College set to appeal ‘inadequate’ rating
STRUGGLING Stockport College plans to appeal its latest its latest Ofsted report which contains stinging criticism and brands it inadequate across the board.
This was the overall rating given to the college, which is in administration, as well as the grade given for six out of seven sub-categories.
Its previous inspection, in December 2014, rated the college as requires improvement; now only the sub-category of adult learning programmes gets even that high.
The other six - 16-19 study, apprenticeships, learner outcomes, leadership and management, personal development and welfare, and teaching learning and assessment - are said to be inadequate.
The report’s summary lists the college as having one strength, working with businesses to ensure the curriculum meets skill requirements.
Principal Simon Andrews, who will lodge an appeal, says inspectors have not reflected how far the college has come in the last 12 months or the hard work of staff and learners.
But the report states: “Leaders and governors have not halted the decline in standards since the previous inspection. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is weak.
“Teachers fail to plan effective learning to meet the specific abilities of all learners. Achievement rates on study programmes are low and have been in decline since the previous inspection.
“The very large majority of apprentices do not complete their programmes successfully. Learners’ attendance is low especially in English and mathematics.
“Learners do not make sufficient progress on their courses and they fail to achieve the target grades of which they are capable.”
However, the report acknowledges the new management team has implemented monitoring and processes that although yet to bear fruit - could help.
It also says a new library is a positive, work experience opportunities are good and safeguarding is effective.
Mr Andrews said the college league table ranks Stockport as 117th out of 214 - better than 50 per cent. He added it has the best A*-C maths results of colleges in Greater Manchester and the fourth best for English, and that both student and employer satisfaction were at increasing and high levels.
Mr Andrews said: “These are just a few of our accomplishments last year which represents a significant success for a large proportion of our learners. We have plenty to be proud of and will continuing to improve our performance.
“The college is committed to providing high quality professional and technical education for the community.”