Stafford College principal 'delighted' at improvement

The principal of Stafford College has welcomed its latest review, despite being told that it must still improve.

The latest report from the Quality Assurance Agency said that the college is now meeting UK expectations for its higher education courses just months after being rated as inadequate by Ofsted.

QAA reviewers went to the college in December, and judged its academic standards and the quality of the information about learning opportunities to meet UK expectations.

However they said that the quality and enhancement of its student learning opportunities requires improvement.

Ian Clinton, the principal at Stafford College, said: 'We are delighted with the outcomes of the report and to have only been presented with a small number of recommendations.

"We firmly believe we can move on the recommendations immediately to continue to develop our outstanding higher education provision.

"It's fantastic the college is meeting academic standards and demonstrating good practice in higher education provision. QAA also supports our vision for giving our students the best experience of learning through personalised support and opportunities.

"With Stafford losing the university campus, Stafford College will step up and play a vital role to deliver higher education to the local community, businesses and the economy for the foreseeable future."

Mr Clinton joined the college late last year in an effort to turn around its fortunes. Last year, college staff held a mass walkout demanding the departure of the former principal Beverley Smith, blaming a 'culture of fear' on site as a trigger for the protests.

Some staff were in tears as they took part in the protest, which followed a meeting where 300 employees voted twice for Ms Smith to step down. Fourteen jobs, including teaching posts, were axed at the college in October after a summer-long review into staffing levels. Standards were said to have got worse at Stafford College when the Ofsted report was released in March.

In its previous inspection it was told it 'required improvement', dropping to the lowest possible grade. Since then, Stafford College bosses vowed to become a 'good' college by 2018.