Runshaw College has been downgraded from ‘Outstanding’ to ‘Good’ after an Ofsted inspection revealed some areas of concern.
Areas where the College, in Leyland, was marked down include:
- Leadership and management
- Quality of teaching
- Standard of young people’s offer
Runshaw, based on Langdale Road in Leyland, provides further and higher education for 4,625 students on education programmes for young people and 385 students on adult learning programmes in the Lancashire area, including many from Southport.
Ofsted inspectors were on site between 7th to 10th March 2022, with the official Ofsted report published today (Tuesday, 28th June 2022).
They suggested a number of areas where the College should improve, including:
- Leaders and managers should review their approach to independent learning
- Leaders and managers should ensure that all apprentices receive sufficient teaching and training
- Leaders and managers should ensure that all teachers check students’ work, including how well they understand what they have learned
- Leaders and managers should further develop processes for monitoring apprentices’ progress
There were encouraging words after the visit, for some of the things which Runshaw did well.
In the report, Ofsted Lead Inspector Suzanne Wainwright wrote: “Leaders promote an inclusive learning environment, where students and apprentices thrive. They are extremely proud of being part of Runshaw College and what they achieve there. Students and apprentices have high aspirations for their futures. They have a mature approach to their studies and take pride in their work.”
But Ofsted inspectors also raised concerns about some areas where teaching could improve.
Suzanne Wainwright wrote: “Most staff… have a strong and ambitious focus on students taking responsibility for their own learning. This helps most students to quickly develop their independent learning skills.
“However, students who struggle to understand new information and concepts on their own find this approach challenging.
“They are unable to make the progress expected of them.
“A minority of teachers do not consistently or rigorously check students’ understanding of the key information that they have read independently.
“As a result, teachers do not always identify and rectify any misconceptions that students have unintentionally developed.
“The amount of time that trainers dedicate to apprentices to develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours is sometimes limited.
“Apprentices too often complete study, research and assignment work independently. As a result, hospitality apprentices do not routinely develop the advanced skills they need to achieve high grades.
“College managers have rightly identified the need for further improvements.
“They acknowledge that apprentices need more support to help them prepare for examinations and to achieve high grades across all aspects of their final assessments. Most teachers and trainers assess students’ and apprentices’ work regularly. Most students and apprentices articulate clearly how rectifying previous mistakes has helped them to improve their understanding of key concepts, for example using Pi instead of theta in engineering calculations.
“However, in a minority of instances, such as in level 3 health and social care and A levels in history, mathematics, chemistry and sociology, teachers do not routinely check students’ work.
“Consequently, these students do not always know what is required of them in future assessments.”
Runshaw was rated by Ofsted as Good at: The quality of education; Leadership and management; Education programmes for young people; Apprenticeships.
It was rated Outstanding in: Behaviour and attitudes; Personal development; Adult learning programmes; Provision for learners with high needs.
In the college’s previous full Ofsted inspection, it was rated as Outstanding in every category.
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