A college is celebrating what it believes could be one of the most spectacular turnaround in the further education sector following an Ofsted inspection.

Ealing Hammersmith and West London College’s awarding of a good rating comes just 18 months after it was rated inadequate by the education watchdog and placed into special measures.

An inspection in October 2015 found the establishment, which is spread across four locations in Acton, Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall, requiring improvement or inadequate in a raft of criteria, including quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for learners and adult learning programmes.

But the latest review of the establishment is filled with praise, with the report stating that leaders and managers had “successfully reversed the decline in standards”, and that the college’s chief executive officer (CEO) had been “instrumental in driving the substantial improvements in the quality of the provision and in the college’s finances,” helping ensure a “secure and sustainable future for the college.”

The college says its leadership team has been reinvigorated, and that since 2014, there has been a 17.3% increase in students’ English and maths achievement and a 12% rise in achievement across all subjects.

Ealing Hammersmith and West London’s College is now rated good by Ofsted

College CEO Garry Phillips said: “I am incredibly proud of what the team and the students have achieved.

“We knew that the only way to transform the college quickly would be to have an unwavering focus on improving outcomes for students. We have, therefore, focused on providing courses which lead directly to employment or progression into further learning.

“We also created a strong working culture for staff at the college, training and incentivising staff and providing them with an environment where they can develop engaging learning materials.

“This inspection result is a testament to the staff’s dedication, professionalism, passion and ambition.”

The college has also recently received a financial a clean bill of health from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, after saving more than £20 million.

This followed an inadequate financial health grade in 2013.

The college was also the only London college to win a prestigious TES FE Award in 2017, granted for its innovative work in using technology to improve teaching, learning and assessment.

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