ONE of East Lancashire's best-known training bodies has been given a boost by education inspectors.

Last year Ofsted classed Training 200, as 'requires improvement', amid concerns over attendance, and too many learners leaving courses early.

Inspectors were also worried that English and maths skills were not sufficiently developed by the charity, based in Harwood Street and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uclan.

But following a two-day visit last month, lead inspector Andrea Machell was happy with a number of improvements made by the provider, which had 54 learners on study programmes or traineeships, and 961 on apprenticeships.

She said: "Senior leaders have taken decisive and effective actions which have resulted in considerable improvements in the quality of study programmes since the previous inspection."

Traineeships in the likes of dental nursing and engineering were overhauled, she added, while courses like military preparation were dropped.

This had resulted in a higher proportion of learners remaining on courses and achieving recognised qualifications in English and maths, she said in a report.