Trafford College Group making ‘Significant Progress’

Following the merger of Stockport College with Trafford College in April 2018 to form The Trafford College Group, Ofsted confirmed in a report published this week that the Group has made ‘significant progress’ across all areas of its monitoring visit which was conducted across two days, 3^rd and 4^th April 2019.

Since the merger in April last year Stockport College has seen significant improvements across all areas of teaching and, just as significantly, the quality of teaching and learning at Trafford College has remained high.

Lesley Davies OBE, Principal and CEO of The Trafford College Group said,

’We are investing heavily into the future of the college because we believe that the local area deserves and needs an education provider that can support both individuals and businesses, and we believe we are in a unique position to do this.

‘To have achieved a ‘significant progress’ rating from Ofsted across all of the areas reviewed is very rare and is a fantastic achievement by our staff, and comes at a time when we are pushing ahead with the £23m redevelopment of Stockport College which is due for completion by the end of 2020’.

The visit by Ofsted identified four themes for the inspection based on the last reports for both colleges: progress made in respect of the merger; quality of teaching, learning and assessment with a focus also on the delivery and integration of maths & English; student attendance; and student achievement rates on 16-19 study programmes.

Amongst the many strengths identified, Ofsted commented that there have been, ‘swift and sustained improvements to the quality of teaching and learning’ due to the ‘high expectations set for what students can and do achieve’. This in turn is ensuring students obtain the ‘knowledge and skills they need for work’.

Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority said,

‘The Combined Authority is very pleased to be supporting the Trafford College Group through our investment in the redevelopment of the Stockport College site.  The Ofsted report recognises the progress the college has made in improving outcomes for its learners’.