A COLLEGE has been told it needs to improve its quality of education in a new Ofsted report.

City College Southampton has been awarded a requires improvement grade for the third time in a row.

Inspectors visited the college in St Mary Street from February 8 to 11.

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Seven out of eight categories were rated as ‘requires improvement’, with only adult learning programmes rated as ‘good’.

Inspectors found that “teachers do not routinely challenge students to aspire to do better”, noting that in some education programmes for young people, the curriculum is not ambitious enough.

They also found that “too many” students on education and training programmes do not attend well and staff “do not challenge this consistently.”

The report said: “Teachers do not ensure that students who miss lessons and fall behind catch up.

“Although in most areas students can access the resources and activities used in class and can submit work online, very few students choose to catch up with the work they have missed when absent.

“As a result, they are not making the progress that they could.”

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Inspectors also noted that students interested in pursuing a path in higher education are “well prepared” for applying to university, but for students wishing to move straight to employment, the support available to them is “not sufficiently good.”

However, the report stated that “students learn in an inclusive and caring environment” and students “feel positive about their studies.”

It comes after the Further Education Commissioner said the "financially unstable" college was at risk of becoming insolvent if debts were not paid.

Days after the FE Commissioner report was published the Echo revealed Principal Sarah Stannard was quitting her role for a job in the Falklands.

Geraint Davies, City College Southampton Chair of Governors, said: “We know that attendance is a challenge for all schools and colleges across Southampton and we accept that this is an area that we need to continue to improve, setting higher expectations for students on the attendance needed to achieve their full potential.

“Inspectors also felt there was room for improvement in the support given to students in finding work experience and taking their first steps into work.

"Unfortunately, during the pandemic work experience and careers events could not happen in the normal way.

“This is an immediate focus for the college going forward and is built into our plans.”