New College Durham

Overview

New College Durham is a large further education provider delivering a wide range of courses for young people, adults, and apprentices. The report describes a college where learners demonstrate "positive attitudes" and feel "valued and listened to," with leaders showing a "clear and ambitious vision" to meet regional skills needs. While the overall effectiveness is rated as Good, personal development is judged as Outstanding, reflecting the high quality of enrichment and support provided.

Strengths

• Learners and apprentices show "appropriate behaviour," being "respectful, polite and courteous" in lessons and communal areas.
• The college makes a "strong contribution to meeting skills needs" through effective collaboration with employers and stakeholders on emerging technologies.
• Teaching staff are "well qualified and experienced," using effective methods such as "real-life examples" and high-quality resources that "replicate realistic working environments."
• Personal development is enhanced by a "comprehensive enrichment programme" and impartial careers advice, helping learners discover interests and understand career routes.
• Leaders provide extensive staff support, including a "proactive coaching model" and frequent quality assurance activities to maintain educational standards.

Areas to improve

• Improve attendance for learners aged 16 to 18, particularly those on level 1 programmes and functional skills courses, which remains "too low."
• Identify reasons for low achievement on level 1 education programmes for young people and act swiftly to ensure more learners achieve their qualifications.
• Ensure staff teaching learners with high needs set "consistently helpful targets" and use "age-appropriate learning materials at all times."

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders taking "appropriate and effective action to keep learners and apprentices safe" and dealing sensitively with disclosures and local risks.