Sussex Downs College

Further education and skills inspection report

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Sussex Downs College General further education college

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Inspection dates 31 October–3 November 2017

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement 16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement Adult learning programmes Good

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Provision for learners with high needs Good Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings

This is a provider that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment for students on study programmes is not yet good. Too much teaching does not help students make the progress of which they are capable. Teachers do not have high enough expectations of what their students can achieve.  Teachers do not support students consistently to improve their English and mathematics skills. Attendance in these subjects is too low.  Too few students, particularly those aged 16 to 18 on courses at levels 1 and 2, achieve their qualifications. Students’ achievement of mathematics qualifications, particularly at level 2, is also poor.  Too few students, for whom it is appropriate, have had the opportunity to develop their skills in external work experience placements.  Teachers and assessors do not set students and apprentices clear or specific enough targets to help them know what they need to do to improve and make progress. The provider has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings

 Students’ and apprentices’ behaviour is very good. They respect each other, their teachers and their college environment, exemplifying British values. They develop very good attitudes to work and learning.  Leaders and managers have worked successfully to rebuild partnerships with the local community and employers to make sure that the courses they offer at the college are relevant to local skills needs.  Students, particularly those on vocational courses, develop very good practical skills. Teachers use their industry experience and skills very effectively to help students learn.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment for adult students, apprentices and students for whom the college receives high- needs funding, is good.  Leaders and managers have identified accurately the strengths and weaknesses of the college. They have actions for improvement in place and these are starting to have a positive

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Information about the provider

 Sussex Downs College is a large general further education college in the south east of England. It has three main sites in Eastbourne, Lewes and Newhaven. The college offers provision for students aged 16 to 18, adult students, apprentices and students who receive high-needs funding. Just over half of the 5,600 students are aged 16 to 18 and about a third are aged over 19. Around 1,000 apprentices study at the college or with its subcontractors.  The proportion of pupils in East Sussex schools who gained grades 4 and above in GCSE English and mathematics was just below the national rate. The proportion of the local population who are qualified to level 2 is lower than the average for the south east. The unemployment rate in East Sussex is above the rate for the south east of England.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in English and mathematics for students on study programmes at level 2 and below by: – training teachers to plan and use learning activities that help students master the skills in which they are not yet proficient. – making sure that teachers use the comprehensive information they have about students’ skills in English and/or mathematics, collected at the start of their course, to plan learning that motivates and enthuses them to attend lessons and learn new skills.  Train teachers and assessors to set clear and specific targets for students and apprentices, so that they know what they need to do to improve their practical skills, knowledge and skills for work. Make sure that staff review students’ and apprentices’ progress towards, and achievement of, their targets promptly, intervening swiftly when they are not making enough improvement or progress.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Raise teachers’ and assessors’ expectations of what their students and apprentices can achieve by using the good practice already existing in the college to help all staff improve. Make sure that the most able students and apprentices make the progress of which they are capable with all aspects of their learning and personal development.  Make sure that leaders’ and managers’ well-developed plans to increase the proportion of students who complete external work experience placements are implemented before the end of the academic year.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, when the current principal had only just been appointed, governors, managers and teachers have worked hard to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment for students and apprentices. The previous inspection noted governors’ and managers’ success in recognising the challenges facing the college and in identifying clear priorities for improvement. Building on that work, with strong leadership from the principal, they have successfully promoted a college culture that recognises weaknesses and strives for excellence.  Governors and managers are now better able to make improvements. They have increasingly achieved consistent management practices across sites, and the college has genuinely become ‘one college’. Most influential in this respect has been the creation of a highly productive team of programme managers. They take charge of their curriculum and of teachers across all sites. As a result, management, quality assurance, self-

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

assessment and curriculum development have improved.  Governors and managers have improved arrangements for quality monitoring and self- assessment, including those for subcontractors. Programme managers, together with their teachers, are at the heart of these improvements. They use the innovative ‘live self- assessment’ to maintain a constant view of course quality. The principal and senior managers frequently review performance by subject area in challenging teaching, learning and assessment impact meetings.  In spite of this work, improvements to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for students are too limited and uneven across the college. For example, while apprenticeship provision has improved further, and adult and high-needs provision remain good, study programmes continue to require improvement. While overall achievement has remained relatively high, and has improved for level 3 vocational

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

courses, students’ achievements at levels 1 and 2, and in A levels, declined in 2016/17.  Leaders and managers use performance management procedures well to help teachers improve. A significant number of teachers have left the college since the introduction of these procedures, when their practice did not improve.  The college’s work with its local communities is much improved since the previous inspection. Governors and senior leaders have led re-engagement with employers and local schools very effectively. The principal works closely with local and regional agencies and groups to make sure that the college meets local and regional skills needs.  Senior leaders and managers work closely with employers to make sure that the curriculum meets the needs of local businesses and industry. For example, managers recently introduced two new apprenticeship standards, jointly designed with employers. Students benefit from good opportunities to sample the world of work in media, health

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

and social care, and beauty therapy. However, managers have been too slow to implement fully a scheme of external work experience on study programmes.  Leaders and managers make sure that all students and apprentices receive good-quality, impartial careers guidance. The college’s goal to improve students’ and apprentices’ English and mathematics skills has resulted in improved teaching, learning and outcomes. However, much more work is still to be done before students develop these skills consistently well.  Students work closely with managers to ensure that the college offers a welcoming and safe environment. Managers work well to make sure that staff and students value others’ beliefs, attitudes and values throughout the college. Students and apprentices are well prepared for life in modern Britain, including within their local environments. Managers and teachers are increasingly developing students’ understanding of college and British

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

values, but recognise that there is still more work to do to make sure that all students have a good understanding.

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The governance of the provider

 The chair of the board leads governors well. Governors are highly qualified and experienced professionals. They use their experiences well to serve the best interests of the college and its students. They use their professional skills well to monitor financial and educational performance.  Since the previous inspection, governors have improved their scrutiny of performance. They now have a good understanding of the college’s strengths and weaknesses. They work closely with managers to secure improvement.  Governors have dealt with the criticism from the previous inspection that they made too little use of key targets for performance. They have developed, and use well, a set of key performance indicators that they use to hold managers and staff to account.  Governors are clear about their long-term plans for the college. In their skilful work towards merger with Sussex Coast College, they give the needs of the college’s students

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The governance of the provider

the highest priority. Together with senior managers, governors set out clearly their high expectations for the performance of the college and its staff.  Governors use their good knowledge of the college’s local communities and employers well to help develop partnerships in the best interests of students and apprentices.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Staff responsible for safeguarding manage this particularly well within the college’s good support arrangements. Leaders and managers have kept up to date with the developments in safeguarding practice since the previous inspection. They have implemented changes effectively, such as the creation of the well-being staff team.  Staff make sure that students and apprentices are safe. College managers carry out good recruitment checks on staff and governors’ suitability to work with young people. They keep thorough and up-to-date records.  Managers and teachers work closely with specialist external agencies to resolve safeguarding concerns.  Leaders and managers are making good progress with the implementation of the ‘Prevent’ duty. Staff inform students and apprentices well about the threat of radicalisation, and tell them how to avoid this.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Managers have not yet achieved consistently good-quality teaching, learning and assessment for students on study programmes, resulting in their making slow progress towards achieving their qualifications. Apprentices receive good-quality training in the workplace, but their off-the-job training often fails to motivate or inspire them. Students for whom the college receives high-needs funding and adult students are well taught and they make good progress.  In too many vocational and GCSE lessons, teachers do not plan and use activities well enough to meet the range of students’ abilities and to enable them to make at least good progress. The pace of learning is often too slow, and many tasks are too easy and fail to challenge the most able students. Students on English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses develop their English skills well because of effective teaching that recognises the skills they need to improve.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teachers’ target setting for students requires improvement. Too many students on study programmes are not making good progress because teachers and tutors do not set specific and challenging targets for improvement. They do not review students’ achievement of these targets often enough. Assessors’ targets for apprentices do not incorporate personal development or the development of skills for work well enough.  The teaching of English and mathematics at level 2 and below requires improvement. Students’ attendance and punctuality at mathematics lessons are poor. Teachers of GCSE and functional skills do not plan and implement learning well enough to take account of students’ prior knowledge and skills development needs. All students work on the same activity whether they need to or not. The pace of learning in these subjects is slow and teachers do not check what students have learned frequently enough for them to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

evaluate how much progress their students are making.  Teachers do not develop students’ English and mathematics skills consistently well enough in vocational lessons. In the better practical lessons, teachers ensure that students develop good literacy skills and reinforce students’ accurate use of technical language.  Teachers have high expectations of students with high needs and they teach and support them well. Teachers and managers ensure effective transition arrangements for these students from local schools into college. Students with high needs know their targets and make good progress developing their mathematics and English skills. For example, students develop their mathematics skills in cookery through choosing items of different sizes and using scales and measuring jugs.  Teachers and managers identify students and apprentices who need extra help through the assessment of their skills at the start of their course. Teachers, particularly those

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

teaching adult students in the local community, use this information well. They ensure that their questioning styles and learning activities are suitably challenging and help students make good progress. However, teachers on study programmes do not use the information about students’ skills consistently well to plan and deliver learning to meet students’ development needs effectively.  Teachers in most practical lessons  for example, in catering, hair and media and in community settings teach their students well. Students in these lessons develop practical skills quickly and to a high standard. Apprentices develop a broad range of practical skills in the workplace that enable them to meet the needs of their employers and support their progress to higher levels of study or additional responsibilities.  In the more effective lessons, teachers plan and implement activities skilfully to ensure that students enjoy the challenge of learning new theories and concepts. In a minority of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

lessons for students on A-level and access to higher education courses, teachers use questioning skilfully to elicit well-considered, thoughtful and articulate responses from students. As a result, students demonstrate a sound grasp of the concepts they are learning, apply them well and make good progress. For example, in A-level film studies, the teacher elicited extended answers from students related to auteur theories, staging and the use of editing film. In A-level chemistry, a discussion about the Hindenburg disaster stimulated students’ interest in exploring gases and their properties.  Most teachers assess students’ work accurately and set appropriate exercises and assignments to help them develop their skills and understanding successfully. Students on A-level courses receive prompt and helpful feedback on their homework which helps them improve. Teachers use a wide range of assessment methods to make accurate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

judgements on the standard of students’ vocational work. Assessors’ monitoring of apprentices’ progress in relation to qualification achievement is effective. The oral feedback assessors give to apprentices is developmental and highlights areas for improvement well.  Apprentices understand the importance of developing their literacy and numeracy skills very clearly. Apprentices recognise where they apply their literacy and numeracy skills in the workplace and can give examples of how they develop these skills routinely in their job roles  for example, in measuring units in carpentry and hairdressing, and completing forms and documents accurately and to a professional standard in customer service.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

 Students and apprentices make good progress with developing their skills for work, such as teamwork and organisational and communication skills. They understand well the importance of punctuality, regular attendance and personal appearance, and how these apply to them in the workplace. For example, hospitality and catering students operate the on-site training restaurant with confidence and to a high standard.  Students behave very well at college. They are polite and highly respectful of each other, their teachers and their environment. They exemplify British values very well through their conduct in lessons and in and around the college sites. They listen to each other and value each other’s opinions. Apprentices maintain appropriate standards of behaviour and conduct in their places of work and attendance at college.  Students and apprentices know how to keep themselves safe in their daily lives, at college

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

and when working with tools, machinery and other potentially dangerous equipment. They know to whom they should report any concerns about the dangers of extremism and radicalisation.  Students’ and apprentices’ attendance at lessons, other than for English and mathematics qualifications, is high. They have positive attitudes to learning and turn up promptly. They are well prepared and they work hard.  Students and apprentices take part successfully in a wide range of regional, national and international competitions. A student recently won the beauty therapy section at ‘WorldSkills’ in Abu Dhabi. Bricklaying students won gold and silver medals at the Guild of Bricklayers competition.  Students have good access to a wide range of sporting, community and subject-related additional activities. For example, public services students help out at ‘Safety in Action’ week events for local schoolchildren and beauty therapy students provide beauty

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

treatments to patients at a local hospice. Students support charity fundraising events with enthusiasm.  Teachers do not help students develop their mathematics skills well enough in lessons. Too frequently, teachers either complete mathematical problems for students or they give them work that they find too easy.  Despite managers’ improvements to the arrangements for external work experience placements, particularly for students on study programmes, too many students have not yet had the opportunity to develop their skills for work and their practical skills further in an external placement. Managers’ plans for this academic year are well developed and target those subjects where participation in external placements has been low.

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

 Students on too many courses are not yet making the progress of which they are capable in relation to their starting point and the level of their course.  Too many students, particularly those on levels 1 and 2 vocational courses, do not achieve their qualifications. The proportion of students who were successful in the previous academic year declined and this requires improvement.  Students’ achievement of qualifications in mathematics is too low. They are not making sufficient progress with their mathematics skills in vocational lessons. Staff are more adept at developing students’ English skills and a higher proportion achieve their qualifications in English as a result.  The proportion of apprentices, of all levels and ages, who achieve their qualification has improved since the previous inspection and is now good. Current apprentices are making good progress towards achieving their qualifications within the planned timescale.

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

Apprentices who learn with subcontractors progress at a rate similar to college-based apprentices.  A high and increasing proportion of students on level 3 vocational courses achieve their qualifications and make better than expected progress based on their starting points. They develop good practical skills rapidly and produce work of a high standard which meets or exceeds industry expectations.  The proportion of students on A-level courses who achieved their qualifications and made good progress declined in the previous year. However, current students are making good progress and producing work at an appropriate standard.  A high proportion of adult students and younger students for whom the college received high-needs funding achieved their qualifications in the previous year. In the current year, these students are making good progress with their skills and personal learning goals.  The vast majority of students and apprentices move on to further training, learning or

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

employment on completion of their qualification. A high proportion of level 3 students, both academic and vocational, successfully gain places at university.

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

 About 3,460 students study on 16 to 19 study programmes, which accounts for approximately two thirds of all students at the college. Around a quarter of these students are on A-level qualifications with the remainder enrolled on a wide range of vocational programmes, the large majority at level 3.  In too many lessons, teachers do not have high enough expectations of what their students can achieve. As a result, the pace of learning is too slow, tasks are repetitive and students find work too easy or unstimulating.  Students’ attendance and punctuality at mathematics lessons are persistently low and the pace of learning in these lessons is too slow. Low staff expectations, poor student motivation and repetition of basic tasks limit students’ progress in developing their mathematics skills.  Students make better progress with improving their English skills and a higher proportion gain English qualifications when compared with mathematics. However, teachers do not

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

plan and deliver activities to help the most able students develop their skills further. Students’ attendance and punctuality in English are also poor and this limits their progress. For example, poor punctuality to a GCSE English lesson resulted in students who missed the first task not understanding fully the subsequent tasks.  A minority of students do not develop sufficient understanding of how equality of opportunity and diversity affect them in their daily lives. Teachers do not use tutorials effectively to develop students’ wider personal skills and knowledge well enough. The majority of tutorial sessions are used by students to set their own targets and to catch up with any work they have to complete. In the better examples, students develop their understanding of diversity well. For example, public services students discussed with maturity their views of whether wearing a burka in public should be banned, using

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

smartphones to share their ideas.  The quality of teachers’ feedback to the large majority of the students on vocational and A-level courses is effective. However, in a small minority of subjects, such as engineering, students do not have their work marked promptly enough to help them improve.  Teachers make good use of a broad range of assessment methods. For example, in music and media, students upload their assessments to the virtual learning environment and receive feedback from teachers promptly, which helps them to improve their skills and knowledge.  In practical lessons, such as catering, hair and beauty, and media, teachers use their occupational expertise very effectively to help students develop the skills they need to succeed. Catering students’ work is structured to simulate a real working kitchen as they prepare food for the following day’s service. Students work individually or in small teams

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

to prepare each course, for example cutting a large piece of pork into the joints required.  Students benefit from good-quality, impartial careers advice from staff to help them plan their future careers and next steps. As a result, most students move on to positive destinations that include further and higher education, apprenticeships and employment.  Students take part in a wide range of work-related activities, such as trips, visits and employer-led assessments, to help them develop their skills for work. For example, media students create a community magazine for which they raise funds by offering advertising to local companies. Managers have not yet made sure that all students, for whom it would be appropriate, have the opportunity to develop their skills in external work experience placements.

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Adult learning programmes Good

 The college has 2,440 adult students on a range of part-time courses, including community learning and ESOL, and full-time access to higher education courses. A small minority of adult students study full-time courses alongside younger students.  Managers of community learning courses work constructively with partner organisations to ensure that the provision meets the needs of the community. For example, staff on caring for children courses work closely with local social services staff to support young mothers and families. Cookery lessons are provided in collaboration with Sussex Community Development Association to improve the health and independence of adult students. Managers have introduced additional ESOL courses recently which are delivered in a local school due to an increased need in the area.  In the majority of lessons, teachers use questioning skilfully to develop students’ critical

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Adult learning programmes Good

thinking skills. Teachers use opportunities in lessons very well to develop students’ understanding of mathematics and the use of number.  Students have a good awareness of how to stay safe online and how this relates to working in industry. For example, students in business administration linked the Data Protection Act to online forms and the importance of reading small print when indicating their agreement to terms and conditions on websites.  Teachers on community learning courses recognise individual students’ developmental needs well, and adapt questioning styles and activities to make sure that students find their learning stimulating. Students develop useful practical skills quickly and improve their well-being. For example, students on a mindfulness course shared personal feelings about what triggers their anxiety to inform a productive class discussion about coping techniques.  Teachers give students detailed feedback on their work which motivates them to improve,

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Adult learning programmes Good

complete their course and achieve qualifications. Teachers on access to higher education courses give students useful oral and written feedback that helps them to improve and achieve higher grades. In most access to higher education subjects, students have developed good skills for academic research and debate topics and issues confidently.  In a few lessons, teachers do not plan and implement sufficiently demanding learning. They do not use questioning effectively to check students’ understanding, which limits their progress.  Teachers provide good advice and guidance to prepare students for their course and for their next steps in employment or further study. Teachers have established very productive links with local universities for access to higher education students. For example, access students in medicine have guaranteed interviews at Brighton and Sussex universities’ medical school. However, teachers’ support for students applying to

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Adult learning programmes Good

university is poorly planned, resulting in a minority of students missing deadlines.

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Apprenticeships Good

 The college has around 1,000 apprentices. About 500 are at intermediate level, 450 are advanced apprentices and about 50 are higher-level apprentices. The college offers two apprenticeship standards: professional accounting taxation technician and hair professional. All other apprenticeships are frameworks. The largest number of apprentices are in business administration, hospitality and catering, media and communications, construction and service industries. Subcontractors delivered approximately half of the apprenticeship provision in 2016/17.  Leaders and managers have improved the way they monitor apprentices’ progress. This has helped to increase to good the proportion of apprentices of all ages and levels who achieve their qualification. Managers monitor the quality of directly delivered and subcontracted provision, and make sure that the principles of apprenticeships are fully met.  Apprentices develop a wide range of skills in the workplace, which enable them to fulfil

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Apprenticeships Good

their job role well and support their progress to higher levels of study or greater responsibility at work. Apprentices describe with confidence the skills they have acquired as a result of their work-based training.  Apprentices and their employers understand fully the importance of developing English and mathematics skills in the context of their job role. Apprentices apply these skills confidently in the workplace and, where they are not yet confident, they receive good support from their employers and assessors to master these skills. For example, apprentices measure units accurately in carpentry, determine ratios and volumes in hairdressing, and complete tasks with accuracy in business administration.  Employers value highly their involvement with college managers and assessors to ensure that apprentices complete their studies within the planned timescales. As a result, the vast majority of apprentices who achieve their qualification do so within the time planned.

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Apprenticeships Good

Assessors involve employers in the monitoring of apprentices’ progress through effective review meetings held in the workplace. In these meetings, targets are agreed by the workplace assessors in consultation with the apprentice and their employer. The employer knows what they need to do to support their apprentice’s learning.  Teaching and learning in off-the-job training often fail to motivate or inspire apprentices, or challenge them to achieve beyond the minimum expectations. Teachers do not plan off-the-job training well enough for it to be relevant to apprentices’ job roles. They do not have high enough expectations of what apprentices can achieve.  Assessors’ written feedback in apprentices’ progress reviews does not offer sufficient guidance for improvement. Assessors’ observation records of workplace practice are often too descriptive and do not evaluate fully the extent of apprentices’ skills development. For

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Apprenticeships Good

example, targets set by assessors following observations and reviews too often fail to incorporate wider personal development or skills for work. Leaders and managers have recognised target setting and evaluative writing as areas for improvement. They have initiated training to develop these aspects of reviews. The impact of this training is starting to be evident.

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Provision for learners with high needs Good

 The college receives high-needs funding for 75 students with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Seventeen of these students are supported on full-time study programmes at levels 2 and 3 on two college sites. The remainder follow courses at level 1.  Leaders and managers have a clear understanding about the development of courses to meet the needs of students with high needs within the local community. Managers work in partnership with local and national groups to develop approaches and support mechanisms to enable students to succeed. For example, managers are involved in a national project to develop and evaluate the support given to high-needs funded students on study programmes at levels 2 and 3.  Teachers and managers use the funding for students with high needs effectively. They work closely with a wide range of agencies and support bodies to help students towards independence. Local authorities, external healthcare professionals, parents and carers

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Provision for learners with high needs Good

contribute to the design of personalised learning programmes. These increase students’ independence and enable them to move on to further courses and, where appropriate, employment.  Teachers and managers have high expectations of students. Much teaching is challenging and students are supported well towards developing skills and knowledge. Where appropriate, students use confidently handouts with simplified text, pictures or symbols depending on their ability with communication. Most teachers and support staff work well together to ensure that support is appropriate. They plan support strategies collaboratively prior to introducing an activity. As a result, students with high needs achieve as well as, and often better than, their peers.  Most students with high needs on study programmes at levels 2 and 3 are supported well by staff. Staff transfer students’ targets and areas of development from their EHC plans

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Provision for learners with high needs Good

well into actions to support them. Teachers agree targets with students that are relevant and appropriate to them, and most make very good progress towards achieving their qualifications as a result.  Teachers’ development of students’ communication, personal, social skills and skills for work is good. Students frequently reinforce these skills through many aspects of their learning and relate what they have learned to the work environment. Students receive good support from specialist staff, such as sign language interpreters, physiotherapists and speech therapists.  Students feel safe at college and have a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe. They are aware of whom to go to if they are worried. External specialist trainers deliver a module to entry level and level 1 students over several weeks to reinforce staying safe, the dangers of extremism and radicalisation, and British values. Students participate in

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Provision for learners with high needs Good

these sessions enthusiastically.  A high proportion of students who have developed the necessary skills and confidence gain employment. Managers have developed a very successful project with the local hospital to help students develop skills for work. Most of the students who take part get jobs in the hospital as a result. Students who are not yet ready for employment take part in a broad range of work-related activity at college, such as helping prepare and serve food at college functions and selling items they have made at a local market.  A minority of students receive too much support from staff. For example, a few staff are too quick to support a student to complete a task, and answer questions on their behalf. In these situations, students do not learn readily and make progress. A few teaching staff are not fully aware of students’ targets and rely on support staff to ensure that students understand the activity they are undertaking.

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Provider details

Type of provider General further education college

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Provider details

Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year 6,500

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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) 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

428 560 745 433 2264 259 2 5 Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age Intermediate Advanced Higher

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 172 340 77 341 2 38 Number of traineeships 16–19 19+ Total n/a n/a n/a Number of learners aged 14 to n/a

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Number of learners for which the provider receives high- needs funding At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors: Ashley Hunter Ltd Creative Process Digital East Sussex County Council London Vocational College Limited Phoenix Training Services Midlands Ltd Peach Orator Ltd Specialist Trade Courses Ltd Total Training Provision The Platform Social Enterprise Limited

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the deputy principal, 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.

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Inspection team

Richard Pemble, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Barry Dolan Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Learner View Learner View is a 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 .

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Inspection team

Employer View Employer View is a website where employers can tell Ofsted what they think about their employees’ college or provider. They can also see what other employers think about them too. To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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