Totton College (Part of Nacro) Ofsted Report

Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning so it is consistently good or better, ensuring that all students make at least good progress in lessons. Ensure all teachers use assessment of students’ skills at the start of the course to plan and implement activities that are interesting and challenging for all students.  Increase the amount of good and outstanding teaching through training which is more closely tailored to the individual professional development needs of staff, and leads to clear, precise action plans to improve teaching. Take swift action to ensure all staff have completed their annual appraisal in a timely manner and are set clear measurable targets to improve further their individual performance.  Increase the variety and effectiveness of techniques which teachers use to assess learning, so that all students know how they are progressing and what they need to do to improve.  Improve teachers’ routine development and monitoring of students’ English and mathematical skills, ensuring that teachers more effectively extend and deepen students’ knowledge.  Strengthen the effectiveness of quality assurance and self-assessment to speed up the rate of improvement, keeping a close focus on all aspects of the students’ experience. Ensure that the origins of remaining under performance are researched thoroughly and corrected swiftly.

Inspection judgements

Outcomes for learners

Requires improvement  The proportion of students who complete qualifications successfully varies too much between levels and subjects, and between courses in the same subject. Whilst outcomes improved on a number of courses in 2012/13, they are not yet good. Not enough adult students or those studying at intermediate level pass their qualification.  Students studying at A level now succeed in line with national rates; however, the high-grade pass rate remains low. On GCSE courses, while the overall success rate is average, too few students achieve grades A* to C. Outcomes in qualifications for functional literacy and numeracy skills are low overall, and for students aged 16 to 18 these success rates are inadequate.  Students with identified learning needs perform better than their peers. Students of minority ethnic heritage achieve well. However, adult students and young apprentices continue to perform significantly below the expectations of the college and national success rates.  Students do not make the progress in their studies of which they are capable; too many do not achieve their full potential. Current monitoring of students’ progress against their in-year target grades shows that too many are below where they should be at this stage of their studies.  The standard of students’ course work is satisfactory and the college successfully develops their personal and social skills to a good standard. Students develop good work-related skills. For example, in supported learning, students tend chickens, buy the eggs from the farmer and sell them on for a profit through a project called ‘henterprise’, thereby enhancing their local community through their civic enterprise.  The focus on progression to employment, further and higher education and self-employment is strong. Increasing numbers of students now enter higher education, a small number to prestigious universities. Students with moderate or severe learning difficulties and/or disabilities progress well into employment, including apprenticeships.  The college has been very effective in providing good quality employability programmes for the long term unemployed. These students gain valuable skills, improving their confidence, self-esteem and ability to prepare for the world of work. Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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 Punctuality and attendance are good. The community of learning now established at the college promotes and ensures a harmonious atmosphere, where staff and students are tolerant and respectful of one another’s views and opinions.

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Requires improvement  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment remains inconsistent across the college, and not enough lessons are good or better. This is reflected in the need to improve outcomes on many courses, including high grades on GCSE mathematics and English and GCE A levels, and the progress students make from their starting points.  More lessons now lead to an appropriate level of learning and progress; these range in style from lively, to quiet and reflective. A buzz of learning, high expectations, and work that is interesting but relevant to the course requirements characterise good and better lessons. In these lessons, learning supports students’ future activities through the development of work-related and study skills, which will be useful in employment or progression to further studies. However, the good practice in learning does not yet extend across all subject areas and all lessons.  A minority of lessons remain dull, lacking in challenge, and uninspiring; students quickly become bored and do not always grasp theoretical concepts or develop a deeper understanding of their chosen subject. Teachers do not structure these lessons well enough to ensure that all students make good progress, or provide students with a sufficient range of activities which promote learning.  Teachers still do not plan learning to challenge more able students sufficiently. Even good lessons do not provide for high performing students through, for example, more detailed probing of understanding and knowledge, activities that are more complex, the provision of additional resources, or more stretching homework.  The majority of students are enthusiastic in their learning, enjoy their lessons, and attend punctually. Students are purposeful in their learning, and work harmoniously together to support one another’s studies; working and learning in pairs is particularly good.  The quality and application of assessment practice remains variable. In better lessons, teachers use questioning effectively to test progress and understanding, challenging students to develop their analytical skills. In weaker lessons, assessment is not robust enough to support learning adequately and does not identify the progress of individual students. Written feedback is usually detailed, and this thorough feedback helps students to improve. However, in a small number of instances, written feedback fails to aid and support learning and the checking of learning is too superficial.  Target setting to encourage students to aim for, and achieve, higher grades is not always successful. The systematic tracking and recording of students’ progress by teachers are not yet sufficiently thorough, or used well enough as an ongoing tool to revise planning for learning. The college recently introduced an electronic action planning system to monitor progress better, but it is too soon to judge the impact of this on achievement.  Support for students to stay on their programmes is good. The early identification of students who need extra help with learning ensures support is quickly put in place. A small number of students with complex support needs succeed in their studies and progress well. As yet, it is too soon to measure the impact of the higher entry criteria and improved advice and guidance introduced in September 2013 to ensure that students only enrol on courses they have the potential to achieve.  Students’ skills are assessed when they join the college and, where necessary, additional diagnostic assessments are undertaken to ensure the correct support is in place. However, teachers do not systematically use the findings of the diagnostic assessment to plan learning; as a result, tasks and activities are not sufficiently personalised or developed to meet all students’ needs adequately. Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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 Teachers’ development and promotion of students’ functional English and mathematical skills within lessons are uneven across the college. The promotion of English in lessons is more thorough than that of mathematics, but both require further improvement. Many staff are not yet sufficiently confident in promoting and developing students’ mathematical skills consistently within vocational lessons. Many teachers correct English in written work meticulously, but others are less thorough, leaving some students’ work with consistently repeated errors of spelling or grammar.  The effective use of technology supports elements of learning. Students make routine use of personal smartphones to carry out online research in class, or to photograph notes or resources in order to illustrate assignments. The college’s virtual learning environment (VLE) has pockets of excellence, such as online videos used by students prior to mathematics lessons; but, in other areas, material is limited or out of date, and does not extend learning. Media and teacher training make good use of openly available online resources to enhance learning.  A number of teachers are skilful in raising students’ awareness of prejudice and cultural diversity. For example, in a travel and tourism lesson, students learnt basic sign language as a result of discussing the needs of hearing-impaired customers. However, not all teachers are confident and able to plan lessons that successfully raise and promote students’ awareness of equality and diversity themes.

Science and mathematics

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement, and this is reflected in the variability in outcomes across science and mathematics courses. In mathematics, students’ outcomes at AS and A level are better than national average. Students on science AS- and A-level courses succeed in line with national averages. However, too few students gain high grades in most subjects and at the end of their courses many students do not achieve the target grade predicted from their prior attainment.  In better lessons, students make good progress when they work together in groups or pairs, developing their communication, analytical and oral skills. For example, in a biology lesson, groups of students constructed a model of a glucose molecule from a modelling kit using a board diagram. This improved their three-dimensional awareness and their collaborative and debating skills, as well as familiarising them with the bonding rules for organic molecules.  In many lessons, teachers do not pay sufficient attention to explaining or developing the theoretical aspects of a topic and do not check that students have fully understood core concepts before moving on to activities that require them to apply this knowledge. Consequently, students do not always make good progress on a task, because they do not have a sufficient grasp of the underpinning theory required in order to complete the task to the required standard.  Planning in a minority of lessons is insufficiently detailed to meet the wide range of students’ abilities. Too often, students receive the same work to do, regardless of ability, which fails to stretch the more able and is too challenging for weaker students. Able students remain unoccupied while the rest of the class catches up on an exercise. In all lessons observed, teachers do not make enough use of the detailed student profiles they receive, in order to plan lessons targeted to individual students’ learning requirements.  Homework is set frequently and returned promptly with useful and detailed comments, explaining exactly what the student needs to do to improve. Correction of spelling and grammar mistakes are accurate. In science, students make good use of flow charts and diagrams, for example energy-use pie charts, to illustrate key points, but do not always accurately label their Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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graphs and diagrams. Teachers effectively improve students’ employability skills by, for example, referring to relevant industrial processes such as the manufacture of polymers.  Students develop good study skills, supported well by the college which supplies them with folders and workbooks for each subject. This enables students to manage their class work and homework effectively. The topic books for A- and AS-level mathematics and physics are especially useful and contain essential notes, problems to practise their skills on, and mark schemes.  Careful tracking of students’ progress ensures that those students who are consistently working below their target grade receive specific action guidance on how to improve. A small number of these actions, however, are too generic to be useful, for example ‘revise more’.  Students frequently use the VLE to look at past papers, mark schemes and slide presentations. Electronic resources for mathematics are good, but for science subjects these are less well developed, especially with regard to materials that would stretch and challenge students, or help them to read and research topics linked to the curriculum.

Sport

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Outstanding  Outstanding teaching, learning and assessment have resulted in a significant improvement in sport and physical education outcomes, and success rates are now high. Students make excellent progress and the proportion of students achieving high grades is now significantly above national rates. Nearly all students continue their studies at university, with the remainder taking up apprenticeship and employment opportunities.  Former international athletes deliver inspirational coaching within the Sports Academy; this helps students develop high levels of performance in their specialist sport. Enthusiastic teachers with excellent subject knowledge are highly skilful in passing on their sporting ethos and technical ability to students; they expect them to work hard in lessons to perfect their own competence. Students enjoy their studies, attend lessons regularly, and have highly positive attitudes to learning.  In the best lessons, students instigate their own learning, working in groups to debate and share ideas and concepts, developing their independent learning skills through researching and presenting their findings to an exceptionally high standard. For example, in an advanced sport lesson, students worked exceptionally well together, making rapid progress in identifying and presenting successful leadership qualities displayed by athletes. Early on in their studies, students develop detailed and advanced understanding of subject terminology, technical language, and theoretical concepts.  In a small minority of lessons, assessment for learning is not sufficiently well planned or precise enough to involve all students. As a result, a small minority of students lose concentration and disengage from learning. In other lessons, the pace of learning is too quick, and a few students are unable to complete their work sufficiently well.  Teachers deliver regular, timely and highly effective academic support to students. Support to improve English and mathematical skills ensures that all students make good and better progress in their studies, and that they are not hindered by limited skills in either written communication or in planning complex personal training programmes using client data. Revision workshops develop students’ examination technique well, boosting their confidence before they sit external examinations.  Teachers’ marking is consistently of a high standard; it is accurate and provides very clear guidance on the steps students need to do to move to the next level. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning by marking their own and others’ work and by giving objective evaluations of each other’s performance. Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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 Very effective initial advice and guidance ensure that students are on the correct course. Students speak positively about the advice they receive at the start of their studies. They particularly like the ‘taster’ teaching weeks the college arranges, allowing them to make informed choices of which course to study.  Increasing numbers of students complete an additional qualification in coaching sport which provides them with the necessary employability skills to work as personal trainers while studying. Excellent links with local employers and schools provide very good work experience placements for BTEC students.  Teachers promote equality and support diversity extremely well in all classes and through assignment work. During a BTEC sport lesson on setting realistic and achievable goals, the teacher made good use of a video on the East Asian sport of Sapak Takraw to illustrate the setting of goals to improve performance. Students use constructive and non-stereotypical language well in their writing and during classroom discussions of cultural diversity in sport.

Performing and visual arts

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement. Outcomes have remained broadly average since the last inspection and, on a number of courses, notably AS performance studies and A-level art and design, success rates have declined.  Students enjoy their studies, working constructively and supportively with their teachers. They remain on task, concentrate well and their behaviour is good. The standard of students’ practical work is satisfactory overall. On the foundation art course, many students develop refined and sensitive drawing techniques; in dance, students demonstrate sophisticated performance skills. Photography work is invigorating and refreshing. While performing arts and music students improvise confidently, they do not consistently demonstrate professional standards.  In the best lessons, teachers require students to plan their work and set out a clear statement of intent and a timeline for achievement. They encourage students to set their own learning targets and monitor their progress assiduously. Nevertheless, in too many lessons, help for students in structuring their work is insufficient to enable all students to plan sufficiently well, and to develop their ideas and concepts fully to the standard expected of the professional artistic community.  In the less successful lessons, teachers do not stimulate students sufficiently to raise their aspirations, innovate and take risks to extend their creative responses. Students do not always use subject specific language and terminology appropriately or with confidence. In many classes, students have limited opportunities to talk about their own experience or to exchange ideas with colleagues. Too few teachers draw on industry practice to capture students’ interest and make assignments relevant and interesting.  Students undertake a good range of research activities to add richness to their subsequent work. Students on advanced programmes develop valuable independent learning skills which reflect employers’ requirements well. However, the development of information and communication technology (ICT) skills as a tool within students’ repertoire is limited.  Teachers do not use assessment practices which promote learning consistently enough to enable students to reach their full potential and achieve high grades. Students understand the qualification grading criteria and what they have to do to achieve a pass grade, but a significant number of teachers do not provide sufficiently detailed verbal and written feedback to challenge students and show them how to achieve a higher standard.  Teachers are not sufficiently confident or competent to promote effective development of students’ English and mathematical skills in their lessons or through assessed work. A small minority of students’ work remains uncorrected and these students’ English skills remain low on Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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completion of their programme of study. The routine development of mathematics is limited, for example, opportunities are missed to link music effectively to mathematics.  Teachers have recently revised course entry criteria and the information, advice and guidance available on entry. Current students were carefully interviewed by specialist teachers to ensure that they are on the most appropriate course of study. However, it is too soon to measure the benefit of these changes on current students’ attainment.  The promotion of equality and support for diversity in lessons are underdeveloped. A small minority of staff are extremely effective in promoting a deeper understanding of diversity, and challenge students’ existing perceptions well. For example, a dance lesson in which students rehearsed a scene from the musical Chicago, depicting domestic violence, included thoughtful reflection on this topic. However, most staff do not develop and extend students’ understanding sufficiently through their subject material, assignments and discussions.

English

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement; outcomes for students are improving, but are not yet consistently good on all courses. While students now make the progress expected of them relative to their starting points, the proportion of high grades remains low. Current AS students are working at a standard below their target grades, based on their attainment at the start of the course.  In the best lessons, teachers plan a good variety of interesting activities to capture students’ interest and maximise their learning through active participation. In an A-level English language lesson, students pooled their understanding of different chapters, effectively developing their knowledge of vernacular English through the subject novel. Students confidently reviewed each other’s creative writing, identifying literary and linguistic techniques. Teachers use questions effectively to extend learning and help students give a more detailed and informed response, developing a more thorough understanding of the subject.  Too many GCSE lessons are not interesting, challenging or purposeful. Teachers do not always make clear the aim of the lesson, the purpose of tasks and work set, and/or what skills students will learn. Students quickly lose enthusiasm, make slow progress and become bored.  The use of ICT is underdeveloped. In a small minority of lessons, students make effective use of smartphones as a thesaurus to support learning, and a few teachers use video links effectively to introduce new topics. For example, in an AS English language class, students watched an interview before analysing the transcript. While most lessons develop independent learning skills well, extended learning and assessment opportunities outside of the class to enrich and enliven learning are limited.  Students speak highly of the support they receive from staff during academic reviews and revision workshops. As a result, they are now better prepared for external examinations. Regular monitoring of students against their target grades encourages them to self-assess their strengths and weaknesses and set their own actions; many teachers are skilful in working with students to explore the underlying issues and find solutions to improve poor performance. However, a small minority of targets are not precise enough to enable students to make the progress required of them, and not all current students are working at the level of their target grade.  Students’ work shows mostly good progress over time. Students participate well when writing about texts, and in the craft of creative writing. Most students are developing confidence in writing arguments and analysing language. Students are less confident at exploring the effects of form and structure. Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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 Feedback is clear and, in the majority of cases, detailed. Students value the feedback and are able to articulate what they need to do to improve, and which aspects of their work have improved over time, for example being able to structure an essay effectively.  Students are well behaved and a culture of respect exists in the college. Teachers promote equality well and support students in developing their own views. Teachers select texts well covering themes such as gender, race and sexual orientation.

Business finance and accounting

16-19 study programmes 19+ Learning programmes

Requires improvement  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement. The wide variation in student outcomes in the previous year reflects this, with high outcomes on A-level provision, but a decline in success rates for other courses to significantly below national rates.  In the more effective lessons, the majority of which are in business administration, teachers use a wide range of carefully planned teaching and learning methods that challenge and stimulate individual students. Teachers have high expectations of students, and enable them to learn well, both individually and in collaborative working groups. Students are not afraid to make mistakes and know teachers will help and support them to improve.  Business administration lessons effectively promote good enterprise and employability skills. Students develop their ability to work well as a part of a team, improving their communication, and problem-solving skills. Many produce work to commercial standards.  Students eagerly take advantage of a range of enrichment opportunities to help them to prepare for employment. These include work experience placements and visits to and from employers. For example, students met with a group of personal assistants who discussed their experiences of working for many local and corporate businesses. This gave students an in-depth understanding of this role and what employers expect of a professional personal assistant.  Lessons in finance and accounting do not share these strong features; they do not link well to employment, and fail to extend and further develop students’ existing skills. Students’ participation is limited to completing abstract, mundane tasks, providing limited opportunity to understand how the subject relates to their everyday lives or career aspirations.  Business administration teachers make good use of ICT to enhance learning and develop the skills required of the workplace. Students use office software with high degrees of confidence, developing good marketable skills. While use of the VLE in lessons is effective, it is underdeveloped as a tool to promote and extend learning outside the classroom.  Formative assessment to check progress is limited in many lessons. Teachers are overly reliant on superficial questioning, failing to check fully the understanding and knowledge of all students. Teachers often accept answers from students who volunteer basic information and understanding, filling in the remaining learning points themselves rather than encouraging students to think further.  Students’ work is mostly well marked against clear assessment criteria, and with helpful constructive comments. Most teachers highlight spelling errors and inaccuracies for students to check and correct, but few teachers systematically check that students have carried out the corrections. Students do not have sufficient extended writing opportunities to develop higher-level analytical and evaluative skills.  Students receive accurate and supportive initial advice and guidance to ensure they are on the right course. Pre-course information is of a high standard, and students are able to make informed choices. They are well supported to develop life skills such as managing personal finances, and are given appropriate help with job and university applications. Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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 While students have a practical working knowledge of equality and diversity, teachers do not systematically promote and develop their understanding further in lessons, or always fully prepare students for the diversity of business customers.

The effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement  Leaders and managers continue to work towards their vision of becoming an outstanding college by 2015. Despite an intense focus on the improvement of teaching and learning, particularly at advanced level, the impact of this work on outcomes, high grades and the progress students make from their starting point on entry to the college remains insufficient for inspectors to judge this a good college.  Governors are astute, well informed, and challenge college managers appropriately. They have a good range of relevant expertise and considerable experience. The system of link governors is raising their profile in college and helping to broaden their understanding of individual departments’ work. Managers’ reporting continues to improve, providing governors with a better understanding of the standard of teaching and of many, but not all, aspects of students’ achievements. Reports include, for example, in-year progress of students against their performance targets. However, governors receive insufficient detail on every aspect of students’ success to form robust judgements on the improvements required for all students. For example, they have limited information on the outcomes for younger apprentices and for functional English and mathematics.  The management of staff and subject performance, although improved, requires further strengthening. Managers and staff now have greater accountability for the outcomes of their work, and this has resulted in better support and training for some individuals, capability proceedings and a new appraisal system. Through regular meetings, senior managers continue to evaluate the progress of each subject area against appropriate improvement targets. While they have acted to tackle under-performing staff and courses, outcomes on a significant number of courses remain low.  Staff appraisal is sufficiently thorough. Managers use evidence from lesson observations in appraising individual staff, linking this well to action and development points. It is too soon to judge the impact on overall college performance and appraisals for a significant minority of staff had not been completed by the target date at the time of inspection.  Staff development for teaching and learning, provided through the college’s teaching academy, is much improved. It contributes well to specific improvements required of individual teachers, for example, the effective promotion of cultural diversity, and generates enthusiasm for learning among staff and students. Fortnightly programmed staff training sessions help with basic and more innovative teaching, and more staff are developing their teaching skills by undertaking peer observations to share good practice.  Managers continue to develop and refine the range of methods for monitoring and improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. While the observation of lessons produces reliable judgements about the quality of lessons, it does not capture sufficiently the full range of teaching and learning that exists across the college; although the standard of some teaching has improved, not enough is good or outstanding.  Aspects of managers’ evaluation of the provision are good; all relevant stakeholders are actively involved, and subcontracted provision is robustly evaluated. The resulting self-assessment report, however, requires improvement. It does not adequately link strengths and areas for improvement to evidence; it contains limited information about the quality of subject areas, and has insufficient judgements about key aspects of provision such as advice and guidance, learning support and safeguarding. Inspectors agreed with some, but not all, of the judgements.  The college has responded well to local businesses, to enterprise opportunities and the community, providing a good range of academic and vocational courses in most subject areas. A good range of AS- and A-level subjects, many vocational courses for school leavers and adults, Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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and numerous programmes for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities ensure a rich balance of students and learning opportunities for all. Thoroughly planned and well-promoted progression opportunities to work or further study are in place. Apprenticeship opportunities are expanding through new programmes for motor vehicle, port operations, warehousing, and information technology.  The college responds well to students’ views, ascertained from college surveys, departmental council meetings of student representatives, short online surveys and the new course feedback sessions where students privately discuss defined aspects of teaching. The students’ union is vibrant and makes a strong contribution to life at the college.  The college now meets its statutory duty through the publication of an equality statement. Regular analysis of student and staff data ensures that the college’s activities have no negative impact on individuals and groups with protected characteristics. Totton College provides a safe environment and meets its statutory requirements for safeguarding students. Staff are appropriately trained, and the monitoring of individual students at risk is effective. Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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Record of Main Findings (RMF) Totton College

Inspection grades are based on a provider’s performance: 1: Outstanding 2: Good 3: Requires improvement 4: Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness 3

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

3 3 3

semmargorp yduts 91-61

3 3 3 3

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3 3 3 3

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

Science Mathematics and statistics Sport Visual arts Performing arts English Business Accounting and finance 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 3

Inspection report: Totton College, 4−7 February 2014

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Provider details Type of provider

Sixth form college

Age range of learners

16−18

Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year

Full-time: 1,092 Part-time: 3,510

Principal/CEO

Mr M Gaston

Date of previous inspection

November 2012

Website address

www.totton.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+

Full-time Part-time

79 47 34 218 6 645 20 349 100 518 47 254

Number of traineeships Number of apprentices by Apprenticeship level and age

16-19 - 19+ -

Intermediate Advanced Higher

16-18 40 19+ 171 16-18 8 19+ 98 16-18 - 19+ 10 - - - 26

Total -

Number of learners aged 14-16

Full-time 6 Part-time 17

Number of community learners

390 Number of employability learners 193

Funding received from

Education Funding Agency (EFA)

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

TLC

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Contextual information

Totton College is a large sixth form college located in Totton, a small town in the New Forest and five miles from Southampton. The college offers a broad curriculum more typical in its range and diversity of a small further education college than of a sixth form college. Most full-time students are aged 16 to 18, and the proportion of students from minority ethnic heritage, while small, is larger than the proportion of minority ethnic people in the local community. Students come from Totton, Southampton, Waterside, Romsey, and Salisbury. The economic profile of these areas varies widely. Students start at the college with lower levels of attainment than is usual for a sixth form college.

Information about this inspection

Lead inspector

Julie Steele HMI Two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and six additional inspectors, assisted by the vice principal as nominee, carried out the inspection with short notice. Inspectors took account of the college’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: Totton College, 4−7 February 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