Staff and students at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS) are celebrating after receiving an overall ‘good’ status by Ofsted just two years after the new college was formed.
The college, one of the newest in the country, was formed by dissolution of Filton and Stroud Colleges and the incorporation of SGS College in February 2012.
SGS had its first Ofsted inspection last November and the report was published in January.
Ofsted judged that the college had ‘Outstanding’ Leadership and Management, Learner Support services, and Employability Programmes. There were further ‘Outstanding’ grades in Sport, Business, Performing and Visual Arts. The report also outlined that a significant and increasing proportion of teaching and learning is outstanding, and learners benefit from the College’s culture of high expectations and receive outstanding support in their studies.
In addition, the College was praised for its highly effective strategic vision and direction, which Ofsted concluded, ‘placed it at the heart of its local communities, to serve the best interests of learners’. Excellent partnerships with employers and local enterprise partnerships also received praise and were found to be highly productive for learners.
Principal and CEO, Kevin Hamblin, comments:
“SGS was established to provide a wider range of vocational and academic courses in our local communities, providing students with more choice, greater opportunities and a greater range of facilities from a larger, more efficient college. SGS College has a 15% rise in student numbers since 2012 whilst at the same time student success rates for learners aged 16-18 have consistently been in the top decile when compared with all the other similar colleges in the Country. When compared with all further education colleges in the South West, SGS College’s value-added performance ranked highest of all similar colleges for A Levels or Vocational programmes.”
“This doesn’t happen without a fantastic team effort by all staff at the College and it is a testament to their hard work and dedication that we have come so far is such a short period of time and I would like to publicly thank them.”
Photo: SGS College’s WISE campus, off New Road in Stoke Gifford.
Related link: Ofsted report page for SGS College
