Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages.

It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Carcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

In our Ofsted inspection in May 2018 we were judged to be “Good” in relation to our Leadership & Management, our Sixth Form, and the Personal Development, Behaviour & Welfare of our students. Our Outcomes were judged to Require Improvement because the impact of the changes we had put in place had not yet been realised. Since then, our 2018 and 2019 outcomes have shown significant improvement, and most are above or well above national averages. A Level progress was higher than any school or college in County Durham in 2018. The Ofsted monitoring visit we received in July 2019 confirmed the improvements we have made, and we are confident that our next inspection will be judged Good.