City College Birmingham - Study in the UK

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Reinspection monitoring visit City College Birmingham, 26 May 2011 1 of 4REINSPECTION MONITORING VISIT: MAIN FINDINGSContext and focus of visitCity College Birmingham was established in 1998. The college operates from anumber of sites around the city. Its main site is at the Fordrough campus. Thecollege recruits a high proportion of its students from areas of significant deprivation.Competition to attract school leavers to post-16 education in Birmingham is intense.Courses are available in most subject areas, although provision is small in severalareas.The college was last inspected in November 2010 and inspectors judged provisionoverall to be satisfactory. Outcomes for learners, the quality of provision andleadership and management were all satisfactory and the college had a satisfactorycapacity to improve. Of the five sector subject areas inspected, English for speakersof other languages (ESOL) was good, motor vehicle, information and communicationtechnology (ICT) and hairdressing and beauty therapy were satisfactory and literacyand numeracy was inadequate. The themes explored during this visit arise from theareas for improvement identified at the last inspection.ThemesSelf-assessment and improvement planningWhat progress has the college made in strengthening theeffectiveness of quality assurance and quality improvementarrangements, including the use of data and targets toimprove the accountability of middle managers?SignificantprogressQuality assurance and quality improvement arrangements have strengthenedsubstantially. The college has clearly defined targets for key areas of performance.Senior managers monitor these much more closely. The availability and accessibilityof data has much improved. The use of timely and accurate information is now moreeffective to hold managers to account for the performance of their areas ofresponsibility. Senior managers check subject area performance more frequentlythan at the last inspection. Reviews are more thorough with performance monitoredagainst clearly defined key indicators that focus on the quality of teaching andlearning and students’ success.Managers and staff are set targets to achieve as part of the college’s staffperformance and development review process. These targets are becoming clearerand most now link closely to the college’s key performance targets. Senior managersmonitor the completion of appraisals closely and the appraisal process now considersa wider range of performance than previously. The college has taken appropriateaction to deal with underperformance and senior managers use competence, supportand disciplinary procedures appropriately to ensure managers and staff are held toaccount for their performance.
Reinspection monitoring visit City College Birmingham, 26 May 2011 2 of 4Outcomes for learnersWhat progress has the college made in improving themonitoring of students’ attendance and progress since thelast inspection?ReasonableprogressManagers and staff now monitor and review attendance and retention more closely.Attendance rates continue to increase overall although significant variation inattendance rates on different courses remains. The college has introduced a numberof measures in an attempt to further improve attendance. The college in-yearattendance rate at the time of the visit was 84%, slightly under the college overalltarget of 85%, but an increase of two percentage points on the previous year. Theoverall in-year retention rate at the time of the visit was 91% and this is similar tothe retention rate at the same point in the previous year.The tracking and monitoring of students’ progress has improved since the lastinspection. Managers and staff now monitor and report more frequently on theirprogress. Tracking sheets for each course show the extent of each student’sprogress. Staff are required to predict whether each student will successfully achievetheir qualification and record this information on the college’s progress and studentsuccess database. Information from the database indicates that achievement ratesare likely to increase this year when compared with last year.Quality of provisionWhat progress has the college made in developing theinternal lesson observation process to ensure more realisticgrading of lessons and to improve the quality of teaching andlearning?ReasonableprogressThe internal lesson observation process continues to develop. Since the lastinspection, internal observers have focused more on the extent of students’ learningand progress to inform their grading of a lesson rather than on the performance ofthe teacher. Observation records are now more judgemental and the text betterreflects the grade awarded than at the last inspection. However, variability remainswith a minority of records not as clear and convincing as others and in a fewinstances highlighting good practice without sufficient supporting evidence.The observation team now meets more frequently and moderates a higherproportion of lesson observation grades than at the last inspection. More joint lessonobservations take place during this academic year than previously. Managers useinformation from lesson observations to target professional development for staff.Attendance for staff development events for teaching and learning is high. It is tooearly to judge the impact of these activities on the quality of teaching and learning asattendees have yet to be re-observed. The profile of grades awarded by the lesson
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