Kentish Express Ashford & District
Progress for town college
Two colleges placed in education administration amid a widespread financial crisis have made “reasonable progress” in recent months, according to inspectors.
West Kent and Ashford College (WKAC) joined Hadlow College in going through a previously unprecedented insolvency scheme earlier this year amid a probe into its finances by the Further Education Commissioner.
The colleges, run by the Hadlow Group, suspended both its chief executive Paul Hannan and deputy chief executive Mark Lumsdon-Taylor and there were a host of other resignations as investigations took place.
It was graded as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted 12 months ago, but a monitoring visit on September 25 found “reasonable progress” was made in improving retention and achievement, improving the quality of feedback received by students and
The report noted: “Teachers now respond more quickly and effectively to learners’ practical and written work.
“Most give rapid feedback which now emphasises more clearly what learners need to do to improve.”
Furthermore, performance appears to be on the up, with more students achieving distinctions, and grades 9 to 4 in GCSE maths than at the time of the previous inspection.
Inspectors also found more learners stay at the college, the management of apprenticeships have been restructured and apprentices have closer contact with assessors and employers.
However, some concerns remain, with the report claiming that certain employers, such as plumbers, don’t know in enough detail about the skills and knowledge their apprentices gain, and as a result are not able to support them in the workplace.
Despite entering administration, interim principal Graham Morley has always insisted students and staff will not be affected.
Earlier this summer, the FE Commissioner recommended three different organisations divide up the Hadlow Group’s portfolio of colleges.
Under the plans, West Kent and Hadlow Colleges and the group’s Greenwich campus would be taken on by North Kent College, the EKC Group would take on Ashford College and the Canterbury Spring Lane campus, while Capel Manor College would take over the site in Mottingham.