provision to their learners/participants.
- Enabling (two star) – providers identified as Enabling have evidenced some good practice within their operations, processes and procedures. CIMSPA will provide clear actions to support the development of the provider partner to ensure high quality education provision to its learners/participants.
- Emerging (one star) – providers identified as emerging have key actions which need to be completed within a specified time frame to ensure that they meet CIMSPA standards and expectations of provider partners. CIMSPA will provide bespoke support to providers identified as emerging to ensure sufficient quality developments to achieve an Enabling or Enhancing outcome following the next quality assurance review.
Since 2023, a total of 144 training providers have successfully completed the quality assurance review process and have received an outcome:
64% of providers have achieved Enhancing
26% have achieved Enabling
8% have achieved Emerging
The remaining 2% fell into the ‘Not meeting standards’ category.
Natasha Eason, Associate Director – CIMSPA Training Academy said,
“It’s been great to see how provider partners have embraced the quality assurance framework. From the point at which we first consulted with them on a new framework, they have been super keen to demonstrate the dedication that they have to ensuring that they are offering the best quality experience and outcomes to their learners.
“The aim is to ensure that professionals working in the sector, employers and those looking to start a career in the sector can easily identify education providers that have demonstrated a commitment to the highest-quality learning and development provision.
“We will continue to review and develop the quality-assurance process and welcome feedback from providers as we work together to shape the future of quality education in our sector.”
The Endorsed Training Directory features quality-assurance ratings for providers that have completed a review.
Access the Directory to find courses, qualifications and flexible CPD
Providers that achieve the 3-star Enhancing outcome following their quality assurance review can become a provider within the Training Academy for Sport and Physical Activity.
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