Employability of students is at the heart of just about everything Bath College does, according to Ofsted, which has praised staff for giving students the best possible career chances.
Her Majesty’s Inspector Nick Crombie said the College’s students were benefitting from the well-defined strategic and operational focus on “enterprise, entrepreneurship, innovation and employability.”
Students aged 16 to 18 were said to achieve well in their chosen subjects, while gaining and applying essential employability skills.
The Ofsted inspector highlighted how the College has good working links with a range of employers, encourages work experience across all industries, is responsive to current skills needs, hosts skills fairs which have led to students gaining employment and apprenticeships, offers non-partisan careers advice and is an active member of local business partnerships.
This integral approach to work-ready skills was said to be helping to prepare students for their next steps, including progression into higher education, training and employment.
The work of staff and students to further ingrain employability into all aspects of the student experience, from pre-entry through to the end of the course, was also praised.
These findings will be used to form part of Ofsted’s Regional Annual Report and will be referred to while compiling the South West’s next strategic plan.
Principal Matt Atkinson said employability was at the heart of Bath College’s provision.
He said: “Making our students employment-ready is our aim and our priority.
“We are focused on giving students the work-ready skills to meet the demands of the local labour market
“We ensure the day to day focus on employability remains strong by working closely with high-quality employers from Bath and across the region.
“We work with industry experts, host employer events and design course curriculums to meet the needs of the people who are going to employ students.”
Bath College was given its best-ever Ofsted report in 2013 with inspectors concluding the College was good with outstanding features. It was given an overall grade of 2 (Good).
