Salford City College

Salford City College Report following a monitoring visit to a ‘requires improvement’ provider

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Name of lead inspector: Alison Cameron Brandwood, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 27 and 28 February 2025

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Type of provider: General further education college Address Dronfield Road Salford M6 7FR Monitoring visit: Salford City College, 27 and 28 February 2025

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Context and focus of visit

Salford City College was inspected in May 2024. At that time, inspectors judged the overall effectiveness of the provision to require improvement.

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Context and focus of visit

The focus of this monitoring visit was to evaluate the progress that leaders and managers have made in resolving the main areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection.

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Context and focus of visit

Salford City College is a general further education college based in Salford, Greater Manchester. The college operates from six campuses located in and around the city of Salford. These campuses are Pendleton Sixth Form College, Eccles Sixth Form College, Worsley College, Future Skills, City Skills, and Frontier House. At the time of the monitoring visit, the college had 4,480 learners aged 16 to 18, 3,057 adult learners, and 1,444 apprentices. The college receives high needs funding for 121 learners. Leaders work with eight subcontractors who provide training for 633 adult learners.

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Significant progress

Leaders have made rapid improvements to their quality systems and processes across the college. They have introduced successful strategies to improve the quality of education, including ‘know me to teach me’ and ‘progress over time’. Staff attend training to develop their teaching skills to ensure that learners and apprentices know more and can remember more over time.

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Significant progress

Leaders have developed a rigorous approach to quality assurance. They carry out learning walks in which leaders and managers check the impact of the actions that have been put in place. For example, in creative media managers identified that learners in year 2 could not clearly recall the skills that they had developed. Following improvements to learner feedback, leaders found that learners could talk confidently about what they had learned and how they could use these skills in future employment. Leaders place underperforming courses in a supportive notice to improve process led by the quality team.

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Significant progress

The quality improvement systems and processes that leaders have put in place are having a significant beneficial impact on learners. Achievement for younger learners has improved across every level of study. In 2023/24 achievement for this group of learners is high. Leaders have reduced the proportion of current learners who leave their programme early. Monitoring visit: Salford City College, 27 and 28 February 2025

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Significant progress

Governors have made significant progress in providing robust challenge and highly effective scrutiny to leaders about the quality of education that learners receive. They hold leaders to account for the impact of the new initiatives that they have implemented. Governors use the comprehensive and useful information that leaders provide in their reports, and that they glean from attending governor subject panels, to challenge leaders. For example, governors question leaders about the impact of the supportive notice to improve process in A-level chemistry. They quiz leaders about the impact of the training that teachers attend on the quality of teaching that learners receive. Governors carry out centre visits where they check what they have been told while talking to learners, teachers and managers.

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Significant progress

Following the previous inspection, governors approved and sped up the appointment of a range of new quality posts, including a deputy principal for quality, a head of quality improvement and a head of quality assurance. Consequently, leaders increased their capacity to rapidly improve the quality of education across the college. Governors made changes to the membership of the board and committees, including appointing additional governors with educational expertise. They increased the number of governors who attend the teaching and learning committee. Governors hold a range of relevant expertise and experience to be able to carry out their roles successfully.

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Significant progress

Leaders have made significant and rapid improvements to the design and intent of the curriculum for learners on education programmes for young people. They have swiftly reviewed and introduced carefully considered changes to the curriculum. In A- level mathematics, teachers use a spiral curriculum to teach the foundational knowledge of algebra, calculus and trigonometry. They revisit topics and introduce more complex learning over time, such as using integrated equations with graphs to calculate the area under a curve. Learners recall what they learn confidently and use what they know to develop their understanding and skills further.

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Significant progress

Teachers use their detailed knowledge about learners to set them appropriately challenging targets. Leaders and managers have a thorough understanding of the progress that learners are making. They monitor learners’ progress rigorously. Managers identify issues quickly and put in place effective support for learners who are at risk of falling behind. Monitoring visit: Salford City College, 27 and 28 February 2025

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have invested significantly in staff development to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Advanced practitioners work with staff to improve weaknesses, including formative and summative assessment practices. Teachers address misconceptions skilfully in their teaching. They use frequent assessment to ensure that learners develop secure knowledge. For example, in creative media, teachers use probing questions to challenge learners to identify their reasons for using particular camera techniques and colour palettes in photographs. Learners respond confidently using technical terminology very well. However, in apprenticeships, trainer/assessors do not use assessment well enough to check learning and rectify misconceptions.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have made substantial improvements to how teachers provide feedback to learners studying education programmes for young people. They have introduced a new strategy in which teachers tell learners what worked well, and in which they give them precise guidance on how to improve. Learners use the clear feedback that teachers provide to make improvements to their work. In construction, teachers use a visual skills grading grid to assess learners’ skills and provide written feedback in aspects of construction such as building a brick wall. They pair this with a QR code that learners scan to access audio or video feedback from teachers. At the time of the visit, it was too soon to see the impact of the final aspect of the strategy, ‘closing the loop’, that leaders had more recently rolled out.

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Significant progress

Since the previous inspection, leaders and managers have conducted a comprehensive review of the high needs provision. They have worked successfully to improve the quality of education that high needs learners receive. Leaders accurately record and monitor learners’ progress and intervene swiftly if learners are not making progress in line with their EHC plan targets. Managers proactively work with learners, teachers and support staff to adapt and change targets so that they are achievable yet challenging. Monitoring visit: Salford City College, 27 and 28 February 2025 Teachers and support staff benefit from specific training to improve how they teach learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Following training, teachers and support staff break down learners’ EHC plans and preparation for adulthood targets into manageable chunks. They use the targets routinely to plan learning, which results in high needs learners making swift and sustained progress.

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Significant progress

Learners know and understand the targets that they are working towards. For example, learners who have targets to develop their dressing and undressing skills change from their clothes into gym clothing in the sports hall for physical activities. They clearly articulate the skills they are developing. Learners know what they need to do to improve further, such as using zips and buttons. Learners are rightly proud of themselves when they achieve their targets and move on to more challenging ones. Learners are now involved in annual reviews of their EHC plans and feel that they have a say in what they think that their targets should be. Monitoring visit: Salford City College, 27 and 28 February 2025 regulates and inspects to achieve 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

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Significant progress

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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Significant progress

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Significant progress

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Significant progress

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Significant progress

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