COLLEGE NEWS: Yeovil College gets good grading from Ofsted

STUDENTS, parents and staff at Yeovil College can celebrate after the college was recognised with a 'good' rating across all areas from the education watchdog Ofsted.

Inspectors, who visited the college in October 2016, looked at areas including the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, leadership and management, learner outcomes, additional activities for student development, study programmes, apprenticeships, English and maths and provision for high needs students.

Across the board, Yeovil College was ranked as ‘Good’ with elements of outstanding practice highlighted in several areas, noting that “Teachers develop learners’ work-related skills and understanding of employment well. They effectively draw on the expertise they gain from working in industry when teaching.”

John Evans, principal, said: “To achieve a 'good' rating across every single area is really a testament to our dedicated and talented staff who are committed to giving Yeovil College students the best possible opportunities, whether that’s during their lessons, college life between lessons, or preparing them  for whatever their careers hold in store for them.

“The report confirms what we’ve been working on here, and it’s great to see that the hard work of staff and students is paying off.   Our students now are receiving higher standards of teaching, more impressive results – like the 100% pass rate at A-level - and they are progressing on to another programme or into employment, better prepared for work.”

The report said “a wide range of additional activities, including high quality work placements, enrich learners’ study programmes,” and “excellent and productive partnerships with the college’s local communities, especially with local employers, ensure that courses prepare learners well for progression to employment or further education and training.”

Inspectors noted that “apprentices gain the skills and confidence they need to secure permanent jobs or to gain higher levels of responsibility or promotion.”  

Success is not limited to apprentices though and the report picks out that “the proportion of learners who successfully complete and achieve their qualifications has risen over the previous three years and is now high. Learners on vocational courses and apprentices aged 16 to 24 are particularly successful.”

The full report is available online at www.yeovil.ac.uk .

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