Reading College and School of Arts & Design Inspection Report May 1999

Reading College and School of Arts & Design REPORT FROM THE INSPECTORATE 1998-99 THE FURTHER EDUCATION FUNDING COUNCIL THE FURTHER EDUCATION FUNDING COUNCIL The Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) has a legal duty to make sure further education in England is properly assessed. The FEFC’s inspectorate inspects and reports on each college of further education according to a four-year cycle. It also inspects other further education provision funded by the FEFC. In fulfilling its work programme, the inspectorate assesses and reports nationally on the curriculum, disseminates good practice and advises the FEFC’s quality assessment committee. College inspections are carried out in accordance with the framework and guidelines described in Council Circulars 97/12, 97/13 and 97/22. Inspections seek to validate the data and judgements provided by colleges in self-assessment reports. They involve full-time inspectors and registered part-time inspectors who have knowledge of, and experience in, the work they inspect. A member of the Council’s audit service works with inspectors in assessing aspects of governance and management. All colleges are invited to nominate a senior member of their staff to participate in the inspection as a team member. Cheylesmore House Quinton Road Coventry CV1 2WT Telephone 01203 863000 Fax 01203 863100 Website http://www.fefc.ac.uk © FEFC 1999 You may photocopy this report and use extracts in promotional or other material provided quotes are accurate, and the findings are not misrepresented. Contents Paragraph Summary Context The college and its mission 1 The inspection 9 Curriculum areas Construction 12 Automobile engineering 18 Hotel and catering and leisure and tourism 26 Hairdressing and beauty therapy 33 Art and design 39 Provision for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities 45 Cross-college provision Support for students 51 General resources 60 Quality assurance 68 Governance 77 Management 86 Conclusions 92 College statistics Reading College and School of Arts & Design Grade Descriptors Student Achievements Inspectors assess the strengths and weaknesses Where data on student achievements appear in of each aspect of provision they inspect. Their tables, levels of achievement are shown in three assessments are set out in the report. They use ways: a five-point scale to summarise the balance • as expected completions, which is the between strengths and weaknesses. number of initial enrolments on The descriptors for the grades are: qualifications where the student expected to complete the qualification in a given • grade 1 – outstanding provision which has year. For example, a student on a many strengths and few weaknesses two-year programme who began their • grade 2 – good provision in which the programme in October 1995, would appear strengths clearly outweigh the weaknesses in the results for 1996-97 because this is • grade 3 – satisfactory provision with the year in which they expected to strengths but also some weaknesses complete their qualification • grade 4 – less than satisfactory provision • as a retention rate, which is the in which the weaknesses clearly outweigh percentage of qualifications which the the strengths students have completed as expected (or are continuing with the prospect of late • grade 5 – poor provision which has few completion). For programmes of study of strengths and many weaknesses. two years or more, retention is calculated Audit conclusions are expressed as good, across the whole programme, that is, from adequate or weak. the start to the end of the qualification Aggregated grades for aspects of cross-college • as an achievement rate, which is the provision and curriculum areas, for colleges number of qualifications students have inspected during 1997-98, are shown in the fully achieved as a percentage of following table. completed qualifications with a known outcome. Partial achievements are not Grade shown. 12345 %%%%% Curriculum areas 9 60 29 2 – Cross-college provision 18 54 24 4 – Source: Quality and Standards in Further Education in England 1997-98: Chief inspector’s annual report Sample size: 108 college inspections Summary Reading College and School of colleges. The newly-formed board takes an active interest in the work of the college and Arts & Design conducts its business openly and effectively. The college is well managed and benefits from South East Region strong leadership. Financial management is sound. A comprehensive range of services Inspected May 1999 provides good support for students. Impartial Reading College and School of Arts & Design is advice helps students make an informed choice a large general further education college serving of courses. There is much good teaching and in Reading, Wokingham and the central Thames many curriculum areas students’ achievements Valley region. The self-assessment process was are at or above national averages for the sector. thorough and involved staff at all levels. The Since the last inspection, the accommodation college produced a comprehensive self- has been considerably improved and assessment report. Inspectors agreed with substantially more equipment is available in most of the grades for curriculum areas and many specialist areas. The use of sophisticated cross-college areas, but they found a significant IT across the curriculum and in facilitating good number of strengths and weaknesses which the communications is a particular strength. The college had not identified. In places, the self- quality assurance arrangements have been assessment report was overdescriptive and improved to meet the needs of the larger insufficiently evaluative. merged institution. Good use is made of questionnaires to measure student and customer The college provides courses in nine of the satisfaction. There are effective arrangements FEFC’s 10 programme areas. Provision in six for staff appraisal and staff development. The of the areas was inspected. The college is college’s new building proposals address the developing its provision to meet the needs of problems of overcapacity and the poor the local community and has been successful in accommodation on the Maidenhead site. In widening participation. It has formed many order to improve its provision further, the educational and training partnerships, and college should address: some inadequacies in alliances with major national and international tutorial support; some aspects of teaching and companies, to support and provide high learning; students’ poor achievements on some technology training in computing and related courses; low retention rates; some students’ applications. Reading College of Arts and poor attendance; incomplete implementation of Technology merged with the Berkshire College quality assurance procedures; lack of rigour in of Art and Design in 1997 to form the present course reviews; inadequate use of management college. The planning and implementation of information reports; insufficiently detailed this operation constituted a major achievement target-setting; and insufficient monitoring of for the governors and the managements of both academic performance by governors. Curriculum area Grade Cross-college provision Grade Construction 2 Support for students 2 Automobile engineering 2 General resources 2 Hotel and catering and leisure and tourism 3 Quality assurance 3 Hairdressing and beauty therapy 2 Governance 2 Art and design 2 Management 2 Provision for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities 3 Reading College and School of Arts & Design 1 Context The College and its Mission technology companies and a substantial number of medium and small enterprises. Reading and 1 Reading College and School of Arts & Wokingham have high levels of employment in Design is a large general further education the areas of distribution, services, financial college. It is the product of a merger in 1997 services and information technology (IT). between Reading College of Arts and Technology Unemployment is extremely low at 1.7%. and Berkshire College of Art and Design. There are significant skills shortages in the Proposals exist to transfer to Reading those region and the frequency with which people specialist art and design programmes based in change their employment is higher than that Maidenhead, and create a new purpose-built experienced in most other regions. school of arts and design on the Kings Road 6 Links have been forged with schools in the campus. catchment area and a range of collaborative 2 The college operates in a highly initiatives have been developed for post-16 competitive environment. Within a 20-mile education. The college is a partner in the radius there are three other further education newly-emerging Lifelong Learning Partnerships colleges, one specialist college of agriculture, 15 with Reading and Wokingham local authorities. schools with sixth forms and three schools with Alliances have been developed with major special technology and language status. The companies in the region who sponsor and majority of students are recruited from the two promote high technology training programmes recently-formed unitary authorities, Reading and in conjunction with the college. The college has Wokingham. For some specialist and higher obtained substantial project funding through the education programmes, students are drawn regional competitiveness, skills challenge and from all regions of the United Kingdom. rationalisation initiatives. 3 In May 1999, the college had enrolled 7 In partnership with Guildford College of 10,000

Load more