Bath College is making “reasonable progress” to improve after a critical Ofsted inspection last October.
The Roper Building at Bath College
Ofsted reports published in 2013 and 2018 had rated the further education college as Good.
But a report published in January 2024, following a visit by a team of 12 inspectors in October 2023, revealed that the college had dropped a grade.
Inspectors judged the overall effectiveness of the provision to Requires Improvement.
Leadership and management, quality of education, students’ personal development, adult learning programmes and apprenticeships were all said to need improvement.
However, students’ behaviour and attitudes, the education programmes for young people and provision for learners with high needs were all rated as Good.
A monitoring visit was held last month, with the focus being to evaluate the progress that leaders and managers have made in resolving the main areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection.
Ofsted says that college leaders are making “reasonable progress” for:
- Improving their evaluation of the quality of education and the level challenge from governors.
- Improving the involvement of stakeholders in the design and implementation of the curriculum.
- Improving the use of assessment to inform teaching, and to provide learners and apprentices with helpful feedback so they know what they need to do to improve.
- Improving the usefulness of apprentices’ reviews so that leaders know how much progress they have made, and to inform timely intervention.
- Improving the availability and participation of learners, including those with high needs, in work experience activity and work-related learning.
Bath College has two campuses – one in the centre of Bath and the other in the Somer Valley, Radstock.
At the time of the monitoring visit, around 2,100 learners aged 16 to 18, 4,900 adult learners, and 500 apprentices were studying at the college.
There were around 280 learners in receipt of high needs funding.
