An inner London city technology college has been given qualified praise by the Office for Standards in Education just a week after its disappointing showing in the Government’s performance tables. The Harris CTC in Norwood, South London, was one of five CTCs in which GCSE results fell below the national average and local authority averages for their areas.
The OFSTED inspectors found in early October that it was “a sound college, which has made satisfactory progress”. But their report identifies “significant developmental challenges” concerning the application of technology, opportunities for independent learning and teaching and learning quality.
Apart from science and art, all GCSE results were “significantly lower than national averages”, the inspectors said, but the results were showing a generally improving trend. Last week’s league tables showed 27 per cent of pupils gained five A-Cs, compared with the LEA average of 37.2 per cent and the national average of 43.3.
