By Kelly Eve Education Reporter

Last updated at 19:57, Friday, 22 January 2010

Staff and students at Carlisle College have received a welcome boost to kick-start 2010 – a glowing report from Government inspectors.

Moira Tattersall

Ofsted rank the Victoria Place college as “good” and inspectors have highlighted several outstanding features.

College leaders are particularly pleased as the recent inspection was carried out under the terms of a new, tougher regime introduced last September.

Inspectors were impressed by the college’s overall effectiveness where a high proportion of students secure work or go on into higher education.

They also highlighted the college’s good pass rates and the progress made by those students with learning difficulties as well as its high quality of provision, teaching and learning, leadership and management. The college last year enjoyed 100 per cent pass rates in a variety of courses.

Three subject areas – construction, engineering and hair and beauty therapy – were also probed in depth by Ofsted last month.

The inspection report comes after college leaders were dealt a body blow last year when they were forced to ditch plans for a £30m transformation of the campus following the collapse of a national funding scheme.

They have spent months drawing up plans for a scaled-down rebuilding project, a £10m scheme due to go before city council planners next Friday.

Principal Moira Tattersall said: “Obviously we are all delighted with the outcome [of the report].

The governors, managers, staff and students have all worked extremely hard to make the college a welcoming place to be.”

She added that under the old inspection regime, before the bar was raised, it was likely the college would have received an outstanding rating.

Ofsted inspector Sue Harrison, who noted that the college campus needed upgrading, concluded: “Carlisle College has improved since the last inspection and its overall effectiveness is good.

“It listens carefully to the views of learners and employers and makes changes as a result of these findings. The majority of learners make good progress and examination pass rates are good.”

She added: “Learners feel very safe in the college, reflecting the good promotion of safeguarding. A significant strength of the college is how it works in partnership with other organisations to benefit its learners.”

A survey of employers could not identify any areas for improvement. Vice principal Elaine Price, who is responsible for curriculum and quality at the college, said: “The report reflects the significant improvement the college has made.

“This is a really good college where learner achievement is high, which is down to the hard work and dedication of both students and staff.”

Elsewhere, Ofsted reports that the college is well placed to drive forward further improvements in the future.

The watchdog says the college must make better use of details about student progress to ensure they get qualifications within planned time frames, improve the retention and pass rates on certain courses, try to plug the gap between male and female students identified in 2009 and continue to improve attendance.

First published at 14:09, Friday, 22 January 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk