Truro and Penwith College has become the first college to be graded outstanding by Ofsted since the new common inspection framework was introduced last year.
In December, TES revealed the college had not been subjected to a full inspection in 10 years, since its predecessor, Truro College, was last rated outstanding in 2006. It merged with Penwith College two years later.
Inspectors visited the college in February. Provision was found to be outstanding in all categories apart from adult learning programmes and apprenticeships, which were judged to be good.
“Governors and senior leaders have successfully created a culture where learning and achievement flourish as a result of excellent teaching,” says the report, published today. “Teaching, learning and assessment are outstanding, and, as a result, learners make exceptional progress, often well above their expectations and their qualifications on entry would predict.”
Adult learners
Highlighting an area for improvement, the report states college leaders should ensure “that adult learners and apprentices experience the same exceptionally high-quality teaching, learning and assessment enjoyed by 16- to 19-year-olds and those with high needs”.
The new common inspection framework came into effect in September 2015. According to Ofsted, it was designed to bring together the inspection of different education, skills and early years settings to ensure greater comparability and consistency. Last month, the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Group Training Association became the first apprenticeship provider judged to be outstanding after one of the new short inspections for providers that had previously been rated good.
TES has launched a free, new Ofstedwatch service, offering daily updates about Ofsted inspection reports for FE and skills providers. All the latest reports will be published here. Subscribe to receive an email alert whenever a new Ofsted report goes live by emailing will.martin@tesglobal.com
Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES FE News on Twitter and like TES FE News on Facebook
