Sixth form college rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted

A sixth form college in Eastleigh that teaches almost 5,000 students has been judged ‘outstanding’ for the first time by Ofsted.

Barton Peveril College achieved the top grade in a report published today that said students “rightly recognise the sensible steps that leaders have taken to create a calm and purposeful environment that is strongly focused on learning”.

The education watchdog found that learners and staff are “very respectful, and there is a high level of trust” which enables learners including those with high needs to feel “able to develop their own identity”.

Learners at the college, which has been judged ‘good’ consistently by Ofsted over the past 20 years, also “benefit from consistently high-quality teaching” and benefit from an “extensive range of high quality extra-curricular opportunities” such as photography, counselling, yoga, and gardening.

Barton Peveril College principal Rob Temple said the judgment is a “wonderful endorsement of the extraordinary efforts and skill of our teachers and support staff, and of how the students have responded to the high expectations we have of them”.

“The inspectors were unanimous in praising our studious young people – they found them to be exceptionally well behaved, thoroughly enjoyed their interactions with them and said they were a credit to the college,” he added.

At the time of the inspection, there were around 4,600 learners studying full-time education programmes, such as A-levels and vocational qualifications, for young people at the college. Ofsted said learners come from a wide area, including Southampton.

According to the report, leaders have “high aspirations for learners to achieve and move on to university”. The college has implemented an “ambitious curriculum” that “closely reflects the needs of learners and other stakeholders”.

Teachers were praised, with inspectors calling them “highly qualified subject specialists who plan interesting and engaging lessons”.

Ofsted said the college also makes a “reasonable” contribution to meeting skills needs.