Celebrancy training provider, Civil Ceremonies Ltd, which offers a nationwide service to train and develop celebrants to carry out a range of ceremonies across the UK, has been rated by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ in all five performance categories observed.
The inspection in November was the company’s first-ever by the national body, which reports to parliament and is responsible for ensuring the “highest of standards in the provision of education and skills”.
Set up in 2002, Civil Ceremonies has been responsible for the training and qualification of more than 1000 new celebrants. It is the only provider of such training in the UK that offers funding for the skills through ‘Advanced Learner Loans’, a non-means-tested Government scheme similar to a student loan, and operated via the Student Loans Company.
Based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, Civil Ceremonies was found by the three inspectors visiting to be ‘outstanding’ in five categories:
- Effectiveness of leadership and management
- Quality of teaching, learning and assessment
- Personal development, behaviour and welfare
- Outcomes for learners
- Adult learning programmes
Anne Barber, founder and managing director of Civil Ceremonies Ltd, said: “We are thrilled to receive this official recognition from Ofsted. We may only be a small team but this ‘outstanding’ mark demonstrates how we can compete at the highest level on the quality of our training.
“Over the past 17 years, we have seen a huge increase in demand for places on our training schemes, fuelled by the popularity of celebrant-led funeral ceremonies We are proud those we have trained are now contributing week-in, week-out to helping families arrange funerals that are really personal and meaningful. I hope our Ofsted result enables us to go from strength-to-strength and have an even greater impact in the years to come.”
