INSPECTORS have praised Southampton City College for its clear direction, student support and new building programme.

A team of Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) inspectors spent three days at the college in St Mary Street that currently has 12,000 full-time and part-time students.

They also singled out the quality of students' practical work, the improved student retention rates on many courses and the wide range of provision across the curriculum.

Figures from the college show that the improvements in students' success rate based on their attendance and achievement has gone up from 47 per cent in 2001 to 64 per cent on long courses (over 24 weeks) and from 71 per cent to 92 per cent for short courses.

The retention and pass rates on most courses have improved so that now they are generally at or above the national average.

College principal and chief executive Lindsey Noble said: "This report highlights significant progress made by the college since the last inspection.

"Student success rates have risen at the college for three consecutive years and we are making headway in delivery of an innovative curriculum which will enable us to support the development of a professional and skilled workforce for the region.

"The further investment in our physical resources as part of an extensive campus redevelopment programme is also helping us to improve the learning experience for our students."

Across the curriculum the inspection team awarded three 'good' and six 'satisfactory' grades for delivery of the college's provision across the main schools.