City of Bristol College is celebrating the publication of an Ofsted report which highlights as ‘outstanding’ its response to meeting the needs of students and employers in the greater Bristol area.

Ofsted inspectors visited the College in January and rated the College as ‘good’ overall.

"Exemplary" College partnerships

The College was praised for the way its “outstanding partnerships make a valuable contribution to community and social cohesion through providing extensive opportunities for young people and adults.” The report also recognises that the College's partnerships are “exemplary, allowing the college to extend education and training opportunities to a wider range of the local population.”

"Raising achievement and aspiration"

The report’s main findings state that the College’s “carefully-targeted provision for young people makes a significant contribution to reducing the numbers not in education, training or employment.” In addition, the College’s extensive provision for learners aged 14-16 is described as “having a demonstrable impact on raising achievement and aspiration.”

Other positive elements highlighted in the report include the College’s significant improvement in success rates, its successful leadership and management, very strong financial management and good promotion of equality and diversity.

Highly inclusive, welcoming environment

The report states: “The college is highly inclusive and provides a welcoming environment for its learners. It works very well with partners to ensure that learners from a wide variety of backgrounds are successful in gaining qualifications across the wide range of the college’s work.”

The inspectors confirmed that students are very positive about the College. In particular, learners like “the high-quality support they receive from their teachers and support services in the College, the knowledge and enthusiasm of their teachers, and the welcoming atmosphere in the college.”

Meeting the needs of businesses

The report also confirms that employers like “the wide and flexible range of training on offer that meets their needs well” and “good working relationships, support and customer care”.

Keith Elliott, City of Bristol College Principal, says: “This is a great result for the College and we are delighted that our achievements have been recognised. “The outstanding work of College staff, who have been supported by our many thousands of enthusiastic learners, has been vital in achieving these excellent results.”

Developing learning opportunities throughout Bristol

He continues: “We are committed to transforming the lives of learners and improving the prosperity of the region, and our approach to continual improvement is a key factor in the College’s success. The high quality skills training we provide to learners and employers supports the local economy and enables people and businesses to succeed.”

“As well as receiving a great Ofsted report, the College has recently gained national awards for reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training and for meeting the needs of employers. Together, these show that the quality of our provision is making a significant contribution to developing learning opportunities throughout the Bristol area.”