Rated requires improvement in 2023, IPS International in Rochester now meets Ofsted's standard in all seven areas, with achievement up from 52% to 65%.
A Rochester training provider that puts hundreds of engineering apprentices a year through their qualifications has come out of an Ofsted inspection at the expected standard in every area, three years after inspectors found it required improvement.
IPS International Limited, based at Northbank House on Sir Thomas Longley Road on the Medway City Estate, was inspected on 21 July 2026. The report card was published on 14 September (Ofsted). It trains 465 learners, of whom 454 are apprentices, and engineering is its largest programme.
What changed since 2023
The July 2023 inspection was a bad one. Ofsted judged the provider requires improvement overall, and requires improvement for quality of education, personal development, leadership and management, and apprenticeships. Inspectors wrote that “too many apprentices and 16- to 18-year-old learners leave before completing their qualifications” and that “nearly all apprentices do not benefit from a planned programme of impartial careers information, advice and guidance”. The provider had been good in 2017.
Ofsted’s new report cards do not give an overall grade. Instead each area is judged on a five-point scale from urgent improvement to exceptional. IPS International was placed at the expected standard, the middle point, in all seven:
- inclusion
- leadership and governance
- adult learning programmes: achievement, curriculum and teaching, participation and development
- apprenticeships: achievement, curriculum and teaching, participation and development
Safeguarding standards were judged met.
The numbers behind the recovery
Ofsted publishes the achievement data it used on inspection. It is the clearest measure of what has actually changed.
Adult learning programmes are the sharper swing. The proportion of learners achieving their qualification was 56% in 2022/23, fell to 38% in 2023/24 against a national average of 87%, and reached 85% in 2024/25, which Ofsted classes as close to average. That is a 47 percentage point recovery in a single year.
Apprenticeships, the far bigger part of the provider, moved more slowly but in one direction: 52% in 2022/23, 62% in 2023/24, 65% in 2024/25, exactly matching the national average of 65%. The pass rate for those who reach the end point assessment has stayed high throughout, at 99% in 2024/25 against a national 98%.
Inspectors credited governors for the change, writing that their “scrutiny is effective and has supported leaders to improve apprenticeship achievement rates and respond well to the recommendations from the previous inspection”.
What it trains people to do
This matters locally because of what the provider teaches. Engineering apprenticeships are its largest programme, most of them on the level 3 maintenance and operations engineering technician standard. Inspectors also recorded training in:
- light and heavy motor vehicle maintenance
- heavy goods vehicle operation
- property maintenance
- business administration, digital and health
- adult programmes in early years and health and social care
The installation and maintenance electrician apprenticeship is subcontracted to Electrical Academy Limited, and Ofsted judged that subcontracted provision to be well monitored.
Inspectors singled out the standard of the practical work. “Apprentices working in the aerospace industry learn precision engineering techniques, such as knurling and eccentric turning,” the report says, and “engineering apprentices use their knowledge of cable ratings and impedance in maintenance tasks.” Leaders were found to offer training “closely aligned to regional training priorities” that “makes training accessible to apprentices where it might not otherwise be available”.
What Ofsted still wants fixed
The report sets out five next steps. Leaders should:
- develop their use of data further to extend the strategies used to support disadvantaged learners
- tailor staff professional development so teaching and feedback are consistently high
- keep improving achievement outcomes, including the proportion who secure distinction grades
- develop careers advice so it is embedded throughout the curriculum
- develop richer, more tailored opportunities for adult learners to explore their interests
One line names a specific gap. Apprentices “in health, early years, business and digital often achieve distinction grades. This is not yet the case in engineering.” Engineering is the provider’s biggest programme.
The inspection was led by His Majesty’s Inspector Mark Hillman with four team inspectors, who spoke to leaders, governors, staff, apprentices and employers. The managing director is named in the report as Aaron Ryan.
What it means for you
- If your child is choosing an apprenticeship in Medway, this provider’s engineering, motor vehicle and property maintenance programmes are now judged at the expected standard, with safeguarding met. Ofsted’s full report card is free to read on the provider’s page.
- If you are an employer weighing a training provider, the achievement figures above are the ones to ask about, and Ofsted publishes them alongside the national comparison.
- Expected standard is the middle of five. It is not exceptional and it is not strong. Read it as a provider that has climbed out of a poor inspection rather than one that has been praised.
- Medway’s secondary school picture, including which schools admit on the Medway Test, is in our guide to the 2026 Medway Test pass mark.
Sources
- Ofsted, IPS International Limited, URN 52533, inspection of 21 July 2026, published 14 September 2026, including the achievement data used on inspection
- Ofsted, inspection of IPS International Limited, 11 to 14 July 2023, the previous full inspection, available from the same provider page
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