STOCKPORT COLLEGE OF FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION · Inspection week: May 21–May 25 2001 Reporting inspector: Maureen Banbury HMI. Office for Standards in Education Alexandra House

O F F I C E F O R S T A N D A R D SI N E D U C A T I O N

This inspection was carried out by OFSTED under section 62 of the Learning and SkillsAct 2000. It was a joint inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) and

the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).

STOCKPORT COLLEGEOF FURTHER AND HIGHER

EDUCATION

STOCKPORT COLLEGE OF FURTHERAND HIGHER EDUCATION

INSPECTION REPORT

Inspection week: May 21–May 25 2001

Reporting inspector: Maureen Banbury HMI

Office for Standards in EducationAlexandra House33 KingswayLondonWC2B 6SE

Telephone: 020 7421 6800

This report may be downloaded from the OFSTED website:www.ofsted.gov.uk

Reference no. HMI 323

© Crown Copyright 8/2001. This report may be reproduced in wholeor in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that allextracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and oncondition that the source and date thereof are stated.

Contents

ParagraphPart A: Summary

Part B: The College as a Whole

Achievement and Standards

How well do learners achieve? 1

Quality of Education and Training

How effective are teaching, training and learning? 9How are achievement and learning affected by resources? 20How effective are the assessment and monitoring of learners’ progress? 28How well do the programmes and courses meet the needsand interests of learners? 37How well are learners guided and supported? 46

Leadership and Management

How effective are leadership and management in raising achievementand supporting all learners? 52What should the college do to improve further? 64

Part C: Curriculum and Occupational Areas

Mathematics, Science and Sports Science 65Computing and Information Technology 73Construction 81Engineering 87Business 97Leisure and Tourism 106Health and Social Care 115Complementary Therapies, Hairdressing and Floristry 124Design and Visual Arts 132English, Communication, Modern Foreign Languages,English as a Foreign Language and Performing Arts 138Social Sciences 147Provision for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities 154Basic Skills 162

Part D: College Data

Summary

Part A: SummaryInformation about the College

Stockport, with a population of about 293,000, is a compact and mainly suburban area to thesouth east of Manchester. In many respects the population is prosperous and unemployment isbelow both the national and the north west averages, although there are a few areas of theborough where there are high levels of disadvantage. Stockport College is one of the largestcolleges of further and higher education in the country. It is the main provider of vocationalcourses in the metropolitan borough and surrounding area. The college offers around 400courses. In several of the college’s vocational areas it is possible to progress from foundationlevel through to degree level. There is also substantial work-based provision. The work of thecollege is concentrated on a single site which is close to the town centre. During 1999/2000there were 12,805 students at the college, of whom 64 per cent were aged 19 or over, and nineper cent were of minority ethnic origin (compared with less than three per cent in the localpopulation). Eighty-one per cent of students were following further education courses, with 22per cent of these enrolled on full-time courses and the remaining 78 per cent on part-timecourses. The college’s higher education courses were not inspected.

How Effective is the College?

Inspectors judged the overall quality of provision to be inadequate because six out of the 13curriculum areas were judged to be unsatisfactory and leadership and management were alsoweak. The college’s key strengths and the areas which should be improved are listed below.

Key strengths

• the wide range of courses and the opportunities for progression• effective personal support for students• the promotion of equal opportunities• the progress made by adults on access courses• the achievement of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

What should be improved

• the effectiveness of leadership and management in: - setting a clear direction for the work of the college - establishing standards for the improvement of learning - assuming detailed oversight of the curriculum - managing and monitoring performance at all levels

• pass rates on many courses• the proportion of students who complete courses• the quality of teaching and learning in many curriculum areas• the consistency of the implementation of quality assurance procedures• the quality of work-based learning• the effectiveness of provision for Curriculum 2000• the assessment and teaching of key skills.

Summary

The Quality of Provision in Individual Curriculum and OccupationalAreas

The table below shows overall judgements about provision in subjects and occupational areas that were inspected.Judgements are based primarily on the quality of teaching, training and learning and how well students achieve.Inspectors make judgements on curriculum areas and on the effectiveness of leadership and management in therange: outstanding (grade 1), good (grade 2), satisfactory (grade 3), unsatisfactory (grade 4), very weak (grade 5).

Area Overall judgements about provision, and comment

Mathematics,Science andSports Science

Unsatisfactory There is a broad and flexible range of provision.Examination pass rates in a few subjects are improving, but there areunsatisfactory retention and pass rates on all general certificate ofeducation advanced level (GCE A-level) courses. Quality assuranceand self-assessment procedures lack rigour.

Computing andInformationTechnology

Satisfactory There are high standards of work on some courses, butunder-achievement and poor retention on others. Specialist resourcesare of very good quality.

Construction Satisfactory Recent changes to the management of the departmenthave impacted beneficially on the provision. Retention is improving.The overall experience of students has yet to be evaluated rigorously.

Engineering Satisfactory The provision is broad and there are some excellentresources. Retention rates have decreased and pass rates are mixed.Most of the teaching is at least satisfactory, with a high level ofindividual support of students. There is insufficient work-basedassessment and reviews of apprentices’ progress are weak.

Business Unsatisfactory There are high pass rates and effective teaching onmanagement and professional courses, but too much unsatisfactoryteaching on business studies and public services courses. Pass ratesare unsatisfactory on general national vocational qualification (GNVQ),GCE A-level and text processing courses and on work-based trainingprogrammes.

Hairdressing,ComplementaryTherapies andFloristry

Good There is good retention on college-based programmes.Students produce good portfolios and achieve high standards ofpractical work. There are well-managed floristry assessments, buthairdressing in work-based provision is poor.

Health and SocialCare

Unsatisfactory There is a broad range of well-resourced programmesin social work, counselling, childcare and health and social care.Retention rates are low and declining on many courses. Pass rates onsome courses are also low. Over a quarter of lessons inspected wereunsatisfactory. Course reviews lack rigour and pay insufficient attentionto retention and pass rates.

Leisure andTourism

Unsatisfactory Teaching is generally satisfactory, but there is lowretention on advanced and intermediate full-time courses andinadequate monitoring of students’ progress. Teaching accommodationis unsatisfactory.

Design and VisualArts

Good The teaching is good, the standard of students’ work is high,and pass rates are above the national average.

Summary

English, Languages& Performing Arts

Unsatisfactory There is too much poor teaching. Retention and passrates are low on many courses, particularly at advanced level. There isa lack of subject leadership in English and modern foreign languages.

Social Sciences Unsatisfactory There are very poor retention and pass rates on mostGCE A-level courses, but some good pass rates on sociology courses.Teaching is generally satisfactory. Quality assurance arrangements areineffective and there is insufficient use of target-setting.

Provision forStudents withLearning Difficultiesand/or Disabilities

Good The individual needs of a wide and diverse group of studentsare well met. Teaching is generally good and students achieve well onpre-vocational courses.

Basic Skills Satisfactory Help with basic skills is provided in a variety of ways.Support for individual students is effective, but there is insufficient focuson the acquisition of basic skills in partnership teaching sessions.

How Well is the College Led and Managed?

Leadership and management are unsatisfactory. There is unsatisfactory provision in six out ofthe 13 curriculum areas inspected. Too high a proportion of the teaching is unsatisfactory andoverall student retention and pass rates are below the averages for further education (FE)colleges. Management accountability is not well understood. Quality assurance is inadequate,as are curriculum and performance management.

How Well are Students and Trainees Guided and Supported?

The quality and accessibility of information, advice and guidance for learners are good. Theabsence of a centralised admissions system leads to variations in practice and results in somestudents being placed on inappropriate courses. There are effective induction arrangements forall students, including those who join the college after the start of the academic year. Thesupport arrangements are satisfactory overall. Pastoral support is good, but learning supportrequires greater cross-college co-ordination. Tutorial practice is inconsistent. On some courses,students’ progress is not monitored or reviewed adequately.

Students' Views of the College

Students’ views about the college were taken into account and their main comments arepresented below.

What students like about the college

• the approachable and friendly teachers• the personal support• the good facilities, particularly the library, IT and craft workshops• the adult environment• the college’s central location• the range and quality of student services• the shops on site.

Summary

What they felt could be improved

• the quality of some aspects of tutorial support• the teaching and assessment of key skills• car parking• the provision of dedicated base rooms for every course• social accommodation for students• the lack of space and poor ventilation in some classrooms.

Other Information

The college has two months to prepare an action plan in response to the report. It must showwhat action the college will take in response to issues raised in the report. The Governors mustagree the plan and send copies of it to the Learning and Skills Council and the Office forStandards in Education (OFSTED).

The College as a Whole

Part B: The College as aWhole

Achievement and Standards

How well do learners achieve?

1 Inspectors examined the college’sretention and pass rates for students aged16–18 and for those aged 19 or over at level1 (foundation), level 2 (intermediate) andlevel 3 (advanced). They compared theserates with national averages for generalfurther education (GFE) colleges. For mostcategories of students the retention andpass rates were similar to, or below nationalaverages in 1998/99 and 1999/2000. Theexceptions were the retention rates forstudents aged 19 or over on intermediatelevel courses, which were above average inboth years, and the pass rates for studentsaged 16–18 on intermediate level courses,which were above average in 1999/2000.Overall, the weaknesses in retention andachievement identified in the last inspectionreport have not been successfullyaddressed. More information on students’achievements can be found in Part D of thereport.

2 Stockport College offers a widerange of vocational qualifications. Of thestudents who took programmes leading tonational vocational qualifications (NVQs) atlevel 2 in 1999/2000, 66 per cent of 16–18year old students completed their courseand 75 per cent of these achieved theaward. For older students, the respectivefigures were 60 per cent and 69 per cent.These figures compare with nationalaverages of 77 per cent for retention and 68per cent for achievement. The figures forstudents over 19 represent an improvementover the previous 2 years, but those forstudents aged 16–18 represent a decline.At level 3, the retention rate for both agegroups has declined and is significantlybelow the national average. The pass ratefor both age groups is 65 per cent, which isabove the national average. The figures

represent an improvement for adultstudents, but a decline for 16–18 students.On management and marketingprogrammes, several pass rates are good.On the Certificate and Diploma inManagement, pass rates have averagedover 90 per cent in the last three years.However, NVQ courses in managementhave low levels of retention. At level 1, passrates for secretarial students on singlesubject awards are poor. Students onadministration programmes make goodprogress in developing the skills andknowledge required to work in their chosenoccupations. Hairdressing studentsdemonstrate high standards of practicalskills and graphic design students producegood displays of work. In construction, only42 per cent of students on craft courses and32 per cent on level 3 technician coursesachieved a qualification by the target date.In the City and Guilds IT courses inprogramming, the quality of students’ workis good and the pass rates are high.

3 Many of the adult students whoattend the college have few, if any, priorqualifications. Some, who attend accesscourses in order to move on to further orhigher education, make good progress. Forexample, science students on accesscourses produce high quality work, some ofwhich shows well-developed informationtechnology (IT) skills. In modern foreignlanguages, many adults who enrol forcourses do not wish to take the examinationand leave the course early. Students withlearning difficulties and/or disabilities makegood progress in developing basic andsocial skills. Their initial assessment isthorough and the results are used well tomonitor their subsequent progress. Moststudents who attend basic skillsprogrammes make good progress. Manyproduce good coursework in order to meetthe requirements of their main programmeof study. They also gain confidence anddevelop both their personal skills and theability to work independently. Inhairdressing, students’ record bookletscontain no information on their levels ofbasic skills and there is no action planning


to tackle deficiencies in basic skills.Retention rates on courses leading toexternal awards in basic skills aresatisfactory, but some pass rates are poor.

4 The pass rates on GCE A-levelcourses are generally poor. In 1999/2000only 33 per cent of students aged 19 or overand 57 per cent of students aged 16–18passed the examination. These figurescompare with a pass rate in similar collegesfor students of all ages of 70 per cent. In2000, the average GCE A-level points scorefor students at the college taking two ormore A levels was 8.6; substantially belowboth the borough (15.7) and the national(18.5) averages. Retention rates are alsopoor. In GCE A levels in science, bothretention and pass rates have declined inrecent years and are particularly poor. Only38 per cent of students who completed theirscience GCE A levels passed in 1999/2000.In humanities, although adult students haveworked hard and generally stayed thecourse, pass rates have also been poor.Less than a third of the students whocompleted their programmes of study in1999/2000 achieved a pass. Students donot receive adequate advice about thechallenges of the course and the optionsavailable to them before they enrol. Theyare then not given sufficient help with studyskills and examination technique. In manysubjects, the college recruits 16–18-year-oldstudents whose average GCSE points scoreat entry is above the average for generalfurther education colleges. The subsequentperformance of such students at GCE Alevel suggests that the value added by thecollege is low. The work seen by inspectorsconfirmed the view that students were notperforming as well as might be expected onthe basis of their prior attainments.Retention and pass rates of students takingGCE A level through the college’s flexiblelearning programme are poor, and the dataheld by the college to monitor progress areunreliable.

5 The college enters a large number ofstudents for GCSE examinations. In1999/2000, students registered for over

1,100 subject entries. Of those, 68 per centof students aged 16–18 completed thecourse, but only 25 per cent obtainedpasses at the higher grades of A* to C. Thisis well below the national average forcolleges of 43 per cent. A higher proportion,47 per cent, of students aged 19 or overobtained passes at the higher grades. Thenumber of students taking general nationalvocational qualifications (GNVQs) atintermediate level has not variedsignificantly in the last three years. Moststudents are 16–18 years old. In1999/2000, overall pass and retention rateswere between four and six per cent belownational averages, and both had declinedfrom the previous year. In art and design,despite a decline, the pass rate of 80 percent was still well above the national rate of72 per cent. In engineering, the dramaticimprovement in the pass rate from 52 percent in 1999 to 93 per cent in 2000 wasaccompanied by a decline in retention from88 per cent to 78 per cent. In health andsocial care less than half of the studentswho started the course completed it in1999/2000, although 79 per cent of thosewho completed passed.

6 The majority of students whocompleted a GNVQ programme did so atadvanced level. Most were aged 16–18.Although the retention rate on these coursesdeclined markedly in 1999/2000 to 59 percent, which is well below the nationalaverage, the pass rate rose to 80 per cent,which is well above it. In art and designboth retention and pass rates haveimproved and are above national averages.In business, the number enrolling on GNVQadvanced courses has declined markedlyand retention rates are well below average.Although the pass rate has improved, it isstill well below the national average. Inconstruction, the pass rate rose in1999/2000 to 87 per cent, well above thenational average, but retention declined towell below average. In engineering, bothretention and pass rates were poor in1999/2000, both having declinedsignificantly compared with the previousyear. Students taking GNVQ and advanced


vocational certificate of education (AVCE)courses are not routinely given theopportunity to undertake work placements orindustrial visits. As a result, many haveinsufficient awareness of current commercialand industrial practice. Many students’learning skills are poor, and teachers do notdo enough to remedy this.

7 A low proportion of foundationmodern apprentices (FMAs) complete theirtraining. Of the 121 who started training in1999 and 2000, only 14 have completed theframework; 66 left early without completing,and 41 are still in training. Incomplementary therapies, hairdressing andfloristry, only two of the 26 trainees whostarted the programme in 1999 have gainedan NVQ at level 2. Sixteen left theprogramme early, 14 having gained somerecognition for their achievement. Inbusiness, only one of the 6 FMAs gained anNVQ at level 2. Of the 126 advancedmodern apprentices (AMAs) who started in1999 and 2000, 28 have completed, 62 leftwithout completing and 36 are still intraining. In engineering, seven of the 16trainees starting on the programme in1999/2000 have gained an NVQ at level 3.In construction, of the 40 trainees whojoined other work-based learningprogrammes in 1998/1999, 12 left with noqualifications, nine obtained an NVQ level 2and seven an NVQ level 3. Of the eight whojoined in 1999/2000, half have left early andnone has yet obtained an award. Inbusiness, there are poor achievement andpass rates on work-based programmes andlittle evidence to suggest that the picture isimproving.

8 On one of the days during theinspection, teaching was disrupted byindustrial action by teachers. This had anadverse impact on attendance figures onthat day. The average attendance at thelessons observed by inspectors was 71 percent, which is below the national average.Attendance was good in lessons forstudents with learning difficulties and/ordisabilities but was particularly poor inscience, mathematics and humanities.

Attendance in lessons observed

Averagenumber ofstudents

Averageattendance

StockportCollege 8.5 71%

Nationalaverage for1999/2000

10.3 76%

Source: National average: Quality and Standards inFurther Education in England 1999/2000: FurtherEducation Funding Council (FEFC) Chief Inspector’sAnnual Report.


Quality of Education and Training

Quality of teaching observed during inspection

Teaching which was judged to be:

Courses Good orBetter

%

Satisfactory%

Less thansatisfactory

%

Sessionsobserved

No.

Level 3(advanced) 55% 29% 16% 119

Level 2(intermediate) 48% 35% 17% 86

Level 1(foundation) 57% 33% 10% 21

Other sessions 74% 17% 9% 35

Total 55% 30% 15% 261

Note: More information on the grades awarded by inspectors to teaching, learning and attainment can be found inPart D: College Data

How effective are teaching, trainingand learning?

9 In eight of the 13 curriculum areasinspected, at least 12 per cent of teachingwas judged to be less than satisfactory. Intwo areas the figure was over 20 per centand in one area it was 36 per cent. Thishigh proportion of unsatisfactory teachingrequires urgent attention. Adult studentsbenefited from slightly better teaching thandid young people aged 16–18. The mostconsistently good teaching was in designand visual arts and in computing.

10 The majority of teachersdemonstrated adequate knowledge of theirsubject or occupational area andappropriate technical competence, althoughmany would benefit from industrial updating.The best lessons were carefully plannedand had appropriate schemes of work. Inthese lessons, teachers started byexplaining to students the aims andobjectives for what was to follow andchecked subsequently that these had beenachieved. When teachers did this, and alsoundertook regular reviews, as, for example,in targeted work with disaffected young

people or with students with learningdifficulties and/or disabilities, the studentsmade good progress. The more effectiveteachers ensured that their lessons werepitched at an appropriate level and thatdifferentiated tasks were set for students ofdifferent ability within the group.

11 Teaching on the small number oflevel 4 courses funded from the furthereducation budget of the Learning and SkillsCouncil (LSC) was generally of high quality.Most students on these courses were aged19 or over. Teachers demonstrated goodsubject knowledge, monitored students’performance carefully and regularly andgave constructive feedback.

12 When the inspection took place,much level 3 teaching was focused onexamination practice, revision sessions orcompletion of portfolios for externalassessment. Some teachers had gone toconsiderable efforts to make revisionsessions purposeful and interesting. Theyhad planned the learning activities carefully:question and answer sessions, group work,the use of video for recapitulation, thesetting and subsequent checking of


individual tasks and structured discussionson examination techniques. In theselessons, the response from students wasgood, they made useful contributions,consolidated their learning and articulatedtheir concerns. In contrast, in other revisionsessions, students worked through pastpapers in a mechanistic way with little helpfrom the teacher.

13 On AVCE programmes, students’workplace experience was not always fullyutilised and valuable opportunities to relatetheory to practice were missed. Students onNVQ level 3 programmes were given helpfuladvice on how to assemble a portfolio ofevidence of their occupational competence.

14 Overall, the teaching on level 2courses was judged to be slightly better thanthat on level 3 courses. For example,students working towards an NVQ level 2 inmotor cycle engineering benefited from theteacher’s clear exposition and breadth ofknowledge. They paid careful attention,responded well to the teacher’s questioningand took appropriate notes which they filedneatly. Similarly, in a well-managed NVQlevel 2 construction practical lesson, theteacher checked students’ progressregularly. Students were aware of theassessment requirements and whether theywere meeting them.

15 Some students on GNVQintermediate courses would benefit fromadditional language support. Teachersacknowledged this but had done nothingabout it. Except in engineering and healthand social care, teachers rarely helpstudents to improve their key skills or basicskills in a systematic way. Vocationalteachers do not generally see learningsupport of this kind as part of theirresponsibility.

16 Students of all ages generally makegood progress on level 1 and entry levelcourses. The college introduced a widerrange of foundation courses after the lastinspection. The provision for disaffectedyoung people and for students with learning

difficulties and/or disabilities is particularlyeffective. Teaching is well planned.Students take part in regular reviews atwhich realistic short and long term goals areset. At this level there is also a range ofintroductory vocational courses, oftenattended by adult students.

17 In six of the 13 curriculum oroccupational areas inspected, there is asubstantial amount of work-based training,almost all of which is at level 2. In general,off-the-job training in college wassatisfactory. In some departments, collegestaff worked closely with employers and theco-ordination of on- and off-the-job trainingwas good. In these departments, thedevelopment and assessment of key skillswere integrated with other aspects of thevocational curriculum.

18 The quality of placements for work-based trainees is good. However,workplace assessment of competence doesnot take place often enough. Some recordsof review meetings between college staff,trainees and employers containedinsufficient detail. They did not make clearthe progress made by trainees since the lastreview, or specify what needed to be donebefore the next one.

19 Relationships between teachers andlearners are generally good. Studentsappreciate the approachability of theirteachers and the adult atmosphere of thecollege. In a number of groups, adults andyoung people work successfully alongsideone another. However, some young full-time students require more structuredlearning and support than they are currentlyreceiving.

How are achievement and learningaffected by resources?

20 Most teachers have appropriateacademic or vocational qualifications.Seventy-two per cent have recognisedteacher training qualifications. The collegemakes extensive use of agency staff. Ofthese, 58 per cent are qualified as teachers.


Since the last FEFC inspection, there hasbeen a marked improvement in the numbersof staff who have recognised assessorqualifications. This now stands at 80 percent. There are, however, very few work-based assessors in the firms providing workplacement for trainees. The staffdevelopment programme is managed byheads of department, who are expected toensure that each member of staff attends atleast two college-organised staffdevelopment activities in any one year. Thisis not always achieved.

21 The college has invested heavily inup-to-date IT equipment. The ratio of full-time equivalent students to personalcomputers is 6.5 to 1. Technology is beingused well to improve communication.Students have access to the Internet, andthe college intranet service is availablethrough the learning resource centre.

22 Ninety-seven per cent of the collegebuildings are accessible to wheelchairusers, a very high percentage by nationalcomparisons. An exception is the studentunion building, which is run independently ofthe college.

23 There is a high standard ofcleanliness throughout the college. Whererefurbishment has been undertaken, theaccommodation is of a high quality.Teaching areas are well lit and suitablydecorated. This is particularly the case inthe business school where accommodationis of a very high standard. There are ampleresources for teaching, includingwhiteboards, overhead projectors, and insome cases, video equipment. The newengineering technology centre andmotorcycle engineering workshops havegood up-to-date resources. In constructionthe resources have improved considerablysince the last inspection and have had apositive impact on the quality of learning.

24 In other curriculum areas, somerooms are too small for the number ofstudents using them, poorly ventilated andnoisy when the windows are open. The

conditions are particularly poor in somerooms used for hairdressing and in one ofthe rooms used for courses for students withlearning difficulties and/or disabilities. Thereis currently no central timetabling system,but a pilot is running this year with a view toits introduction across the college fromSeptember 2001. At the last survey, roomutilisation was only 15 per cent.Nevertheless, there are too few roomssuitable for tutorials. The large learningresource centre, which incorporates thelibrary, is of good quality. The area isspacious and contains adequate bookstocks, CD-ROMs, videos, and a variety ofmaterials for independent study, includingcommercial software. Recently establisheddepartmental learning resource areas areproving to be particularly effective in theareas of childcare and business andinformation technology. Studentsappreciate the proximity of these areas totheir classrooms and make effective use ofthem. There are plans for more centres ofthis kind.

25 The department of studentadmissions and support is located in aninconvenient position, across the road fromthe main college campus. Much of theaccommodation is barely adequate for itspurpose. Access is difficult and theentrance and layout are unwelcoming. Thebuilding houses the main careersinformation library and some of the supportservices, including counselling and careersguidance. The counselling service is wellused and valued by both staff and students,but clients attending for an interview have towalk through a busy office to reach thecounselling room, compromising theconfidentiality of the service. There areplans to relocate the facilities on the maincollege site.

26 Good attention is paid to health andsafety. The number of access points to themain building has been reduced as a safetyprecaution. Working in a safe environmentis particularly emphasised in constructionand engineering. The college travel agencyhas good links with a local travel agent and


is used effectively for work placements fortravel service students. The location of thefloristry shop is far from ideal and the shopis under-utilised.

27 The relocation to one site hasimproved the accessibility of the college. Itis well served by good bus and rail links. Awell-equipped nursery is available for thechildren of students and is well used.

How effective are the assessmentand monitoring of learners’progress?

28 Clear policies and procedures for theassessment and monitoring of students’progress have been produced by a college-wide group. They identify the roles andresponsibilities of assessors and themoderators. The extent to which thepolicies are implemented varies betweenand within curriculum areas. In some areas,such as construction, health and social careand design and visual arts, assessment iswell organised in line with college policiesand meets the requirements of awardingbodies. In other curriculum areas,managers fail to implement college policiesand the quality of assessment is dependenton individual course teams.

29 Most teachers produce schemes ofwork for their courses which include thetypes and timings of assessments thatstudents can expect. Assignment schedulesare issued to students in construction andbusiness at the start of their studies. OnGNVQ business courses, assessmentsoccur too late. Some course teams produceassignment schedules, but do not adhere tothem. Others do not produce schedules.

30 Initial assessments are intended tohelp teachers plan their schemes of work.Few teachers, however, adjust theirschemes of work to reflect the learningneeds of individual students as they presentthemselves. Exceptions include theprogrammes in basic skills and those forstudents with learning difficulties and/ordisabilities who have individual programmes

of study. The progress of individualstudents in health and social care is alsotracked against their potential as identifiedthrough initial assessment.

31 Despite this, assessment on mostcourses is fair, accurate and carried outregularly. Students in design and visual artsand construction are given clearly writtenbriefs, and guidance on the assessmentcriteria. In health and social care, studentsare made aware of what they need to do togain a high grade in their assignments.Part-time IT students regularly undergoassessments which take account of theirindividual ability. Timed essays and mockexaminations are used effectively in Englishas part of examination preparation.Teachers of modern foreign languagesregularly use homework to identify individualand group weaknesses, but do not providesufficient assessments for adult students.

32 Assessment of work-based traineesis rarely undertaken in the workplace. Thisis a major weakness. Instead there is anover-reliance on college-based assessment,even where the college’s facilities are not asgood as those used by trainees at work. Forexample, in hairdressing, most students areassessed in the college’s salons, instead ofcommercial salons. In construction,plumbing students use witness testimoniesand photographic evidence to cover workthey have undertaken in the workplace, butthis sensible approach is not used in otherconstruction crafts. Only in floristry arethere good opportunities for students to beassessed in the workplace.

33 Many students receive usefulfeedback following assessments on thestandards they are achieving and on howthey can improve their work. Most students’work is marked carefully and returnedpromptly. In the business school, teachersrecord their comments on homeworkfeedback sheets. The method is effective.Work-based trainees in business get goodfeedback on their written work, leading toconstructive discussions with their teachers.Teachers in social sciences take care to


correct poor spelling. In engineering, workis returned promptly, but feedback on whatto do to improve is often insufficient.Similarly, teachers in social sciences do notalways provide students with appropriatefeedback. Students on GCSE and GCE A-level science courses do not receivesufficient information to help them improvetheir grades. In English and modern foreignlanguages, the lack of a policy on markingand feedback means that there aredifferences in the thoroughness of markingtechniques between teachers. Some do notcorrect poor work.

34 Most students have regularinterviews with their tutors to review theirperformance. However, students in scienceare not set clear individual targets forachievement. On college-basedengineering programmes, reviews lead tothe production of individual student actionplans. In construction, reviews undertakenin the workplace for work-based trainees arethorough and involve trainees andemployers. In contrast, workplace reviewsin engineering lack rigour. In hairdressing,tracking sheets are used to monitorindividual students’ progress, but they arenot effective in ensuring that studentscomplete their practical assignments.

35 The college’s quality unit receives allreports from external verifiers andmoderators and produces an annual reporton the outcomes of actions taken inresponse to these reports. Course teamsare required to produce action plans totackle identified weaknesses. These aremonitored by the appropriate head ofdepartment. Where reports raise seriousconcerns, departments are required to notifythe quality unit of progress in responding tothe concerns. The college has clear internalverification procedures. On most vocationalcourses the procedures are carried outeffectively.

36 On many courses, attendance ratesare low and punctuality is poor. Despitethis, there is no college policy on thereporting of students’ progress or absence

to parents or employers. Practices varybetween and within departments. Inengineering, arrangements for reportingabsence and student progress to parentsand employers are effective, but this is notthe case in most other departments.

How well do the programmes andcourses meet the needs andinterests of learners?

37 The college provides a veryextensive range of programmes which meetmost local and many regional needs. Inmost curriculum areas, there is a broadrange of courses from foundation, andsometimes pre-foundation through toadvanced level. This facilitates progressionwithin and beyond the college. On manycourses students can attend either full-timeor part-time, day or evening, or they canstudy through the flexible learning centre,according to their personal circumstancesand individual needs. Vocational provisionis the primary focus of the college, but it alsooffers many AVCEs and GCE A levels. Thecollege has increased its range of coursesat foundation level, but there are somecurriculum areas without provision at thislevel, for example, art and design.

38 The college has not introducedCurriculum 2000 successfully. The lack of acentralised admissions and guidancesystem, of a manager with specificresponsibility for 16–18 year olds, and of acommon timetable across departments,means that not all students are able to takeadvantage of the full range of AVCEs andAS and A levels on offer in the college. Ineffect, most young people enrol in a specificdepartment, rather than at the college as awhole. Lesson times often differ from onedepartment to another, making it difficult forstudents to take advantage of the full rangeof courses available.

39 Arrangements for teaching key skillsare unsatisfactory. In a leaflet to year 11school pupils, the college promises toinclude key skills in all study programmesfor 16–18 year olds. This has not


happened. Very few students study thewider key skills. There is also a lack ofconsistency across departments in the wayinitial assessment is carried out and in howthe results are used. Insufficient account istaken of students’ prior attainments. Forexample, some students on a GCE AS-levelcommunications course wereinappropriately placed on a level 2 key skillscourse in communications. They did notfind the course useful and many did notattend. In some curriculum areas, such asengineering, key skills are successfullyintegrated with other aspects of the courses.This good practice occurs in isolation,however, and is not disseminated across thecollege.

40 Students are not made aware of thecollege’s full range of enrichment optionsduring the induction programmes. Accessto enrichment opportunities depends on thedepartment in which students are enrolled.Some departments’ timetables restrictopportunities to take part in options such asbusiness and IT. Take up is often poor,even in departments where a good range ofactivities is on offer, for example leisure andtourism. In some departments, such as artand design, students have a good range ofopportunities, including work placements.

41 The flexible learning centre givessome 2000 people each year theopportunity to study outside the maincollege timetables. The majority of studentswho take advantage of this provision wouldotherwise have found it difficult to follow acourse of study. Although many learnersstart with the intention of obtainingaccreditation, a high proportion do notcomplete their awards. The monitoring andmanagement of their staged achievementsare insufficiently rigorous.

42 The college is committed towidening participation. The proportion ofstudents from disadvantaged backgroundshas grown considerably in recent years.Through successful partnerships with arange of agencies, the college has attractedmore students from deprived areas. ‘Return

to Learn’ courses successfully attract adultsback into learning and provide progressiononto access courses to higher education.

43 The college has established a goodschools links scheme. School pupils aged14-16 can experience a range of vocationaloptions at the college, for example in motorvehicle engineering, hairdressing,construction and floristry. The college alsoruns summer programmes for disaffectedschool leavers. Local gifted and talentedpupils can gain access to the state-of-the-artcomputer-aided design equipment tosupport their work in design and technologyat school. These link programmes areproving effective in improving recruitmentand easing the transition from school tocollege.

44 In many curriculum areas, such asart and design, construction, leisure andtourism, engineering, and health and care,there are strong links with employers andindustry. In business studies, however,there are no strong links with industry andcommerce.

45 Most of the work-based trainingprogrammes are not flexible enough to meetlearners’ needs. Most trainees require theircourses to start in September to coincidewith the college year. Assignments set forwhole groups fail to take account ofindividual trainees’ work experience. Linksbetween on- and off-the-job training areweak.

How well are learners guided andsupported?

46 The college has strengthened itssupport and guidance services since the lastinspection. The department of studentadmissions and support is responsible forco-ordinating many aspects of theseservices. A widely-used and highly-valuedrange of support services is provided byadditional learning support workers,counsellors, a mental health support worker,a cultural issues support worker, a dyslexiaassessment and resources team, a


chaplaincy service, youth workers, careersadvice and guidance staff, a disabilityservices team, the staff of the collegenursery, and a student welfare andinternational team. The admissions serviceand tutorial arrangements are managedseparately.

47 A good range of market research isundertaken. Labour market information isanalysed to identify low recruitment areasand to help planning. The collegeprospectus, course leaflets and otherpublicity materials provide clear andappropriate information, which issupplemented by the use of local radio,newsletters and a booklet prepared for adultlearners week. Open evenings for schoolleavers are well-attended and college staffare involved in a number of school liaisonactivities, including attendance at parentsevenings. Whilst there are clear policiesand procedures for admissions, there is nocentral admissions system. Applications arelargely dealt with by staff in the variousdepartments. Whilst they have receivedsome training for this role, this has not led toa consistent approach to recruitment.

48 There is a well-structured inductionprogramme for all students, including thosewho do not join programmes at the start ofthe academic year. The programmeenables students to settle into their coursesand to understand their rights andresponsibilities. Some younger studentsfeel that there is insufficient pastoral supportin the early stages of their courses.

49 Overall, the support arrangementsfor students are satisfactory, but they havenot had a widespread impact on improvingretention rates. Full-time 16–18-year-oldstudents are tested to determine whetherthey need any help with basic skills.Effective additional learning support isprovided by the skills development team.They provide help with mathematics,English and study skills from basic level upto support for students completingdissertations for their degrees. At the timeof the inspection, students were taking

advantage of help with examinationpreparation and revision. When additionallearning support is taken up, there isevidence that it leads to improvements inretention and pass rates. However, there isinsufficient co-operation and communicationbetween the skills development team,personal tutors and subject teachers.Appropriate support is provided to studentswith specific learning difficulties and to thosewith visual or hearing impairments.Financial assistance is available to studentsthrough the access fund and the college’sstudent support fund. In appropriate cases,there is some assistance with childcarecosts.

50 All students, regardless of their ageor mode of attendance, are entitled totutorial support. The level and quality ofwhat is provided vary widely. Staff in somedepartments do not implement the college’spolicy and procedures on tutorial support.Some students have regular group tutorials,some have a mixture of group and individualtutorials and some have tutorials onlyinfrequently. Good tutorials were observedin construction, provision for students withlearning difficulties and/or disabilities, work-based social care, business andengineering. Students in these curriculumareas receive regular and effective reviews,during which clear targets and deadlines areset. In some other areas, reviews areineffective. In one curriculum area 20 percent of students at the end of their course insummer 2000 had no recollection of havinghad an individual tutorial. A tutorial auditconducted by the college in March 2001reported some non-compliance with therequirements in the tutorial handbook. Forexample, fewer than two-thirds of thestudents in the sample had tutorial plansand tutorial records. One department wasnot using the college tutorial documentationat all. Students were often critical of grouptutorials. Only 63 per cent of second yearA-level students in the science, adult andgeneral education department said thattutorial sessions had been helpful. There isa need for more effective management andco-ordination of tutorials across the college.


51 Specialist careers guidance isavailable from college guidance staff andthe external careers service. The refocusingof the work of the careers service hasencouraged tutors to take moreresponsibility for careers education with theirtutees. There have been training events forcollege staff and resource packs areavailable for use by the central guidanceteam and by tutors. The guidance team hasprovided more careers sessions for groupsof students. In some departments, there isgood careers education and guidance,whilst in others it is insufficient. Inquestionnaires at the end of their course,around two-thirds of students expressedsatisfaction with the guidance and advice oncareers and progression which they hadreceived.

Leadership and Management

How effective are leadership andmanagement in raising achievementand supporting all learners?

52 College managers have not set asufficiently clear direction for the work of thecollege. They have not been successful inovercoming most of the weaknessesidentified in the report by inspectors of theFurther Education Funding Council in 1996.Provision is unsatisfactory in six of the 13curriculum areas inspected. Retention andpass rates are below national averages on ahigh proportion of courses and for thecollege as a whole. There are noarrangements to enable teachers to updatetheir commercial and industrial experienceregularly. The overall quality of teachingand learning has not improved and in somecases has declined since 1996. Centrallyheld data are unreliable. A newmanagement information system is beingpurchased, but will not be fully operationaluntil September 2003.

53 There have been someimprovements since the last inspection. Thecollege has extended the range of coursesavailable at foundation level. It has providedmanagers with training to help them carryout their roles. A co-ordinator has beenappointed to oversee the implementationand monitoring of the equal opportunitiespolicy. Managers have recently been givenaccess to on-line, centrally held data to helpthem monitor students’ performance.However, not all managers have beentrained to use the system and several areunsure about how to gain access to the dataat course level.

54 College quality assuranceprocedures are not consistently oreffectively implemented. Staff in mostcurriculum areas do not rigorously reviewtheir courses or compare their performancewith national benchmarks. Although targetsare set at departmental level, some courseteams do not set targets to improve


retention and pass rates or the quality ofteaching and learning at course level. Acomprehensive programme of lessonobservations has been carried out. Reportsfrom these observations are used duringstaff appraisal and to identify staff trainingneeds. However, the lesson observationprogramme has had little overall impact onimproving the quality of teaching andlearning.

55 The college has an established self-assessment process that is carried outannually. The process involves staff andgovernors. The current report contains toolittle information about strengths andweaknesses in teaching and learning andretention and pass rates. In someprogramme areas the information in the self-assessment report is aggregated to such alevel that it does not provide a clear pictureof the weaknesses which require action.Many of the grades in the self-assessmentreport are too high in the judgement ofinspectors.

56 College managers recognise that theintroduction of Curriculum 2000 has beenpoorly handled. Departmental timetablesare not co-ordinated. This has limited therange of courses and enrichment activitiesavailable to students. The teaching andassessment of key skills are not co-ordinated effectively across the college.This results in high levels of dissatisfactionamong students, not least because someare studying key skills at an inappropriatelevel.

57 Only a minority of curriculum areas,such as art and design and courses forstudents with learning difficulties and/ordisabilities, are well managed. In theseareas, course teams meet regularly toreview their courses. They monitor retentionand pass rates and judge their performanceagainst national benchmarks. In many ofthe other areas inspected, curriculummanagement is poor. There is a lack of co-ordination between teachers in differentparts of the college who teach the same

subject. They do not share resources ormeet to discuss their subject.

58 The monitoring of performance isinadequate. Senior managers recognisethat they have not been monitoringperformance effectively against strategicobjectives. The revision of objectives inApril 2001 was a long overdue attempt toproduce objectives which containedmeasurable targets. Staff performance iscurrently reviewed annually againstobjectives agreed with managers. Thereview process lacks rigour. Staff are notbeing held accountable for their areas ofresponsibility.

59 Equal opportunities are promotedeffectively. The equal opportunities co-ordinator has successfully planned andmanaged staff and governor training to raisetheir awareness of issues of equality ofopportunity. Over 70 per cent of the staff,and all governors, have attended thetraining. Governors have a set agenda itemat each meeting on monitoring theimplementation of the equal opportunitiespolicy. A recently appointed equalopportunities adviser audits learningresources. The college has organised anumber of events to celebrate diversity.

60 The number of full-time teachersemployed by the college has declined inrecent years. The increased use of part-time teachers is not always well managed.Many are unable to attend staff meetingsscheduled during the day. Opportunities forsharing resources and good practice withincurriculum or occupational areas aremissed.

61 Budget holders in curriculum areasare allocated budgets based on studentnumbers. Income and expenditure areclosely monitored and controlled by thedirector of finance. Financial managementis sound.

62 Governors are involved in setting thestrategic direction of the college. They havereceived training in the process of strategic


planning. They have recently been involvedin overseeing the revision of the college’sstrategic objectives. Governors used recentlabour market information, a curriculumaudit, an external quality assessment reportand the college’s self-assessment reportwhen making decisions about proposedamendments to the objectives. Governorsoperate within a sound framework forgovernance. They monitor the college’sfinancial performance closely. However,they do not receive regular reports on thequality of teaching and learning and theyhave not ensured that sufficient action hasbeen taken to tackle the weaknessesidentified at the last inspection. Thegovernors’ monitoring of the college’sperformance is hampered by unreliabledata.

63 The fact that overall retention andpass rates remain stubbornly belowaverage, and that provision is unsatisfactoryin a large proportion of curriculum oroccupational areas, means that the collegeis not effective.

What should the college do toimprove further?

64 To raise standards and improvequality, the principal, staff and governorsshould:

• set a clear direction for the work of thecollege;

• establish standards for theimprovement of learning;

• assume detailed oversight of thecurriculum;

• manage and monitor performance at alllevels;

• improve pass rates on many courses;• raise the proportion of students who

complete courses;• improve the quality of teaching and

learning in many curriculum areas;• consistently apply the quality

assurance procedures;

• improve the quality of work-basedlearning;

• improve the effectiveness of provisionfor Curriculum 2000;

• improve the teaching and assessmentof key skills.

Curriculum and Occupational Areas

Part C: Curriculum andOccupational Areas

Mathematics, Science andSports Science

Overall provision in this area isunsatisfactory (Grade 4)

Strengths

• broad range of provision• good pass rates on GCSE science and

National Diploma in sports sciencecourses.

Weaknesses

• unsatisfactory retention and pass rateson GCE A-level science courses

• poor pass rates on GCE A-level andGCSE mathematics courses

• poor teaching• insufficient learning support• lack of rigour in quality assurance and

self-assessment processes.

Scope of provision

65 The college provides a broad rangeof courses in mathematics, science andsports science, including advancedvocational certificate in education (AVCE)science, GNVQ intermediate, a NationalCertificate in science, an Access to HigherEducation programme, a National Diplomain sports science, GCSE human physiologyand health and a full range of GCE A-levelsubjects. A review of courses inmathematics and science has resulted inprogrammes that more closely match theneeds of students. GCSE dual and singleaward sciences have been introduced toreplace GCSE single science subjects. Thecollege has piloted the use of free-standingqualifications in mathematics. There is littleprovision at level one, although City andGuilds numeracy level 2 is used as a pre-

cursor to GCSE mathematics. A significantnumber of students re-sit GCSEmathematics through the college’s flexiblelearning centre.

Achievement and standards

66 Retention and pass rates areunsatisfactory in this curriculum area. Therewas poor retention in all GCE A-levelsubjects and GNVQ advanced science in1999/2000. All GCE A-level sciencesubjects, including sports science, hadexamination pass rates that were belownational averages. The pass rates for bothGCE A-level and GCSE mathematics arepoor. In GNVQ advanced science, theNational Diploma in sports science, GCSEscience (dual award) and in GCSE humanphysiology and health, pass rates wereabove average last year. Over 60 studentsretook GCSE mathematics in November2000, having studied in the college’s flexiblelearning centre, and 53 per cent achievedgrades A*–C. Students on an access tohigher education programme produced goodassignments. Some demonstrated a gooduse of IT skills. There were many examplesof poor levels of attainment in GCE A-levelassignments and tests.

Quality of education and training

67 In many of the lessons observed,students’ learning and attainment wereunsatisfactory, particularly in GCE A-levellessons. Students worked conscientiouslyin lessons, but some, particularly in year 2groups, had not made sufficient progress tohave a reasonable chance of success in theexamination. The approach taken torevision, which largely consisted of usingexamination questions for practice, failed toengage students or to meet their individualneeds. A recent survey showed that only 78per cent of students consider their lessonsinteresting, one of the lowest proportions forany curriculum area in the college.

68 Staff are well qualified. They havedegrees and/or professional qualifications,teaching qualifications and assessor awards


where appropriate. Some have higherdegrees. Technical support is good. Therehas been some recent and appropriate staffdevelopment related to lesson preparationthat was of benefit to students. A teacherwho had attended a conference provided byan awarding body was able to incorporatehelpful information relating to markingschemes into a lesson on the following day.

69 The science department has a largerange of specialist laboratories located onthree floors. Most have old anduncomfortable laboratory furniture. There islittle use of display to create subject identityand promote students’ work and success.Laboratories contain a good stock ofequipment. A small study room adjacent tothe laboratories is equipped with networkedcomputers that provide access to theInternet. Teachers make effective use ofhandouts. The library has a good range ofscientific books and a few journals. Untilrecently there were no appropriatetextbooks for GCE AS-level courses and thishas disadvantaged students. Sportsscience has poor quality accommodationand equipment, although good use is madeof facilities outside college.

70 Some teachers made good use ofassignment feedback sheets, which gavestudents detailed, individual help andinformation on how to improve in the future.Other teachers, particularly in GCSE andGCE A-level subjects, returned assignmentswithout appropriate suggestions on how toimprove.

71 The teaching in this curriculum areais failing to address the unsatisfactorylearning and attainment of a minority ofstudents. These students are unlikely toachieve their learning goals and have notbeen given sufficient additional learningsupport. Not enough has been done toremedy students’ difficulties with problemsolving and scientific terminology. Althoughteachers run workshops to support weakerstudents, attendance is voluntary. In manylessons observed there were a number ofexamples where students did not express

themselves in writing with sufficient clarity.During the inspection there was poorattendance at lessons. A recurring theme atGCE A-level and GCSE team meetings isthe non-attendance by students at key skillssessions.

Leadership and management

72 Quality assurance and self-assessment in this curriculum area lackrigour. Programme reviews are insufficientlycritical and information about courses isaggregated to such a level that it does notprovide a clear picture of whereimprovement is required. The minutes ofscience meetings pay insufficient attentionto the quality of teaching and the students’experience. The assignment ofresponsibilities for action as a result of thesemeetings is unclear. The college isreviewing its courses in science andmathematics. The need for better co-ordination of science across the college,including what is provided through flexiblelearning, has been recognised.


Computing and InformationTechnology

Overall provision in this area is satisfactory(Grade 3)

Strengths

• wide range of courses• good teaching and effective learning on

specialist programming courses• effective monitoring and assessment of

students on part-time courses• good specialist resources.

Weaknesses

• poor retention and pass rates on somecourses

• lack of rigour in course reviews• insufficient learning support for some

full-time students.

Scope of provision

73 There is a wide range of full-timeand part-time courses in computing andinformation technology (IT) from level 1 tolevel 4. The majority of courses are theresponsibility of the business informationtechnology department, but some coursesare provided by the department of scienceand general education and the departmentof community and continuing education.Several new GCSE and pre-foundation levelcourses have been provided this year inresponse to student demand. Part-timeprovision caters for a range of students,including those requiring specialistprogramming courses and those who preferto attend at times suited to their individualneeds. The introduction of the single awardfor the advanced vocational certificate ineducation (AVCE) course providesopportunities for part-time students toprogress to higher national level within oneyear. The improved selection procedure forentry on to AVCE information andcommunication technology (ICT) is

successful in identifying appropriatestudents.


74 The quality of students’ work on theCity & Guilds IT courses in programming isconsistently good and the pass rate hasbeen consistently above the nationalaverage for three years. Students on part-time introductory IT courses achieve welland many progress on to other IT and basicskill courses. The standard of theassignment work of students studying theAVCE single award on a part-time basis isparticularly high. The retention rate is high,but the pass rate is below the nationalaverage in computer literacy and informationtechnology courses. Retention onintermediate and AVCE programmes isimproving but pass rates remain belownational averages. Retention and passrates on GCE AS and A-level courses areunsatisfactory given students’ priorachievement at GCSE and their level ofcompetence in the use of IT asdemonstrated in their projects. The numberof students attaining high grades onadvanced courses is low. A minority ofstudents on GNVQ IT courses have difficultyin managing their study time outsidelessons. Those students who need help todevelop their study skills are not givensufficient support.


75 The quality of teaching on specialistcourses in computer programming is good.Schemes of work are well designed andinclude challenging programming tasks. Allthe teaching of computing and IT observedduring the inspection was satisfactory orbetter. Most students received effectiveguidance from expert teachers who wereenthusiastic about their subject, maintainedstudents’ interest and helped them toprogress. The support given to individualstudents in practical lessons was good.GNVQ and AVCE assignments weregenerally well designed and includedrelevant and up-to-date references to the


use of technology. Students were requiredto produce the majority of their assignmentreports in writing. They would benefit frommore opportunities to give oralpresentations. Students attending the ITworkshop received sensible advice aboutcourses available to them. There was anover-reliance on the use of text books inGCE A and AS-level teaching. Students onthese courses lacked motivation and muchof their work was of a low standard. Somestudents, particularly those on GNVQintermediate programmes, did not fullyunderstand what was required of them, andwere unable to obtain sufficient specialisthelp outside their timetabled lessons toenable them to make progress.

76 The college has good specialist ITresources. New computers have beeninstalled which provide students with accessto the college network and Internet.Students are assigned space on the networkfor storage of their files. All practicalteaching rooms are well designed andfurnished to a high standard, but ventilationin the computer rooms is poor. The qualityof teachers’ demonstrations is enhanced bytheir use of computers linked to multimediaprojectors. There are plenty of specialistcomputing and IT books in the library.Teachers are well qualified. Some haveexpertise in specialist areas such asmultimedia, webpage design andprogramming.

77 Students on the majority of part-timeprogrammes are monitored closely andreceive informative feedback which enablesthem to improve their performance. Manylesson plans specify that particular attentionwill be paid to under-performing students.Assessment and monitoring of students’progress on some full-time courses are lesseffective. This is partly due to poorcommunication between the departmentsresponsible for these courses.

78 The assignment schedules foradvanced and intermediate GNVQ andAVCE do not spread the workload evenlyacross the whole course and students are

not able to plan their time effectively overthree terms. There is too little formalassessment during term one. Changes tothe final completion date set by theawarding body have reduced the timeavailable for students to complete theirwork. There is insufficient formalassessment of students following GCE A-level and GCE AS courses in IT.

79 Students receive informative andimpartial advice before enrolling on coursesin computing and IT in the businessinformation technology department.Specialist staff and course managers areeffectively involved in the interviewing,enrolment and induction processes. Linkswith industry are not strong, however, andstudents do not undertake industrial visits.


80 Managers have not been successfulin raising retention and pass rates in manycomputing and IT courses. The businessinformation technology department’s self-assessment report recognises theweaknesses in retention rates. A morerigorous system for monitoring theattendance of students has been intoducedand is beginning to show signs of success.Course teams in this department work welltogether. Regular meetings are held, actionis minuted and, at a procedural level, thedepartment functions efficiently. Coursereviews follow the college’s qualityassurance procedures, but insufficientattention is paid to the quality of teachingand learning and the improvement of passrates.


Construction


Strengths

• broad range of provision• good pass rates on crafts courses• high standard of practical work• relevant, well-marked assignments• particularly well-qualified staff• well-equipped workshops and good

levels of technician support.

Weaknesses

• poor pass rates on technician courses• poor retention rates• few craft students progressing to level

3• insufficient work-based assessment.

Scope of provision

81 The college provides a broad rangeof construction courses which meets theneeds of industry and students. There aremodular programmes designed specificallyfor students from socially excluded groups.Enrolments on technician courses havedeclined in recent years. Few craft studentsprogress from level 1 to level 3. Key skillsare developed as an integral part of craftcourses and this enables students tounderstand their importance. Thedepartment has improved itsresponsiveness to employers. For example,it successfully provided a multi-craft skillstraining programme for Manchester AirportAuthority.


82 Most students produce practicalwork of an industrial standard. Particularlyhigh standards are achieved in plumbing.Pass rates are good on all crafts courses.Retention rates have declined in the threeyears to 2000, however, and are well below

national averages. Overall, the proportion ofstudents starting a course who gain aqualification is unsatisfactory. For example,of the 105 technician students who started acourse in 1998/99, only 38 gained thequalification in 2000. Students are not setsufficiently challenging learning goals whichtake into account their previous experienceand achievement. On occasions, studentsare required to study topics and subjects ata level below that which they have alreadyachieved. Few trainees, other than those inplumbing, are aware that they should begathering evidence of competences gainedin the workplace to contribute to thecompletion of their portfolios.


83 Teaching is good and has improvedsince the previous inspection. Teachers payattention to the individual needs of studentswhen planning lessons and a few aredeveloping ways of using a wider range oflearning resources, including IT, to helpstudents develop their vocationalknowledge. However, the teaching of theoryis often dull and fails to maintain students’interest. Many of the text-based learningmaterials in carpentry and joinery are ofpoor quality. They do not provide sufficientguidance to students on other sources ofinformation. Most practical lessons are wellorganised. Realistic practical projects areset, which require students to work toindustry standards. Students areencouraged to observe safe workingpractices, but this is undermined by theuntidy carpentry and joinery workshops andthe clutter of equipment stored in the maincirculation areas of the painting anddecorating workshop.

84 Staff are particularly well qualified.All full-time teachers hold a professionalhealth and safety qualification in addition totheir vocational qualifications. There is agood level of technician support in theworkshops. The college has recentlyrefurbished most classrooms and haspurchased new woodcutting machinery andIT resources. The workshops are well


equipped. They provide students with awide range of realistic trainingenvironments. Noise from the woodmachining area disrupts the work ofstudents and teachers in the surroundingopen-plan workshops.

85 Teachers provide students with goodpersonal support. Specialist equipment andsupport are available for those with physicaldisabilities. Most students are kept wellaware of their progress. In each practicallesson teachers use a data logger to recordthe achievements of individual students.This gives teachers and students a usefuloverview of the quality of students’ work andtheir achievement of the requiredcompetences. Assignments are writtenclearly and marked carefully. Reviews inthe workplace are thorough. Trainees andemployers discuss each trainee’s progressand future options. There is, however,insufficient use of work-based assessment.


86 The leadership and management ofcourses are good. Business andoperational planning are effective.Communications between managers andstaff are good. The self-assessment reportdid not identify some of the weaknesses inthe provision. For example, it understatedthe poor and declining retention rates onmany programmes.


Engineering


Strengths

• good pass rates on NVQs and on City& Guilds courses at level 3

• careful planning of teaching• good individual learning support• the wide range of courses and

opportunities for progression• some excellent resources.

Weaknesses

• low retention rates• poor pass rates on craft courses at

level 2 in work-based training• insufficient work-based assessment• weak reviews of apprentices’ progress.

Scope of provision

87 There is a wide range of courses inmotor vehicle, motorcycle, electronic,mechanical and manufacturing engineering.The courses range from foundation todegree level, providing opportunities forprogression. Learners are able to study full-time, part-time, in the day, or in the evening.Modern apprentices attend college one dayeach week. There have been several recentchanges to the provision to meet localdemands and in response to fallingenrolments. For example, a pre-apprenticeship course has beenestablished. There are too few opportunitiesfor full-time students to undertake workexperience, although many undertake studyvisits to industry.

88 The department has good links withindustry. There is a substantial anddeveloping programme of engineeringtuition for school pupils in Years 9 and 10.


89 The standard of work produced bystudents is generally appropriate. Retentionrates have declined recently and, on manycourses, they are now below nationalaverages. Pass rates are mixed, with asmany course groups having pass ratesabove national averages as below. Passrates on NVQ courses at all levels and City& Guilds courses at level 3 are good. Passrates on other craft courses at level 2 andnational certificate courses are consistentlybelow national averages. Some individualcourses such as those leading to NVQs inmotor vehicle work produce consistentlygood pass rates. For example, the passrate on NVQ motor vehicle engineering atlevel 2 was 84 per cent last year and atNVQ level 3 has averaged 90 per cent overthe last three years. The pass rates onmodern apprenticeship programmes arepoor. The average attendance at sessionsobserved during the inspection was 76 percent, which is higher than the average forthe college, but similar to the nationalaverage for all colleges.


90 Half of the teaching seen was goodand most of the rest was satisfactory.Teachers prepare carefully for their lessons.They produce appropriate schemes of workand comprehensive and useful lesson plans.Learning materials such as hand-outs areused appropriately. When learners areworking on their own on practical or theorytasks, teachers provide effective support. Inmany lessons, teachers checked learners’understanding regularly, demonstratedconcepts by using engineering componentsand sub-assemblies, made reference toengineering examples, and integratedpractical work with theory. In order toprovide added interest, the department isincreasing the amount of time spent onextended project work. For example,groups of students on one motor vehiclecourse have assembled and will shortly testa number of go-karts. These extendedprojects provide students with opportunities


to develop key skills. The teaching andassessment of key skills are successfullyintegrated with other aspects of thevocational teaching and assessment.

91 A minority of lessons were dull anduninspiring. In these lessons, insufficientuse was made of questioning to check onlearners’ understanding, and insufficient usewas made of the students’ own experienceto give added relevance to the topic. Someteachers missed opportunities to introducepractical activities into theory lessons. As aresult, students became bored anduninterested, resulting in poor learning.

92 Teachers are technically wellqualified and all hold qualifications asteachers and assessors. Some of theengineering equipment is of outstandingquality and all of it is at least adequate tocope with course demands. The college isthe only provider of motorcycle engineeringcourses in the region and the range ofequipment to support this work isoutstanding. Computer aided design andmanufacture equipment are also of a highstandard. Much of the teachingaccommodation is very good and all is atleast satisfactory. That which houses thecomputer-aided design and manufacturefacilities is of a particularly high standard.Library resources are satisfactory. There isa wide range of books but a large numberare dated. The motor vehicle section has itsown resource centre which has several setsof modern texts, as well as computers, videomaterial and access to the Internet.

93 The assessment programmes areappropriate to the individual courserequirements. Assessments are of anappropriate standard, are clearly specifiedand carry clear grading criteria. They areset at appropriate intervals to ensure thatlearners have an even workload. On someNVQ courses, formal accreditation of theunits of competence is left to the end of thecourse, resulting in learners receivinginsufficient advice on the suitability of theevidence and early leavers beingdisadvantaged. The overall progress of

students in college is regularly reviewed bytheir tutors. The quality of many of thesereviews is good. The tutors are wellinformed about their students’ progress,meaningful discussions take place andaction plans are established to tackle areasof weakness. Not all tutorials are of thisquality and a few are not sufficientlyrigorous.

94 Work-based trainees receive goodpractical training when they attend thecollege, typically for one day each week.The off-the-job training in motorcycleengineering in particular is highly valued bythe trainees and employers. College staffwork closely with employers and the co-ordination of on- and off-the job training isgood. Workplace resources for learners areat least satisfactory and in some casesgood. The development and assessment ofkey skills are an integral part of thevocational curriculum. There is littleassessment of competence in theworkplace, and on some programmesalmost all assessment is undertaken in thecollege. Reviews of learners’ progress arecarried out regularly by occupationallycompetent college staff. Records of reviewmeetings between college staff, traineesand employers contain insufficient detail oftrainees’ progress and fail to identify whatthey need to do before the next review.


95 Curriculum managers have a clearview of the issues facing the departmentand are effectively managing improvements.Staff are well aware of the falling enrolmentsand the low pass rates on some courses.Several measures have been put in place toimprove matters. These include theintroduction of new courses and extensivestaff development.

96 The department has systematic andimproving quality assurance arrangements.Teachers and managers meet regularly.Course teams complete termly reviews oftheir courses’ operation, drawing on anappropriate range of evidence. However,


the department has yet to find a remedy forlow retention and pass rates. The self-assessment report draws on the annualcourse reviews and self-assessments ofeach engineering curriculum area. It doesnot identify some of the weaknesses inteaching and in learners’ achievementsfound by inspectors.


Business

Overall provision in this area isunsatisfactory (Grade 4).

Strengths

• high pass rates on certificate anddiploma courses in management

• effective teaching on part-timemanagement and professional courses

• good support for individual students• flexible framework of qualifications for

administration students.

Weaknesses

• poor pass rates on GNVQ, GCE A leveland text processing courses and onwork-based training programmes

• some poor levels of retention andattendance

• some poor teaching on businessstudies and public services courses

• insufficiently rigorous course reviews• insufficient breadth to the programme

of study for full-time business students.

Scope of provision

97 A total of 2,590 enrolments wasrecorded for the business programme areaduring 1999/2000. Provision is wide rangingand delivered through six teachingdepartments. Programmes include GCE Alevels and GNVQs in business; First andNational Diplomas in public services; full-time and part-time courses in businessadministration; and a large number ofprofessional and management coursesoffered to post-graduate level. Enrolmentshave been growing on many of themanagement programmes. By contrast,numbers on administration courses aresmall and in some cases declining. Variousmodes of study are available to suit theneeds of different students. Mostadministration programmes can be startedat several points in the year and studentscan choose from a range of specialist

options. Part-time students can study ontheir own, with the support of tutors, in thebusiness technology workshop. There arefoundation and advanced modernapprenticeship programmes, and otherwork-based training programmes inadministration and accounting.


98 Pass rates are high on a number ofthe management and marketingprogrammes. On the Certificate andDiploma in Management courses retentionrates are good and pass rates haveaveraged over 90 per cent during the lastthree years. The pass rates on marketingcourses compare favourably with nationalFE averages. Although the pass rates onmarketing courses are lower, they alsocompare favourably with national FEaverages. The certificate in personnelpractice, with growing numbers, has had aretention rate of 90 per cent and a pass rateof 100 per cent over the last two years.Students on NVQ programmes inmanagement perform less well.

99 Less satisfactory results have beenachieved on GCE A-level and GNVQcourses. Although there has been someimprovement at GNVQ intermediate level,pass rates are below FE averages. Therehave been low retention rates on advancedvocational courses this academic year.Whilst pass rates on the First Diploma inPublic Services were good in 2000, only 44per cent of students on the National Diplomawere successful. There have been lowretention rates on both these courses duringthis academic year. NVQ accounting passrates are close to national averages at level3, but below average at levels 2 and 4. Textprocessing courses at level 1 have poorsuccess rates. During the last two years,out of over 1,100 starters, fewer than 25 percent achieved the qualification. Successrates are significantly better at higher levels.Students’ achievements on work-basedtraining programmes are poor. Mosttrainees make slow progress. Many leavethe programmes early without a full


qualification. Only one in eight traineesachieve a full qualification.

100 The standard of work of students onmanagement and professional courses isgood. Students’ portfolios are of goodquality; some contain detailed pieces ofresearch with a clear analysis of issues andconstructive proposals. Teachers monitorstudents’ performance carefully and provideconstructive feedback on their assessedwork. The standards achieved by GNVQand AVCE students are lower. Too much oftheir assignment work is over-reliant onsecondary sources of evidence and containsinsufficient first-hand research using thelocal business community as a resource.On the advanced programme there is over-assessment, and too much emphasis isgiven to business principles at the expenseof business practice. In public services andon the GCE A-level business course,students are not always working at a levelconsistent with the requirements of thecourse. The more able students are notbeing stretched. The small number of work-based trainees who complete portfolios doso to a satisfactory standard.


101 Lessons in professional andmanagement programmes are well plannedand structured to meet the needs ofstudents. Schemes of work are thoroughand meet course requirements. Appropriateteaching methods are used, including theuse of case studies and problem-solvingactivites. In most lessons, use is made ofstudents’ own work experience to illustrateconcepts and promote group discussion.There is, however, insufficient checking ofindividual students’ learning in somelessons. In a minority of lessons the teacherfailed to hold the interest of the students andthe teaching was not effective. Students’attainments during lessons are generallysatisfactory and appropriate to the level ofthe course.

102 Teaching and learning onadministration programmes, particularly at

higher levels, are good. All students haveready access to past examination papers.Progress in IT is recorded at the end of eachlesson on tracking sheets. Constructivecomments are added to assessed work byteachers during marking. There is goodsupport for students in the businesstechnology workshop. Teaching is lesssatisfactory on GNVQ, AVCE, publicservices and GCE A-level business studies.Many lessons had one or more of thefollowing weaknesses: inadequate planning;excessive copying of notes from thewhiteboard or overhead projector; poorattendance; insufficient checks by theteacher on students’ understanding; andrepetition of work undertaken in a previouslesson. The quality of placements for work-based trainees is good. There areinsufficient workplace assessments, but thestandard of those that take place issatisfactory.

103 Students are generally wellsupported in their studies. Regular reviewmeetings are held with individual studentswhere progress towards completingassignments is monitored and clear targetsare set. Part-time students in administrationhave individual tutorial sheets on which thework they have completed and appropriateexamination targets are recorded.Workplace reviews are inadequate. Theyinvolve insufficent action planning and giveperfunctory attention to health and safety.

104 The teaching staff are appropriatelyqualified, but many of the full-time staff donot have recent commercial experience.This deficiency is partially overcome by theeffective use of current practitioners in thebusiness school who act as part-timeteachers in subjects such as accounting andmarketing. Employer liaison officers andworkplace trainees and assessors are wellqualified, and have relevant commercialexperience. Accommodation in thebusiness school is of good quality. Theresource-based learning centre, forexample, provides a good range ofspecialist books, magazines, videos andCD-ROMs, together with a suite of


computers with access to the Internet.There are sufficient modern, networkedcomputers for administration students, usingindustry-standard software.


105 Management and professionalcourses are well managed. Targets are setat course level for recruitment, retention andachievement. More generally, however,programme reviews lack rigour and do notalways provide sufficient evidence thatweaknesses are being tackledsystematically. This weakness isacknowledged in the business programmeself-assessment report. The allocatedteaching time for full-time courses isinsufficient and extends over only three daysof the week. For the AVCE groups this hasdecreased to two days a week since May.There is insufficient provision of additionalstudies or enrichment activities.


Leisure and Tourism

Overall provision in this area isunsatisfactory (Grade 4)

Strengths

• good range of options for full-timestudents

• effective links with industry• good additional learning support in

foundation and intermediate lessons• good teaching on professional courses.

Weaknesses

• poor retention rates on GNVQadvanced and intermediate courses

• inadequate monitoring of students’performance

• insufficient checks on students’understanding in lessons

• unsatisfactory accommodation• small class sizes.

Scope of provision

106 The provision includes GNVQleisure and tourism courses at foundation,intermediate and advanced levels. Thefoundation level course was introduced thisyear. As part of the Curriculum 2000reforms, the advanced vocational certificatein education (AVCE) in travel and tourismhas also been introduced. There arecourses leading to professionalqualifications including British Airways faresand ticketing level 1 and the Association ofBritish Travel Agents’ (ABTA) primary andadvanced certificates. These courses havebeen successfully combined with courses incustomer services, Spanish, and key skillsto form a cohesive, full-time programme forthose who wish to work in the travelindustry. Most of the students are adultsand the programme is designed to fit in withchildcare arrangements. A resortrepresentative course is offered as anadditional option to second year GNVQadvanced students.


107 Pass rates on GNVQ leisure andtourism intermediate and advanced coursesare broadly similar to the national average.However, retention rates on both courseswere well below the national average in1999/2000. Retention is still poor in2000/01. At the time of the inspection theretention rate was 46 per cent on the AVCEcourse, 53 per cent on the GNVQintermediate course and 46 per cent on theGNVQ foundation course. Of the tenstudents who transferred from GNVQintermediate to GNVQ advanced coursesthis year, only three were still on the courseat the time of the inspection. More stringententry procedures are planned for next year.Retention and pass rates are above thenational average on the ABTA certificates,but are below the national average on theBritish Airways course.

108 All students demonstrate anappropriate level of attainment in theirwritten work and their contributions duringlessons. The standard of written workmeets course requirements and isthoroughly monitored by internal verifiers.Students make insufficient use of IT toproduce assignments. They are acquiringkey skills on their vocational courses, butthis is not being recognised, and the keyskills are not assessed and recorded.


109 Much of the teaching in thiscurriculum area is satisfactory, and that onthe professional courses is good. Ineffective lessons, schemes of work andlesson plans were detailed and clear.Lesson objectives were explained tostudents. Teachers successfully drew onstudents’ own experience to illustrate keypoints. Some imaginative revisiontechniques such as quizzes were used.Learning support assistants work effectivelyalongside teachers in GNVQ foundation andintermediate lessons.


110 The teaching in more than one inseven of the lessons observed wasunsatisfactory. In these lessons, theteacher did not maintain students’ interestand did not check whether they had graspedthe key points. The average size of groupsobserved during the inspection was seven.Teachers did not adjust their methods totake account of the small group sizes.

111 Assignments are written in astandard format and are usually returnedwithin two to three weeks, but the teachers’feedback rarely includes advice on howstudents could improve their work. Studentsdo not always understand the feedback andhave to ask the teacher to explain. Studentson the AVCE course had difficulty inunderstanding one of the assignments set.Assessment schedules are not adhered to.Key skills are taught separately from thevocational elements of courses, mainly bypart-time staff. Confusion over thesubmission date of assignments to theawarding body means that some studentswill have to do key skills assignments incommunication next year.

112 There are five full-time and 15 part-time teachers on the leisure and tourismcourses. Four of the full-time teachers wereappointed recently and are relatively new toteaching. Each full-time teacher isresponsible for a particular course. Most ofthe teachers have travel industry experiencewhich they put to good use in the classroom.Two classrooms are allocated to leisure andtourism. They are small and poorlyventilated. There is no base room in whichstudents can store their portfolios. There isa high level of awareness of equality ofopportunity which is reflected in learningmaterials. The travel shop provides realisticwork experience for students. It is linked toa local travel agent and is well stocked withtravel literature. Links with industry aregood. Travel industry practitioners act asguest speakers and students undertakeindustrial visits and work experience. Thelibrary has a good range of books and otherlearning materials. Students make gooduse of the Internet.


113 The co-ordinator for leisure andtourism has been in post for one year and isbeginning to tackle problems resulting fromhigh staff turnover last year. Students’progress is inadequately monitored.Progress reviews which have been plannedat tutorials do not always take place. Forexample, a third of students on the GNVQintermediate course had been reviewed onlyonce at the time of inspection. Reviews lackrigour. During reviews, teachers do notexplain clearly to students the measuresthey need to take to improve theirperformance. Nor do they checksubsequently that the actions have beentaken. The monitoring of students’attendance is also inadequate. There are anumber of students on the register whohave been absent for considerable periods,without any action taking place.

114 The staff work well as a team.Course team meetings take place regularly,but minutes do not record the actionsagreed or the progress made on actionsagreed at previous meetings. The smallclass sizes do not represent good value formoney. No effective strategies have beenintroduced to tackle low retention rates. Theself-assessment report represents anhonest attempt to identify strengths andweaknesses. However, it containsinsufficient statistical analysis and hasunderestimated the importance of lowretention rates.


Health and Social Care

Overall provision in this area isunsatisfactory (Grade 4).

Strengths

• broad range of courses• well-planned work experience• effective teaching of key skills• well-equipped learning resource

centres.

Weaknesses

• poor and declining retention rates• low pass rates on the Diploma in

Childcare and Education and on work-based training programmes

• some poor teaching• low attendance and poor punctuality in

the majority of lessons• inadequate course reviews and self-

assessment.

Scope of provision

115 The college offers a broad range offull-time and part-time courses in health andsocial care, childcare and counselling.Courses in all three areas are available atfoundation, intermediate, and advancedlevel. The college also provides highereducation courses in social work, social careand childcare which were not inspected. AGNVQ foundation course in health andsocial care was introduced recently, but hasattracted few students. The collegeprovides courses at suitable times for adultswith childcare responsibilities and there issome provision of childcare and playworkcourses in the community. The Diploma inSocial Work is available on a full-time andpart-time basis; students with appropriateprevious experience in social work can havetheir prior learning accredited by completinga portfolio and thereby achieve thequalification in a shorter time.


116 Students’ written work usually meetscourse requirements. Some assignmentwork is of a high standard and makesrelevant links between the course contentand the workplace. Many students use theirIT skills to good effect in assignments.Students on advanced level coursesgenerally demonstrate appropriate skills ofanalysis and evaluation. In childcare, somepractical displays are poorly presented,lacking in detail and at too low a level for thecourse being followed. Work produced bysocial work and counselling students ismature and demonstrates a goodunderstanding of the requirements of thecourses. In many lessons, studentsdemonstrate an awareness of the valuesunderlying professional care and the needfor commitment and integrity in their work.Counselling students display a matureunderstanding of the complex demands ofwork in counselling. They record the workthey have done, in college and in practice, inwell-written and thoughtful assignments andpersonal statements.

117 Pass rates for those students whocomplete their studies are mostlysatisfactory, being around the nationalaverages for most courses. However, thepass rate for the Diploma in Childcare andEducation has been consistently below thenational average during the period 1998 to2000. Many students on childcare coursesand work-based training programmes fail tocomplete their course or programme withinthe expected time scale. The retention rateson the majority of courses are poor and, insome cases, declining. For example, theretention rates on the GNVQ intermediateand the National Certificate in Care courseshave dropped from over 70 per cent in 1998to around 50 per cent in 2000. Theretention and pass rates for modernapprenticeships are also poor. Over the lastthree years the pass rate has not beenhigher than 25 per cent. There is a patternof low attendance and poor punctuality inlessons. The average attendance inlessons observed by inspectors was 68 per


cent. In eight of the 23 lessons observed,fewer than 60 per cent of students werepresent.


118 In the effective lessons, teachersorganised appropriate learning activities andmade frequent references to professionalpractice. Most schemes of work and lessonplans were constructed to ensure adequatecoverage of course requirements, but somedid not contain sufficient detail aboutlearning outcomes or opportunities forassessment. In over a quarter of lessonsthe teaching was unsatisfactory. Teachersmade poor use of the time available andfailed to make sufficient checks on students’understanding. Some activities wereinsufficiently challenging to maintain theinterest of the students and did not helpthem to make progress.

119 Much of the teaching andassessment of the key skills of informationtechnology and communication is integratedwith other aspects of course units. Studentsunderstand the relevance of key skills andmonitor their own progress carefully. Theirperformance in the external tests for keyskills is generally good. However, the keyskills component of the modernapprenticeship programme has not beenintegrated with the vocational work and hasbeen introduced too late in the programme.Students undertake well-managed andeffective work placements during which theirwork progress is carefully monitored. Work-based trainees have the opportunity to workwith a wide age-range of children innurseries and of adults with a variety ofneeds in residential homes.

120 Assignments and assessments arecarefully designed to cover courserequirements. Students’ work is generallymarked conscientiously and returnedpromptly, but in some cases the teachers’comments are inadequate to help studentsimprove their performance.

121 All students have a period ofinduction to introduce them to the collegeand their course. There are good quality,detailed course handbooks. Tutorial supportis good. Group tutorials are used to covertopics such as preparation for work, healthissues and applications to higher education.Students’ progress is tracked by their tutors,and discussed in individual tutorials whichtake place at least termly. However, thetargets set in tutorials are sometimes vague.Parents of younger students are informed oftheir progress at an annual parents’evening.

122 Most teachers have relevantvocational qualifications or recentprofessional experience. The majority ofclassrooms used for childcare lessons areadequate, although a few are rather smallfor the size of the groups being taught.There is little use of students’ work orrelevant posters to enhance theenvironment for learning. The library has asatisfactory stock of relevant books, video-recordings and journals. Students and staffhave access to up-to-date IT equipment.There are excellent learning resourcecentres for childcare and health and socialcare students. These are well-stocked witha range of journals, books, workpacks andvideos.


123 During the current year the provisionin health and social care has beenreorganised. Many staff have been givennew responsibilities. The head ofdepartment was appointed in September2000. There are regular team meetings inall areas of the department’s work. Coursefiles are generally comprehensive and wellmaintained. Increasing emphasis is beinggiven to tracking and monitoring students’performance and reviewing the work of thedepartment as a whole. Course teamsgenerally follow the college’s qualityassurance procedures, but insufficientattention is paid to evaluating the quality ofteaching and learning and retention andpass rates in course reviews. Targets for


performance are not set at programme orcourse level. A report is produced of thefindings of the college’s internal lessonobservation programme. It is sometimesdiscussed at team meetings, but in general,there is insufficient sharing of good practiceacross the department. The self-assessment process is rudimentary and toolittle evidence is provided to support thejudgements made.


Complementary Therapies,Hairdressing and Floristry

Overall provision in this area is good(Grade 2)

Strengths

• good retention rates on college-basedprogrammes

• good pass rates on sports therapy andbeauty therapy level 3 courses

• well-presented, good quality portfolios• high standards of practical work• broad range of specialist courses• effective recording of students’

achievements• well-managed floristry assessments.

Weaknesses

• poor work-based provision inhairdressing

• declining retention rates in floristry• some inappropriate accommodation• insufficient use of work-based evidence

for assessment.

Scope of provision

124 Courses are provided leading toNVQs in hairdressing at levels 1,2 and 3and in beauty therapy and floristry at levels2 and 3. The range of complementarytherapy and related courses includes holistictherapies, aromatherapy, reflexology, bodymassage, sports therapy, anatomy andphysiology, false nails, manicure, fashionphotography and media make-up. Thereare also work-based foundation modernapprenticeships. Most courses are taughtduring the day. The college salons areclosed at week-ends and during the holidayperiods. Most courses start in Septembereach year, although learners can enrol laterin the year and work to catch up with thegroup. Foundation modern apprentices inhairdressing and floristry work towards NVQlevel 2 and key skills qualifications. There

are 193 learners on beauty andcomplementary therapy courses, 164 oncollege-based hairdressing programmes, 20learners on floristry programmes and 24hairdressing foundation modernapprentices.


125 Retention rates on most college-based courses are good. In 1999/2000, theretention rate on the level 2 beauty therapycourse was 10 per cent above the nationalaverage. The retention rate on thecomplementary therapies course at level 3was 12 per cent above average. Theexception is floristry, where the retentionrate has declined from 100 per cent in 1997to 59 per cent in 1999/2000. Pass rates onNVQ level 3 beauty therapy and sportstherapy courses in 1999/2000 were alsoabove the national average. Retention rateson work-based programmes in hairdressingare poor. For trainees starting in 1997/98and 1998/99, the retention rates were 28 percent and 40 per cent respectively. Thecorresponding pass rates were 25 per centand 36 per cent. For the 26 foundationmodern apprentices who started in 1999,the retention rate was 38 per cent. For the21 starters in 2000, the retention wassignificantly better at 76 per cent. Two ofthe 1999 starters have gained the NVQ level2 and the appropriate key skills qualification.Through its school link programme, thedepartment recently celebrated the award ofan NVQ level 1 to one of the youngesttrainees in the country. Learners undertakean initial assessment of their basic skills andadditional support is offered if required. Thequality of the learners' finished portfolios isgood. They contain a wealth of relevantevidence of their competence, includingmuch visual work.

126 There are good standards ofpractical work. In media make-up, learnersproduce work of high quality and have wonawards in a recent national competition.They also participate in work placements inthis country and abroad. On other coursesstudents’ skills are enhanced by


participation on manufacturers’ coursesorganised by the college.


127 Most of the teaching is good.Schemes of work and lesson plans are wellorganised. Students’ achievements arerecorded using a variety of methods,including wall charts which are liked bylearners, entries in learners’ assessmentrecord books, and an innovativecomputerised system which is just beingintroduced. There are standard forms foraction planning but these are not alwaysused effectively.

128 Floristry assessments are wellmanaged both at college and in theworkplace. In hairdressing and beautytherapy, opportunities are missed to assessvocational and key skills while learners areat work. Hairdressing trainees on NVQ level3 programmes, who are senior salon staff,collect insufficient work-based evidence oftheir competence. Most of their assessmentis done at college using simulated activities,which is poor assessment practice.

129 There are insufficient learningmaterials to encourage students to study ontheir own. In other respects, however, thelibrary is well resourced. Students haveaccess to the Internet. Some teachers bringtheir own textbooks into college and usegood visual aids to enhance learning. Gooduse is made of visiting speakers, attendanceat competitions and shows and work withcommunity groups.

130 Some lessons take place ininappropriate rooms. For example, sometherapy treatments are done in over-crowded, cramped conditions. All thespecialist salons and related rooms are ontwo floors. The hairdressing reception areaand dispensary are situated between thetwo hairdressing salons. The large salonwith twenty-two workstations is bright andairy. In contrast, the small, poorly-lit beautyreception area, approached down a narrow,dark corridor, lacks a commercial ambience.

Access to the floristry shop, which is openonly three days a week, is through aclassroom. Improvements to theaccommodation would enhance thestudents’ learning experience andencourage more clients into the college andcreate more opportunities for assessmentunder realistic conditions.


131 There is good teamwork amongststaff, who share a common purpose and putlearners and their achievements first. Thewhole team contributed to the self-assessment report and many of thestrengths they identified were agreed byinspectors. Team meetings are heldregularly, but are not always minuted.Some part-time members of staff are notable to attend, but they are always updatedsubsequently. More attention needs to begiven to following the recommendations ofinternal verifiers and to recording work-based assessment. In hairdressing, someof the individual training plans of work-basedlearners were incomplete or had inaccurateinformation in them. Links with employersare generally good.


Design and Visual Arts


Strengths

• wide range of courses• high standard of students’ work• high pass rates• good progression to higher education• good teaching• good support for individual students• good specialist resources• effective leadership.

Weaknesses

• low retention rates on part-time courses• underdeveloped key skills• insufficient access to management

information.

Scope of provision

132 The college offers a wide range offull-time and part-time courses. Thedepartment has just over 1,000 students.Around 800 are studying on furthereducation courses at intermediate andadvanced levels. Courses include GNVQ atintermediate level in general art and designand media, and GNVQ at advanced level ingeneral art and design. National diplomasare offered in foundation studies, graphicdesign, media, communication andbroadcasting and textile design. Thedepartment is widening access to itsprovision through part-time courses infoundation studies, photography and interiordesign. Courses are well structured to meetthe needs of individual students and therequirements of higher education andemployers. Students progress to othercourses within the college, to employment orto higher education. The department hasuseful links with schools, community groupsand employers.


133 There are high levels ofachievement across all areas of theprovision. Pass rates are at or abovenational averages. Pass rates onfoundation studies, graphic design, mediaand some aspects of general art and designare particularly good. Students’ work is of ahigh standard and demonstrates knowledgeand skill in a wide range of techniques.Portfolios of work contain evidence ofextensive exploratory work, research andfinished artwork or design. Theory iseffectively related to practical work andstudents have a good range of underpinningskills including objective drawing, drawingfrom life, basic design, colour theory andapplication, and sketchbook work. Studentsare confident in discussing their work anddevelop their own ideas and individualstyles. They are developing critical skillsthat enable them to evaluate their own workand the work of others. There is a verygood rate of progression to highereducation. For example, over 90 per cent ofstudents completing the National Diploma inFoundation Studies and the GNVQadvanced course obtained places atuniversity. Students are also successful incompetitions and in completing commercialprojects. Retention rates are close tonational averages on full-time courses.However, retention rates on some part-timecourses are low and declining. Students’key skills, particularly in application ofnumber, are underdeveloped and somestudents are unclear about how key skillsare being introduced into vocational coursesand assessed.


134 Much teaching is very good andnone was considered to be less thansatisfactory. Lesson planning is thoroughand related to comprehensive schemes ofwork. Learning is primarily achievedthrough the completion of well-designed,challenging assignments and projects.Projects are explained to students and haveclear aims and objectives, assessment


criteria and deadlines for completion. Oncestudents have developed a basicunderstanding of their subject and havedeveloped the necessary background skills,they are given considerable freedom in theinterpretation of ideas and encouraged toexplore their own interests. In one artworkshop, learners were given a theme toexplore in pairs. Each was encouraged todevelop an individual style and toexperiment with new techniques andmaterials.

135 Students respond well indiscussions. Teachers challenge studentsand encourage them to articulate andevaluate ideas. For example, in one medialesson, small groups of students had topresent a short video they had scripted andproduced. All students were given a‘ratings’ form that required them to evaluatethe presentation under a number ofheadings. Many teachers use theirprofessional experience as practising artistsand designers to motivate students and tokeep them informed of artistic andcommercial developments. Many studentsbenefit from undertaking assignments andcommissioned work for local employers andcommunity groups. These have led to workplacements and job opportunities.Assessment is thorough and students’progress is monitored and recorded well.Students speak highly of the wayassessments are carried out and the criticaland constructive feedback they receive fromteachers.

136 There is a good level of support forstudents. Prior to joining the college, mostof the students are interviewed by the headof department and a relevant teacher.Students are given impartial advice aboutthe most appropriate course and know whatis expected of them. Students with specificlearning difficulties such as dyslexia are wellsupported. All full-time and part-timestudents have tutorials and meet regularlywith their personal tutors. Students’attendance is thoroughly monitored.Students receive good careers advice andguidance. Teachers are well qualified and

have a range of specialist expertise. Manyare practising artists and designers.Specialist resources and accommodationare good and students also benefit from theuse of resources obtained for highereducation courses. Specialist equipment isgood and portfolios of students’ workcontain many examples of the effective useof IT. There is a good range of up-to-datecomputers, printers and scanners andstudents have access to a wide range ofsoftware.


137 The programme area is wellmanaged. There is strong leadership withinan atmosphere of open and critical debate.There is a commitment to continuousimprovement and students’ performance isregularly monitored. Communication isgood. There are regular meetings atdepartmental and course team level.Meetings focus on students’ progress,attendance, retention and pass rates. Thedepartment is effective in sharing goodpractice and teachers from across thedepartment often come together to discussprojects. A programme of lessonobservation has been effective in identifyingareas for development. The department hasintroduced a process of moderation thatensures that assignments are set at the rightlevel and marked consistently. There islimited access to management informationfor middle managers and teachers.However, information held by thedepartment is reliable, but middle managersand teachers have insufficient access to it.


English, CommunicationStudies, Modern ForeignLanguages, English as aForeign Language andPerforming Arts

Overall provision in these areas isunsatisfactory (Grade 4)

Strengths

• good retention and pass rates on someGCSE courses

• good retention rates on modern foreignlanguages courses

• wide range of courses and modes ofstudy

• good progression to drama school forperforming arts students.

Weaknesses

• poor overall quality of teaching• poor retention on advanced level

courses• below average pass rates on most

advanced level courses• poor overall achievements of students

following flexible learning programmes• weak leadership and management of

subject areas• poor resources in performing arts and

modern foreign languages.

Scope of provision

138 A wide range of courses is offered inthese subjects. The provision in Englishcaters for some 220 mainly full-timestudents, and a further 300 studentsenrolled on flexible study programmes.GCE A-level and AS courses are offered inEnglish language, English literature, Englishlanguage and literature and communicationstudies. Students on access to humanitiescourses study a unit in ‘exploring writing’.Intermediate level courses include OpenCollege Network (OCN) courses in Englishlanguage, and GCSE English and English

literature. Approximately 420 students arefollowing courses in modern foreignlanguages and English as a foreignlanguage (EFL). The courses offeredinclude GCE A level, GCSE and a range ofbeginners’ courses. EFL can be studied ata range of levels. In performing arts, some50 students are enrolled on intermediateand advanced GNVQ programmes. Variousmodes of study are available for manycourses, including one-year intensive GCEA-level courses and flexible learning.Evening classes are also available in somesubjects.


139 The standards achieved in lessonson GCE A-level, AS and GCSE courses inEnglish are satisfactory. On GCE A-leveland AS courses, students demonstrateunderstanding in their written work of literaryand linguistic concepts and techniques.They have developed a personal responseto the material they have read, althoughsome students’ written English is weak inexpression and accuracy. Discussion andcommentary in lessons were generally at asatisfactory level, although students’answers to teachers’ questions were ofteninsufficiently developed. Studentsdemonstrate skills in independent study,encouraged by assignments which requireresearch. Examples were seen of goodwork, carefully prepared by access studentsand demonstrating an informed response toliterature, and of well-executed projects bystudents of communication studies inapplying theory to practice. In modernforeign languages, those adult students whohave continued with courses have madegood progress, and work with enthusiasmand interest. Standards are high on coursesin EFL; students have made progress inusing language in a variety of ways. Onperforming arts courses, some studentsmake good progress when workingindependently in small groups. However,students are not developing the self-discipline necessary for further work andtraining. Students’ unwillingness to dosufficient practice or preparation on their


own hampers their progress. Attendanceand punctuality are poor.

140 Completion rates are below averageor poor on most GCE A-level courses inEnglish and communication studies; in thecurrent year there has been poor in-yearretention on many courses in English,modern foreign languages and performingarts. Pass rates are below average on mostGCE A-level courses. Very few studentswho start flexible learning courses in GCEA-level or GCSE English enter theexamination within two years. There havebeen good retention and pass rates atgrades A*–C in GCSE English literature forthe last three years; pass rates are averageon full-time GCSE English courses andabove average for students entering theexamination after studying through flexiblelearning. Pass rates are good on GCSEmodern foreign languages courses, andsatisfactory on the courses for beginners.

141 There is no value-added informationto assess how students’ achievementscompare with what might be expected onthe basis of their prior qualifications. Thereis good progression to drama school byperforming arts students who havecompleted the course.


142 Most teaching is satisfactory orbetter, but the percentage of good or verygood lessons observed was below average.In one-fifth of lessons, teaching was lessthan satisfactory. In English andcommunication studies, teachersencouraged students to revise and practiseexamination techniques. Lessons were wellplanned, with a mixture of whole classdiscussion, small group work and timedwritten work. Teachers have producedleaflets advising students how to approachtheir examination papers. There is littleplanned use of ICT within the curriculum,although teachers do encourage students touse the Internet. Studies in English havebeen enriched by a trip to the Globe Theatrein London, and a talk from a university

lecturer. There are no arrangements atpresent for students’ key skills to bedeveloped or assessed through their Englishstudies. Resources for English courses areadequate, but could be improved. The bookstock in the college’s learning centre isadequate for English, but should be updatedand developed to reflect courserequirements and to encourage students toread more widely. Teachers areappropriately qualified.

143 Students following Englishprogrammes in the flexible learning centrereceive a half-hourly tutorial every month tosupport them in their studies. Thesetutorials are well-conducted. The tutors aresensitive to the needs of adult studentsstudying in this way, and good materials areprovided. Additional support is offered forstudents through an examinationpreparation workshop. Most teachers markstudents’ written work carefully and providea helpful written commentary. There is nocommon approach to the marking of GCEAS and GCE A-level English; this results indifferent practices between teachers.

144 In modern foreign languages, thereis well-planned, imaginative teaching whichengages learners’ interests. A practicalfocus and references to the relevant countryhelp maintain interest. Some teaching,however, is unsatisfactory. In theselessons, teachers did too much of thespeaking, used English too much or tried tocover too much ground, leaving the studentsconfused. Teachers do not share goodpractice. Some do not hold qualifications inthe teaching of a foreign language, andhave inadequate understanding of sometechnical aspects of language teaching.EFL staff all hold relevant specialistqualifications. Most of the resourcesavailable for language study are inadequate,and this is reducing the extent to whichstudents are able to study on their own.

145 In performing arts, teachers givegood personal attention through individualcoaching to students’ learning needs. Staffhave worked hard to set up the courses and


give much time and energy to the students.However, there is insufficient rigour in somelessons, where students are not sufficientlychallenged for poor punctuality and lack ofpreparation. The advanced GNVQ coursehas been well devised to meet the needs ofthe students who hope to progress to dramaschool or other higher education institutions.Although teachers have good experience incoaching students for individualexaminations in speech and music, theirformal qualifications are weak. Few arequalified teachers and a minority havedegrees. There is a well-equipped theatre,but a serious lack of other necessaryaccommodation such as a dance studio,technical workshop or practice rooms.


146 Courses are managed byprogramme area leaders according to thetype of course rather than the subject. Thismeans that there are no subject leaders andno formal subject team meetings. InEnglish, this has resulted in a lack ofdetermination to develop many aspects ofthe provision, including resources, theteaching of key skills, the use of ICT in thecurriculum, and the sharing of good practice.Similarly in modern foreign languages thereis a need for stronger co-ordination. Thereview and evaluation of the provision alsolack a subject dimension, with the result thatthere is no clear, common agenda forimprovement. There is cross-college co-ordination of the college’s GCSE Englishprogramme, which ensures that therequirements of the awarding body are met,for instance for internal moderation ofstudents’ work. A group has recently begunto meet to consider the future developmentof GCSE English programmes. EFLteachers have developed a team approach.There has been a lack of stability in thestaffing of English courses, particularly overthe last year. This has affected the qualityof the students’ experience in the college.One GCE AS group has had four teacherssince September 2000. The use of part-time staff is not well managed.


Social Sciences

Overall provision in these areas isunsatisfactory (Grade 4)

Strengths

• good pass rates on the access course• effective support for individual students.

Weaknesses

• poor and declining retention rates onGCE A-level courses

• poor pass rates on many GCE A-leveland GCSE courses

• ineffective quality assurance• insufficient use of IT• poor attendance on many courses.

Scope of provision

147 The department of science, adultand general education offers GCE A-level,AS and GCSE courses in sociology,psychology, law, history and governmentand politics. There are also an access tohigher education course and a return tostudy course for students who have notstudied for some time. No social sciencesubjects are offered in the evenings.Students can study any of the socialsciences in their own time, supported by atutor.


148 The standards achieved by accessstudents are very good. Their coursework iswell presented, word processed and of ahigh standard. GCE A-level and GCSEwork is of a satisfactory standard. Studentsare able to work on their own, encouragedby assignments which require research,although there is little use of IT for thispurpose. In a minority of GCSE and GCEA-level lessons, some students wereunresponsive to the teachers’ questioning.Attendance was occasionally poor. A newprocedure for monitoring attendance was

introduced in September 2000 andimprovements are now evident on somecourses.

149 Pass rates on the access to highereducation courses are good. Many of thesestudents progress onto higher educationcourses. Retention rates are poor on allGCE A-level courses except for those insociology and law. On GCSE courses,retention rates are around national averagesor slightly above. GCSE pass rates arebelow average, except in sociology. Thegrades achieved by many GCE A-levelstudents are below what would be expectedon the basis of their GCSE achievements.Students choosing to study on their own donot usually achieve a qualification in theagreed time.


150 Most of the teaching wassatisfactory or good. Teachers knew theirsubjects well. They planned and preparedlessons effectively and had a goodawareness of students’ individual learningneeds. In most lessons, teachers organisedappropriate learning activities, supported byappropriate learning materials. In severallessons teachers engaged students in groupwork to consolidate knowledge inpreparation for forthcoming examinations.GCSE lessons were lively and teachersconstantly reinforced students’ learning withtargeted questions. A GCE A-levelgovernment and politics lesson started witha lively discussion of current events to whichall students responded enthusiastically. In afew lessons, teachers failed to involve allstudents in the work and did not check thatstudents were learning what was expected.There was little use of IT or the Internet tofacilitate students’ learning. Opportunities todevelop students’ key skills were missed.Teachers set relevant and appropriateassignments, which encourage students toresearch, reflect and develop their subjectskills. In most cases, they mark students’work carefully and give constructivefeedback to show students how to improve


their work in the future. However, in a fewexamples, written feedback was too brief.

151 The relationships between studentsand teachers are good. Students speakhighly of the support they receive from theirteachers. Students who need additionalhelp generally get it, and in many cases thisenables them to continue with their studies.All full-time students are allocated apersonal tutor. As well as participating ingroup tutorials, students regularly meet theirtutor to review their progress. Tutors keepgood records of these reviews.

152 Humanities subjects are taught bysmall teams or individuals who are well-qualified and experienced teachers.Accommodation is appropriate, but lacks asubject identity, and there are no displays ofstudents’ work in classrooms. There is easyaccess to video players and otherequipment. The humanities area has itsown learning resource centre, which is wellequipped with computers and staffed by ateacher. Book stocks in the library areadequate, although many popular texts arefor reference use only. Full-time studentshave to buy their own textbooks.


153 Curriculum managers are aware ofthe weaknesses in the humanities provision.The current quality assurance proceduresdo not adequately address issues at subjectlevel. The self-assessment report andprogramme reviews are insufficiently self-critical and detailed. Actions to remedyweaknesses have been slow to beimplemented. There have been nosuccessful strategies to raise the lowachievement levels on GCE A-level courses.Some courses have shown someimprovements in retention rates this year.Target-setting is not well developed.Communications are generally good. Thereare regular programme area meetings, butonly informal subject meetings.


Provision for Students withLearning Difficulties and/orDisabilities


Strengths

• good achievements on pre-vocationalcourses

• good teaching• good additional support• well-qualified teachers and trainers• good links with a range of external

agencies.

Weaknesses

• ineffective response to the needs ofstudents with emotional andbehavioural difficulties.

Scope of provision

154 There is a broad range of courses atpre-entry level, entry level and level 1. Allcourses offer the option to acquire anappropriate external qualification. Studentsundertake the courses for a variety ofreasons: to develop their skills forindependent living; to extend theirknowledge and understanding through avariety of practical activities; or to enhancetheir employability by acquiring basic andvocational skills. There are coursesdesigned specifically for those recoveringfrom problems with mental health, and forstroke victims. There is also a pilotfoundation course for young people withmoderate learning difficulties and for thosewith emotional and behavioural difficulties.


155 Most students worked well andresponded with enthusiasm and interest tothe challenges set by teachers. Retentionrates on all courses are high. Attendanceand punctuality are sometimes poor,

particularly among the younger age group.Students with severe or profound andmultiple learning difficulties were able tocomplete a range of tasks unaided or, insome cases, with prompts, and gainedappropriate levels of understanding.Students on the pilot foundation programmewere developing social and creative skillswhile improving their literacy and numeracy.Learning plans and other records indicatedthat most students had made significantprogress since embarking on theirprogramme of study. Over 90 per cent ofstudents entered for external qualificationsachieve certification. No national data areavailable for comparison, but thedepartment is now devising internalbenchmarks based on last year’s results.


156 Teaching was at least satisfactory inthe majority of lessons observed. In a verysmall number of lessons, learning waspoorly managed and expectations were low.Teachers are well qualified and experiencedin working with students with learningdifficulties and/or disabilities. They makeeffective use of additional support staff inthe classroom. Teachers know their subjectwell, set appropriate standards andgenerally have high expectations of theirstudents and trainees. They successfullyuse a range of methods to promote bothstudents’ independence and the acquisitionof essential skills. Each course has adetailed handbook which, supplemented bytutor files and records, ensures consistencyof approach.

157 There are well-considered inductionprogrammes for staff and students, includingthose students who join part-way throughthe year. All students undertake an initialassessment, which includes an assessmentof basic skills and an analysis of preferredlearning styles. Based on this, achievableshort-term and long-term goals are set foreach student. Progress towards short-termgoals is monitored and reviewed on aweekly basis; that towards long-term goalsis monitored termly. Whilst assessment is


comprehensive, there has been no attemptto develop ways of measuring added value.

158 The vast majority of students enjoytheir time in college and appreciate thesupport they receive. Many progress fromcourse to course over a number of years.They value highly the qualifications theyacquire. More work needs to be done onresponding effectively to the needs ofstudents with emotional and behaviouraldifficulties. There is insufficient provision ofresidential and leisure activities and little toattenuate the disruption of learning duringthe holiday periods.

159 A successful programme of work-based learning has been well received bystudents, their parents and employers.Through their placements, students gainvaluable experience of the world of workand the skills to move into further training oremployment. Good links are maintainedwith other specialist providers and withschools. Close liaison with social, healthand welfare services, as well as with thecareers service, ensures that there is amulti-disciplinary response to students’needs. A pilot programme to meet theneeds of disaffected young people has hadsome success and, as a result of the pilotwork, is to be redesigned for the forthcomingacademic year to include a summer schooland residential provision.

160 Staff liaise well with otherdepartments and services within the collegeand are active in encouraging students toprogress into mainstream courses whereappropriate. Several of the pre-vocationalcourses are taught in the mainstreamcurriculum areas. The accommodationcurrently used is inadequate for some of thestudents, particularly those in wheelchairs.More computers are required to meetcollege targets on access to computers.There is also a shortage of specialistsoftware to meet the particular needs ofthese students.


161 This curriculum area is led andmanaged well. There is a strongcommitment among all staff to build on whathas been achieved and to strive forcontinuous improvement. The curriculumteam reviews progress regularly at teammeetings and internal verification events.The department makes use of the college-wide programme of classroom observationsin its own evaluation.


Basic Skills


Strengths

• a wide range of provision to meetstudents’ needs

• effective individual support for students• a thorough, systematic approach to

initial assessment• a good range of resources for New

Deal clients.

Weaknesses

• lack of specific targets in students’individual learning plans

• a lack of focus on basic skills inpartnership teaching sessions

• some inappropriate learning materials• insufficient co-ordination of basic skills

across the college.

Scope of provision

162 The inspection of this curriculumarea covered: basic skills courses for adults;in-class support for students of all agesthrough partnership teaching; basic skillssupport provided in the college’s skillsdevelopment centre; basic skills training forNew Deal clients.

163 In 2000/01 there have been 76adults on basic skills programmes. A further48 students have attended the skillsdevelopment centre workshops. Two-hundred-and-sixty-five students areprovided with in-class support throughpartnership teaching. There are currently 26New Deal clients. There are also a numberof adults receiving individual support forbasic skills through the college’s flexiblelearning services.


164 Retention rates are satisfactory ataround the national average. For manyexternally accredited awards there are lownumbers of students entered, making acomparison of pass rates with nationalaverages difficult. Those on two courseswhere comparisons are possible are poor.The pass rate for the City & Guildsnumeracy stage 2 award is only 41 per cent,compared with the national average of 66per cent for 1999/2000. Results on theachievement tests in literacy are also eightper cent lower than the national average.The majority of students receiving help withbasic skills are not working towards a basicskills qualification. Their aim is to improvetheir basic skills to enable them to completetheir primary qualification successfully.

165 High levels of individual supportresult in most students making goodprogress in improving their basic skills andin meeting the requirements of theirmainstream programme. This is evident inthe students’ portfolios of work. The collegehas attempted to measure the impact ofbasic skills support on pass and retentionrates. For 1999/2000, the retention rate forthose receiving support was six per centhigher than the college average, and thepass rate was five per cent higher. Studentswho receive help with basic skills oftenimprove their personal skills, confidence andability to work on their own, although this isnot always recorded.


166 The college recognises that manystudents are not prepared to attendadditional lessons in order to improve theirbasic skills. For this reason the college has,over the last three years, developed itspartnership teaching scheme, whereby asupport teacher joins mainstream lessonswhere help is needed. In addition, somestudents receive individual support.Students value the support they receive andits positive impact on their confidence and


abilities. Staff are responsive to their needs,sensitive and approachable.

167 There is a college policy, and a clearprocedure exists, for the initial assessmentof basic skills. All 16–18-year-old studentsand all those on foundation and intermediatelevel courses, including part-time students,are assessed. There is a clear set ofguidelines for staff, giving details of the mainassessment tools and the contexts andlevels at which they are appropriate. Thefinal choice of assessment tool is left to thediscretion of the teacher. The skillsdevelopment team marks the papers andfeeds back results to the curriculum team.The initial assessment system is effective inidentifying those students who needadditional support. During the last year, thecollege has increased the number ofstudents identified as needing learningsupport and the take-up rate of support.

168 Most teaching is satisfactory orbetter. For the adult provision and the groupsessions provided by the skills developmentteam, there are well-structured schemes ofwork and lesson plans. In some partnershipteaching sessions there is also a separatelesson plan produced by the supportteacher. Support teaching is most effectivewhen students are given constructivefeedback on their work and plenty ofencouragement.

169 In some lessons, the partnershipteacher provides general learning support toenable the student to benefit from thepractical or theory lesson being taught,rather than specialist assistance aimedspecifically at improving basic skills. Whilstsuch support enables students to completetasks and assignment work for their mainprogramme successfully, it does not alwayshelp them to develop transferable basicskills. In some sessions there is an over-reliance on worksheets as a teaching aid.Many of the worksheets used to teach basicskills do not set the tasks in an appropriatevocational context.

170 Each student who is receiving basicskills tuition has a separate individuallearning plan. The targets and goalscontained in the plan are often not specificenough. In some instances, they includevague targets such as ‘improve writing’.Achievements in basic skills are notsystematically measured or recorded as partof the termly review process. Instead, thereis a very general discussion as to howstudents are progressing.

171 Most teachers who are employeddirectly by the college are well qualified andhave undertaken specialist training in theteaching of basic skills. Some of the part-time agency staff lack such specialistqualifications. Some of the rooms used forteaching are unsuitable, mostly becausethey are too small. In the skills developmentcentre there are not enough quiet areas forstudents working on their own or with atutor. Resources for New Deal clients aregood, and include a range of basic skillsbooks and training modules that are relatedto job seeking. There are sufficientcomputers, and these are put to good use.


172 A new department, withresponsibility for co-ordinating basic skills,was created in January 2001. Provision isstill fragmented, however, and there is nocentral resource base. There is insufficientsharing of good practice amongst staff whoteach basic skills. Staff meetings are held,but few agency staff attend.

173 The college does not yet have astrategic plan for basic skills, but has set upa strategy group, including the head ofdepartment and the principal, to develop aplan by June 2001. In the self-assessmentreport the college identified many of theweaknesses found by inspectors and hasaction plans to address them. Progress onthese actions is monitored regularly.

College Data

Part D: College Data

Table 1: Enrolments by level of study and age, 1999/2000

Level 16–18 19+

1 19% 23%

2 36% 24%

3 32% 26%

4/5 4% 19%

Other 9% 8%

Total 6,727 11,752

Source: Provided by the college in spring 2001

Table 2: Enrolments by Curriculum Area and Age 1999/2000

Curriculum area 16–18No.

19+No.

Totalenrolments

%Science 1,365 2,004 18

Agriculture 8 47 0

Construction 693 630 7

Engineering 633 618 7

Business 561 2,029 14

Hotel & Catering 525 364 5

Health & Community Care 760 2,294 17

Art & Design 792 555 7

Humanities 1,000 2,481 19

Basic Education 390 730 6

Total 6,727 11,752 100%

Source: Provided by the College in Spring 2001.

College Data

Table 3: Retention and achievement

16–18 19+NVQ level(long

courses)Retention & pass

rate 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00

1 Starters excludingtransfers 768 550 881 1,382 1,184 1,421

Retention rate (%) 78 73 78 66 69 66

National average (%) 81 81 N/A 79 78 N/A

Pass rate (%) 63 58 56 66 64 55


2 Starters excludingtransfers 1,628 1,491 1,579 1,912 1,699 1,895

Retention rate (%) 71 75 73 79 81 80


Pass rate (%) 62 65 72 50 63 63

National average (%) 63 67 N\A 65 66 N/A

3 Starters excludingtransfers 1,633 1,444 1,357 1,923 1,872 1,962

Retention rate (%) 75 74 63 79 78 71


Pass rate (%) 66 68 66 60 61 61


H Starters excludingtransfers 42 55 34 987 945 939

Retention rate (%) 95 87 68 87 85 72


Pass rate (%) 77 88 64 63 71 67


Note: Summary of retention and achievement for the last 3 years by age and level of course, compared againstnational averages for colleges of the same type (that is general FE and tertiary colleges)

Source of information1. National averages: Benchmarking Data 1996/97 to 1988/99: Retention and Pass Rates in Further EducationColleges in England, The Further Education Funding Council, September 20002. College rates for 1997/98–1998/99: Benchmarking Data 1996/97 to 1998/99: Retention and Pass Rates,produced by the Further Education Funding Council, September 2000.3. College rates for 1999/2000: provided by the College in Spring 2001.

College Data

Table 4: Summary of grades awarded to teaching, learning and attainment by inspectors

Aspect & LearnerType

Graded good orbetter

(grades 1 to 3)%

Graded satisfactory(grade 4)

%

Graded less thansatisfactory

(grades 5 to 7)%

Teaching 16–18 50% 32% 18%

19+ and WBL* 61% 28% 11%

Learning 16–18 45% 38% 17%

19+ and WBL 53% 37% 10%

Attainment 16–18 41% 45% 14%

19+ and WBL 53% 33% 14%

Key: Inspectors grade three aspects of lessons: teaching, learning and attainment. The range of gradesincludes: excellent (grade 1), very good (2), good (3), satisfactory (4), unsatisfactory (5), poor (6) and very poor(7).

*WBL= work based learning

Documents

STOCKPORT COLLEGE OF FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION · Inspection week: May 21–May 25 2001 Reporting inspector: Maureen Banbury HMI. Office for Standards in Education Alexandra House