Hartlepool Sixth Form College makes dramatic turnaround, winning praise from inspectors

Hartlepool Sixth Form College has gone from being rated as inadequate to good in under two years.

Following the latest inspection Ofsted praised the college for its improvements and were impressed that 100% of students who sat GCSE English achieved a grade C or above.

The education watchdogs said the college’s results are “significantly higher than similar providers” and “outstanding”.

They said: “Since the last inspection, the proportion of learners achieving their qualification has significantly increased, and is now high.

“The success rates have rapidly improved, to such an extent over the last year that they are now above the national rate for sixth form colleges.”

The sixth form college, which has 928 students, had been slammed by Ofsted at its previous inspection in November 2014, when it was hit with an ‘inadequate’ overall rating.

Alex Fau-Goodwin, Hartlepool Sixth Form College principal, said he was very pleased with the inspection result.

He said: “There has been a significant focus on teaching and learning which has had a huge impact upon student success.

“All of our staff development has been focused upon teaching, learning and assessment, this has changed everything.

“The response for teachers has been incredible. The same teachers judged to be inadequate, 15 months later, have now been judged to be good with outstanding. It’s absolutely fantastic.”

According to the latest Ofsted report, the college’s leadership had “responded exceptionally well” to the previous inspection.

It said: “They have restructured the senior leadership and middle management teams and put improved teaching, learning and assessment at the heart of college improvement.”

Teachers were praised for being enthusiastic and passionate about learning and for making good use of a broad range of teaching techniques.