Learning support process health check

How should I use the health check?

It takes about ten minutes alone, but it is more useful as a conversation. Sit down with two or three people who see different parts of the process, for example an inclusion lead, a tutor or assessor, and someone from quality or the apprenticeship team. Answer each question based on what usually happens, not what the policy says should happen.

• Yes means it happens reliably for most learners.
• Partly means it happens in some areas, for some learners, or inconsistently.
• No means it does not usually happen.
• Not sure is a useful answer. If nobody knows, that is worth finding out.

When you see the result, pick two or three next steps, not all of them. Give each a named owner and a date, then repeat the check in a term to see what has changed.

Why look at the whole support journey?

Learner support often breaks down between stages rather than within them. A thorough first conversation is wasted if the plan never reaches the tutor. A good plan means little if nobody records whether support happened. A review cannot judge whether an adjustment worked if it was rarely delivered. Looking at Understand, Agree, Deliver and Review together helps you find where things fall through the gaps.

The questions reflect the duty to make reasonable adjustments in the Equality Act 2010, the SEND code of practice for learners with special educational needs, and good practice in person-centred planning. They do not cover everything, such as safeguarding, funding claims or curriculum design.

What does a good next step look like?

A good next step is small, specific and owned. “Improve reviews” is not a next step. “From next term, every review records a keep, change or stop decision with a reason, and the inclusion lead checks five reviews a month” is. The suggestions in your result are starting points; adapt them to your own context.

Many next steps are about records: making sure delivery and missed support are written down, and that information is in one findable place. The guide to recording support delivery evidence covers how to do this proportionately.

Can this help us prepare for inspection?

Only indirectly. Reflecting honestly on your process and acting on what you find is good practice in its own right. But this tool is not based on, endorsed by or aligned to any inspection framework, and it cannot tell you how inspectors will judge your provision. For what the current Ofsted arrangements mean for learner support, read the guide to Ofsted inspection and learner support and check Ofsted’s own published guidance.

What are the limits of the health check?

It is a self-reflection, so it is only as accurate as the answers. It does not check any records, it cannot see differences between departments, and it does not include the views of learners unless you ask them. A good follow-up is to ask a small group of learners how the process felt from their side, using questions from the learner voice question bank.

How does Inclusion Studio relate to this?

Inclusion Studio is learner support software in development for England FE colleges and apprenticeship providers, built around the same Understand, Agree, Deliver and Review journey. It is designed to support the process; your organisation remains responsible for its decisions and duties. A clickable prototype with fictional learners exists today. See how it works.