College Websites

2023 Full Inspection Report

What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?

Leading by example, the chief executive, senior leadership team and governors have worked with strength and determination to enable learners and apprentices, including those on subcontracted provision, to be successful in all aspects of their learning and personal development. Leaders and governors have created a high performing culture which brings out the best in everyone, where staff feel valued and morale is high. Leaders have a clear sense of purpose in meeting the educational and skills needs of the communities and industry-related sectors that the college seeks to serve.

Teachers ensure that learners and apprentices develop a comprehensive understanding of subject content that enables them to routinely produce work of a very high standard and develop much sought-after employability skills. In conjunction with college patrons and industry partners who advise on the curriculum, teachers carefully identify the core knowledge, skills and behaviours that learners and apprentices need to develop. They ensure that these foundation learning components are sequenced logically and taught early in the course. For example, in level 3 games design, teachers use their strong subject knowledge to support 16 to 19 learners to develop the essentials of character mechanics, using digital drawing and sketching before moving on to three-dimensional modelling and sculpting.

Teachers are highly adept in ensuring that learning increases in complexity over time. They ask incisive and thoughtful questions and use imaginative and wellplanned learning activities that encourage learners to think more deeply and explore a broad range of related ideas and concepts. On adult ESOL courses, teachers develop learners’ language concepts particularly well by focusing on the importance of correct pronunciation and on the rules relating to the correct use of nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives before moving on to more complicated content. Learners then successfully apply this learning through recap and retrieval activities that extend their confidence to apply these newly acquired skills to their everyday lives.

Learners and apprentices are taught by highly qualified practitioners with up-to-date and relevant academic knowledge and vocational industry experience. Teachers are passionate about their subject and impart their knowledge and understanding with enthusiasm. They are excellent role models, providing inspiration, motivation and challenging learners and apprentices to do their best at all times. Teachers integrate English and mathematics effectively into almost all lessons. However, for the very few learners on the T-level course in education and childcare, teachers’ planning of learning does not challenge them to produce written work of the appropriate standard.

Learners on vocational courses have good access to specialist resources that accurately reflect the industries in which they hope to work. For example, at the town centre campus 16 to 19 learners in level 1 professional cookery hone their culinary skills in commercial kitchens; level 2 learners in digital art use industry standard software to develop the technical skills associated with artistic expressionism in manipulating images using techniques such as head splits and vector art. Learners in level 3 sports and education extend their physical performance by accessing the world-class performance and fitness facilities at St George’s Park.

At the apprenticeship development centre, level 2 and 3 apprentices in engineering benefit from exceptional training resources in programmable logic controllers, hydraulics and pneumatics. They use these resources well to refine their technical and problem-solving skills when maintaining complex industrial equipment used in the production of motor vehicles.

Well-crafted teaching and learning alongside exceptionally strong pastoral and academic support enables the vast majority of young and adult learners and a high and increasing proportion of apprentices to make excellent progress. However, while apprenticeship outcomes are well above those reported nationally, leaders acknowledge the need to improve these further including those who complete in the planned time.

Disabled learners and those with high needs benefit from a very inclusive and caring experience where their individual support requirements are met exceptionally well. Teachers provide them with every opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential.

Pastoral and academic support are outstanding. Learners and apprentices benefit from exceptionally well-planned tutorial provision that is structured around the ‘BE’ model of BE Tutorial; BE Independent; BE Social. This very detailed and comprehensive provision supports learners to develop a precise understanding of life in modern contemporary society and their role in advocating democratic principles, such as the importance of celebrating differences and treating each other as equals.

Leaners and apprentices benefit from particularly good access to an extensive range of highly relevant extra-curricula activities which staff promote exceptionally well throughout the college. For example, gaining additional qualifications that aid employability such as construction skills certification scheme cards, participating in international work experience, exchange placements supported through the Turing scheme, plus regular opportunities to participate at World Skills competitions. In addition, progress coaches closely monitor learners’ and apprentices’ development of soft skills aligned to the ‘skills promise’, which is a very prominent feature of the college’s response to helping all learners to prepare for the world of work. Collectively these activities successfully support learners and apprentices to make informed decisions about their futures and career aspirations.

Leaders’ and managers’ strategies to assure and improve teachers’ performance is rigorous and takes into account a wide range of information that has sharp focus on learning and learners’ progress. Staff who are new to teaching receive excellent individual support and training through a well-considered institution wide professional development programme. Teachers’ development and support activities are highly effective and beneficial in improving performance in almost all cases.

2017 Full Inspection Report

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Managers should improve teaching, learning and assessment in English and mathematics to ensure that learners and apprentices develop these skills successfully, achieve their qualifications and are able to apply them well in the workplace.
• Managers should develop sufficient high-quality work experience and supported internship opportunities for all learners with high needs to ensure that they are able to acquire essential skills for future employment and independent living.
• Teachers should use information on learners’ starting points more effectively to set challenging work that matches closely to learners’ individual needs so that they are able to achieve at the level of which they are capable.
• Teachers should provide learners with useful feedback that helps them to recognise what they need to do to improve and achieve their challenging targets.
• Managers should ensure that teachers are skilled in preparing learners for assessment and examinations.
• Governors and leaders should ensure that they continue to monitor and improve poorly performing courses so that all learners and apprentices are able to achieve their qualifications and progress to their chosen destinations.

2016 Full Inspection Report

What does the provider need to do to improve further?

• To improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, leaders should:
  • ensure that governors hold leaders and managers to account for the rapid improvement of teaching, learning and assessment
  • require managers to make better use of college tracking and monitoring systems to monitor learners’ progress closely, so that they can tackle underperformance swiftly
  • ensure that teachers monitor learners’ progress in lessons and over time
  • require teachers to use information about learners’ starting points and current progress to plan teaching and learning that meet the individual needs of all learners, particularly the most able
  • ensure that teachers improve target-setting, so that learning targets focus on improving learners’ skills and their personal development needs
  • improve the quality of teachers’ feedback on written work, so that learners understand what they need to do to improve and how to make better progress
  • raise the quality of teaching standards by identifying and sharing existing good practice, and developing further teachers’ planning and assessment skills
  • ensure that sufficient learning resources exist in each subject, so that all learners are able to develop further their independent learning skills.
• To improve the quality of provision and outcomes for learners in English and mathematics, leaders should:
  • urgently review the arrangements for providing effective learning in English and mathematics
  • equip teachers with the skills to provide learners with good teaching and learning; monitor closely the performance of teaching staff; and take action quickly to improve performance where necessary
  • ensure that all teachers understand the importance of developing learners’ literacy and numeracy skills, and ensure that they make plans to develop these employability skills on all courses
  • ensure that target-setting for learners includes the development of English and mathematics skills on all courses and not just in English and mathematics lessons; and monitor the progress of learners more rigorously, taking action where necessary to support those at risk of underachievement.
• To improve self-assessment, leaders should:
  • ensure that self-assessment draws on accurate information about the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
  • effectively identify the teachers that need support to improve, and how that support will be provided, including clear measures of success; and monitor and evaluate the impact on learners’ progress and achievements.

2011 Full Inspection Report

What does Burton and South Derbyshire College need to do to improve further?

• Increase success rates on AS and vocational advanced level provision by ensuring that all learners have the potential to succeed and are fully aware of the academic demands of their chosen subjects and that teaching and learning meet their needs.
• Increase the success rates of male learners by determining the key factors which disaffect them, taking appropriate actions to address these issues and by sustaining their interest, progression and achievement.
• Increase functional skills success rates, especially in English, by ensuring the relevance of the teaching and learning to vocational areas and by ensuring that learners study at a challenging but appropriate level.
• Increase the rigour and the impact of the lesson observation process so that more lessons are good or better and that lesson planning and strategies for differentiation improve.
• Increase the rigour of the monitoring of learners’ progress against individual targets in order to identify sooner which learners are at risk and to implement appropriate support and challenge.
• Ensure curriculum area self-assessment reports are sufficiently critical and note areas for improvement by including evaluations of the outcomes of different groups of learners and the quality of work-based learning provision.
• Improve the planning, promotion and collaboration with employers and community groups to encourage an increase in participation of learners from minority ethnic groups on apprenticeship programmes.

2007 Full Inspection Report

Areas for improvement

The college should address:

• low retention rates
• satisfactory levels of attendance
• inconsistency in the quality of marking and individual learning plans (ILPs)
• achievement of key skills
• insufficient promotion of equality and diversity within the curriculum.

2004 Inspection Report

What should be improved

• low retention rates at level 2
• unsatisfactory provision in catering
• unsatisfactory achievements in some construction work-based learning and craft programmes curriculum areas