Moulton College

Overview

Moulton College is a specialist land-based further education provider rated as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report highlights a ‘calm environment’ where learners demonstrate respect and benefit from high-quality resources, including a working farm and specialist construction workshops. Leaders show ‘high aspirations’ for learners, focusing on independence and employability, with significant improvements noted in provision for learners with high needs.

Strengths

• Staff create a ‘calm and safe learning environment’, particularly for learners with complex needs, using ‘humour and redirection’ effectively.
• Apprentices and learners develop skills well, with some exceeding workplace requirements, such as carpentry apprentices fitting ‘complex architrave’.
• Leaders actively engage with employers and stakeholders to align curricula with local skills needs, particularly in agriculture and green skills.
• Most learners are ‘well prepared for their next steps’, progressing to higher-level study or employment, with many achieving distinctions in apprenticeships.
• The college offers meaningful enrichment activities, including community litter picking and participation in World Skills competitions.

Areas to improve

• Increase the number of learners achieving at least a grade 4 in GCSE English and mathematics, as pass rates remain ‘too low’.
• Ensure teachers on all courses use suitable strategies to check understanding and provide appropriate challenge, avoiding reliance on spoken instructions that may overload learners.
• Improve attendance for young learners on specific courses, such as GCSE English, where it is lower than the vast majority of vocational courses.
• Ensure all learners, including those on distance learning and level 3 online courses, access high-quality personal development opportunities and timely careers advice.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with learners feeling safe and knowing how to access support via the ‘safezone’ application and security team.