Harlow College
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REPORT FROM THE INSPECTORATE Harlow College September 1995 THE FURTHER EDUCATION FUNDING COUNCIL THE FURTHER EDUCATION FUNDING COUNCIL The Further Education Funding Council 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 every four years. The inspectorate also assesses and reports nationally on the curriculum and gives advice to the FEFC’s quality assessment committee. College inspections are carried out in accordance with the framework and guidelines described in Council Circular 93/28. They involve full-time inspectors and registered part-time inspectors who have knowledge and experience in the work they inspect. Inspection teams normally include at least one member who does not work in education and a member of staff from the college being inspected. GRADE DESCRIPTORS The procedures for assessing quality are described in the Council Circular 93/28. During their inspection, inspectors assess the strengths and weaknesses of each aspect of provision they inspect. Their assessments are set out in the reports. They also use a five-point grading scale to summarise the balance between strengths and weaknesses. The descriptors for the grades are: • grade 1 – provision which has many strengths and very few weaknesses • grade 2 – provision in which the strengths clearly outweigh the weaknesses • grade 3 – provision with a balance of strengths and weaknesses • grade 4 – provision in which the weaknesses clearly outweigh the strengths • grade 5 – provision which has many weaknesses and very few strengths Cheylesmore House Quinton Road Coventry CV1 2WT Telephone 01203 863000 Fax 01203 863100 © FEFC 1995 You may photocopy this report. FEFC INSPECTION REPORT 127/95 HARLOW COLLEGE EASTERN REGION Inspected February-June 1995 Summary Harlow College is a tertiary college with a strong commitment to serve the whole community. The wide range of general and vocational courses is effectively managed. Full-time students benefit from a comprehensive pastoral support system and an innovative programme of activities designed to broaden their experience. The principal and senior managers provide effective management and value the contribution of all staff. Staff are well qualified. There are high standards of teaching and learning in most subjects. Examination results on general education courses are good, but students’ achievements on vocational courses are more variable. The resource-based learning workshops for mathematics and English are outstanding. Rapid developments have led to improved quality assurance procedures but too few performance standards have been specified and clear targets have yet to be set. The college should: develop curriculum and marketing strategies to increase adult participation; provide more reliable and comprehensive management information; assist the corporation in evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole college; adopt procedures for systematically assessing and meeting the learning support needs of all students; replace outdated equipment; and improve the quality of some accommodation. The grades awarded as a result of the inspection are given below. Aspects of cross-college provision Grade Responsiveness and range of provision 1 Governance and management 2 Students’ recruitment, guidance and support 2 Quality assurance 2 Resources: staffing 2 equipment/learning resources 3 accommodation 3 Curriculum area Grade Curriculum area Grade Science, mathematics and Health and community care 2 computing 2 Hairdressing and beauty therapy 3 Construction and Art and design, performing engineering 3 arts 2 Business, management and English, social studies 1 administration 2 Other humanities 2 Hospitality and catering, Adult basic education, leisure and tourism 2 students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities 2 CONTENTS Paragraph Summary Introduction 1 The college and its aims 2 Responsiveness and range of provision 8 Governance and management 20 Students’ recruitment, guidance and support 34 Teaching and the promotion of learning 46 Students’ achievements 61 Quality assurance 73 Resources 87 Conclusions and issues 98 Figures 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Harlow College, in Essex, was inspected between September 1994 and June 1995. Enrolment and induction were inspected in September 1994. Between February and May, 86 days were used to inspect curriculum areas. A further 42 days were used between 5 and 9 June for the inspection of cross-college aspects. A total of 337 teaching sessions were observed. Inspectors examined students’ work and held discussions with staff, students, parents, members of the corporation and representatives from local schools, industry, the Essex Training and Enterprise Council (TEC) and the community. They also scrutinised an extensive range of course information, minutes of committee meetings, college and faculty plans, and management reviews and reports. THE COLLEGE AND ITS AIMS 2 Harlow College was established in 1984 as a tertiary college following the reorganisation of post-16 education in the town. The college is based on two sites close to the town centre. The east site is the larger and was formerly a secondary school; the west site was formerly Harlow Technical College. Most of the college’s students are from Harlow and north-west Essex, although the catchment area also includes east Hertfordshire and north London. Other further education colleges in the surrounding area include Hertford Regional College, eight miles to the west, Epping Forest College, 15 miles to the south, Chelmsford College, 20 miles to the east, and Braintree College, 30 miles north-east of Harlow. Following the reorganisation of adult education in Essex in 1994, Harlow College sponsors further education provision on behalf of North and West Essex Adult Community College. 3 Essex has the largest school population of any county in England and also has the highest number of grant-maintained secondary schools. In the west Essex administrative area, which includes Harlow, Epping and Loughton, there are 11 secondary schools of which three have sixth forms. There are six secondary schools in the town of Harlow. Five are local education authority (LEA) maintained 11-16 schools. The sixth, St Mark’s West Essex Roman Catholic School, is a grant-maintained comprehensive school with a sixth form. There are two secondary schools in Harlow with specialist provision for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. In Essex, the percentage of 16 year olds continuing in full-time education has increased significantly from 54 per cent in 1990 to 71 per cent in 1994. There is, however, wide variation within the county, from 62 per cent at Basildon to 78 per cent at Chelmsford. In Harlow the participation rate is 73 per cent. 4 Major providers of higher education in Essex are the University of Essex, at Colchester; Anglia Polytechnic University, at Chelmsford; and Writtle College, which is a specialist college of agriculture and horticulture. The University of Hertfordshire is located across the county border on two 2 sites at Hertford and Hatfield. Harlow College has established links with Middlesex University, London. 5 In the 1991 census, the population of Essex was recorded as just over 1.5 million, including 74,600 resident in the Harlow district. Minority ethnic groups make up 3.6 per cent of the population. It is predicted that by the year 2015 there will be an increase of almost 40 per cent in those under 20 living in Essex. The Harlow district has good road links with the nearby M11, providing easy access to London. The M25 is only eight miles to the south. There are also good rail links with London and Cambridge. Over the last 10 years, employment in much of the local manufacturing industry has declined rapidly. However, employment opportunities are increasing in some industries, for example, research and development in pharmaceuticals. The distribution trade, hotels and the service sector provide major sources of employment in Harlow. In March 1995, the unemployment rate in the Hertford and Harlow travel-to-work area was 6.6 per cent. 6 At the time of inspection, 7,498 students were enrolled at the college. Of these 2,061 were full time and 5,437 were part time. Enrolments by age and level of study are shown in figures 1 and 2. Enrolments by mode of attendance and curriculum area are shown in figure 3. There are 206 full-time equivalent teaching staff and 227 full-time equivalent support staff. A staff profile, with staff expressed as full-time equivalents, is shown in figure 4. 7 The college’s mission is to provide access to high-quality learning opportunities and to achieve excellence in the development of individuals within a professional, innovative, caring, and flexible college community. RESPONSIVENESS AND RANGE OF PROVISION 8 The college offers a wide range of general and vocational programmes at a variety of levels from basic education to higher education. The majority of provision is at intermediate and advanced level. It includes courses for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), the General Certificate of Education advanced supplementary/advanced level (GCE AS/A level) and General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) programmes at foundation, intermediate and advanced levels. Thirty subjects are offered at GCE A level, 28 at GCSE and there are courses in 10 GNVQ programme areas. College policy is to offer, whenever possible, syllabuses in which the subject matter