What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders and managers should ensure that learners with high needs who study vocational courses benefit from appropriate, bespoke support that meets their needs well.
- Leaders and managers should ensure that all young learners and apprentices achieve their courses well, particularly those who study at level 2.
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders and managers should work with teachers to ensure that they identify the specific knowledge and skills that learners need. They should identify clearly what high performance looks like for learners and what additional skills and knowledge, beyond the requirements of qualifications, they need in order to be successful in their next steps.
- Leaders and managers should help teachers to develop their skills in checking that learners understand and can recall topics. They should work with teachers to develop their use of formative assessment and feedback to develop learners’ knowledge and skills.
- All staff should take more assertive action to improve the attendance of those learners who are persistently absent. Managers should ensure that college procedures are followed.
- Managers should resolve the remaining staffing difficulties in apprenticeships as a matter of urgency.
- Managers and teachers should further develop the tutorial curriculum so that it engages the interest of learners and helps them to develop a fuller understanding of themes related to life in modern Britain.
- Managers should ensure that all young learners access and make use of the available careers information, advice and guidance.
- Governors should give more attention to the quality of education at the college.
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
- Ensure that all teachers set suitably demanding work for A-level learners, and check learners’ understanding effectively by referring frequently to awarding body requirements.
- Ensure that managers make best use of the college’s links with employers, so that all learners on the study programme are able to receive meaningful external work experience that will prepare them well for work.
- Ensure that managers have the necessary skills to evaluate and manage staff performance; provide managers with clear indicators to monitor the effectiveness of teachers; and make sure that managers’ appraisals lead to individual action plans which help staff improve their teaching, learning and assessment towards excellence.
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
- Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring teachers have the skills to plan and teach lessons that enable all learners to make the progress of which they are capable and achieve their qualifications with grades that reflect their ability and potential.
- Increase the proportion of learners who achieve their qualifications, especially those studying A levels and apprenticeships, by setting aspirational and achievable target grades and timescales for completion. Ensure that teachers and managers regularly monitor the progress of all learners and apprentices and intervene swiftly when they are at risk of falling behind their expected rate of progress and target grades.
- Improve the development of learners’ English and mathematics skills, both in subject lessons and in lessons for qualifications in English and mathematics. Ensure subject teachers have the skills to develop English and mathematics skills consistently and routinely in a relevant context, so that learners and apprentices have the appropriate skills for the industry they wish to enter or to progress to further or higher education. Develop further the expertise of English and mathematics teachers to enable them to plan and teach lessons that enable learners at all levels to make good progress and achieve their qualifications in English and mathematics.
- Improve the quality and consistency of both written and oral feedback that teachers give to learners on their written and practical work so that learners clearly know what it is they need to do to improve their skills and knowledge.
- Further develop the skills of subject area managers to enable them to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in their areas. Ensure that they complete current actions for improvement and that further actions are set to ensure that all learners make the progress of which they are capable and achieve high grades.
What does the college need to do to improve further?
- Raise the proportion of good lessons by ensuring that teachers are fully aware of where improvement is required, sharing good practice effectively and providing teachers with appropriately targeted staff development.
- Increase success rates, particularly on courses at intermediate level, by planning lessons to cater for the needs of all learners and providing more challenging work.
- Improve the effectiveness of learning by reducing the number of lessons which teachers dominate and providing more opportunities for learners to take control of their own learning.
- Ensure that new curriculum managers continue to establish and refine newly introduced quality assurance procedures to improve provision rapidly.
Areas for improvement
The college should address:
- low success rates by learners aged 16 to 18 on level 1 and 2 provision
- low success rates by adults on level 2 courses
- insufficient account taken of learners’ individual learning needs
- inappropriate accommodation which hinders learning
- imprecise target setting to aid learners’ progress
- incomplete implementation of the lesson observation and appraisal systems.
What should be improved
- low pass rates on courses for adults
- key skills achievements
- punctuality and attendance on some courses
- use of information and learning technology (ILT) by teachers and students
- space utilisation.
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