Inspection Report Recommendations
Richard Taunton Sixth Form College - Good
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Improve teaching and learning so that those teachers who do not yet make productive use of lesson time to teach subject knowledge and skills receive appropriate training and support to do so.
- Ensure that all students who do not plan to go university receive timely and relevant advice and guidance about the opportunities available to them when they leave college.
- Implement the work experience strategy so that all relevant students benefit from suitable work experience and work-related learning related to the subjects they study and to their career aims.
Queen Mary's College - Good
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders should improve the curriculum for personal development to better prepare students for life in modern Britain and the world of work.
- Leaders should improve the quality of careers advice so that students are fully informed of all options open to them for their next steps and those students who wish to take an alternative route are as well prepared and supported as their peers moving on to university.
- Curriculum leaders, supported by their managers, should improve the quality of teaching in the few areas where performance is low so that all students, including those with high needs, make the progress that they are capable of.
- Senior managers should ensure that governors understand fully the weaknesses of the college and hold leaders to account so that they improve these weaknesses rapidly.
Queen Alexandra College - Requires Improvement
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Governors must ensure that senior leaders have accurately identified the weaknesses for all curriculum pathways, and that their actions result in swift improvements.
- Senior leaders must review the curriculum to ensure that it is aspirational for all students. They should ensure that they accurately identify pathways for students which will enable them to gain the skills they need to leave college when they are ready.
- Senior leaders must ensure that they quickly improve the quality of teaching by:
- ensuring that all teachers plan their teaching to reflect students’ starting points and their long-term goals as outlined in their education, health, and care plans
- ensuring that all teachers sequence their teaching to develop students’ skills and knowledge relevant to their learning and support needs
- ensuring that teachers provide helpful feedback to students on their practical and written work to ensure they achieve to the level of which they are capable.
- Leaders and managers should ensure that all students receive impartial careers education, information, advice and guidance, and the training and support they need in preparation for adulthood.
- Leaders and managers should ensure that students are taught to understand the risks associated with relationships and harmful sexual behaviours. They should develop a curriculum which teaches students how to develop positive and healthy relationships, including sexual relationships.
- Leaders and managers should ensure that all students benefit from well-planned and relevant work experience.
Preston College - Good
2023 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Ensure that learners rapidly improve their skills in English and mathematics and significantly increase the number of learners who achieve high grades in these subjects.
- Ensure that teachers and support staff plan and track the incremental steps that learners with high needs take towards attaining their EHCP outcomes. Teachers and support staff should help learners to recognise and celebrate the steps they take towards their longer-term goals.
- Improve learners’ attendance, particularly on level 1 courses and in GCSE English and mathematics.
On Course South West - Good
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Check that senior leaders at Discovery College monitor all aspects of the study programmes, so that all young learners are taught the personal development programme and teachers use assessments to help these learners improve the standard of their work.
- Ensure that local employers’ views and needs are represented on the adult education board.
- In adult learning programmes, teach the personal skills that learners need on courses that aim to help learners progress to higher level courses at other institutions. Also, assess the impact that the well-being courses have on learners’ well-being.
- Provide vocational teachers with the opportunity to update their vocational competence regularly.
Oldham Sixth Form College - Good
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders should raise expectations so that all students gain the detailed knowledge they require for their next steps and are challenged to achieve their highest potential.
- Leaders should ensure that all teachers focus on ensuring that students have sufficient knowledge in advance of assessments so that more students pass their assessments on their first attempt.
- Leaders should ensure that staff monitor the progress of students with high needs towards their wider education and health care plan outcomes so that students are fully equipped with all of the knowledge and behaviours required for independence.
Oaklands College - Good
2023 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Attendance and achievement of learners in English and mathematics at all levels.
- Involve employers and stakeholders in planning, teaching and assessing programmes, so that learning is linked appropriately to the skills needs of those stakeholders.
Nottingham College - Requires Improvement
2022 Full Inspection Report
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.
Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College - Outstanding
2024 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?
Leaders and managers have developed a broad and coherent curriculum. This includes courses leading to academic, applied general and technical qualifications, as well as the very successful introduction of T levels. Students combine different types of qualifications to meet their specific needs and interests, and this provides them with the best possible chance of achieving their career ambitions. For those students not ready for level 3 study, the college has developed a carefully thought-out level 2 pathway, which enables students to progress successfully to the next level.
etc.
North Lincolnshire Adult Education & Community Learning - Good
2023 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Increase the number of learners accessing the new curriculum at the network of community hubs in all parts of the county, including those studying English.
- Ensure that the proportion of hard-to-reach parents accessing family learning increases once the pandemic is officially over.
- Ensure that all learners receive consistently helpful and motivational information, advice and guidance to encourage them to enrol on courses.
North East Surrey College of Technology - Good
2023 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders should ensure that teachers in all areas use questioning and target setting appropriately so that students and apprentices know what they need to do to improve.
- Leaders should ensure that students attend consistently well in all areas.
- Leaders should ensure that full-time 14- to 16-year-old students benefit from a suitable curriculum for relationships, sex and health education.
North East Institute of Technology - Good
2024 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Continue to implement actions to improve the experience of learners on the few A-level programmes where they have encountered disruption to their learning.
- Ensure that a higher proportion of learners complete their courses on the few A levels where retention is not as high as on most.
- Ensure that all adult learners on distance learning programmes are sufficiently challenged to recall and apply what they have learned.
- Ensure that all adult learners and learners with high needs in specialist provision understand the risks posed by radicalisation and extremism.
Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre - Outstanding
2021 Full Inspection Report
No areas for improvement
Newham College of Further Education - Good
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders should ensure that teachers across study programmes and apprenticeships assess learners’ starting points to identify prior knowledge. They should use this information to plan a curriculum that more effectively meets learners’ individual needs.
- Leaders should continue to improve the quality of apprenticeship programmes so that it is as good as other provision types. Notably, they should ensure that teachers plan regular, good-quality reviews of apprentices’ progress jointly with their line manager. Apprentices should have access to careers information to help them identify their next steps. Apprentices should also receive high-quality teaching of knowledge of English and mathematics skills earlier in the course, so that they can complete their studies within expected timescales.
Newcastle City Learning - Good
2021 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Ensure that teachers have high ambitions for apprentices and provide them with the guidance and teaching that they need to achieve distinction grades on their programmes.
- Ensure that teachers identify and correct errors in the standard of written English produced by learners with high needs, so that they can provide learners with feedback on how to improve the accuracy of their work.
- Invest in the internal and external fabric and facilities of the buildings used by adult learners so that they can enjoy a more comfortable and inspiring learning environment.
New College Durham - Outstanding
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Improve attendance for learners aged 16 to 18 years, particularly for those on level 1 programmes.
- Identify the reasons for low achievement on level 1 programmes for education for young people, including in functional skills level 1 mathematics, and act swiftly to ensure that a higher proportion of learners achieve their qualifications.
- Ensure that staff teaching learners with high needs set consistently helpful targets and use age-appropriate learning materials at all times.
New College Bradford - Outstanding
2023 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?
Leaders and managers have a very strong focus on raising the aspirations of young people in the Bradford area. Their approach to developing teaching and learning draws on the latest academic research and results in high standards of teaching. Leaders and managers provide a thorough induction for teachers who are new to the college to make them fully familiar with their high expectations and the approaches and strategies that ensure students experience consistently excellent tuition.
etc.
New College Pontefract - Outstanding
2023 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?
Leaders and subject specialist staff have designed a highly ambitious curriculum across a broad range of subjects. The range of academic and vocational subjects that students can study prepares students well for higher education and meets the needs of a wide range of employment sectors. Students are well prepared to take their next steps in a range of career paths.
etc.
New College Doncaster - Outstanding
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.
etc.
New City College - Outstanding
2025 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?
Governors and senior leaders are highly committed to widening participation and tackling social inequality through excellent education and training. They provide exceptional leadership to drive improvements across the group and create a culture of high ambition and success. Leaders offer a wide range of accessible, innovative and challenging learning opportunities for local communities in east London and Essex. Across all campuses, including the newly merged BSix campus, staff support and challenge learners and apprentices to achieve well, whatever their starting points. Most learners and apprentices make significant progress in their studies and achieve highly.
etc.
Moulton College - Good
2025 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Increase the number of learners studying GCSE English and mathematics that achieve at least a grade 4.
- Ensure that teachers on all courses use suitable strategies to check understanding and provide appropriate challenge to learners.
- Improve attendance of young learners on the small number of courses, such as GCSE English, where it does not meet leaders’ high expectations and is lower than the vast majority of courses.
- Ensure that learners on all courses access high-quality personal development opportunities and careers advice to prepare them for their next steps and life in Britain.
Loreto College - Outstanding
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders should ensure that employers are routinely involved in the planning of on- and off-the-job training and reviews of their apprentices to support apprentices to make the progress of which they are capable.
- Leaders should identify what apprentices already know and can do at the start of their programme and use this information to ensure they plan a challenging and individualised curriculum.
- Leaders should review the curriculum for learners with high needs on the ‘choices’ programme to ensure it is challenging and prepares them for future learning or work.
- Leaders should ensure that they put appropriate actions in place to ensure learners with low attendance attend college regularly.
Wigan & Leigh College - Good
2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Leaders and managers should rapidly improve the few programmes that are underperforming, including level 3 animal management, so that learners and apprentices benefit from an ambitious curriculum and make the progress of which they are capable.
- Leaders and managers should ensure that apprentices and learners with high needs receive independent information, advice and guidance about their chosen pathways and potential career opportunities so that they can make informed, long-term career choices.
- Leaders and managers should plan a personal development curriculum that apprentices can participate in and benefit from.
- Leaders and managers should ensure that apprentices develop a good understanding of radicalisation and extremism and how it applies to them while at work and in their personal lives.
East Lancashire Learning Group - Outstanding
2024 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?
Leaders have designed curriculums that are highly ambitious and help learners and apprentices to build their knowledge, skills and behaviours over time. For example, adult learners on tailored family learning on the early years, education and childcare pathway firstly study family English and mathematics and subjects such as robotics and coding with their children in community settings. They continue to build on their learning and develop and apply their knowledge and skills when they study a level 1 or level 2 qualification in support work in schools and colleges. Consequently, many adult learners improve their confidence significantly and find jobs or volunteer in schools. Young learners on the digital production, design and development T level learn about emerging technologies and business environments in their first year. The knowledge they gain in year one helps them to learn and apply more complex knowledge and skills in year two, such as when they write project proposals.
etc.
Kingston Maurward College - Good
2025 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
- Provide all learners and apprentices with feedback that helps them to improve.
- Ensure that the apprenticeship curriculum integrates on- and off-the-job training well so that all apprentices make good progress.