The first college to be placed into education administration has been found to be making “reasonable progress” by Ofsted.
In a monitoring visit in June - a month after a judge approved the petition to place the college in administration, the inspectorate found the interim principal, supported effectively by the educational administrators, senior leaders and the advisory group, had “made sure that the education of students at the college has not been adversely affected”.
Quick read: First college set to go into insolvency regime
Read more: Principal and deputy suspended at Hadlow College Group
Background: Hadlow College insolvency: How to ensure it doesn’t happen again
‘Beneficial impact’
Leaders and managers have made sure that the actions they have taken have a beneficial impact on their students, the report, published today, goes on to say.
“Members of the new advisory group receive comprehensive reports to build their knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of the provision,” it added.
“Leaders and managers recognised the historical decline in achievement rates for students on study programmes,” Ofsted said, adding: “They planned carefully to improve student retention, which had declined since 2016-17. Current students benefit from improved initial advice to make sure that they are more aware of the requirements of their vocational courses.”
Reasonable progress has also been made in ensuring that effective safeguarding arrangements continue to be in place, according to Ofsted.
College insolvency
In May, the Department for Education confirmed it petitioned the High Court for Hadlow College to be placed into “education administration”, under the insolvency regime created by the Technical and Further Education Act 2017. This was later approved by the court.
Financial health notices to improve were published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency for the constituent colleges of the Hadlow College group: Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College.
This came after the group announced in February that it had suspended group principal Paul Hannan and his deputy Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, with Graham Morley appointed interim principal. The chair of West Kent and Ashford College also resigned. The college has been contacted for comment.
