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Further education

Early Insight

Teaching and learning

Where teaching and learning is effective, learners make good progress and display strong subject or vocational skills.

What’s going well

  • Many learners display strong subject or vocational skills.
  • Learners with additional learning needs, including learners on independent living skills programmes, make at least sound progress in their learning.  
  • Teachers and learners in practical subjects often benefit from professional and realistic learning environments that help learners develop relevant skills that prepare them for employment.
  • Where bilingual teaching is most effective, teachers are strong role models in both languages and the language of learning switches seamlessly between English and Welsh.
  • Junior apprenticeship programmes are having a positive impact on engagement, attendance and progression of 14 to 16-year-old learners.

What needs to improve

  • Tasks, questioning and teaching methods do not provide sufficient stretch and challenge to all learners.
  • The proportion of learners achieving higher grades in graded provision, both on vocational and A level programmes, is too low.
  • Successful completion rates are too low on underperforming programmes.
  • There is insufficient development of Welsh language skills and the proportion of learners who carry out written work in Welsh is low.

Well-being, care support and guidance

Care, support, guidance and well-being is supported well through welcoming and inclusive environments.

What’s going well

  • Colleges provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for learners.
  • Most learners enjoy coming to college and feel safe and secure.
  • Most learners are happy, well-motivated and proud of their progress.
  • A wide range of beneficial support services are available for learners across all sites, with a particular focus on support for learners affected by poverty, ALN or other identified barriers to progress.
  • Transition arrangements are improving through closer working with schools and local authorities.
  • Well-established learner voice arrangements, including learner surveys and learner representative mechanisms, provide useful opportunities for learners to express their views and opinions on their learning experiences.
  • Strong safeguarding cultures are established with good working relationships between teaching, well-being and safeguarding teams and outside agencies.

What needs to improve

  • There is too much inconsistency within and across colleges in how well they ensure attendance and punctuality of learners across campuses.
  • The overall effectiveness and impact of tutorial programmes is too variable.
  • Advice and guidance on next steps are not always provided for all learners nearing completion of their programme.
  • Specific responsibilities for safeguarding arrangements are not always made clear and individual risk assessments are not always undertaken for all school pupils attending partnership provision in college, including junior apprentices.

Leading and improving

Leaders ensure that improvements and professional learning respond well to national, regional and local skills needs.

What’s going well

  • Strategic priorities are identified clearly and used appropriately to inform strategic and operational planning.
  • There is a gradual return to the use of internal and external benchmarking in response to national developments in the publication of consistent measures data relating to learner outcomes and the return to usual assessment arrangements.
  • Overall, colleges respond well to the national, regional and local skills needs identified by regional skills partnerships.
  • Governing boards provide appropriate challenge and support to senior leaders.
  • Staff benefit from a wide range of professional development activities, with designated time within the college calendar.

What needs to improve

  • The evaluation of teaching, assessment and standard of learners’ work to inform improvement planning and support sharing of good practice is too variable.
  • Collaborative working between colleges, schools and local authorities is still too underdeveloped and, with insufficient national direction and local action, does not maximise opportunities to enhance local 16-19 provision or partnership provision for 14 to 16-year-old pupils, including junior apprenticeships.
  • Evaluation and improvement planning does not place sufficient emphasis on improving high grade attainment on courses leading to graded qualifications.
  • There is too much variation in the accuracy and reliability of approaches to inputting and evaluating value added data.

Overview of recommendations from inspections

In the 2023-2024 academic year, Estyn inspected one further education provider, which was given three recommendations:

  • Improve the impact of teaching on the quality of learning, with a focus on questioning, formative assessment and stretch and challenge
  • Improve high grade attainment on graded provision, including vocational and AS/A level qualifications 
  • Address issues of poor learner attendance and punctuality consistently across campuses

Effective practice identified during inspection

Teaching and learning

Grŵp Llandrillo Menai

Inspection report

The inspection report of Grŵp Llandrillo Menai includes two ‘Spotlights on’ teaching and learning experiences at the college, including bilingual delivery and hybrid teaching. The ‘Spotlight on bilingual delivery’ highlights how in these sessions the language of learning switches seamlessly between English and Welsh. The ‘Spotlight on hybrid teaching’ outlines how teachers plan and deliver these sessions skilfully to make sure that all learners contribute and share their ideas through collaborative activities.