Personal development, leadership and management were, meanwhile, declared ‘Good’, which was also the grade awarded for ‘overall effectiveness’.

OFSTED’s report goes on to say that apprentices at Northern benefit from a wide range of career and development opportunities for those who aspire to become managers and leaders within the company.

Lisa Leighton, people director at Northern, said: “We’re delighted with the outcome of the recent OFSTED inspection and I would like to pay tribute to my colleagues in Leeds and Manchester and those based at our depots and TrainCare Centres who support with on-the-job operational training, helping hundreds of apprentices graduate every year.

“Each and every one of those graduates has the potential to be an industry leader of the future – bringing their skills, talent and ideas to the table.

“The rail industry is an exciting sector to be a part of and there’s no better grounding for a successful career than an apprenticeship, which combines classroom learning with on-the-job experience.”

Northern was officially recognised by OFSTED as a ‘Main Provider’ on the national register of apprenticeships in July 2022. That status enables Northern to train other train operators’ newcomers in the fields of train driving and passenger transport.

In addition to classroom learning, Northern is increasingly using virtual reality technology to provide ‘real world’ scenarios from the safety of the classroom.

In 2023, Northern became a patron of the Multicultural Apprenticeship Alliance (Powered by Pathway Group) – an organisation that strives to promote social mobility, diversity, inclusion and equity in apprenticeships.