Ofsted Updates

The College was recently inspected by Ofsted. A summary is shown below:

Overall

1. The inspection result recognises both good and outstanding provision, and some specific areas we are working to improve.
2. We are delighted that our apprenticeships are recognised as being outstanding and that our extensive provision for adults is good.
3. College leaders and staff are implementing the actions to improve some specific aspects of our work with young people and those with high needs.
4. The inspection focussed on the College’s provision for further education students and for apprentices but did not include all of the young people undertaking T Level pathways. Nor did it consider the College’s higher education provision within the UCN, apart from degree apprenticeships which were rated as outstanding.

College strengths

1. Students and apprentices enjoy their time at college and have a positive commitment to learning.
2. Apprenticeship provision at the College is outstanding, with highly effective teaching, which ensures exceptional progress and high-quality destinations.
3. The provision for adult students was found to be good across the range of on-site and distance learning courses.
4. The teaching of vocational courses for all students was praised by inspectors, who found teachers to be well qualified, with expert knowledge, and skilled in ensuring students deepen their learning and apply this in practice.
5. Students feel safe and are confident that staff will support them.
6. The College’s work to meet the skills needs of employers was found to be very positive, with a clear vision, effective collaboration with stakeholders, and with students acquiring relevant skills for their careers.

Areas requiring improvement

1. College leaders highlighted the fact that the teaching of maths and English for 16-19s needs further improvement, and inspectors agreed that this area needs further work. A robust action plan for the improvement for M&E is underway.
2. Further work is needed to ensure that all young students benefit from the personal development curriculum.
3. For students with high needs, improvements are being implemented to ensure that they understand their learning targets, and that guidance on careers opportunities is enhanced.
4. Although many young people undertake work experience, further improvement is being implemented to ensure all 16-19s are fully prepared for future work.
5. The use of assessment to plan teaching and track students’ progress needs to improve further in order to match the highly effective assessment practice with apprentices.