Ofsted commends progress since merger

Caption: Nuneaton Campus

Ofsted has endorsed the progress made by North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College since its formation as part of a merger two years ago.

Following a two-day monitoring visit earlier this month, Ofsted judged that the College has made significant progress in meeting the needs of its students, the local community and employers, and has enhanced the rigour of its governing body while managing its finances well.

In a report published this week, Ofsted recorded that the College has a well-informed understanding of the key economic and skills priorities in the communities it serves and has developed successful partnerships to deliver specific skills for growing and important sectors including automotive engineering, logistics and cybersecurity.

The report noted that college managers have high expectations of students and prioritise the development of maths and English skills, with achievements improving so that more students now achieve high grades in GCSE English. Ofsted reported that a significant proportion of students progress on to a range of positive destinations including employment, and further and higher education.

Ofsted commended the College for the development of its governance, noting that the board has increased its scrutiny of students’ progress through the implementation of an online data dashboard.

Marion Plant, Principal and Chief Executive said, “We are delighted with the outcome of the recent visit by Ofsted which reflects the high standards achieved by the College. The report is a fitting recognition of the considerable progress we have made over the last two years since our merger in improving the quality of teaching and learning, and the student experience.

“This endorsement by Ofsted properly reflects the effort and ambition of our students, the hard work of our staff and the support of our governing body. The report is an important document that we will use in ensuring even greater progress in the future.

“We were aware that there are some areas for improvement in a minority of areas and have already started to address those issues. Ofsted’s judgements have provided us with a clear agenda to follow in continuing to ensure that North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College is a fantastic place to learn.”

Additional highlights from the report state that:

Achievement rates in key subjects have improved significantly

• Teachers have improved their skills through an improvement in the quality of feedback on lesson observations
• The College provides highly effective advice and guidance to students on their next steps and future careers
• Teachers use imaginative and interesting ways to engage students with maths and English skills
• Governors have contributed to the development of courses for adults that have helped them back into employment
• Courses at the College match the priorities of both the Leicester and Leicestershire, and the Coventry and Warwickshire local enterprise partnerships
• The College is working effectively towards the introduction of new T Level qualifications to ensure that these meet local economic priorities.

Click here to view a full copy of the Ofsted report.