Independent Specialist Colleges
Early Insights 2024-2025
Teaching and learning
Nearly all learners at independent specialist colleges make secure progress towards their targets and demonstrate highly positive attitudes to learning. Staff plan sessions that develop learners’ skills for their future lives, for example through community-based work experience.
What’s going well
- Nearly all learners demonstrate highly positive attitudes to learning.
- Nearly all learners make secure progress towards their individual targets and develop a range of relevant skills which prepare them suitably for their future lives.
- Staff develop a secure understanding of their learners’ needs and future aspirations; they use this information suitably to plan for progress.
- The curriculum includes a range of engaging community-based activities to develop learners’ independent living skills and links appropriately to each learner’s planned destination.
What needs to improve
- In one college, there is insufficient attention to how subject content is delivered; for example, too often learners complete low-level paper-based tasks, such as cutting and sticking, which do not support the progressive development of their independence, skills or understanding.
Well-being, care, support and guidance
Providers provide strong support for learners’ well-being, care and guidance. Staff develop highly positively relationships with learners, with learner voice and safeguarding at the heart of their work. Providers’ additional learning provision meets the wide range of needs of learners well. However, in one college, support for learner communication is inconsistent.
What’s going well
- In all colleges, staff develop highly positive, mutually respectful relationships with learners based on a secure understanding of their needs.
- There are robust arrangements to gather feedback on learners’ experiences; as a result, learners feel listened to and trust that staff take their voice into account.
- At all colleges we inspected, there is a clear overview of their additional learning provision, including high staffing ratios, oversight from therapists, and professional learning for staff on subjects including meeting sensory needs.
- Across all colleges, leaders had a strong focus on safeguarding learners.
What needs to improve
- In one college, communication systems, such as symbolised resources or signing, are used inconsistently.
Leading and improving
Leaders in independent specialist colleges have clear visions and values to guide their work. They develop dedicated staff teams who collaborate well to support learners. Two colleges have positive self-evaluation systems to drive improvements. However, one college does not consistently evaluate the impact of planned improvements on learners.
What’s going well
- Leaders have a clear vision and values for their college, with learners at their heart; they develop committed staff teams who collaborate positively to meet the diverse needs of learners.
- In two of the three colleges, leaders use a bespoke self- evaluation framework covering all aspects of provision and focused on learners’ diverse contexts; as a result, leaders and staff have a strong understanding of the college’s strengths and areas for development determine meaningful improvement targets.
- There was a particularly strong collaborative professional learning offer at one college.
What needs to improve
- In one out of three of the colleges we inspected, learning environments hindered learners’ development of independence.
- In one college, leaders did not consistently evaluate the impact of new initiatives on teaching and learning and adjust practice in a timely manner.
- In one college, professional learning opportunities relating to teaching are limited.
Overview of recommendations from inspections
- Within this sector we only leave recommendations for monitoring visits and core inspections. Across all inspection activity in 2024-2025 we left a total of five recommendations. Two out of three providers we inspected were left with recommendations.
- Both providers were given recommendations related to teaching and learning. Theses focused on the quality of learner targets and refining methods of lesson delivery.
- We left one provider with a recommendation related to care, support and guidance. This concerned strengthening the use of communication methods, including signing across the college.
- Two providers were left with at least one recommendation relating to leading and improving. These concerned the quality of the learning environment and the use of self-evaluation outcomes to drive improvements.
Effective practice identified during inspection
Coleg Elidyr
Inspection report: Coleg Elidyr
Skills competitions / Total communication approach / Welsh provision / Professional learning