Kensington and Chelsea College Ofsted Report

Full report

Information about the provider

• Kensington and Chelsea College is located within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (the borough) and offers a range of full-time, part-time and evening courses from entry level ESOL to degree level pathways. Provision is offered from two sites located at the Chelsea centre, Fulham Broadway and the Kensington centre in north Kensington. Most learners are aged 19 or above. A very small proportion of learners are working towards an apprenticeship qualification either directly with the college or with a subcontracted partner from the creative arts and media professions.
• The borough is characterised by a range of diverse communities. A few experience high levels of social and economic disadvantage, while others are considerably more affluent; the majority of residents of working age have a level 4 qualification or above. The proportion of learners leaving school at 16 who achieve five or more GCSE A* to C, including English and mathematics, is well above the national rate.

What does the provider need to do to improve further?

• Improve immediately the quality and impact of governance arrangements to ensure that the actions of governors secure rapid improvement in teaching, learning and assessment and in the proportion of learners who achieve their qualifications.
• Improve the attendance and punctuality of learners, especially adult learners, to ensure that they benefit fully from their learning experience and achieve their qualifications in a timely manner. Help learners to identify for themselves what actions they need to take to overcome any obstacles they may face that prevent them from attending as they should.
• Managers must raise further the skills and expertise of teachers and enable them to:
  • teach lessons for learners who are at different levels of skills, knowledge and expertise
  • set learners better targets for improving their performance by focusing learners closely on their own personal skills development, and the need to attend well
  • improve learners’ skills and knowledge of mathematics by helping them to understand clearly how mathematics is used within the vocational subject they are studying.
• Improve rapidly the proportion of learners on apprenticeship programmes who complete their programme within the time planned by:
  • ensuring that all apprentices are on a suitably challenging level of programme that is commensurate with the role of work that they currently undertake
  • monitoring closely the ongoing careers advice and guidance apprentices receive from subcontractor partners, and ensure that apprentices progress into sustainable employment once they complete their qualification
  • ensuring that assessors make effective use of the wide ranging learning opportunities that employers make available to them when planning assessments for apprentices.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Senior leaders’ strategies to improve the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection have resulted in modest improvements, but persistent weaknesses remain. Learners’ attendance is poor, and too few adult learners achieve their qualification. Governance arrangements are weak; over time, governors have not held senior leaders to account sufficiently to affect rapid and sustainable improvement.
• Managers’ and leaders’ own evaluation of the college’s performance has not been effective in securing improvements. They have allowed long term weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment to remain and have not focused closely on the proportion of learners who do not pass their qualification. Quality improvement planning does not concentrate on the impact managers’ and staff’s actions have on improving the quality of the learners’ experience.
• Leaders’ and managers’ use of data to monitor and evaluate learners’ achievement of their qualifications has been insufficient. Learners do not achieve equally well, for example those learners from an African, Arab or Caribbean background achieve poorly. The new senior leadership team has acted swiftly to establish the possible causes of this under-achievement, and all learners who are at risk of not achieving are monitored closely and frequently.
• The appraisal process is perfunctory and is insufficiently valued by staff, which limits its impact on improving teachers’ and other staff’s performance. Until relatively recently, leaders and managers did not establish well enough the levels of accountability expected of staff.
• The new interim team of senior managers monitors closely learners’ progress and the quality of their learning. Communication from leaders and managers has improved and is now effective. Expectations of teachers are more explicit and, as a result, more learners are staying in learning.
• Senior leaders and managers ensure that the good development of learners’ skills and knowledge in English and mathematics has a high priority. Managers have ensured that the discrete teaching of English is of a high standard. However, their actions to ensure that learners develop the same high levels of skills and knowledge in mathematics have not been successful.
• Learners benefit from a range of good partnerships with employers and college alumni that ensures that they have ample opportunity to understand well their potential career choices and to help shape their aspirations.
• Management of the subcontractor partner, who provides apprenticeship qualifications on behalf of the college, has historically been very weak, but is much improved in recent months. The subcontractor is held to account for previous poor performance, and more apprentices are now completing their qualification within the time planned.
• Managers have ensured that learners develop a good understanding of life in a diverse and cosmopolitan society. Through a well-developed tutorial programme and good quality staff development, staff and teachers have been empowered to explore the principles of tolerance and mutual respect through their teaching. As a result, learners’ demonstrate these core values, for example through their respect and acceptance of each other’s beliefs and customs.
• Managers’ evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of teaching, learning and assessment is thorough and accurate. However, targeted development for teachers who need to improve their teaching practice has not yet secured the consistently high standards of teaching, learning and assessment to which managers aspire. Staff development ensures that all staff are fully aware of their statutory obligations under the ‘Prevent’ duty and understand well how to keep learners safe.

The governance of the provider

• Governance arrangements are weak. Over a sustained period of time, governors have not held senior leaders to account for the long standing and persistent weaknesses identified by inspectors. Governors have not provided the scrutiny and support required to ensure that leaders work effectively to ensure that a high proportion of learners achieve their qualification or that teachers are able to manage teaching, learning and assessment for a wide range of learners of different levels of knowledge and ability.
• Governors have not ensured that senior leaders develop the partnerships at a local level that would best meet the interests of learners aged 16 to 19, or the broader skills requirements of local employers. For example, senior leaders have not been represented at the borough schools planning forum. The proportion of learners aged 16 to 19 who attend the college continues to diminish, and very few employers contract with the college to provide for the training needs of their staff.
• Governors do not use data effectively to inform their views of managers’ performance, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and of learners’ achievement. As a result, their understanding is not sharp enough to provide the rigour needed to affect the rapid change required. However, governors are justly proud of the college’s contribution to the creative arts.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Governors, leaders and staff have a firm and thorough focus on safeguarding learners while at college and when on work placement or at work. Managers and staff ensure that learners are well informed about their rights and responsibilities. Learners know to whom they should take any concerns they may have and feel confident that staff would act as effective advocates on their behalf should there be a need. Learners feel safe at the college.
• Senior leaders have met their obligations under the ‘Prevent’ duty. Governors and staff at all levels are well prepared and able to identify and deal effectively with those who would promote radical or extreme views. Most learners have an effective understanding of democracy and the rule of British law, although a small minority of apprentices have limited knowledge and understanding.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Since the previous inspection, managers’ actions have not had sufficient impact to improve further the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Too many learners still make slow progress in their learning, and attendance in lessons remains low.
• Too few teachers plan learning well enough to ensure that the tasks and activities they set are matched adequately to the different levels of learners’ ability. At times, activities and learning are too easy for those most-able learners who complete their work quickly, or too hard for other learners who struggle to keep up.
• Learners often do not understand how to improve their work further. Learners recognise the progress they are making, but are not clear about the skills and knowledge they have yet to master and how best they may achieve this. In discrete mathematics and English lessons, teachers rely too much on learners self-correcting their work and do not provide sufficient reinforcement of what is the correct answer.
• Teachers and assessors still do not set learners useful targets for improving their learning and behaviour. This was identified as a weakness at the previous inspection. Targets teachers set often lack sufficient detail to enable learners to make rapid progress. Teachers rarely set targets for learners to help them improve their mathematics skills and knowledge.
• The teaching, learning and assessment of mathematics remains weak. Too few learners make good progress in their learning or pass external tests successfully. The resources teachers use and the activities they plan do not take sufficient account of the very wide-ranging levels and abilities of learners in lessons. While recent staff training to improve teaching is beginning to have a positive impact on current learners’ progress, too few learners have reached the standard that would be expected of them half way through their programme of learning.
• Teachers’ use of technology to enliven and extend learning is effective. Managers and staff have focused well on providing additional assessment practice via the college virtual learning platform to help learners consolidate their learning better. More teachers now use technology in lessons to check learners’ understanding and subject knowledge effectively before they move on to the next activity. Learners enjoy this approach to learning and use technology well to enhance and improve their own work.
• Teachers’ assessment of learning is much improved, especially for learners on study programmes who make good progress with their learning. Assessment is frequent and thorough. Teachers return learners’ work promptly, and monitor learners’ progress towards completing the various elements of their learning closely.
• Learners benefit from well-qualified teachers who use their good industry knowledge and experience to make learning meaningful, relevant and fun. Learners develop a good understanding of current industry practice through the many work-related topics and assignments that teachers provide for them. Teachers often use their well-established links with high-profile employers to provide industry-based visits and trips to enable learners to gain first-hand experience of their chosen career. For example, first year learners on fashion programmes visit the London Fashion Week and shadow the work of fashion scouts.
• Learners develop good skills in English. Staff ensure that learners are on the appropriate course relative to their prior learning, and teachers ensure that most learning is challenging and productive. Learners are prepared well for their external tests. Learners on apprenticeship programmes now benefit from discrete lessons in English for functional skills and are making good progress.
• Managers and staff ensure that learners develop a good understanding of their individual freedom and what it means to live and work in a society that is rich in its cultural, social and economic diversity. Learners have a good understanding of the dangers of stereotyping people based on their appearance and physical frailty, and are tolerant and respectful of staff and their peers.
• The very small proportion of learners for whom the college receives high needs funding benefit from a well-coordinated programme of study and individual help. Learners quickly settle into their lessons and make good progress in their learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

• Managers and teachers use a wide range of activities including competitions and external exhibitions to raise learners’ aspirations and to inspire them to achieve well. This is particularly effective in creative arts programmes. For example, millinery learners take part in, and have won, competitions in the use of felt, and sell their hats in an annual summer hat retail project. Learners on design courses have won competitions hosted by the Victoria and Albert Museum and learners on jewellery programmes have been equally successful in winning Craft Council competitions.
• Teachers make good use of their connections with employers to give learners a well-developed understanding of the world of work. In most subject areas, learners and apprentices gain good skills to help them in their future studies and/or employment. Through participating in a wide range of trips to employers and by attending college workshops given by guest lecturers and the college’s own alumni, learners develop a good understanding of how their studies relate to their future career choices.
• Learners have a good awareness and understanding of life in modern Britain. Managers and teachers ensure that they participate in a good range of activities that help them to contribute to, and understand the diversity of, the communities in which they live. These include learners on interior design programmes creating upcycled furniture for a local housing project, learners on art programmes designing Christmas cards for elderly residents of a day care centre, and hairdressing learners providing their services for an Ethiopian women’s association.
• Good careers advice and guidance benefits learners who are well informed about their job and further study choices, including apprenticeship options. Learners on access to higher education courses and those on level 3 vocational programmes receive good guidance with their applications to university and most are placed successfully onto their first choice courses, including those to Oxford and Cambridge.
• Learners’ behaviour and conduct in and around college are good. Through a well-planned tutorial programme, learners gain a valuable insight into, and understanding of, the world in which they live and work. They know the importance of tolerance for others and work harmoniously together. When they first arrive at college, learners receive pertinent information about their personal safety, including staying safe online. Learners recognise well the dangers of extremist views and what to do should they encounter such behaviour. Learners feel safe, and are confident that staff and managers would investigate swiftly any reported concerns should they arise.
• Staff provide a good range of help to learners who experience difficulties in continuing with their learning, for example due to health or personal circumstances. This is particularly effective for learners on study programmes, who make good use of the services available to them to remain in learning. However, managers have not yet ensured that adult learners benefit equally well from the help that they make available.
• Teachers place a strong emphasis on improving learners’ use of English and as a result many learners are able to express themselves well in their written work, in class discussions and presentations. Learners’ portfolios are mostly well organised, and they make good use of relevant technical or subject specific terminology in their work and studies.
• Learners’ attendance at lessons is poor and is very varied across different subjects. For example, learners in the art subjects and in beauty therapy mostly attend well, but those on programmes in English, health studies and mathematics have poor attendance. Adult attendance is far lower than learners aged 16 to 19. Managers have evaluated well the reasons for poor attendance, and their improvement actions are beginning to have a positive impact. However, progress is slow and during the week of inspection too many learners were absent from lessons. In addition, learners’ punctuality is poor on too many occasions, both at the start of, and after, breaks in the day. Those who arrive late disrupt lessons for those already present.

Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

• The proportion of learners who completed their qualification improved in 2015/16, but is not yet good. Learners aged 16 to 19 now achieve slightly better than their peers at similar providers. While adult learners on ESOL and at level 3 achieve well, those on access courses and on level 2 programmes have low achievement. The achievement of the very small proportion of learners on apprenticeship programmes remains inadequate.
• Too few apprentices complete their learning within the time planned. Current apprentices are now making better progress, with many already having completed their programme of study. Employers value the skills and knowledge that apprentices bring to their business; for example, managing customer service requirements to a high standard on a busy reception desk, or preparing case notes and maintaining court correspondence for barristers in legal chambers.
• Too few learners make good progress in developing their mathematics skills and knowledge. The proportion of learners who achieve GCSE A* to C mathematics, while improving, is too low. Too few learners improve their grade from a GCSE grade D to a C or above on retaking their examination. The proportion of learners who achieve a functional skills qualification remains low for adult learners.
• Adult learners from an African, Caribbean or Arab background, those with a declared disability, or with fragile mental health have very low achievement. While managers have put in place actions to help learners achieve better, it is too soon to see the impact of these measures.
• Current learners on 16 to 19 study programmes now achieve well and make good progress. Over the past three years, the proportion of learners who achieve their qualification has improved substantially. Many learners working towards qualifications at level 3 and 4 achieve a merit or a distinction grade.
• A high proportion of learners achieve GCSE A* to C in English. The proportion of learners who achieve their functional skills English qualification is also high. Learners make good progress in developing and improving their English skills both in their discrete lessons and throughout their vocational learning.
• Learners on ESOL programmes have high achievement and develop a good level of written, spoken and listening skills. For example, learners on level 2 programmes are able to critically analyse and use complex language to compare and contrast how job roles in employment change over time as a result of technological improvements. At entry level, learners develop and use well everyday terms that enable them and their families to take an active part in everyday life. For example, they have a good understanding of useful medical language to use when visiting the doctor or dentist.
• Vulnerable young learners, those on free school meals and those in the care of the local authority achieve as well as their peers. Younger learners with learning difficulties achieve particularly well.
• Most learners progress well into employment, an apprenticeship, further training or higher education. Many learners on fine arts and fashion courses progress on to prestigious universities and art schools.

Types of provision

16 to 19 study programmes Good

• Currently, 315 learners, including four learners with high needs for whom the college receives funding, are enrolled on a study programme. Most programmes are one year in length with the exception being a two year programme in fashion. The majority of learners study English, mathematics, and employability studies in addition to their vocational qualifications in one of the two well-equipped college centres.
• Managers and teachers ensure that learners make good progress. The progress learners make is monitored carefully by teachers, and managers use data well to identify those learners at risk of not achieving and take swift corrective action to ensure that learners are successful in their studies.
• Learners have good opportunities to practise and extend their skills within the workplace. Managers have made substantial improvements to the arrangements for work experience, and learners and teachers have high aspirations and expectations of the benefits learners will gain as a result of their time in industry. Most learners reflect well on their experience, and use this effectively to inform their future career choices.
• The standard of learners’ work is good. On the creative arts programmes, learners often excel because teachers are demanding in their expectations of learners. For example, in fashion studies at level 1, learners are already able to critique the work of their peers accurately and produce written work of a very high standard. On fine arts programmes, learners at level 3 and 4 compile impressive portfolios of work which ensure that they are successful in their future studies.
• Learners develop good vocational skills and knowledge; many use technology effectively to further enhance their work. For example, learners on level 3 graphic design are skilful and innovative in their use of technology to produce marketing and packaging for London museums. Learners on level 3 art and design programmes use multi-media well to contribute to a historical society’s project about a local cemetery. Learners develop good study skills and are well prepared for their next steps in learning and life.
• Teachers ensure that learners develop good skills in English, and have high levels of confidence to discuss and debate their professional opinions. Learners are expected to be able to use subject and technical language appropriately and know how to alter their use of language when speaking to clients, employers, peers and teachers. Learners’ written work is mostly of a high standard, although, on occasion, teachers do not reinforce correct sentence construction for those learners who do not have English as a first language.
• Managers and teachers have not ensured that learners make good progress in acquiring and improving their mathematical skills and knowledge. Attendance in discrete lessons is low, and the progress learners make in lessons is slow. In vocational lessons, teachers do not plan to include mathematics or make clear to learners how mathematics is used in their everyday life and vocational studies.
• Managers have not ensured that learners attend regularly and frequently. Learners’ attendance and punctuality varies considerably. It is high on creative arts programmes but low in English, mathematics and health programmes. More recent management action has resulted in better attendance.

Adult learning programmes Requires improvement

• 1,527 learners are working towards qualifications from entry to level 4 in subjects ranging from ESOL to hairdressing, health and social care. Most are on part-time programmes, including functional skills English and mathematics. A further 168 learners study on full-time courses at level 3.
• The attendance and punctuality of adult learners is poor. Too few learners attend frequently and regularly enough to benefit from their lessons and the opportunity to learn with and from their peers. Teachers provide help to learners to enable them to catch up with their studies after taking breaks from their learning, but, as yet, too many learners make slow progress.
• Too few learners make good progress relative to their prior qualifications and experience. Teachers are not sufficiently skilful in planning learning to meet the needs of a wide range of learners with different levels of understanding and ability. As a result, the most able learners become disengaged from learning, while others fall behind.
• Teachers’ assessment of learning is frequent, and learners understand the progress they are making. Learners enjoy the broad range of approaches used by teachers to check their knowledge and reinforce their learning.
• Most learners develop the good vocational skills that employers value. Many learners succeed in gaining the qualifications they need to be successful in employment and their future life. The difference their learning makes to their own lives and that of their family and community is considerable.
• Staff provide good information, advice and guidance to learners about the vocational programmes most suited to their previous learning and life experience. Ongoing careers coaching is effective, and results in many learners continuing into higher education or into a better job.

Apprenticeships Inadequate

• 55 learners are working towards apprenticeship qualifications in business and the creative arts. Most are adult learners on intermediate programmes, the majority of whom gain their training from one subcontracted partner.
• Leaders’ and managers’ oversight of apprenticeships has been inadequate over a number of years and has resulted in a very low proportion of apprentices successfully completing their qualifications and too many leaving without achieving qualifications in English and mathematics. The new leadership team has worked swiftly to understand the issues, and their improvement actions are beginning to have a positive impact for current apprentices.
• Too few apprentices remain in employment on completion of their programme. Until very recently, managers at the college have not monitored whether apprentices remain in sustainable employment as a result of their training.
• Assessment of learning is weak and results in apprentices making slow progress. Apprentices develop good skills at work because employers have high expectations of their staff and provide a wide range of challenging tasks and activities for apprentices to undertake in their everyday work roles. For example, apprentices are expected to risk assess premises in advance of external visits and trips and are responsible for the health and safety of others in their care. However, assessors do not make good use of these opportunities when they plan assessments or when they review the progress that apprentices are making towards completing their qualification.
• Too few apprentices are on the correct level of apprenticeship qualification. Most apprentices are academically well qualified and work in job roles that demand a high degree of autonomy and are often required to supervise others. The majority of apprentices are working towards a level 2 qualification that does not acknowledge the high level of their existing skills or provide them with suitable challenge.
• Apprentices have a comprehensive induction at the start of their programme. Assessors ensure that apprentices understand how to work safely and keep themselves safe, especially when working alone in an unfamiliar environment. However, too few apprentices have a good understanding of the risks posed by those people with extreme or violent views.
• Apprentices develop very good technical, vocational and inter-personal skills. They benefit from working with employers who provide them with very good training and a good working insight into the career role they have chosen. For example, apprentices who work in museums learn how to handle fine art and rare antiquities with care, and understand well how to plan major exhibitions and events. Most apprentices manage their time well, and through their good communication skills become good ambassadors and representatives for their employers.

Provider details

Unique reference number 130410 Type of provider General further education college Age range of learners 16+ Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year 2405 Principal Michele Sutton Telephone number 020 7573 3600 Website www.kcc.ac.uk

Provider information at the time of the inspection

Main course or learning programme level Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or above Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships) Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 42 645 99 504 135 361 39 245 Intermediate Advanced Higher 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 18 23 3 11 - - Number of traineeships 16–19 19+ Total - - - Number of learners aged 14 to 16 Number of learners with high needs for which the provider receives funding - 4 Funding received from: Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors:

Victoria and Albert Museum The Rhythm Studio

Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the interim vice principal, curriculum and quality, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

Inspection team

Jules Steele, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Philip Elliott Ofsted Inspector Simon Barrable Ofsted Inspector David Baber Ofsted Inspector Gemma Baker Ofsted Inspector Jane Hughes Her Majesty’s Inspector Rebecca Perry Ofsted Inspector Rieks Drijver Her Majesty’s Inspector Martin Bennett Ofsted Inspector