NEWS

Extensive partnership work providing exceptional benefits to students and highly effective strategic leadership and governance are among the attributes that have helped to win Askham Bryan College, which incorporates Newton Rigg at Penrith, a “good” grade from its latest Ofsted inspection.

The land-based college was inspected in December and has been described as a “good and improving college” in the Ofsted report published this week.

The College's Chief Executive, Liz Philip said: “These excellent results demonstrate the commitment and dedication of our staff to achieving the best possible experience and results for our learners and I am delighted that they come so soon after the creation of Newton Rigg College.

“Future plans will see continued improvements, both in the fabric of facilities and in the development of the curriculum.”

The College provides courses for three times as many students as it did at its last inspection, thanks in part to taking over further education courses at Newton Rigg from the University of Cumbria in July this year, creating Newton Rigg College.

Ofsted found that the College’s overall success rate was high. Students aged 16 to 18 achieved well and above that in colleges with a similar intake. Pass rates on main qualifications were very high. The overall success rate for adult students improved on 2010/11 to above that in similar colleges but Ofsted felt that too many adults on advanced-level courses left college early.

Progression was good, with nearly 60 per cent of students progressing to a higher-level qualification, while around 20 per cent going into employment in an area directly related to their course.

The College was praised for its teaching and assessment and for offering a good range of main qualifications within its land-based specialism, with workplace skills, industry competencies and an understanding of the industry embedded throughout courses.

Learners at Newton Rigg identified the res-establishment of a dairy herd at the college as a positive move and the report acknowledged the redesign of the curriculum there to include apprenticeships in game-keeping and butchery and the development of industry-specific courses such as the herdsman certificate.

The report identified areas for the college to improve further, such as the retention of adult students on advance courses, embedding quality assurance processes and developing the curriculum further at the Newton Rigg campus, and better use of Information and Learning Technology and Virtual Learning Environment.