Crawley College impress Ofsted inspectors with ‘significant progress’

Ofsted say that Crawley College has made significant progress in all areas over the past 12 months.

Inspectors visited the college on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 February 2019 to review the progress made since its last full inspection in 2016.

Since then the college has become part of the Chichester College Group, with a focus on improving teaching and learning and the student experience at Crawley College.

The inspectors were impressed with the work that has been carried out, rating the college as showing ‘significant progress’ in all aspects of the Ofsted report, including leadership & management, teaching & learning and cultural change.

The findings from this latest report particularly highlighted improvements in student achievement since the merger in August 2017, attributing this to the more active support given to students.

The report said: ‘Leaders, managers and teachers are focused on improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. They consider the needs of students in every aspect of their work.

‘Communication across the college has greatly improved and teachers feel valued, and this is in turn having a positive effect on students.

‘Students are more engaged in all aspects of their studies because good support is readily available.’

The report concluded that ‘Students value the caring and supportive learning environment created by staff at the college. As a result, they express a strong sense of belonging to the college community.’

Vicki Illingworth, Principal at Crawley College, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the outcome of our latest monitoring visit, which show an amazing amount of progress over a short period of time.

“It is a direct reflection of all the hard work, passion, determination and dedication that the staff have displayed in ensuring we are making great strides in raising progress and performance across the board.

“We endeavour to put the students at the heart of everything we do, and it is rewarding to see this has been recognised in the feedback we have received from Ofsted.

“I am very proud of our staff and students for all they have achieved, and inspired by their determination to keep improving.”

Shelagh Legrave OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Chichester College Group, added: “It is very rare for colleges to receive four ‘significant progress’ grades in monitoring visit, so I think everyone at the Group should be very proud of this achievement.

“A lot has been achieved in the 18 months or so since we merged, and we know there is still work to do but it is important to see that we are moving in the right direction.

“We will continue to invest our attention and effort into ensuring our students – at all of our colleges across the whole Group – receive the very best education that we can deliver, to ensure they are given the tools they need for a bright future.”

The report of the February 2019 monitoring visit can be viewed at: www.ofsted.gov.uk.