Harlow College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings

This is a good provider Governors and leaders have a clear vision and high ambitions for learners and apprentices. As a result, learners and apprentices make good progress and are successful in gaining employment within their chosen careers.

Managers of curriculum areas adeptly identify the strengths and weaknesses and take swift actions to bring about improvements. Employers play an essential part in the design of programmes that learners and apprentices study. As a result, learners and apprentices gain the skills, knowledge and behaviours required by employers.

Learners and apprentices benefit from highly effective careers advice and guidance and substantial contact with employers.... This prepares them well for work. Teachers use their up-to-date expertise very well to ensure that learners make strong progress towards their chosen careers.

Teachers use digital learning extensively to reinforce and extend learning. This enables learners to make more rapid progress and become more independent. Learners receive effective support when they have specific barriers to learning.

As a result, learners with high needs make good progress towards employment and in developing greater independence. Learners' and apprentices' behaviour is excellent. They have highly mature and motivated attitudes towards learning.

A very high proportion of adult learners achieve their qualifications, and most progress into employment. Assessors work very effectively with employers to ensure that apprentices make rapid progress. Leaders have been too slow to make improvements in English and mathematics programmes, particularly those leading to functional skills qualifications.

Teachers do not have high enough expectations of what learners and apprentices can achieve. As a result, the most able learners and apprentices do not make the swift progress of which they are capable. There remains too much variation between the achievement of different groups of apprentices.

Information about the provider

Harlow College is a medium-sized further education college. The main site is in Harlow. The college has a further site at Stansted, the Stansted Airport College, which opened in September 2018.

In addition, there are two adult learning centres, one in Harlow within walking distance of the main site and one in Stansted. The college offers 16 to 19 study programmes to 2,585 learners, adult learning programmes for approximately 2,000 learners, 493 apprenticeships and has around 120 learners with high needs. The college offers courses in a variety of subject areas, including engineering, construction, performing arts, media and A levels.

Harlow is an area with high levels of deprivation and a larger proportion of the population live in social housing than nationally. Learners from this area leave school with a lower GCSE grade profile than the UK average. The college also has a large proportion of children looked after, and/or studying English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses, due to the large number of asylum seekers in the surrounding areas.