West Thames College Rated “Good with Outstanding features”

West Thames College is celebrating following a very successful Ofsted visit from 10th to 14th March 2014, as it is now officially one of the highest achieving colleges in London. The Ofsted Report, officially published on 18th April 2014, awarded the college an overall grade 2 ‘Good’ with several areas graded as ‘Outstanding’ (grade 1), including Leadership and Management of the college. The inspection report highlights the significant improvements that have been made since the last inspection in 2010 when the college achieved a ‘Satisfactory’ grade 3.

Achieving an overall ‘Good’ grade with outstanding features is a significant achievement which very few London colleges have achieved this year. This, along with the college’s improving success rate, firmly places West Thames College as one of the top 5 (of 30) London colleges.

West Thames College Principal, Marjorie Semple said, “We are so proud that the talent and skills of our staff and students have been recognised by Ofsted. We work hard to make sure that our students realise their dreams and ambitions and leave us ready to make a positive and valuable contribution to a more prosperous community. So we were pleased that Ofsted saw how our partnerships with employers were benefiting our students, and that our 16-18 year old students are developing English, Maths and employability skills to the level required by business.

“What Inspectors saw is what we see every day of the week: a vibrant, friendly college which provides an ‘oasis of calm’; where the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good and, in some cases, outstanding – one Inspector said, ‘it was the best childcare class I’ve ever had the privilege to observe’.

“We are looking forward to building on this good report and, with success rates rising year-on-year for the last 5 years, we are well on the way to becoming outstanding in all areas.”