FE Quality Policy 2024/25

BAJ quality strategy

BAJ Academy’s quality strategy is to create a culture of high-quality teaching and learning opportunities. We will provide a supportive environment by delivering teaching and learning, which is inclusive and responsive to individual learning needs. We will provide leadership in the sector and play a key strategic role in meeting local, regional and national skills priorities.

BAJ mission

To be recognised as the first-choice for jewellery training by providing outstanding delivery to motivate learners to achieve the highest aspirations in their academic and career goals.

• INSPIRE: to ignite interest in the world of British jewellery manufacture and design.
• NURTURE: to draw out each student’s individual creativity and vision, and build their confidence.
• TRAIN: to equip students with a conceptual and technical skillset to prepare them for a career in the industry.
• PIONEER: to be at the forefront of innovation for jewellery education.
• CONNECT: to foster a jewellery network to help sustain and support the growth of the jewellery trade.

BAJ vision

To provide world-renowned technical and creative training which INSPIRES and NURTURES the next generation of jewellers who will contribute to the revitalisation of the industry, changing the lives of individuals and the businesses they work in.

BAJ aims

BAJ aims to:

• Have an in-depth understanding of employer needs and to deliver fit-for- purpose training. 
• Improve the career or job opportunities of every individual through a responsive and aspirational curriculum programme that meets the needs of the industry at local, regional, national and international levels.
• Be the provider of choice for the industries we serve for recruitment and training solutions.
• Ensure the learners’ journey and destination is as important to us as it is to them.
• Judge, assess and evaluate everything we do through the rigours of commercial expectation of employers.
• Increase progression and employability of our learners through embedding employability skills into lessons.
• Set learners challenging targets that holistically aligned to individual and employer needs.
• Provide courses and pathways which are accessible to learners of all abilities.
• Provide learning environments to enable learners to reach their full potential. 
• Make investment which will lead to the provision of centres of excellence and challenge disadvantage and exclusion. 
• Be acknowledged as a training provider of choice for the industry.

BAJ values

Our mission is supported by a shared set of agreed values:

• Ambition: continuous enhancement through innovation.
• Quality: technical expertise and knowledge to support the training of highly skilled and sought after professionals.
• Passion: committed to contribute and support the jewellery trade in the 21st Century.
• Respect: a welcoming culture that celebrates diversity and team working.
• Excellence: professionalism that places learners at the heart of everything we do and the decisions we make.
• Enterprise: a drive and determination to turn ideas into reality.
• Responsibility: to each other, the industry and the clients we serve.

Our culture

The culture of the British Academy of Jewellery incorporates the best of its component parts. It is grounded in the values that support the pursuit of our vision and mission and tangible examples of our culture in action include:

• Sustained, priority focus on teaching, learning, assessment and progression in order to enable learners to achieve their educational aspirations (Excellence & Ambition).
• Innovative leadership at all levels of the organisation to create exciting learning opportunities (Quality, Excellence & Ambition).
• Highly effective support for learners (Respect & Responsibility).
• Active communication amongst all members – learners, staff, managers, directors and stakeholders (Responsibility & Respect).
• A commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation (Passion, Enterprise & Ambition).
• Structured ‘Support and Development’ for staff with increased opportunities for Continuous Professional Development (Quality, Excellence, Responsibility & Ambition).
• Empowerment of the learner and employer ‘voice’ (Respect, Responsibility & Ambition).
• Engagement with external stakeholders including industry, employers, funding agencies, education communities and strategic partners in order to best meet the operational outcomes of our clients and create highly relevant programmes for our learners (Passion, Excellence & Responsibility).
• Achieving industry recognised awards such as Matrix and competing in sector-specific competitions (Excellence & Responsibility).

Policy statement

The Academy is committed to quality and improving the learner journey and experience. The Academy’s approach to quality is based on continuous self-assessment and improvement. A business plan with strategic objectives reflecting the Academy’s mission statement is at the centre of our quality policy. 

It is the role of the Head of Quality Manager to oversee the review, update, control and dissemination of all quality assurance documents and policies, in conjunction with managers across the organisation. The Head of Quality must ensure the review and update of all policies once a year. This however is a minimum requirement and it is the role of The Head of Quality ensures that managers check that policies are up to date and incorporate changes in law and best practice.

Quality policy

Our commitment to quality and customer service extends to all our stakeholders. Every member of staff is committed and responsible for the quality of service that we deliver at the Academy. The Senior Management and the Board of Governors fully support the principles of quality assurance and management in order to raise and continuously improve standards and performance.

Each employee is a customer for work completed by other members of staff, and each employee has a right to expect good work from others that meet the standards expected of the Academy. In order to meet the high standards and to sustain quality excellence, there needs to be a continuous cycle of improvement. This means, regardless of how good present performance may be, it can always be improved. Quality improvement applies to every element of the Academy and it is everyone’s responsibility to constantly review and improve the services we provide. 

Quality in our Academy will be achieved by preventing problems, rather than by detecting and correcting them after they occur and by every member of staff committing and contributing to work of a high calibre.

Quality assurance

Our quality assurance systems are there to ensure high standards are achieved and embedded into the Academy’s culture. We use the following processes:

• Teaching and learning observations, peer to peer observations and learning walks.
• Staff appraisals, key performance indicators and feedback.
• Collecting and analysing data.
• Benchmarking and target setting.
• Reviews and self-assessment.
• Audits.
• Feedback and open forums.

Quality management

Our quality will be managed through:

• Senior Management Team.
• The Quality Team – overseeing other BAJ teams.
• Processes and systems to monitor performance.
• Responding to feedback.

The Academy and more specifically the Quality Team will work to ensure consistency in the application of quality assurance procedures to raise the standards across the different strands of the Academy’s business. The Academy will adapt and develop to meet both the needs of the industry, the EducationInspection Framework and all other relevant bodies in order to continually improve.

Quality improvement

The Academy operates three campuses, two in London and one in Birmingham. The policies and procedures are produced with the involvement of staff, to ensure common standards and practice. The Head of Quality and the quality administrator are responsible for working with staff to produce such procedures. 

It is essential that, in addition to quality assurance procedures, sufficient time and attention is devoted to the development and continual evaluation of a range of quality improvement strategies. As an Academy which ultimately aspires to be outstanding in every respect, whilst effective quality assurance procedures are critical to identifying areas for improvement and helping to target improvements, we also recognise that activities such as CPD for staff, and the sharing of good practice are essential to drive up standards.

Self-assessment

Self-assessment will continue to be used as a formal review and evaluation of our performance to check that we are meeting the needs of our learners and stakeholders, achieving our targets and continuously improving. We produce an annual Self Assessment Review and Quality Improvement Plan which is shared with all BAJ stakeholders. Every aspect of the Academy can improve; therefore identifying areas for improvement is an opportunity to further this aim. 

It is just as important to build on strengths. Everyone is involved and the process is only beneficial if staff are self-critical, open and rigorous in their judgements about strengths that are significantly above sector benchmarks. Areas for improvement are those that are below what is expected from our own standards. 

Learner, employer and customer feedback

Surveys with learners are carried out each year at appropriate stages of the learner journey and the results are used to make improvements. Results of these surveys will inform course reviews, Academy management and governor reports. Further client surveys will be carried out at appropriate intervals. Employer surveys will be introduced in a more rigorous format to help improve standards and meet the needs of the employer.

All surveys and feedback will be analysed and the Head of Quality will produce an action plan based on the results. The action plan will clearly identify what needs to be improved, who is responsible and the agreed date of achievement for the issue identified. The effectiveness of the action plan will be assessed by the Head of  Quality and reported back to the leadership team and tutors on a regular basis through the existing meetings structure.

Complaints

The Academy has a system for logging and monitoring complaints. Complaints are seen as opportunities for improvement. The process of how complaints can be made is available to all learners and clients and is distributed during induction. Complaints identified during student council meetings are reported in minutes and the outcomes of those complaints are fed back to the learners.

The quality cycle

The quality process involves a cycle of activities of which self-assessment and action planning are major parts. The key elements are to:

• Continuously monitor and develop quality assurance systems and processes. 
• Identify and prioritise our quality improvement plan. 
• Set performance targets in line with external body guidance and frameworks.
• Collect and monitor data.
• Self-assess at all levels to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Implement and monitor quality improvement plans.
• Hold quarterly quality meetings to review progress.
• Encourage continuous updating and skills development of all staff.
• Drive up standards and promote outstanding teaching and learning.

All staff

All staff are responsible for meeting their CPD requirements and must take part in college training and professional development in order to drive up standards and follow the Academy’s policies and procedures relating to their work.

The Head of Quality role

The Head of  Quality is responsible for the promotion, oversight and scrutiny of the efforts of college management and staff to develop and maintain a culture of continuous quality improvement and raise standards by improving retention, achievement and success and progression rates. More specifically, the Head of Quality has responsibility for: 

• Supporting the delivery managers in the overall management of quality assurance compliance within their respective programmes.
• Provide support to assessors/IQA when and where required. 
• Maintaining and amending quality assurance documentation to meet the QIP.
• Conducting audits.
• Conducting classroom visits. 
• Conducting observation of assessments of all the Academy’s delivery staff in line with quality strategy.
• Oversee the assessor development plans.
• Monitoring and analysing learner and employer surveys.
• Monitoring IQA and EQA activities – see Partnerships below.
• Promoting the design and implementation of new working practices.

Learners

Reporting from the Student Council will also inform actions to improve the overall provision. Learner representatives are actively engaged with quality through their involvement in student council and course review. Learner and customer feedback will be used to bring improvement and change to the services offered by the college.

Partnerships

The Quality Team, led by the Head of  Quality, manages all quality aspects of partnership work. This includes but is not limited to:

1. Reporting to contracting organisations as required.
2. Attending any training provided by contracting organisations.
3. Providing evidence of standardisation, observation and any other tutor and assessor activity.
4. liaising with other teams – for example, Marketing, MIS, Finance – to provide analysis as required.
5. All communication with awarding bodies including mission-critical requirements. These may be delegated as needed but remain the ultimate responsibility of the Quality Manager.

Responsibilities around work with the awarding bodies is critical to the success of BAJ students. The Head of Quality should refer to detailed documentation sent by each awarding body – see appropriate folder in the Quality Drive. Criteria may differ slightly for each awarding body but any of the following must be reported on immediately :

• Change of premises.
• Change of head of centre, owner, or co-ordinator.
• Change of name of centre or business.
• Change of contact details.
• Outcome of internal/external investigations.
• Removal of centre and/or qualification approval by another awarding body.
• Lack of appropriate assessors or internal verifiers.
• Change to centre’s arrangements for secure storage of examination papers and candidate evidence (where relevant).

In addition, the Head of Quality ensures all required tasks are carried out and delegates roles and responsibilities accordingly.

Quality framework

Improving and monitoring quality

Originator: Quality Manager

Issue: FE/QP_V9 2024

Approved: SMT September 2024

Review Date:August 2025