Minutes of the East Durham College Curriculum Quality & Standards Committee held on 10th November 2022

V. McFarquhar (Chair), S. Duncan, D. Butler, E Jose  

C. Tomlinson – Vice Principal 

H McCoy – (Assistant Principal Performance) 

J Lanagan (Assistant Principal) 

S Pritchard (Clerk to the Corporation) 

Apologies received from M Young, D Pilling and R Harrison 

None

The Committee approved the minutes of the meeting held on 9th June 2022.  

There were no matters arising. 

The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality presented the report to the committee and confirmed that the proposal was a judgement of satisfactory progress against the Quality Improvement Plan for 2021/22. This reflected a judgement of 2 good areas of progress, 3 satisfactory areas and one inadequate area.  

It was confirmed that Covid had impacted retention. The staff governor highlighted the impact of students experiencing high anxiety and the lack of practice for exams. 

The chair requested further explanation around why it was judged that Maths and English had inadequate progress. This was particularly relating to the lack of progress made in terms of functional Maths and English. The chair queried if a different approach could be taken to improve progress and the reasoning for the current approach was discussed. The Principal queried whether the agreed actions were correct if they were not achieving the progress required but also acknowledged the factors outside of the College's control. Notwithstanding the judgement of inadequate progress, other colleges in the sector were reporting lower results than the college therefore this also reflected issues across the sector. It was acknowledged that in reality there had been limited progress against the KPI set, but that students nevertheless achieved progress in English and Maths (even if this did not result in achieving a qualification) and that this progress assisted them in their main study programme. 

It was acknowledged that in relation to the improvement required in the area of additional support provided for adults (reflecting Ofsted feedback), there had been good progress for those on substantial programmes notwithstanding the satisfactory judgement overall. 

Following further discussion it was agreed that the judgement overall would remain at satisfactory. 

The governors noted the final position for the 2021/22 Quality Improvement Plan. 

The committee suspended its business in order for governors, staff and external guests (Michaela Bartley and Shelley Fleming from the Tech Partnership at Grimsby College) to discuss the Self-Assessment Report (SAR) for 2021/22 and the Higher Education Self Evaluation Document (SED) for 2021/22. 

Following robust discussion and challenge on the SAR and the SED, the committee reconvened. The committee endorsed the recommendations for the SAR without amendment but noted that some categories were good but had outstanding features: 

Leadership & Management – Good   

Quality of Education – Good (to be reviewed again once amendments made) 

Personal Development – Good 

Education Programmes for Young People – Good 

Adult Learning Programmes – Good 

Apprenticeships – Good 

Provision for Learners with High Needs – Good 

Behaviour & Attitudes – Outstanding 

Overall Effectiveness - Good 

The committee further noted the SED (which is not graded) and recommended both the SAR and the SED to the Board.