learndirect Reviews

Questions need asking however about what went wrong between 2013-2017. It’s easy to point fingers at individuals and like any big business there were plenty of pantomime villains . But enter stage left the big elephant in the room . The private equity arm of a bank bailed out by the taxpayer who raped the business, saddled it with debt and presided over a number a highly questionable deals with other businesses in their portfolio. Remembering that learndirect was a business funded by taxpayers it is in my opinion a scandal how the Owners operated. They come out of this with no credit having ruined a great business which was there to help people who needed support in life. The recent accounts published are littered with reports of abandoned deals, aborted projects costing millions. Whoever presided over these decisions will no doubt be revealed however the owners should take total responsibility for this shambolic Financial and strategic mis-management. A situation then unfolded where all the good things that went on before were sidelined in favour of profits. People in suits then start swanning around and power dressers looking for the next line on there CV and it was a recipe for disaster. It was like a scene from the Apprentice . Ultimately salesman and Educators are different people and is was a poor fit with differing views. You can’t sell Education it’s about helping people improve their lives, The recent Ofsted hardly came as a no surprise to many who were saddened that Advice was not listened to. There were simply too many people climbing a career ladder quite happy to build little empires and take credit for others good work. Many were a poor fit well in an education business. New senior People turned up regularly from god knows where and disappeared just as quickly . It’s seemed like every Friday night at the pub people told to ask any old mate to get involved . That’s speak volumes . People didn’t rate many and they didn’t help themselves either. It was even sadder when Quality people had been let go to save a few quid. The last few years were hard work, not particularly enjoyable and work became a chore when it was once enjoyable. A 1980s culture with micro management thrown in for good measure then created poor atmosphere across the whole business. It was like being in a real life version of “The Office” at times with a few characters who wouldnt have been out of place on the Alan Partridge show. Some of the secrecy around the recent inspection created an air of suspicion and was a big mistake when a bit of honesty would have been better , a botched redundancy process follows and the business left with a reputation in tatters. A terribly sad state of affairs for those who cared about the business.

Oh boy, where to start! The Ofsted grade was deserved and dates back to the greedy bums on seats culture of the business that proceeded the years prior to the inspection. Management got greedy and piled on far to many learners who had no reason or need to complete a qualification. At the same time, they closed centres and allowed quality to slip, giving assessors zero support with caseloads far too high. Other costs were stripped back with salaries way below the industry average, no pay rise for years and working hours and travel far higher than is healthy for a decent quality of life. Sadly, the SMT did not learn and this still remains the case. Post inspection, a throw anything at the problem and see what sticks solution has been the order of the day. Rather than tackle the issues, most managers and directors (that Welsh woman being particularly horrendous) have taken to manipulating the data and will think nothing of ruining your Monday by emailing a particularly user unfriendly spreadsheet covered in red to show you where you are going wrong. These managers will imply and harrass you to upload any old rubbish to tick a box so that the learner shows as making progress. If you refuse, you will simply be bullied until you can’t take it anymore. On the rare occasions that you can see 50 odd learners within a month scattered over far too large a geographical area, complete a review, update the ILP, obtain off the job evidence, make progress within their main aim, support them with functional skills, speak with the employer to show engagement and upload their work within a reasonable period of time then don’t worry - learndirect will still spoil your day by adding to your woes with a stupid incentive such as “embracing excellence”. This pointless idea requires the assessor to “prove” how they meet the standard of excellence by sending off evidence for their line manager to review on a range of topics communicated weekly. Is this not the remit of quality assurance? It is yet the latest in a long line of tasks that seem to serve no purpose other than to add to the workload of an already stressed and demotivated workforce. This business is beyond saving. A real shame. As JHP, it was staffed by a team of managers, assessors, admin staff and sales people who cared and had the flexibility to do a decent job and make a real difference in learners lives. Learndirect and the SMT have ruined this company and should hang their heads in shame. Re-naming it LDA is just a way to con some further cash for a few extra years. Disgraceful.