Gower College Swansea has recently received a very positive Estyn inspection which praises the College for its support for learners, strong partnerships with industry and schools, excellent exam results and successful student progression to top universities.
In January 2018, the College was visited by a team of 17 HMI and peer inspectors who spent two weeks working across all seven of the main campuses.
During the first week they focussed on six specific learning areas: A Levels; Health and Care; Visual and Performing Arts; Engineering; Business and (cross-College) Skills.
During the second week the College was judged on standards, provision (i.e. teaching and learning), leadership, overall college performance and prospects for improvement.
“I am delighted with the outcomes of the inspection,” says Principal Mark Jones. “23 of our 27 individual judgements were ‘good’ and two – in the categories of Care, Support and Guidance and Partnership Working - were ‘excellent.’
“What this inspection demonstrates is that Gower College Swansea continues to deliver a high quality and consistent level of teaching and training opportunities for all of our learners. This inspection result has given us a very strong baseline for our future development and, crucially, recognises the commitment of all our staff across all areas of the College.”
Some highlights from the Estyn report include the following observations:
The College works well to meet learners’ and employers’ needs and has an appropriate range of provision. A Level provision is extensive, including subjects that are not widely available across Wales.
The college provides highly effective and responsive support for its learners. Support staff and teachers promote the wellbeing of learners very well.
Learners are particularly well prepared to apply for university places where entry is highly competitive.
The college has very strong partnerships with a wide range of local and regional employers, the local authority, other colleges and universities. These bring benefits to learners through providing opportunities to apply their skills, engage in useful work-related education and access further and higher education.
International students integrate well into college life and receive helpful support, for example by providing English language support and by raising awareness in the college of their culture and background.
The college has strong arrangements for engaging learners in feedback and quality improvement initiatives. In many cases these have a positive impact on the quality of provision, especially in areas such as improving resources for learning and, in a few cases, on improving teaching and assessment practices.
An outstanding feature of the college’s partnership working is how it works with schools across the county of Swansea to increase the breadth and quality of vocational choices available to 14 to 16-year-old pupils.
Senior managers take a flexible and entrepreneurial approach to developing buildings to respond to economic opportunities and changing business needs.
Learners benefit from an extensive range of enrichment activities and links with external partners. These provide them with high-quality experiences that enhance their skills and broaden their horizons.
In A levels, learners successfully complete their qualifications at rates above the national comparator. Across the majority of A Level and AS Level courses, learners achieve strong grades and, in a few courses, learners attain very high grades in relation to their prior attainment. The learning area provides particularly strong pastoral and academic tutorial support for learners. This includes access to an extensive programme of specialist tutorials tailored to support progression to higher education, employment or training e.g. the college’s medical tutorial and the ‘futures academy’ programme.
ENDS