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2021 Full Inspection Report

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

Leaders have a very clear intent to provide a curriculum that includes a wide range of high-quality A-level and level 3 general applied programmes for young people living in Doncaster and the surrounding area. They aim to raise the aspirations of young people, provide high-quality provision and increase the number of students progressing to higher education, apprenticeships and employment. Leaders successfully achieve this aim. Most students progress to higher education, including to prestigious universities. The number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who progress to higher education is particularly high.

 Leaders have carefully analysed skills needs in the region to identify gaps in the labour market in sectors such as creative and digital media, finance, professional services, and health and social care. They have responded to local needs by including in the curriculum subjects that link to these sector areas. For students whose aspiration is not to go on to higher education, this curriculum content prepares them well to progress into training and employment locally.

Leaders work very successfully with key partners and stakeholders to maintain and enhance further the quality of the student experience and to raise students’ aspirations. They are actively involved in the Doncaster Opportunities Area partnership, which works to improve the quality of education in Doncaster. They also participate fully in the Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire, which provides support to raise the aspirations of disadvantaged students. Their involvement in this partnership contributes to the very high number of disadvantaged students at the college who progress to higher education. 

Governance is highly effective. The board of directors and a college advisory group comprise members who have high levels of expertise and who successfully ensure that teaching and learning, support for students and safeguarding are always prioritised. Directors provide very effective support, scrutiny and challenge to leaders to ensure continuous improvement.

Teachers plan and deliver the curriculum in a logical order to build on students’ prior learning and to develop their knowledge and skills quickly. Students rapidly apply what they know and move on to more difficult concepts. For example, Year 12 students in psychology learn about different psychological perspectives and then apply this knowledge in Year 13 to help them to understand the different treatments for schizophrenia. 

Teachers benefit from a wide range of relevant training that helps them to improve their teaching and the support that they provide for students. Leaders ensure that teachers are well informed about retrieval practice, through training events delivered across the trust. Teachers use extensively the retrieval strategies that they learn about to support students to recall knowledge in the long term.

Support for students with high needs is very strong. This support enables students with high needs to settle into college life, contribute to lessons well, and make significant progress in achieving their planned outcomes. Students with high needs attend lunchtime enrichment sessions, which help them to improve their social and communication skills, and they benefit from a bespoke curriculum, where appropriate, which includes independent travel and life skills.

Students make rapid progress in developing the skills and knowledge that they need to progress to their intended destinations. They are able to recall previous learning, and they use revision activities well to reinforce their knowledge. Teachers implement effective strategies, such as the use of mnemonics to help students remember difficult concepts.

Students produce a very good standard of written work that demonstrates the new knowledge that they have gained. They take pride in the work that they produce, talk confidently about their learning, and are able to recall clearly their learning from the past year. For example, students in A-level business can explain different ways of improving productivity through financial incentives, democratic leadership and better working conditions.

Students benefit from excellent pastoral and academic support. This includes targeted interventions to ensure that any students who are behind target very quickly catch up. For example, ‘teacher access periods’ are added to all curriculum plans. Teachers use this time well to support individual students to improve specific aspects of their learning.

Teachers use assessment effectively to check students’ understanding and address misconceptions. They provide clear and helpful feedback to students following assessment. Students also benefit from very effective peer assessment through which they provide support and feedback to each other to develop their understanding. Teachers intervene quickly to help students to address any gaps in their learning following assessment. Students are fully aware of what they need to do to improve their work and reflect carefully on this in their online diaries. They can confidently articulate what they know and understand.

The very small number of students who need to retake GCSE English and mathematics qualifications benefit from very effective teaching in these subjects. As a result, the vast majority achieve at least a grade 4 in their examinations. All students at the college benefit from effective support to develop their English and mathematical skills further. Teachers prioritise the promotion of key subject terminology on a regular basis. For example, on the level 3 games design course, teachers explain the term ‘retopologizing’. Students understand that this term refers to a process of cleaning up a digital model so that it transfers to other programmes.