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2025 Full Inspection Report

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

Leaders and teachers are aspirational for what their students can achieve. They have designed highly ambitious curriculums that prepare students very effectively for their next steps in education or employment. Leaders inspire students to fulfil their potential by engendering a steadfast commitment and passion for their studies.

Teachers plan and sequence their curriculums very carefully. Students develop new knowledge and skills swiftly and the work that they complete becomes increasingly demanding. In A-level English language and literature, teachers start with a straightforward text to support students to develop further their skills acquired from studying the subject at GCSE level. Students are soon able to apply their new knowledge and skills to analyse and interpret the literary and linguistic features of more complex texts.

Teachers are very well-qualified, experienced and enthusiastic practitioners who motivate students to give their best. Teachers who work as examiners frequently share their knowledge with their teams, so that they can help students to prepare for success in their examinations.

In lessons, teachers present information skilfully. They use well-devised resources to explain concepts. In mathematics, teachers use student-friendly examples when teaching standard deviation. For example, they use data about the money that students spend in the canteen to identify variables. Teachers use questioning effectively to help students to recall information from previous learning. They make excellent use of mini whiteboards to check students’ answers swiftly and to intervene when they identify errors or misconceptions.

Teachers take a highly organised approach to how they assess students’ work and give feedback. They are experts in adapting their teaching based on students’ assessment results. Teachers frequently check for any knowledge or skills gaps and refer students to additional weekly support lessons, where needed. They set substantial half-termly formal assessments and frequent tests and quizzes to help to consolidate students’ learning over time. In upper-sixth mathematics lessons, teachers refer back to lower-sixth work on statistics and mechanics so that students do not forget it.

Students receive very helpful internal and independent careers advice and guidance. Students with high needs receive high-quality careers advice that is individualised to their needs. Staff prepare all students very well for applications to highly selective universities. They provide clear guidance for those who would rather pursue a degree apprenticeship or an employment route. Students say that the information that they receive helps them to aspire to achieve the best possible destination.

Teachers place a strong focus on developing students’ study skills, including problem-solving, inference and organisation. This helps students to achieve highly on their A-level and vocational courses. Around two thirds achieve the highest grades. The few students who need to re-sit GCSEs in English and mathematics all achieve a grade 4 or above. Students with high needs and SEND make particularly strong progress from their starting points. Teachers and personal tutors support care-experienced students extremely well. They understand their challenges and help them to succeed at least as well as their peers.

Leaders and managers have established a highly effective quality assurance and improvement process. The quality improvement activities that they carry out identify swiftly any weaknesses that impact on students’ progress. They have led to improved outcomes in under-performing subjects, such as geography.

Staff value the many and varied training and development opportunities that leaders provide. Teachers report that activities are positive and help them to reflect on and improve their teaching practices. Leaders ensure that all staff working with students with high needs have specialist training in areas such as neurodiversity, autism awareness and manual handling.

Governors have the necessary skills and experience to carry out their roles effectively. They use their expertise to provide effective support to leaders and to challenge them if they have any concerns. Governors have a very detailed understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the quality of education. They strive for continuous improvement, putting the students at the heart of all that they do. Governors are frequent visitors to the college. They attend a variety of student events such as concerts, a ‘culture day’ and open evenings. They use these activities to help them to validate what leaders tell them about the quality of education.

2020 Full Inspection Report

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Review the quality and appropriateness of the advice and guidance for students who transfer to the mixed programme or to one-year A-level courses to ensure that students understand fully what is involved and the opportunities available to them when they leave the college.
• Ensure that teachers on vocational courses have sufficient opportunities to gain appropriate industrial updates that provide them with current and accurate information and industry examples that inform the content of what they teach.
• Ensure that actions to improve the very few underperforming A-level courses raise standards in these subjects rapidly to ensure that students on these courses receive a high quality of education.
• Increase the proportion of students who take part in work experience relevant to their career ambitions to ensure that they understand fully what they are working towards and whether it meets their expectations.
• Ensure that leaders and managers provide clear information to students so that they fully understand British values and the dangers posed by those with radical and extremist views where they live.

2007 Full Inspection Report

Areas for improvement

The college should address:

• aspects of accommodation.

2004 Full Inspection Report

What should be improved

• cramped accommodation in a few areas
• some aspects of adult education.