Top marks for college after watchdog inspection

Education provision at the East Durham College (EDC) sites in Peterlee and Houghall, in Durham, has been rated as Good – and outstanding for behaviour and attitudes – following a four-day full inspection by education watchdog Ofsted.

EDC was one of the first general FE colleges in England to be fully inspected by Ofsted since the COVID pandemic hit in March 2020 and under Ofsted’s new framework which examines activities, individual student progress and involves challenging discussions with college leaders, governors, staff and students.

The inspectors’ report says: “Learners thoroughly enjoy attending and learning at the college’ and behaviour and attitudes to learning are exceptional in a safe and nurturing environment. Students are taught by enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers and trainers.”

The college was also rated good for the quality of education, personal development, leadership and management, education programmes for young people, adult learning programmes, apprenticeships and provision for learners with high needs.

This is the fourth good grading in a row for EDC and Suzanne Duncan, college principal and chief executive, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the judgement and the glowing inspection report.

“It goes without saying, the last 20-months have been extremely challenging and unprecedented times in the education sector. We’ve all adapted and worked

incredibly hard to ensure our students receive the very best education and experience during their time at East Durham College.

"On behalf of the governors and myself, we’d sincerely like to thank all our staff and students for their dedication, resilience and determination to excel and this shines through in this report.”

She added: “We look forward to continuing our journey of improvement and further developing the high-quality experience we strive to provide to all our students.”

David Butler, the college’s chair of governors, added: “On behalf of everyone involved with the college, we welcome this report which reinforces our ever-growing reputation among learners and employers.

“With continued strong growth in student numbers and further significant investment coming soon, at our land based campus at Houghall, we are set to help even more students achieve their ambitions.”