UTC Oxfordshire

Overview

UTC Oxfordshire is a university technical college where pupils are “excited about the opportunities” to pursue careers in science and engineering. The school provides a “good understanding of the industry” through a curriculum that links detailed learning across subjects, fostering confidence and “mature attitude to their learning.”

Strengths

• The curriculum offers a “range of different qualifications” with support linked to pupils’ “individual strengths and ambitions,” making them feel “enabled and motivated.”
• Lessons are described as “calm and purposeful,” with teachers linking concepts from other subjects to help pupils “widen their technical knowledge.”
• Staff “know the individual needs of pupils well,” providing effective support for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to “learn well.”
• Careers provision is “detailed and focused on pupils’ different aspirations,” including visits to local businesses and universities.
• Pupils are “thoughtful about the needs of others” and demonstrate respectful behaviour within a supportive pastoral system.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure the curriculum in all subjects “specifically sets out the knowledge that pupils need to learn, and when they need to learn it,” as this is not yet consistent in some areas.
• Leaders must “develop teachers’ expertise” to consistently check what pupils know and remember, ensuring they “identify any gaps in knowledge and skills.”
• The school needs to strengthen support for pupils who find reading difficult, as help is “not consistently provided” to ensure they can read fluently.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”