reCAPTCHA demo: Simple page

Furness College

2019 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Ensure that leaders and managers monitor closely the progress that learners make throughout the year to make sure that they are challenged to reach their full potential and achieve high grades.
  • Improve teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that teachers and tutors:
    • plan lessons effectively to ensure that the most able learners and apprentices achieve routinely the high grades of which they are capable
    • provide effective feedback to learners and apprentices that identifies accurately spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors in their work to prevent them from repeating the same mistakes in future
    • implement a curriculum for learners who have high needs that meets and fulfils their needs and aspirations and focuses on the achievement of the outcomes of their education, health and care (EHC) plans.

2015 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Increase the quality and supportiveness of students’ target-setting so that they know the specific actions they should take to improve their work, skills and assignments. Ensure a greater consistency of high-quality targets that include short- and medium-term aims for students to aspire to within demanding timescales.
  • Improve the quality and quantity of written feedback to students so that they have a clear record of both their key strengths and their main areas for development. Monitor the standards of such feedback rigorously to ensure that students obtain constructive and challenging advice on how best they can improve, whichever course they are studying.
  • Determine the main factors causing the underperformance of adult students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and take appropriate action to increase their successful outcomes.
  • Ensure that teachers, tutors and assessors explore diversity matters more fully with students and apprentices, so that they are aware of the wider aspects of diversity in the workplace, in Britain and in their professional and personal lives.
  • Develop the knowledge and understanding that staff and students have of the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism.
  • Support middle managers and teachers to improve the quality of provision and outcomes for students in foundation English, information and communication technology and arts, media and publishing, so that students in these areas enjoy the same high quality of provision present in other parts of the college, for example in engineering. Disseminate the good practice that exists in most parts of the college to the underperforming areas.

2010 Full Inspection Report
What does Furness College need to do to improve further?
  • Improve those success rates which are below the national average, such as those on foundation programmes, and increase the proportion of learners who achieve their qualification within the agreed timescale in work based learning by embedding effective target-setting for learners, and rigorous monitoring across all areas.
  • Increase the proportion of good and outstanding lessons by fully involving all learners in a wide range of interesting activities which meet their differing needs. Increase the emphasis on challenging all learners to reach higher standards and on checking their understanding.
  • Improve the quality of assignment briefs, grade criteria, marking and feedback to enable learners to understand what is required of them and how to improve the presentation and content of their assessments.
  • Improve the quality and relevance of learners’ targets in their individual learning plans so that they know how best to achieve their own short-term aims and how to overcome their own barriers to progress and successful attainment.
  • Improve the quality of self-assessment by ensuring a more focused and consistent approach to target-setting throughout the process and a greater evaluation of actions to assess their impact on learners.

2006 Full Inspection Report
Areas for improvement

The college should address:

  • further improvement in retention rates
  • a minority of weak teaching
  • improvements in individual learning plans
  • limited lifespan of some accommodation
  • insufficient training on embedding equality and diversity
  • improving governors’ compliance with regard to aspects of the Education Act (safeguarding children) 2002.

2003 Full Inspection Report
What should be improved
  • retention and pass rates on level 3 courses
  • proportion of good and excellent teaching which inspires students
  • consistency of recording and monitoring of students' progress
  • guidance and support for part-time students
  • range of provision in basic skills.

2001 Full Inspection Report

n/a


2000 Full Inspection Report

n/a

Report Recommendations