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Inspection Report Recommendations

Northumberland College

2016 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Increase the number of apprentices who achieve their qualifications within planned timescales by ensuring that assessors use reviews to set specific, timed and measurable targets, and that managers rigorously monitor progress against these targets.
  • Maintain an unrelenting focus on the promotion to learners on study programmes of the value of English and mathematics to the success of their further education and future careers, and fully implement the recently introduced system for recording the progress of learners towards the achievement of high grades at GCSE.
  • Ensure that teachers set challenging target grades for academic level 3 learners and that progress towards these grades is the focus of constant management review.


Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College

2008 Full Inspection Report
Areas for improvement

The college should address:

  • success rates on a minority of AS courses
  • further development of the accommodation strategy
  • the embedding of the newly developed electronic monitoring of student progress across all areas.


Nottingham College

2020 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
  • Leaders and managers should work with teachers to ensure that they identify the specific knowledge and skills that learners need. They should identify clearly what high performance looks like for learners and what additional skills and knowledge, beyond the requirements of qualifications, they need in order to be successful in their next steps.
  • Leaders and managers should help teachers to develop their skills in checking that learners understand and can recall topics. They should work with teachers to develop their use of formative assessment and feedback to develop learners’ knowledge and skills.
  • All staff should take more assertive action to improve the attendance of those learners who are persistently absent. Managers should ensure that college procedures are followed.
  • Managers should resolve the remaining staffing difficulties in apprenticeships as a matter of urgency.
  • Managers and teachers should further develop the tutorial curriculum so that it engages the interest of learners and helps them to develop a fuller understanding of themes related to life in modern Britain.
  • Managers should ensure that all young learners access and make use of the available careers information, advice and guidance.
  • Governors should give more attention to the quality of education at the college.


Oaklands College

2018 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for learners by putting in place actions to ensure that:
    • teachers have high expectations of what their learners can achieve, and routinely challenge learners and apprentices to deepen their knowledge and understanding
    • teachers provide effective learning activities that stretch and motivate learners and enable them to make good progress with their studies
    • all staff challenge learners on study programmes and those on English and mathematics courses to develop work-ready attitudes, including attending their lessons regularly and on time.
  • Improve the rigour of performance management to ensure that:
    • managers hold staff to account effectively where learners’ outcomes and progress are not good enough
    • leaders set and record precise actions to improve staff performance and they review them regularly.
  • Improve the monitoring of learners’ progress, and put in place challenging and timely targets that help struggling learners to catch up with their studies.
  • Urgently ensure that learners and apprentices understand how to keep themselves safe from the risks of radicalisation and extremism.
  • Provide governors with relevant information so they are able to support and challenge leaders effectively to strengthen the quality of the provision.


Oldham College

2018 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Improve attendance rates across all courses, particularly in English and mathematics lessons for 16- to 18-year-old learners and adults, so that they are aligned to college targets. Ensure that all learners attend punctually.
  • Improve the rigour of improvement strategies, so that leaders, managers and governors bring about a rapid improvement in the small number of subject areas that are still performing below expected standards.
  • Improve further the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, by ensuring that the most able learners achieve the high grades of which they are capable.
  • Improve the qualification outcomes for learners on GCSE English and mathematics courses to ensure that learners improve their grades and achieve the high grades that they will need for the next stages in their learning, training or employment.


Oldham Sixth Form College

2018 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Improve attendance rates across all courses, particularly in English and mathematics lessons for 16- to 18-year-old learners and adults, so that they are aligned to college targets. Ensure that all learners attend punctually.
  • Improve the rigour of improvement strategies, so that leaders, managers and governors bring about a rapid improvement in the small number of subject areas that are still performing below expected standards.
  • Improve further the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, by ensuring that the most able learners achieve the high grades of which they are capable.
  • Improve the qualification outcomes for learners on GCSE English and mathematics courses to ensure that learners improve their grades and achieve the high grades that they will need for the next stages in their learning, training or employment.


Paston College

2017 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
  • Ensure that all teachers teach theory effectively to enable all learners to grasp fundamental concepts and principles proficiently and make good progress.
  • Continue to improve the quality of English and mathematics provision in order that all learners attend their courses and improve their English and mathematical skills effectively.
  • Ensure that all learners studying A-level courses make good progress against their starting points and excel.
  • Ensure that all staff promote effectively adult learners’ and apprentices’ understanding of British values, radicalisation and potential threats from extremist groups.


Peter Symonds College

2020 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and managers have designed and developed a challenging curriculum that enables students to achieve and often exceed expectations. They evaluate the curriculum regularly to ensure that it increases students’ chances of progressing to the best universities or gaining employment. For example, they introduced new vocational courses in law, medical science and criminology to the curriculum to enable students to enter careers in allied professions.


Peterborough College

2019 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Leaders and managers need to rapidly improve the proportion of learners who pass their qualifications by ensuring that:
    • significantly more learners achieve the high-grade passes that their prior attainment suggests they are capable of, rather than just passing their qualifications
    • teachers and managers closely monitor the progress of learners and intervene appropriately when learners fail to meet their deadlines
    • managers support teachers to improve their teaching practice quickly so that more learners stay at college and enjoy their learning
    • learners of all ages attend their classes.
  • Improve the monitoring of learners’ next steps to better understand the impact courses have on the lives and future careers of learners.
  • Provide good-quality careers advice for learners so that they can make informed and timely choices about their next steps.
  • Ensure that learners with high needs develop their independent living skills to enable them to participate fully in college life and their community.


Petroc College of Further & Higher Education

2012 Full Inspection Report
What does PETROC need to do to improve further?
  • Improve success rates on some intermediate-level courses and apprenticeship programmes by spreading the good practice to improve retention and progress observed in other areas of the college.
  • Improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that teachers promote equality and diversity issues more consistently in lessons.
  • Ensure all students attain the highest possible standards through the use of more challenging targets, both in the classroom and in individual progress reviews, and by involving employers more closely in work-based learners’ progress reviews.


Plumpton College

2018 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Accelerate plans to introduce independent careers guidance. Ensure that all learners have access to impartial information, advice and guidance at all stages of their course so that they can plan their next steps better informed about all options.
  • Make theory lessons in a small minority of areas more interesting and informative so learners gain new knowledge and understanding more rapidly and make the progress of which they are capable.
  • Improve the management of learners with high needs by:
    • ensuring that teachers use the good information available on learners to provide learning which will help each learner make better progress
    • helping learners improve their work further to reach their full potential
    • monitoring the progress of learners against their planned outcomes.


Plymouth College of Art

2013 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching and learning by:
    • ensuring that teachers’ planning focuses more explicitly on what students need to learn and how they will develop their knowledge and understanding through the planned activities
    • making better use of questioning in lessons to challenge all students and extend their knowledge, so that they make the best possible progress
    • sharing existing best practice in providing detailed assessment feedback and setting students more precise improvement targets, so that they all know what to do to improve their work and achieve higher grades.
  • Implement fully the plans to ensure that students’ functional skills in English and mathematics are developed fully on all courses, and that those re-taking


Portsmouth College

2013 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Strengthen the management of teachers’ performance by linking it more closely to the outcomes from lesson observations; and make sure that these outcomes also inform the staff development programme. Use these strengthened systems to focus on, and improve, the quality of teaching in the remaining areas of underperformance in the college.
  • Monitor closely the learning targets that staff set for students; ensure that they are consistently setting specific, measurable and suitably challenging targets so that all students may reach their full potential.
  • Provide further staff development to help teachers to promote equality and diversity well in their lessons, so that students develop a wider and deeper understanding of these issues. Use the lesson observation system more effectively to monitor how this important aspect of teaching and learning is being developed in lessons.


Preston's College

2018 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Improve the quality of apprenticeships by ensuring that:
    • senior leaders put an effective quality improvement plan in place that is communicated to all staff, and progress against targets is checked closely
    • senior leaders have a good oversight of apprentices’ progress, so that more apprentices complete by their planned end date
    • managers and staff monitor apprentices’ progress closely against their individual targets and use information from the college’s tracking systems to identify and support those at risk.
  • Ensure that all teachers consider the starting points of students and apprentices and provide learning activities that challenge all students and apprentices, including the most and least able.
  • Ensure that all students and apprentices understand the importance of attending English and mathematics classes, so that they achieve their GCSE and functional skills qualifications.


Priestley College

2019 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Teachers should plan learning activities that challenge students to extend their knowledge, skills and understanding so that all students achieve the grade of which they are capable.
  • Improve attendance rates, particularly on level 2 study programmes.
  • Ensure that all governors have sufficient understanding of further education to hold senior managers fully to account.


Prior Pursglove College

2019 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Leaders and managers should use data more effectively to analyse the progress, performance and achievement of all students so that they can quickly identify any areas of concern and take rapid action to bring about improvements.
  • Leaders should take steps to close the gaps in the achievements of different groups of students who do not follow study programmes at level 3. In particular, they should ensure that:
    • students on study programmes at levels 1 and 2 and adults who have a recognised learning difficulty and/or disability receive the support that they need so that they achieve as well as their peers
    • the proportion of male students who achieve improves.
  • Governors and leaders should take effective action to resolve the remaining differences in the quality of provision and the outcomes for students at the two campuses by ensuring that good practice is shared effectively and areas of underperformance are dealt with swiftly. In particular, they should ensure that the proportion of students who remain on their courses at the Stockton campus continues to improve.


Queen Alexandra College

2011 Full Inspection Report
What does Queen Alexandra College need to do to improve further?
  • Ensure that all aspects of the college’s provision are monitored with the same degree of rigour, and that the quality improvement plan measures the progress made to address identified issues not just the actions taken. In addition, sharpen self-assessment reporting by using trend data better.
  • Improve further the reporting of the performance of different groups by ensuring that: all reports are clearly presented and easy to interpret; all key groups are considered as part of the college’s analysis; and trends in these data are reported clearly through self-assessment.
  • Improve the planning in a minority of lessons and the quality, use and recording of learners’ individual targets in several lessons by checking that learning objectives set in these are clear and that they effectively challenge all learners to make the progress they are capable of. Ensure that learners are fully involved in measuring their success in achieving these objectives.
  • Improve engagement with other stakeholders and employers by introducing a more systematic approach to capturing their views to better inform the college’s improvement planning and its self-assessment processes.


Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College

2019 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve?
  • Ensure that a higher proportion of learners who have high needs and for whom employment is an appropriate next step progress into paid work when they leave the college.
  • Improve the attendance of learners where it is too low.
  • Ensure that assessors help apprentices in health and social care to develop the new knowledge that they need to be successful at work and in their apprenticeship.
  • Improve assessment in the few areas where it is not good enough so that lecturers have an accurate understanding of the knowledge that learners are missing and can use it to inform future teaching activities.


Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College

2012 Full Inspection Report
What does Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College need to do to improve further?
  • Monitor carefully the impact of actions to bring about greater consistency in the extent to which all learners make good or better progress against their prior attainment.
  • Extend the good and excellent practice in many lessons by ensuring all lesson observations focus enough on the extent to which learning is taking place.
  • Strengthen self-assessment by ensuring the quality-assurance strategy provides sufficient evidence on all key processes and by developing more incisive action planning.
  • Develop more extensive arrangements to promote the sharing of best practice to accelerate improvements in those subjects performing less well than the best.


Queen Mary's College

2010 Full Inspection Report
What does Queen Mary’s College need to do to improve further?
  • Improve teachers' planning to meet more consistently the wide range of students' individual needs in lessons in order to ensure that students’ progress across the range of subjects is consistently high.
  • Develop more precision in target-setting for students in progress reviews, so that all students are involved in, and able to identify clearly, the incremental steps they must take to achieve their learning aims.
  • Ensure that the lesson observation provides a systematic check on the progress teachers have made on areas for development from the previous observation.
  • Strengthen formal arrangements for sharing good practice, so that students’ achievements, the quality of teaching and learning, and the performance of curriculum areas are consistently high across the range of the college’s work.


Realise Futures

2014 Full Inspection Report
What does the provider need to do to improve further?
  • Raise learner achievement and success rates by further improving teaching, learning and assessment through better planning of learning and strengthening of individual target setting to challenge learners.
  • Further develop the use of management information and data, refine their presentation and ensure the timely supply of information from subcontractors, to enable better decision-making.
  • Strengthen the use of information learning technology (ILT) by building on existing effective classroom practice and improving access to it in community settings.


Reaseheath College

2010 Full Inspection Report
What does Reaseheath College need to do to improve further?
  • Ensure learners achieve their full potential by increasing the proportion of high grades, reducing late transfers to less demanding courses, increasing the challenge in lessons and assignment work for more-able learners, providing more detailed feedback to learners on what they need to do to improve and improving the clarity of targets and actions set for learners.
  • Improve teaching and learning by increasing the rigour of the observation of teaching, ensuring action plans produced following observations include clear targets and actions on what teachers need to do to improve and monitoring the implementation of these action plans.
  • Ensure the range of the additionality and enrichment offer meets the needs of all learners, enrolments on additional qualifications are recorded in a timely way and outcomes are monitored.
  • More accurately judge learners’ outcomes and the quality of provision by ensuring success rates are recorded accurately.
  • Improve the measures to judge the impact of activities which aim to improve learners’ health and well-being and their contribution to the community, for example, by recording learner involvement, setting targets and monitoring progress.


Redcar & Cleveland College

2022 Full Inspection Report
What does the college need to do to improve further?
  • Ensure that all students with high needs are enrolled on the right programmes to meet their needs.


Reigate College

2008 Full Inspection Report
Areas for improvement

The college should address:

  • students’ achievement on a small number of courses
  • the quality of evaluation of a few aspects of the college’s work.

Report Recommendations