Education and Training Inspectorate

/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education and Training Inspectorate
Report of a Focused Inspection
East Antrim Institute of Further and Higher Education
Inspected: November 2004

CONTENTS

Section Page

PART 1

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS 2

PART 2

3. STANDARDS AND OUTCOMES 4

4. QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING 5

5. MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP 8

PART 3 – CURRICULAR AREAS

6. ADMINISTRATION AND OFFICE SKILLS 11

7. ART AND DESIGN 13

8. BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT, AND TRAVEL AND TOURISM 16

9. ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING 19

10. HAIRDRESSING AND BEAUTY THERAPY 21

11. HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 23

12. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 26

13. MODERN LANGUAGES 29

14. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING 30

15. ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND KEY SKILLS 33

PART 4

16. CONCLUSION 37

APPENDIX 38

A number of quantitative terms are used in the report. In percentages, the terms correspond as follows:

More than 90% - almost/nearly all

75%-90% - most

50%-74% - a majority

30%-49% - a significant minority

10%-29% - a minority

Less than 10% - very few/a small number

PART 1

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 East Antrim Institute of Further and Higher Education (the Institute) was established in September 1994 as a result of the amalgamation of the Newtownabbey and Larne further education colleges. In 2000, management responsibility for the Felden Training centre was transferred to the Institute. The Institute provides courses on the two main campuses of the former colleges, at the former Felden Training Centre, and at approximately 30 outcentres, reaching from North Belfast to Larne, Ballyclare and Carnlough.

1.2 The main campus of the Institute is located in Whiteabbey, where major refurbishment and additional new building at the main campus were completed in 1997. The Institute has made significant investment in developing provision in its campus in the Borough of Larne; in September 2004, the former college buildings in the town, were replaced with a new, purpose-built adult education centre. Planning is progressing for the relocation of the training facilities at Felden to the campus in Whiteabbey.

1.3 The Institute provides education and training programmes within a highly competitive, local market. It is located close to the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, and to the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, each of which provides similar third level provision. In addition, the increase in the provision of vocational education by many of the local post-primary schools has led to a reduction in the number of 16-19 year olds transferring to the Institute.

1.4 The Director has been in post since 1998. There are two Deputy Directors; one holds responsibility for the curriculum and staff development, and has been in post since 1998; the other Deputy Director has responsibility for business development and support services and was appointed in 2001. The senior management team (SMT) comprises the Director, the Deputy Directors and the Head of Corporate Services. The management team includes the SMT, the five heads of school and the ten managers with responsibility for various aspects of administration and support.

1.5 The Institute currently has over 10,400 enrolments, of which 1,200 are full-time students, and 9,200 part-time students. During the academic year, 2003-2004, there were 10,974 enrolments, of which 1,274 were full-time further and higher education students, 9,700 were part-time students. During the past year, full-time enrolments increased overall by 3.7% with full-time further and higher education enrolments increasing by 3.2%. The part-time enrolments fell by 4.2% with a significant decline in the enrolments on vocational courses.

1.6 The focus of the inspection was to evaluate the quality of the provision across a range of levels in the curriculum areas of administration and office skills, art and design, business and management, electrical and electronic engineering, hairdressing and beauty therapy, health and social care, mechanical engineering, software engineering and computing, and travel and tourism. The inspection team also evaluated the quality of the provision of the essential and key skills, careers guidance and student support, and the quality of management and leadership, at all levels across the organisation.

2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

STANDARDS AND OUTCOMES

The main strengths are:

·  the good or excellent standards achieved by the students in the majority of the courses inspected;

·  the good or excellent retention rates in a majority of courses; and

·  the good progression rates for the majority of students who complete their courses.

The main areas for improvement are:

·  the poor or modest rates of retention in five of the courses inspected;

·  the poor success rates in a minority of courses, including the key skills and the essential skills; and

·  the poor levels of time-keeping and attendance of students in a minority of courses.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

The main strengths are:

·  the good relationships between most of the staff and students;

·  the appropriate range of courses provided in almost all of the vocational areas inspected;

·  the good recruitment procedures, including the impartial, pre-entry advice and guidance provided for students regarding the range and suitability of courses;

·  the good level of support provided for the students by the recently appointed learning support officer;

·  the good or better quality of teaching and learning in three quarters of the lessons inspected;

·  the good resources provided in the learning resource centre;

·  the good start made to the development of a coherent careers education and guidance programme; and

·  the quality of the accommodation for almost all of the courses, including the purpose- built adult education centre at Larne.

The main areas for improvement are:

·  the arrangements for students to achieve a qualification in English and mathematics at level 2;

·  the narrow curriculum enhancement for students on a minority of courses at level3;

·  the development of effective links between the learning resource centre staff and the learning support tutors;

·  the quality of teaching and learning in just under one quarter of the lessons inspected;

·  the use of information and learning technologies (ILT) to support teaching and learning across most curriculum areas; and

·  the quality of the accommodation for art and design, and mechanical engineering.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

The main strengths are:

·  the effective planning and co-ordination of the majority of courses;

·  the good provision for staff development at all levels;

·  the embedding of the course review process;

·  the clear strategic leadership and management of the development of ILT;

·  the commitment of the governing body to the development and success of the Institute; and

·  the development of strong links with a range of external stakeholders, including local schools, business and industry, community and voluntary groups.

The main areas for improvement are:

·  the implementation of the essential and key skills policy, including the policy for the wider key skills;

·  the management structure, particularly at middle management level;

·  the collation and analysis of accurate data to inform planning at all levels, and

·  the systematic quality assurance of cross-institute provision and management functions.

PART TWO

3. STANDARDS AND OUTCOMES

3.1 The standards achieved by the students are satisfactory or better in most of the courses inspected; just over one-quarter of the courses had significant strengths. Almost all of the students are well motivated; they respond well to the high expectations and good levels of support provided by the lecturers. The areas for improvement outweigh the strengths in a minority of courses, including those in administration and office skills, business, the key skills of communication, application of number and information technology (IT), and in the essential skills of numeracy and literacy.

3.2 Over the past three years, the overall average retention rate for the vocational areas inspected was good at 85%. The retention rates are excellent in art and design, hairdressing and beauty therapy, mechanical engineering, software engineering, and in IT. They are mostly good in health and social care, and electrical/electronic engineering, modest in administration and office skills and poor in business and travel and tourism. The retention rates within and across the courses inspected are, however, variable, and range from excellent to poor. In most of the courses (78%) inspected, retention is satisfactory or better; in the majority it is good or excellent; in 13% of the courses, the retention rate is poor.

3.3 The overall success rate for the vocational areas inspected is satisfactory at 72% and ranges from excellent to poor. Success rates are good or better in around 66% of the part-time and full-time vocational courses inspected; they are excellent in just over 33% of the courses, including the Higher National Certificate (HNC) in business, the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) intermediate and Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education (AVCE) art and design, the national diploma in early years, and the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 2 in hairdressing. In the remainder of the courses, success rates vary from satisfactory to poor; in around 20% of courses, the average success rates are poor.

3.4 Progression to courses in further education, training and higher education or to employment, is generally good for those students who complete their courses.

3.5 According to data verified by the Institute, the average retention rates over the last three years for the key skills programmes are excellent at 91%. Over the same period, the levels of achievement in the key skills of IT, application of number and communication have fallen from excellent or good, to poor, the average achievement for the last three years is poor at 59%.

3.6 The retention rates, over the last three years, within the adult provision for essential skills have declined from excellent to poor; they are satisfactory overall. Over the same period the overall success rate in the essential skills is poor at 53%.

3.7 The levels of students’ timekeeping and attendance are variable across the courses inspected. In the significant minority of courses where timekeeping and attendance are poor, there is insufficient action taken to implement strategies for improvement.

3.8 The analysis of the student questionnaires, completed prior to the inspection, indicates that most (84%) of the students appreciated the welcoming environment, they found their work interesting and challenging, and enjoyed being at the Institute. Only a significant minority felt that they had good access to advice about personal and social matters, or felt that there was a good range of extra-curricular activities.

4. QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

4.1 The quality of the relationships between staff and students are mostly good or excellent. Almost all of the students are well motivated, they respond well to the good levels of support provided by the lecturers, and are keen to progress in their learning.

4.2 In almost all of the vocational areas inspected, an appropriate range of full-time and part-time courses is offered, providing suitable opportunities for progression to further and higher education and employment. The Institute is a recognised Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) academy and a Cisco regional academy. As a result of the Institute’s investment in Cisco resources, and its commitment to the professional development of its staff, it is currently the only institute of further education in Northern Ireland accredited to provide the Cisco Certified Network Professional programme (CCNP). The recent opening of the adult education centre in Larne represents a key strand in the Institute’s strategy to widen access and increase the participation of learners, who have experienced a range of barriers in undertaking education and training programmes.

4.3 Almost all of the students on AVCE programmes have good opportunities to undertake additional units in related areas of study. However, a significant minority of the students, such as those on national diploma courses, have insufficient opportunities to take additional courses to complement their main programme of study and enhance their opportunities for progression. Conversely, students on the AVCE in art and design, are inappropriately timetabled for the AVCE single award in IT, which does not enhance progression opportunities, and hinders the development of the standard of the students’ art and design work required for progression to higher education.

4.4 The well-established recruitment procedures are generally effective in ensuring a good match between the students’ abilities and aspirations, and the courses on to which they are enrolled. All students are interviewed and receive impartial, pre-entry information and guidance regarding the range and suitability of courses.

4.5 During the current academic year, the Institute has introduced the new essential skills qualifications to meet the needs of the significant minority of students who have not achieved grade A*-C at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level in English or mathematics. Although the senior management team (SMT) is aware of some of the weaknesses within the current provision, the revised policy is not based upon a rigorous analysis of a comprehensive review of the provision. The strategic direction for the provision of essentials skills and GCSE English and mathematics is not sufficiently clear; the teaching staff are unclear about the policy and the current arrangements for students to re-take GCSE English or maths, or achieve an equivalent level 2 qualification, are inadequate.

4.6 The quality of the teaching in 75% of the lessons inspected is good or better; just under 25% have significant strengths. The better lessons are characterised by well planned, suitably challenging tasks, which are well matched to the students’ abilities and aspirations. In these lessons, the students have good opportunities to discuss relevant topics and debate emerging issues. The assessment of the students’ work is regular and thorough; they receive constructive feedback on the quality of their work and have a clear understanding of the standards required to achieve their qualifications.

4.7 In 25% of the lessons, the weaknesses in learning outweigh the strengths; these lessons are mainly in the essential or key skills of literacy, numeracy and IT, and in the areas of travel and tourism, and business and management. In most of these lessons the students are unclear as to the intended learning outcomes, the lecturers use a narrow range of teaching approaches, and the lessons lack sufficient pace and challenge.