College praised for raising standards (From Keighley News)

College praised for raising standards

10:00am Saturday 21st July 2012 in Keighley By David Knights

Leeds City College, including its Keighley Campus, is a good college with a good capacity to improve, say Ofsted inspectors.

The highest accolade went to the engineering faculty – one of the specialisms of the Keighley Campus – which was classed as outstanding.

Other departments across the various campuses were either good or satisfactory, with only humanities and social sciences classed as inadequate.

Keighley Campus has about 2,000 students at its two-year-old purpose-built £35 million complex next to Keighley railway station.

The campus, previously Park Lane College Keighley, was one of several colleges that came together in 2009 to form Leeds City College.

The Ofsted inspectors said: “Inspirational leadership from the principal, together with senior leaders, has led to a shared commitment across the college to drive up standards for the learners.”

The inspectors told the college to address its poor results for some AS and A-level courses, and increase the proportion of apprentices and full-time students who completed their courses.

Paul Cox, vice-principal for Keighley Campus, said: “The ‘outstanding’ grade given to engineering has shown how far the Keighley Campus has come in recent years.

“The inspectors that visited us all commented on ‘the energy levels and positive atmosphere to learning’ and noted the holistic approach to student and staff quality of life. It is not down to any one individual but a team effort.”

Peter Roberts, principal and chief executive of Leeds City College, said his team was delighted at Ofsted’s recognition of how far it had travelled since the merger in 2009.

He said: “The comments made in this Ofsted report confirm the hard work, attitude and commitment of staff and students in achieving high levels of success, and reflect the continued improvements in the college’s development in the last three years.”