Queen Mary's College

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 December 2022

Students, including those with high needs and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), enjoy their time at college. They feel safe and rightly value being part of a highly inclusive, welcoming and diverse community. Most students develop the knowledge and skills they need to pass their examinations and be successful with their next steps. The proportion of students achieving high grades in their examinations, despite declining in some areas, is generally high or very high in most subjects. Students make very strong progress in subjects such as chemistry and politics due to the quality of teaching and the support they receive from staff. Students are proud of the new knowledge and skills they are learning. For example, art students talk enthusiastically about the new techniques they have learned such as stitching, embroidery, printmaking and pottery which they use to enhance their practical work. Students studying politics discuss in detail the complexities of elections in America and contrast these to the electoral system in the United Kingdom, analysing successfully the strengths and weaknesses of both systems. Teachers work closely with local businesses and social enterprise organisations to ensure that students with high needs benefit from valuable work experience opportunities which help prepare them very well for future employment. Students behave very well in lessons and around the college. Teachers model professional ways of working extremely well. Teachers have high standards, expectations and compassion for their students. As a result, almost all students improve their confidence and become more resilient during their time at college.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should improve the curriculum for personal development to better prepare students for life in modern Britain and the world of work.
• Leaders should improve the quality of careers advice so that students are fully informed of all options open to them for their next steps and those students who wish to take an alternative route are as well prepared and supported as their peers moving on to university.
• Curriculum leaders, supported by their managers, should improve the quality of teaching in the few areas where performance is low so that all students, including those with high needs, make the progress that they are capable of.
• Senior managers should ensure that governors understand fully the weaknesses of the college and hold leaders to account so that they improve these weaknesses rapidly.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)