Stanmore College Ofsted Report

Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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Full report What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Ensure staff take urgent action to improve students’ attendance and punctuality by setting high expectations and consistently following up absences quickly to ensure students understand the standards expected of them.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by: setting high expectations for students in all lessons using assessment to motivate students and challenge them to produce work of the highest standards ensuring teachers check that students have understood the skills and knowledge they have been taught and then practise these.  Improve the English and mathematics skills that students develop and the proportion that successfully achieve their qualification.  Initially assess students’ skills and knowledge on entry and then use this information to: plan lessons that ensure all students make progress using learning materials and activities that are appropriate to their ability ensure students with additional support needs are provided quickly with the support they require.  Ensure college leaders set clear targets and actions for managers to improve rapidly the quality of the courses they manage and hold managers accountable for progress towards achieving these targets.

Inspection judgements

Outcomes for learners

Requires improvement  Over three years the proportion of students achieving their qualification has risen and a large majority of students are now successful. However, over this period, the success rate has risen too slowly and requires further improvement to ensure that a higher proportion of students are successful. Students’ achievement varies considerably over this time, with some areas improving well; for example: health, social care and early years; information and communication technology; leisure, travel and tourism; performing arts; and retail and commercial enterprise. Other areas, such as GCE AS levels and a small number of vocational qualifications, have improved more slowly. Success rates for students taking GCE A levels are high and those achieving GCE AS levels achieve well when their prior qualifications are taken into account.  Once students are successful on their qualification a very large majority progresses into further education or training. A high proportion of students on level 3 courses progress on to higher education, with a particularly high proportion of students on vocational courses successfully progressing to university. Progression from level 2 to level 3 has improved over three years and is now good. However, too few of the students on AS-level courses progress on to GCE A levels.  More students are achieving their English and mathematics qualifications than three years ago, and most are improving and applying their English and mathematics skills. In many lessons, students develop good speaking skills through well-planned and managed discussions. The proportion of students achieving a GCSE pass at grades A* to C in English is comparable to the national rate and the proportion that achieves other English and mathematics qualifications has improved. However, the rate of improvement has been slow and success rates remain lower than the national rate. Students on programmes for the unemployed make good progress during their course and many progress into employment. Success rates for the 40 apprentices that the Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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college has recently recruited are low, with a minority of students completing within the allocated time.  Students on level 2 courses are the most successful, with success rates comparable to the national rates. A majority of the students at the college are on level 3 courses and the proportion achieving a full level 3 qualification has risen over three years. There are no significant gaps between different groups of students and a large majority of those who receive additional support with their learning achieve their qualification.  Students’ attendance and punctuality require improvement and teachers do not consistently set high expectations. When teachers set high expectations, students’ attendance is improving, for example in information and communication technology (ICT) and performing arts.  The college has increased the number of students attending a work placement and has successfully increased the number of employers who provide these. A particular achievement has been the college’s success in securing placements for art and design students. In business, students develop communication, planning and mathematics skills through entrepreneurial and commercial activities, and childcare students regularly secure jobs following work placements. Some vocational courses do not offer sufficient work-related activities, but staff are taking the necessary actions to improve this.

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Requires improvement  At the last inspection teaching, learning and assessment were good and this remains the case in a number of subjects. However, too much teaching, learning and assessment now require improvement and, consequently, not enough students successfully complete their qualifications. Managers recognise the need for improvement and a series of action research projects is bringing new life to classroom practice. Where these have taken place, in performing arts and sport, students’ experiences and outcomes have improved, but the impact of these projects is yet to be felt across other subjects.  Most teachers have good and current subject knowledge and use this well to enthuse their students and to help them understand how the skills and knowledge they are learning will be used in future jobs. Teachers plan lessons well using a good range of activities that promote lively discussions and give students the confidence to work together, share and challenge each other’s views, and present work to the class.  Teachers do not set or impose standards well enough regarding attendance and punctuality at lessons and tutorials, and students’ poor attendance has a detrimental impact on their learning. In a minority of lessons teachers do not have high enough expectations of their students. Level 3 students, in particular many of those in their second year of study, are not working at a high enough level. Teachers do not routinely set tasks that are sufficiently challenging for the most able students and students do not learn to complete practical tasks with sufficient consideration for commercial standards or timings.  Teachers make effective use of the virtual learning environment, which provides a very well-organised set of resources for all subjects. Students make good use of this in order to prepare for lessons and when working on assignments. Teachers make competent use of technology in the classroom, for example through careful analysis of video clips from documentaries so that AS-level history students understand the rise of political extremism in pre-war Britain.  Students receive satisfactory advice and guidance to help them select appropriate subjects. They complete assessments at the start of their course that provide staff with information about their skills in English and mathematics. However, staff do not use this adequately to guide all students to the correct level of learning, or to plan lessons well enough to take into account students’ different starting points.  Assessment practices are too variable and require improvement. In a majority of subjects, teachers set assignments that are laid out well and motivate students by being strongly related Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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to relevant jobs. For example, vocational science students imagine themselves as advisers in a fertility clinic for an assignment about female hormones.  In a minority of subjects, teachers do not plan assignments well enough, some are uninspiring and assignment briefs provide insufficient guidance to students on the tasks required and the timelines for completion of different components of projects. Teachers’ verbal feedback to students is mostly good, but the quality of written feedback is often not detailed enough to help students make improvements. Assessors monitor the progress made by the small number of apprentices adequately, but many apprentices receive little feedback on their progress and insufficient encouragement to complete more than the minimum required for their apprenticeship.  Teachers monitor students’ progress well and tutors provide effective pastoral support to help students overcome personal difficulties that prevent them from learning. Staff provide good support for students who are identified as needing extra help and these students make good progress. However, the process for identifying those who need assistance is weak and too few students receive this support.  Teachers’ skills in helping students improve their use of English and mathematics vary and require improvement. In ICT, teachers use specialist units on the course effectively to improve students’ skills in mathematics to a standard required within the computing industry. However, too often, teachers do not train students well enough in English and mathematics.  Staff provide good guidance to students to help them move on to higher education or into employment. A series of well-planned events, such as a higher education fair and ‘get a job’ days, provide timely and useful information to students. Tutors provide comprehensive guidance through sessions on skills such as curriculum vitae writing and preparing for job interviews, and make good use of resources from careers agencies so that students understand their options.  Staff ensure that students at this very multicultural college work well together and have a strong respect for each other’s cultures and beliefs. Tutors raise students’ awareness of issues related to social tolerance well through effective workshops on topics such as anti-bullying and Black history. Teachers help students to adapt their work successfully to meet the needs of different people, such as media students creating website designs for people with visual impairments and sports students learning how to adjust exercise programmes for people of different ages and physical abilities.

Early years and playwork

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Good  Good teaching, learning and assessment ensure that the majority of students make timely progress to complete their qualifications. Students develop very good skills in caring for children. They achieve the required level of knowledge and professional understanding and most successfully gain employment in childcare settings or progress to higher education.  Students fully understand the topics they study and enjoy the fun and challenge of learning using a range of well-planned activities. Students share examples from their experience and childcare placements and learn much from each other. This builds essential team work skills, as well as confidence, in individual students.  As a result of excellent guidance and support from their teachers and personal tutors, students make good progress. Teachers enable students to apply childcare theories to their developing professional skills. For example, when exploring children’s transitions from one care setting to another, students considered aspects of health and safety, as well as the development of collaborative skills, to ensure that the best support possible is provided at a time that can be stressful for children. Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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 Teachers encourage and support students well to develop the independent work skills required by employers and which students use to gain additional knowledge and understanding. For example, after working with their teacher to explore current childcare and protection issues in the news, students carry out further research and identify very good, current examples to include in assignment work and discussions. Students also develop their reading skills through their research using newspapers or news websites.  Teachers use their extensive experience and active links with the professional childcare sector to ensure students learn about the latest developments in practices, policies and procedures in early years work. Students learn a great deal about working in childcare settings from their placements and teachers make good use of students’ practical experiences when teaching theory sessions.  Teachers carefully identify the knowledge and skills students have when they start their course and use this to place students on appropriate courses. Teachers meet regularly with students to monitor their progress and provide good guidance on how to improve the quality of their work. However they do not ensure students continue to develop the mathematics skills they will need when employed in an early years setting.  Teachers mark work carefully and promptly and provide constructive written and verbal feedback. This enables students to produce work of a high standard and many are able to achieve the high grades required by universities. However, many students need more support with the range of presentation and display skills that they will need when working in early years settings.  Students develop good personal and social skills during their time in college and on placement. Students have a good awareness of cultural diversity and the issues relating to caring for children from different cultural backgrounds. However, teachers do not teach students enough about supporting children who speak other languages or about the wide range of cultures represented in the diverse local community.

ICT for practitioners

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Good  Teaching, learning and assessment are good, leading to current students developing good ICT skills and making good progress compared to previous years when too many students did not successfully achieve their qualification. Level 2 students create lively animations using sophisticated commercial software and level 3 students have sound technical knowledge and a good understanding of how to develop and maintain information technology (IT) systems. They confidently write object-oriented programs and make good use of coding and cascading style sheets to customise web pages.  Teachers encourage students to tackle challenging IT problems effectively through good one-to-one coaching in lessons. This helps them to grow in confidence and competence in using IT tools.  Students practise and hone skills independently, supported well by the comprehensive electronic resources that they can access outside of lessons. The resources, which include plans for the courses, exercises, assessments, videos and quizzes, are well organised and well used by students.  In most lessons, knowledgeable teachers, with current expertise, use questioning very effectively to check students have understood what they have been taught and can apply their knowledge in a range of situations. In a small minority of lessons teachers do not sufficiently challenge more able students to improve their problem-solving skills. Students develop their understanding of topics well through high-quality learning materials that contain clear explanations and feature well-constructed exercises. For example, the resources used in one Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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lesson carefully described the steps required to create moving images within Java, which enabled students to perform complex tasks.  Teachers identify students’ individual needs accurately and monitor their progress closely. As a result, students are successfully meeting or exceeding the grades they are expected to achieve. Teachers monitor students’ attendance carefully and improve it by contacting absent students promptly and encouraging them to attend. As a result, the first year students now have good attendance, whereas the attendance of second year students, who have not benefited from such rigorous support, requires improvement.  Teachers assess students’ work accurately and frequently. On vocational courses all assignments are marked well and teachers give good feedback that clearly tells students how they can improve the quality of their work.  Students develop English and mathematics skills well. Students develop mathematics skills through writing and using a ‘dry-run’ test for algorithms in programming. Students on the software stream of the vocational level 3 course develop skills in manipulating matrices and applying recursion well. Most teachers insist students use accurate technical language and they introduce new terms with detailed explanations. Students develop good report-writing skills and teachers correct students’ written English well when marking their assignments.  Students make informed choices about the course they study as a result of appropriate pre-course information and advice. Teachers set high attendance and achievement targets for level 2 students who aspire to progress to level 3; as a result, these students are strongly motivated to succeed. Many students progress to university and staff provide good guidance to those who wish to progress on to an apprenticeship.  Students from diverse backgrounds work well together and are respectful of different viewpoints. Teachers set assignment deadlines with due regard to the timing of religious festivals. Teachers encourage students to value each other’s contribution. In a good lesson on communication skills, students reflected on their own understanding of terms such as prejudice and discrimination before exploring these further during the lesson. They then presented their findings, ensuring that the presentation was suitable for an audience that may include those with a slight visual impairment.

Sport, leisure and recreation

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Good  Teaching, learning and assessment are good and result in a high proportion of students achieving their qualifications. Students have a good understanding of key concepts in sports which they apply well in practical situations. The vast majority of sports students study additional fitness-related qualifications that develop skills that will be useful to them in future employment, including leadership, communication and demonstration skills. A small group of public services students on a new course are making good progress.  Care and support from teachers are often excellent and ensure that students stay motivated and committed to learning. However, teachers frequently do not have sufficiently high expectations of what students can achieve and set work that does not improve their knowledge and understanding sufficiently. Therefore, the proportion of students who meet or exceed their target grade is low.  Teachers are well qualified, passionate about their subject and are good role models for students, inspiring them and raising their aspirations to become employed in the sports industries. Teachers plan exciting activities, giving students memorable experiences that help them to understand difficult topics. For example, in a sports nutrition lesson, a video clip of the diet of an Olympic swimming champion, and the accompanying discussions, superbly highlighted the relationship between energy expenditure and calorie intake. Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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 Students work very well in groups and value the support they get from their peers in improving their understanding. For example, during an activity where students were making their own sports drinks, they questioned each other closely about the suitability of isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic drinks for different types of sporting activity.  Teachers monitor students’ progress rigorously and those at risk of underperforming are identified early. Teachers and managers support students using a wide range of strategies that are tailored to individual needs. The vast majority of students are making good progress towards successfully completing their course.  Teachers provide excellent verbal feedback to students which helps them to improve their work. The quality of written feedback, however, varies. Whilst much is extremely helpful in identifying improvements students could make to the content of their assignments, too much does not clearly state what students should do to improve their work or does not identify errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. For example, teachers do not consistently expect students to use and correctly pronounce anatomical names when identifying muscles and bones or to spell these correctly.  Teachers support students to develop a reasonable level of mathematics skills, but do not always set mathematics tasks that are hard enough to further students’ knowledge and understanding, requiring the students only to use skills they already possess rather than learn new ones.  Teachers know and understand their students very well and use that knowledge effectively to maintain students’ enthusiasm for the course. Students have a high level of awareness of the differences between people and demonstrate well their ability to meet individual needs, for example identifying adaptations to exercises within a circuit training session to suit participants of different ages, levels of fitness and sporting interests.

Foundation English

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement, which is reflected in too many students failing to complete their functional skills courses successfully in previous years. Current students are making satisfactory or better progress.  Most students, many of whom have English as a second language, develop their language skills well and can confidently communicate independently in the workplace and in everyday situations. In lessons they learn to communicate more effectively; for example, a group of level 1 students successfully present their predictions of future medical advances and space explorations and share these ideas succinctly with their peers in discussions and written work.  In better lessons, teachers organise interesting activities that involve and engage all students. Students work well together in small groups; for example, they jointly structure and write extended sentences in the past tense before being supported and encouraged by the teacher to correct each other’s work constructively. In another effective session, the teacher skilfully motivated students to discuss the wider benefits of texting as an informal communication tool. Students successfully explore social attitudes and the effect on the English language and increase their knowledge and understanding in preparation for future assessments.  Students regularly use the resources in the learning centre and continue with their studies of English at home with the encouragement of their teachers. In addition, most students receive good support in developing their English skills from teachers during lessons in all the subjects they are studying.  Attendance and punctuality are very low and a small number of students leave lessons early. As a result, students miss key elements of learning at the beginning and end of lessons. Despite this, most students make steady progress. However, a minority of students are entered for Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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examinations or set tasks which are too easy for them. For example, level 2 students effortlessly complete a basic task in which they match audience to purpose in an exercise using fire exit signs and an anti-smoking leaflet. Many teachers do not use the information about students with learning difficulties or disabilities sufficiently to provide appropriate activities, resources or support. As a result, many of these students do not make sufficient progress.  Information, advice and guidance provided to students are satisfactory. Teachers and managers effectively assess and identify students’ starting points at entry and organise placement of students on appropriate programmes. However, teachers do not provide sufficiently clear and detailed feedback to help students to improve their work, and when they set students targets it is not always clear what students need to do in order to improve and to meet the targets.  Teachers create an inclusive learning environment. Students work well collaboratively and good peer support is evident in most lessons. However, teachers’ promotion of equality and diversity through teaching and learning is underdeveloped and teachers do not create sufficient opportunities to integrate relevant topics in the planning and delivery of lessons.

Foundation mathematics

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement. Most current students are making good progress in lessons and are developing their skills and knowledge of mathematics well. A newly-established teaching team provides mathematics teaching, learning and assessment very well. Teachers are experienced, well qualified, very enthusiastic and keen to make the improvements necessary to increase the proportion of students who achieve their qualification, which in previous years was low.  Most teachers use their experience and skills well to provide appropriate lessons. Students develop good problem-solving skills and are able to work well unsupervised. For example, students in health and social care are able to collect and analyse data linked to body mass index and relate findings to the world of work. Teachers regularly check students’ progress in lessons and use questions well to help students find solutions to complex tasks. Students develop good team building and collaborative skills in pair and group work.  Teachers assess students’ mathematics skills at the beginning of the course very well and, in most lessons, teachers plan activities that meet the needs of the majority of students well. However, too often, teachers do not use the information about the skills and knowledge students have when they start the course to place all students on a course that will extend these. In a minority of lessons, teachers provide all students with the same activities, regardless of the knowledge and skills they need to develop, and more able students frequently complete a range of simple activities unnecessarily before progressing to more difficult and complex tasks. This, combined with the low levels of attendance and punctuality, results in too few students being fully prepared for, or successful in, external assessments.  Some teachers use technology well to help students understand new ideas quickly. For example, in one lesson, students quickly applied their knowledge of units of metric and imperial weights to different types of units as a result of using interactive materials. In another lesson, students were able to understand quickly the theories of circles by moving lines and creating different shapes on an interactive whiteboard. However, most teachers do not use technology as effectively and students make little use of the resources on a virtual learning environment to supplement their classroom work.  Teachers mark students’ work frequently and accurately and students receive very good verbal feedback in class on how to improve, as well as much praise and encouragement. However, teachers do not always provide sufficient written feedback on how the students can improve. Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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 Students are clear about what they want to do when they complete their course and have high ambitions, but their different teachers do not work closely together to ensure the mathematics skills students need to develop for employment are the ones they are taught or that the importance of mathematics to their progression to higher education or employment is reinforced sufficiently.  Students from a wide range of ages and backgrounds work well together and collaborate effectively. However, teachers do not teach students sufficiently about equality and spend little time ensuring students develop their understanding of diversity.

Accounting and finance, and business management 16-19 study programmes

19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement and this is reflected in the outcomes for students in previous years. The proportion of students achieving their qualification and developing entrepreneurial and enterprise skills is improving as a result of improved attendance on many courses, close monitoring of students’ progress and much enthusiastic teaching. However, teachers do not consistently plan lessons that ensure students develop new skills and knowledge and too many students make slow progress.  Students benefit from a good range of partnerships with local businesses and employers which help them to develop and apply good work-related, entrepreneurial and enterprise skills. For example, level 2 business students have established a student tuck shop and teachers assess the skills they develop through running this in relevant assignments.  Teachers are well qualified, experienced and passionate about their subjects. They use this enthusiasm to motivate students whilst also consolidating the key business skills of collaboration, team work and effective communication. For example, students often work in groups, practise negotiation skills, reach collective agreements on decisions, and present their conclusions to the group. However, teachers do not always manage to sustain students’ interest as too much time is allowed for the completion of exercises and students are sometimes unclear about the relevance of activities to their course.  The initial advice and guidance students receive are effective in ensuring they successfully enrol on appropriate courses. Teachers monitor students’ progress well; all students are clear about their targets and assignments help students, particularly those on vocational business courses, to develop job-related skills and achieve higher grades. Tutors provide good support for students in tutorials and the extra sessions that are timetabled for support are used well by students.  Information about students’ knowledge and abilities when students join the college is not provided to teachers, which reduces their ability to plan lessons that meet students’ needs. This results in some students making slow progress during lessons.  In a minority of lessons, students work quickly through well-planned activities and the most able students are set more difficult tasks to complete. In these lessons, students work together constructively, challenge each other to extend their understanding, and enhance their skills of critical analysis and problem solving.  In the majority of lessons, teachers do not provide learning materials and activities that the least-able students can understand or that challenge the most able. Teachers do not consistently assess whether students have understood the lesson or whether they have attained the skills and knowledge that activities were designed to develop.  Teachers’ feedback on students’ work is effective in helping students to improve their language and numeracy skills. For example, during presentations, teachers sensitively correct students’ pronunciation. Students develop mathematics and employability skills through the excellent tuck Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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shop they run, which helps them to apply the theoretical business knowledge they are gaining in financial literacy, marketing, budgeting and profit and loss.  Students work respectfully with each other and with their teachers, which creates an environment conducive to learning. However, teachers often do not help students to understand better the diversity of sexuality, gender and disability.

The effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement  The college faces many challenges and, while leaders and managers have introduced successful strategies to deal with many of these, there are some long-standing problems that they have been slow to overcome. New school sixth forms have increased competition for 16-years-olds significantly and the college has responded by changing its curriculum to provide opportunities for a wider range of students. It is a safe and welcoming place in which to learn and work and students are very positive about the care and support they receive from all staff. Managers and teachers generally have a clear picture about what is being done well and what needs to improve. They use data well to analyse performance. The college’s finances are well managed and the improvements to accommodation and resources are well conceived and well implemented to support learning.  There are several important aspects of the college’s work that still need to improve. The proportion of students who successfully complete their courses remains persistently below national averages in several areas, especially in GCE AS level and on English and mathematics courses. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment varies across the college and overall requires improvement. In some areas, plans to improve quality are not sufficiently clear and have not led to significant improvements. Students’ attendance and punctual arrival at lessons are still unsatisfactory in several areas, and recent actions by managers to achieve improvement in this have not been sufficiently successful. While the college knows the areas that need to improve, clear actions and effective curriculum management are not always producing solutions quickly enough.  Changes to the curriculum closely reflect both changing local needs and national priorities. A wide range of popular vocational provision in science and engineering has been successfully introduced. Other new vocational courses have also recruited well and most students on these achieve their qualification and progress to further education or employment. The college has made good progress in introducing new study programmes and extending its work experience offer for young students. Local Jobcentres and a growing number of local employers regard the college as a trusted and responsive partner.  Governors are supportive, well informed and know the college well. They are closely involved in creating the strategic plan and the priorities it contains. They have a clear and detailed view of the college’s academic and financial performance. They receive appropriate training to support their work. The work of the board and its committees is well organised and recorded. While governors challenge senior managers regularly regarding issues around performance, they recognise that their challenge has not resulted in managers bringing about sustained improvements across the college.  Senior managers have introduced improvements to performance management and self-assessment, which are successfully raising standards in several areas. However, in some important areas such as English and mathematics, they have struggled to improve the management of the provision significantly and hence to consistently improve quality and standards. Inspectors found sufficient evidence to show that current students are often making better progress than in previous years, but this recent improvement has still to result in high success rates and better attendance.  Managers identify the college’s strengths and areas for improvement well and staff have access to reliable and accessible data about students’ performance. College managers analyse the teaching in lessons well, but much of the evaluation of teaching, learning and assessment and Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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the outcomes students achieve is too generous. Managers have worked hard to correct some areas for improvement they identified, for example the promotion of job-related skills, but progress towards achieving too many targets in quality improvement plans is not measured and managers are not sufficiently held accountable for achieving them.  The college is an inclusive and welcoming place. Students are well behaved and there is an atmosphere of respect and harmony, both in lessons and around the college generally. Policies and procedures that define the college’s work on equality and diversity are sound and are supported by an active overseeing committee and appropriate staff development. Analysis of students’ performance, to identify any achievement gaps is, undertaken thoroughly and there are no significant differences.  The college meets its statutory requirements for safeguarding students. Staff and governors have received appropriate training. Managers and staff safeguard students effectively. They have a good understanding of the wide range of support that is available to keep students safe. Students feel safe and work safely. Child protection matters are dealt with effectively and there are good links with a wide range of local agencies and with the local children’s safeguarding board.

Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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Record of Main Findings (RMF) Stanmore College

Inspection grades are based on a provider’s performance:

1: Outstanding 2: Good 3: Requires improvement 4: Inadequate

Overall effectiveness

Outcomes for learners The quality of teaching, learning and assessment The effectiveness of leadership and management

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Subject areas graded for the quality of teaching, learning and assessment Grade

Early years and playwork ICT for practitioners Sport, leisure and recreation Foundation English Foundation mathematics Accounting and finance Business management 2 2 2 3 3 3 3

Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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Provider details Type of provider

General further education college

Age range of learners

16+

Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year Principal/CEO

Full-time: 1663 Part-time: 3418 Ms Jacqui Mace

Date of previous inspection

December 2010

Website address

www.stanmore.ac.uk

Provider information at the time of the inspection Main course or learning programme level

Level 1 or Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 below and above

Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships)

16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ - - - 7

Total -

Full-time

107 8 222 13 1190 88

Part-time

11 738 11 417 38 173

Number of traineeships Number of apprentices by Apprenticeship level and age

16-19 - 19+ -

Intermediate Advanced Higher

16-18 19+ 16-18 - 3 - 19+ 40 16-18 19+ - -

Number of learners aged 14-16

Full-time N/A Part-time N/A

Number of community learners

N/A Number of employability learners N/A

Funding received from

Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency

At the time of inspection the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors:

N/A

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Contextual information

A large majority of students attend the main college site in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow, with some part-time students attending a small site in nearby Kenton. Stanmore College is a small college that changed from being a tertiary college in 2006 to a general further education college. Since then the number of students on A-level programmes has fallen and the number on vocational programmes at levels 2 and 3 has risen considerably. The borough has a highly diverse and rapidly-changing population, with residents born in approximately 203 different countries, and is the seventh most ethnically diverse borough in the country. The college’s student population reflects this diversity. The proportion of school leavers achieving five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics, is above the national average.

Information about this inspection

Lead inspector

Steven Tucker HMI Three of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and six additional inspectors, assisted by vice principal (curriculum) as nominee, carried out the inspection with short notice. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors also used data on learners’ achievements over the last three years to help them make judgements. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected throughout the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider. Inspectors looked at the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across all of the provision and graded the sector subject areas listed in the report above. Inspection report: Stanmore College, 24–28 March 2014

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What inspection judgements mean

Grade

Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4

Judgement

Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate Detailed grade characteristics can be viewed in the Handbook for the inspection of further education and skills 2012, Part 2: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/handbook-for-inspection-of-further-education-and-skills-september-2012

Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website:

www.ofsted.gov.uk If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

Learner View is a new website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too. To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk