Bedford College Group

Bedford College Group

Address: Bedford College, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 9AH Unique reference number (URN): 2827041

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have established a highly inclusive culture for trainees. They prioritise the promotion of inclusive practice. Staff skilfully role model inclusive approaches, so trainees recognise inclusive practice from their own learning experience. Leaders provide trainees with a broad programme of expert guest speakers in inclusive and trauma-informed practice. In addition to the benefits of this on their training practice, trainees use this learning to reflect on their own barriers to learning and/or wellbeing.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have implemented effective processes to establish trainees' needs at the start of and throughout the programme. Teacher educators provide ongoing opportunities for the more reluctant trainees to disclose any barriers or special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teacher educators make highly effective adjustments to reduce barriers, such as structured support for dyslexia, anxiety, cognitive load and digital skills. Teacher educators support trainees to successfully develop a deeper understanding of their own neurodiversity. They help trainees to build the self-awareness and resilience to reduce barriers to learning and/or wellbeing and to become skilful teachers. Leaders provide a wide variety of opportunities to gather feedback from trainees, such as programme committees and meetings with leaders. Leaders listen and act on trainee feedback very effectively, such as making reasonable adjustments and adaptations to meet individual needs.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders place a high-strategic priority on providing a qualified workforce for the future of the college and the further education (FE) sector. They are committed to implementing their ambition to broaden the skills and diversity of trainees in FE. Leaders successfully promote a range of pre-service pathways to encourage more industry experts into teaching in FE. Leaders have also developed college structures to bring about improvements in teaching. This includes support for trainees. Teacher educators and teaching and learning coaches work together very effectively to support trainees to improve their teaching.

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Leadership Strong standard

Initial teacher education (ITE) is central to the wider quality improvement work of the college. Leaders have introduced marked changes to the ITE provision in recent years. This is to ensure that the curriculum prepares trainees very well for their roles in further education and meets the DfE expectations for initial teacher education for further education. Leaders also ensure that the curriculum incorporates current topics, such as artificial intelligence and digital tools for teachers.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders make decisions in the interest of trainees. They work highly effectively with stakeholders, including the validating university. Leaders are proactive in their work with partners across the university partnership and beyond to share positive practice and provide peer review opportunities.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders prioritise investment in the professional development of staff and mentors. Staff participate in a broad range of accredited qualifications to develop their expertise and research practice. Mentors benefit from purposeful training that helps them to carry out their roles very well. Staff feel highly valued and supported by leaders, who take deliberate action to support their workload and wellbeing.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders and governors have a precise and accurate oversight of the quality of the ITE courses they offer. Link governors with ITE expertise talk directly to trainees and staff and report back to through the committee structure. Leaders and governors have rigorous systems to monitor and drive improvements. For example, leaders identified consistency in the quality of mentoring as an area for improvement. They invested in the training and support for mentors, such as appointing a mentor liaison officer. As a result, leaders have successfully improved the trainees' experience of mentoring.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders set ambitious and consistently high expectations for trainees’ professional behaviours, attendance and participation. Trainees respond positively, demonstrating a clear commitment to learning and active participation in conferences and professional development workshop sessions. Additional support from learning resource centre (LRC)

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Expected standard

staff strengthens trainees’ organisation, timekeeping and presentation skills. Trainees are proactive in accessing this support if they need it.

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Expected standard

Staff provide highly effective pastoral support. Teacher educators, mentors, LRC staff and partner organisations work together very well to ensure trainees sustain their progress. Trainees access a wide range of wellbeing services and know how to seek further help when needed. Staff respond sensitively to individual circumstances, resulting in trainees consistently reporting they feel safe, valued and well supported.

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Expected standard

Trainees develop secure professional behaviours. They engage professionally with planning, reflective practice and the wider responsibilities of being a teacher. Trainees learn how to manage demanding workloads and apply this effectively. Support from a wide range of staff helps them to balance academic tasks, teaching practice and personal commitments with increasing confidence and skill. Trainees develop a clear sense of professional identity within the further educator sector. Leaders have established an inclusive culture for trainees to contribute openly and respectfully, and behave with integrity.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees become effectively prepared for the realities of teaching in the further education sector. They secure suitable knowledge of core-teaching principles, cognitive load and behaviour management. Trainees also develop their digital pedagogy and understanding of inclusive practice.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees gain a solid understanding of safeguarding, local risks and welfare responsibilities. They are confident to apply these in their subject teaching. Trainees develop new teaching strategies such as scaffolding, modelling and questioning. They build experience in using these strategies in different classroom settings, such as teaching learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees develop confidence in their professional communication and curriculum analysis. They develop skills in reflective practice, making effective use of feedback from mentors to evaluate their pedagogical skills. However, a few trainees require further support to critique pedagogical choices with greater depth.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees achieve well and progress into employment in the further education sector.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders now implement an ambitious, spiral curriculum structure. The curriculum is research-informed, incorporating established and contemporary theories. This includes cognitive load, metacognition, interleaving, dual-coding and schema theory. Leaders have sequenced the key knowledge and skills into logical, meaningful steps. This helps part-time trainees build knowledge cumulatively and apply it in practice. Pre-service trainees benefit

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Next steps

Tutors should further strengthen the sequencing of the initial teacher education curriculum so that it is seamlessly integrated for all trainees, in order to support the application of trainees' learning and fluent recall of theories.

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Next steps

Tutors should further strengthen the use of assessment and feedback to more consistently provide trainees with precise targets to support their rapid develop of knowledge and skills to thrive. from studying alongside in-service trainees in a broad community to enhance their classroom discussions and learning.

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Next steps

Teacher educators are experts in initial teacher education with specialisms in special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), digital pedagogy, curriculum design, mentoring and research. Staff actively engage in postgraduate research, which strengthens curriculum coherence and modelling of effective practice. Trainees benefit from access to the full range of optional study pathways because of the breadth of staff experience and expertise.

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Next steps

Teacher educators plan and teach an effective curriculum using the expertise contained within the team. Their use of modelling, structured tasks, microteach and university conference work helps trainees to apply theory to practice. Trainees learn how to identify barriers to learning and adapt teaching for the diverse needs of the learners they teach. However, for trainees on the full-time pre-service pathway, the curriculum is not yet sequenced in the most helpful order to enable them to seamlessly link theory to practice.

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Next steps

Most teacher educators use assessment and feedback effectively. They use it to check trainees’ understanding and to guide trainees' improvement. Trainees receive sufficient feedback to help them identify strengths and next steps. Trainees typically act on targets for development over time. However, teacher educators do not always set precise targets following teaching observations to drive trainees’ rapid improvement. Through preparation activities for final assessments, most trainees are able to articulate how they plan, organise and manage learning. Trainees know how they adapt their approaches for different learners, including those with SEND.

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Next steps

Leaders implement effective mentoring arrangements to support trainees throughout their training. Trainees benefit from a subject-specialist mentor as well as a pastoral mentor. Mentors have frequent meetings and online resources to understand the initial teacher education curriculum. Leaders ensure that mentors provide high quality and relevant feedback and guidance to trainees through a range of support systems, including joint observations. As a result, mentoring arrangements contribute positively to trainees' progress and development of their subject specific skills over time.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

Most trainees feel positive about their experience of the ITE curriculum and have a strong sense of belonging. They experience a structured and supportive programme that helps them to understand the practical realities of teaching. They value the clear expectations set for their development and the opportunities to discuss their progress with mentors and teacher educators. Most trainees articulate how they plan, organise and manage learning. They know how they adapt their teaching approaches for different learners, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

Trainees appreciate the structured guidance they receive, including additional workshops on wellbeing, trauma-informed practice and recognising early signs of burnout. These sessions help reduce barriers to learning and support trainees to manage the pressures of teaching. Trainees also benefit from specialist input, such as sessions on culture, welfare and assessment, which strengthen their awareness of bias and the diverse needs of learners.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

Trainees value the supportive relationships with mentors. They study in a transparent culture where they feel safe to ask for help, disclose needs and personal challenges, including those linked to confidence, workload or personal circumstances.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

As trainees progress, they develop greater confidence, reflective skills and professional behaviours. They understand their role within a wider teaching community and recognise the importance of creating safe, inclusive environments where all learners can flourish. While some assessment practices could be further strengthened, the overall curriculum enables trainees to grow, contribute and prepare for their next steps in teaching.

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About this inspection

The college has 3 routes into teaching: level 5 certificate in education; level 6 professional graduate certificate in education and level 7 postgraduate certificate in education.

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About this inspection

Most trainees are on the level 6 route with less than 5 trainees on the level 5 and level 7 courses.

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About this inspection

Trainees attend either one-year full time or two years part time. They attend the same timetabled lessons.

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About this inspection

There were 21 trainees in scope for the inspection; 13 trainees were on the pre-service pathway, 9 of which were studying the one year full-time route. The remaining 4 pre-service trainees were on the 2 year full-time programme.

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About this inspection

There are 8 trainees are on the 2 year part time in-service pathway. There are fewer than 5 in-service trainees in placements external to Bedford College Group.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other providers can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The provider reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The provider is fulfilling the expected standard of training. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements. Inspectors spoke with governors, leaders, managers, teacher educators, mentors, trainees and stakeholders during the inspection.

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Urgent improvement

The provider needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of training.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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