Every week, Ofstedcarry out hundreds ofinspections and regula-tory visits throughoutEngland and publishthe results online. Theyhelp providers that are

not yet of good standard to improve andmonitor their progress and share with themthe best practice they find. This requiresthousands of specialist Inspectors to assesssocial care services, schools and further edu-cation providers. They need to understandthe specific best practice and legislation fortheir sectors, but also possess strong analyti-cal, communication and interpersonal skills.

GatenbySanderson started working withOfsted in 2012. We have designed,delivered and managed assessment centresfor a range of posts, including Inspector andSenior Inspector roles.

The unique requirements of these roles, withcandidates who are very experienced in theirsectors but have not necessarily practised anInspector role, meant that the design of theassessment centres was critical. We workedclosely with Ofsted to design exercises whichreflected the nature of the roles, giving candi-dates an insight into life as an Inspector, aswell as providing an objective and fair meas-ure of how effectively they could turn theirexisting skills and experience to a differentrole.

Even where we've appearedto ask the impossible, theyhave gone the extra mile todevelop quick, efficientsolutions.

Stuart Perkins, Head of Talent & ResourcingOfsted

Role plays were designed assessinginteractions with both external providersand internal team colleagues, along withpresentation and written exercises. Ourassessment centres provide objectiveevidence of candidates' capabilities forinterview panels and results are availablewithin 24 hours, even during times ofhigh volume assessment; as many as 45reports have been produced in 2 days.

To date, GatenbySanderson has assessedover 1000 candidates at assessmentcentres, offering supportive, formativefeedback to all applicants. This hasensured a positive candidate experienceand developmental opportunity, evenfor those who were unsuccessful.

Ofsted's resourcing team were able toleave the burden of booking, organising,and running the assessment centres toour capable experts, allowing them toobserve candidates alongside ourassessment team.

How do you assess high volumes of candidates to identifythose with the skills that you need?

”

“

Enhancing Efficiency

Throughout our working relationship withOfsted, we have continuously worked toenhance and develop the assessment proc-ess. More recently, our online solutionshave enabled candidates all over the coun-try to complete assessments at their con-venience. This has supported Ofsted insifting candidates based on their technicalknowledge, analysis and written communi-cation skills quickly and cost-effectively.Over a period of a few days our robustplatforms and support helpline enabledthousands of candidates to complete theon-line assessment.

Having worked closely with us in the earlystages of assessment design and delivery,Ofsted's team now conduct a large propor-tion of their assessment work themselves,with our support as and when required, orfor specific roles.

GatenbySanderson Offices

Leeds Office14 King Street, Leeds, LS1 2HLTelephone 0113 205 6071

London Office12 Appold Street, London, EC2A 2AWTelephone 020 7426 3960

Birmingham OfficeNew Oxford House, 16 Waterloo Street,Birmingham, B2 5UGTelephone 0121 644 5700

“GS has been highly adaptive

and flexible to keep pacewith our organisational

change, demonstrating clearcommitment and

understanding of ourobjective. There have beennumerous occasions wherecandidates have fed back

that the assessment processwas highly developmental

for them.

”

For further information on our innovativeassessment and development solutions,please contact Emmie Blower on:020 7426 3978 oremmie.blower@gatenbysanderson.com

Stuart Perkins, Head of Talent & ResourcingOfsted