Solihull Sixth Form College

Overview

Solihull Sixth Form College is rated as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report describes a ‘positive and supportive learning environment’ where learners develop resilience and independence. Leaders are ‘ambitious for their learners’ and have strengthened quality review processes since the previous inspection.

Strengths

• Learners benefit from a culture where they ‘develop their character’ and are encouraged to ‘learn from their mistakes’.
• Attendance has improved significantly following targeted interventions, with most learners now ‘attend[ing] well’.
• Teachers are ‘well-qualified and experienced’, using subject expertise to plan ‘logically sequenced lessons’ that help learners ‘know more and remember more’.
• Most teachers provide ‘helpful feedback’ that enables learners to ‘repair’ their work and develop independence in study skills.
• The local board of governors provides effective ‘support and challenge to leaders’, contributing to improvements in teaching quality.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure learners with high needs develop specific skills identified in their educational health care plans, such as independent shopping.
• All learners should be supported to achieve the level of which they are capable, with some teachers not sufficiently stretching all pupils.
• The curriculum needs to better support learners not progressing immediately to higher education, including those seeking apprenticeships or employment.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’, noting that learners feel safe and staff deal quickly with inappropriate behaviour, though too few learners recall learning about radicalisation.