East Durham College

Overview

East Durham College is judged as ‘Good’ overall, with ‘Outstanding’ ratings for behaviour and attitudes and personal development. The report highlights a ‘culture of care and respect’ where learners demonstrate ‘exemplary attitudes’ and develop ‘industry-relevant skills’ through well-designed, employer-informed curricula.

Strengths

• Learners show ‘exemplary attitudes’, attending well and engaging ‘keenly and professionally’ in tasks.
• The curriculum is ‘carefully tailored’ and logically sequenced, preparing learners effectively for ‘positive destinations’ and employment.
• Staff use ‘effective strategies’ to help learners retain knowledge, including practical demonstrations and timely feedback.
• Learners are ‘proud and active citizens’, participating in social action projects that address local community issues.
• Leaders maintain ‘purposeful relationships’ with stakeholders to ensure provision meets local and national skills needs.

Areas to improve

• Continue implementing actions to improve the experience of learners on the few A-level programmes affected by staffing disruption.
• Ensure a higher proportion of learners complete courses on the few A-levels where retention is lower than average.
• Ensure all adult learners on distance learning programmes are ‘sufficiently challenged’ to recall and apply their learning.
• Ensure all adult learners and those with high needs in specialist provision understand the risks posed by radicalisation and extremism.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff ensuring learners understand potential harms and feel confident that issues will be dealt with ‘swiftly and sensitively’.