Peterborough College group is rated 'good overall in first Ofsted inspection since merger

The education group that runs Peterborough College and Stamford College has been rated as ‘Good’ overall in its first Ofsted inspection since the merger of the two institutes.

The Inspire Education Group (IEG) was rated as ‘Good’ in five categories and ‘Outstanding in another two but was found to be ‘requiring improvement’ in its provision of apprenticeships.

Rachel Nicholls, chief executive of IEG, which provides A Levels, T Levels, Apprenticeships, degrees and retraining courses, said: “I am absolutely delighted with the outcome.

"The two colleges merged in the middle of the pandemic, which was tricky, and now two-and-a-half years later, as a college group we have been graded ‘good’ with some ‘outstanding’ features.

"Staff have worked so hard, and really went over and above the extra mile every single day, putting the students first.

"By the time we merged, Peterborough Regional College on its own was a good college. When we merged we just kicked on from there – it has been a fantastic journey.

She added: “One of the ingredients of success is that sense of teamwork and togetherness and that absolute drive that we do our absolute best for students every day.

"We do so much with so many different types of students whether it is adults who want to retrain, students undertaking degree courses, people who have newly entered the country and need to work on literacy and numeracy, students who have complex and profound needs and people who are long term unemployed and so far away from the jobs market.

“It is such a broad offer and I’m so pleased we can say that our offer for the communities we serve is a really strong offer with outstanding features.”

IEG, which saw an extra 200 students enrol last year taking the number of 16 to 18-year-olds to 4,600 in 2022/23, was found to be ‘Good’ for the quality of education, for behaviour and attitudes and for students’ personal development. It was also rated as ‘Good’ for the quality of its leadership and management as well as its education programmes for young people.

Its adult learning programmes and provision for learners with high needs were both ‘Outstanding’.

A report by inspectors stated: “Students and apprentices enjoy their time at IEG and demonstrate a positive attitude to their education and training.

"Staff at all levels care passionately about the well-being of their students.”

But Ms Nicholls said: “The blip and the disappointment for us is around apprenticeship provision.

“The inspection team focused on engineering and construction, which is the bulk of our apprenticeship provision, but it is a relatively small part of what we do.

"But it needs to be better and I am confident we will see that progress quickly.

"It has been hit by the pandemic and training redundancies that employers have made. But it has been difficult for us to recruit staff to teach and assess those apprenticeships.”

Looking ahead, she said: “We are determined to ensure we get those ‘Outstanding’ grades across the board. But more importantly, it is about ensuring our students have a brilliant experience and are able to go on and do fantastic things.”