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2023 Full Inspection Report

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

Leaders have selected curriculums that allow learners to creatively and flexibly develop the knowledge, skills and professional behaviours needed to work and study in the creative industries. They bring together the skills needed for employment and for personal and professional development. They broaden vocational skills beyond the ask of the curriculum to ensure that learners have highly developed opportunities to understand their skills and future direction.

Leaders and managers have designed and sequenced a very well-thought-through curriculum. In the first term, foundation art students are introduced to different artistic disciplines, such as 3D, textiles, lens-based and visual communication, while exploring the design cycle. As a result, students gain a firm foundation in creative competencies before applying the skills to their final projects.

Leaders ensure that they understand their learners well before the start of the enrolment process. In performing arts, they offer workshops for audition practice, multiple audition opportunities and support to ensure that learners have the best opportunity to showcase their skills and potential. They ensure that learners without previous knowledge and experience but with potential and talent are identified. Learners are supported to enrol without barriers from disadvantage, previous school experiences or additional learning support needs.

Teachers individualise their interactions with learners to respect boundaries set by those with additional learning needs. For example, dance teachers check levels of comfort in touch with learners before physically changing their positions in dance rehearsals. As a result, learners develop their confidence and feel that they are heard and respected.

Teachers expertly support students to become more confident in the use of professional, creative and technical vocabulary. They use project work to set the development of skills into real situations and contexts. Over time, learners are confident to use the vocabulary they have learned to describe their own work and to critique the work of peers.

Teachers use practical activities to highlight key concepts. In creative media, learners build their own zoetrope, which helps them understand film frame rates and depth perception. They then apply this to digital production of films. They quickly apply key principles of filmmaking to modern animation and virtual reality.

The large majority of teachers take care to check learners’ understanding of key concepts carefully and effectively. In GCSE English classes, teachers successfully support learners to complete evaluations of their work and explain what they need to do to improve their writing. However, in a small minority of mathematics classes, teachers do not check on individuals to see if they understand the concepts that are being discussed. As a result, not all learners make the same strong progress.

Leaders carefully match learning support assistants’ skills, knowledge and experience to the individual needs of learners with high needs. Many support staff have higher creative arts qualifications and skills. This enables them to confidently support their learners with live projects, workshop skills development and using specialist software. Learners with high needs make rapid progress in developing their skills, with individualised support.

Teachers plan assignments, some set with employers and stakeholders, which build creative confidence and skills for employment. Students produce increasingly ambitious creative products and gain valuable skills, such as planning, organising, problem-solving, teamworking and time management. For example, foundation art students work for the National Trust as part of an illumination festival to develop projection art across Croft Castle.

Leaders have created a curriculum that consistently and extensively promotes the personal development of learners. Learners are provided with many opportunities that go beyond the curriculum. For example, music and performing arts learners are involved in their community through initiatives such as bringing music into local schools and a concert to support Hereford’s refugee musicians. As a result, learners are acutely aware of why it is important to contribute actively to society.

Leaders and teachers thoroughly prepare learners for their future. They provide a well-developed and effective careers education, information, advice and guidance programme that includes interaction with employers and higher education providers. Learners who are undecided about their plans have discussions with teachers and careers advisers throughout their studies. Learners are keenly aware of the options available to them and make informed choices about their future.

A very high proportion of learners achieve their vocational qualifications. A significant number of those learners achieve high grades. Learners with high needs and additional learning support needs achieve as highly as their peers. Almost all adult learners achieve their qualifications and move on to higher education following their studies.

Learners produce work of a very high standard and clearly demonstrate in-depth knowledge, understanding and creative skills, often beyond their level of study. Creative media learners produce high-quality work in a short period of time. Learners who have had no previous experience in media produce stop-motion films using industry standard software and demonstrate sound knowledge of pre- and post-production in their first weeks of study. As a result, learners are well prepared for their next steps.

Learners develop their understanding of fundamental British values and healthy living through project work. Performing arts and music learners discuss democracy and changes to equality laws through the historical and political background of the 1990s when developing a performance of ‘Cool Britannia’. Performing arts, music and arts learners developed a health, well-being and 'into nature’ performance for Hereford AppleFest. Learners are effectively prepared for life in modern Britain.

Leaders and governors are highly ambitious for their learners and set high targets for success. They have recently focused on improvements in attendance and high grades and have increased both significantly. Leaders ensure that feedback from learners and external stakeholders including parents and employers informs the focus on areas for improvement. As a result, they continue to improve the quality of the curriculum effectively.

2013 Full Inspection Report

What does the provider need to do to improve further?

• Increase the proportion of students achieving merit and distinction grades, particularly on extended diploma courses in art and design and music, by:
  • ensuring all teachers are skilled in providing sufficiently challenging activities and are adept in using probing questions to elicit thoughtful responses from students and to deepen their understanding of key topics
  • sharing the existing good practice in teaching and assessment across all teachers in the college to increase the proportion of outstanding teaching, learning and assessment.
• Collate a more comprehensive analysis of students’ destinations, particularly in following up outcomes for those progressing to employment and those taking a gap year.
• Maintain the strength of focus on actions for quality improvement to embed the culture and staff collective responsibility for continuous quality improvement throughout the college.

2012 Full Inspection Report

What does Hereford College of Arts need to do to improve further?

• Increase the proportion of learners achieving high grades and exceeding current expectations by setting and monitoring more demanding targets and providing more stretch and challenge in lessons.
• Raise the quality of teaching and learning by strengthening the rigour of the lesson observation process, ensuring that actions for improvement are explicit and that monitoring is diligent.
• Improve all learners’ English language and mathematical skills by ensuring that they have the opportunity to study functional skills and that success rates increase.
• Ensure that all learners benefit from opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of personal, social and cultural diversity through a more consistent approach to high quality group tutorials.
• Ensure the rigorous and effective implementation of the performance management system and the associated staff development, so that all staff benefit from an annual appraisal and are enabled to work more effectively to improve the quality of provision for their learners.
• Ensure that the self-assessment reports at all levels include the most important issues and that graded judgements correlate with, and are supported by, valid and realistic strengths and areas for improvement.

2011 Full Inspection Report

What does Hereford College of Arts need to do to improve further?

• Urgently raise success rates on performing arts courses by rigorously monitoring learner attendance and progress and by ensuring robust curriculum management uses data and targets to monitor closely and improve the quality of provision.
• Raise retention rates by further improving initial advice and guidance to ensure all learners are adequately prepared for the academic challenge of courses and are fully aware of course expectations and requirements. Rigorously monitor learner attendance and progress and provide additional support where required.
• Share existing good practice in teaching and learning more widely within and between different course teams so that teaching and learning are consistently good or better across all courses. Promote and enforce high professional standards in all lessons to reflect industry best practice.
• Ensure learners are sufficiently challenged in all lessons by supporting teachers to plan demanding work that is well matched to meet individual learners’ needs and ability levels. Ensure teachers target questions effectively to challenge all learners and develop their potential fully.
• Ensure all learners that are identified as requiring additional support receive it by promoting the beneficial impact of support on previous learners’ successes. Extend the support provided for learners with numeracy development needs by providing specialist support to enable learners to achieve their full potential.
• Significantly strengthen the rigour of academic performance monitoring by setting and rigorously monitoring challenging targets for learner attendance, retention, achievement and success on every course. Take robust timely action to address underperformance against targets by implementing recovery plans.
• Significantly enhance the effectiveness of quality assurance and quality improvement processes, including those for the observation of teaching and learning, by adopting best practice from outstanding providers within the sector.
• Ensure governors review and approve college safeguarding policies and procedures and that they receive reports relating to the implementation of safeguarding and equalities schemes. Strengthen governors’ knowledge and understanding of data to enable them to provide more effective challenge.

2007 Full Inspection Report

Areas for improvement

The college should address:

• some poor accommodation
• underdeveloped employer engagement
• low take-up of additional learning support
• some aspects of college-wide monitoring and target setting.

2003 Full Inspection Report

What should be improved

• attendance and punctuality of students
• unsatisfactory accommodation
• retention rates of adult students on level 3 courses
• pass rates for key skills application of number
• consistency of analysis and evaluation of college provision
• central co-ordination of staff development.