The Sixth Form College Farnborough

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 April 2026

Students are inspired to be their best because of the excellent teaching they receive, the fantastic enrichment activities in which they participate and the full wraparound support staff provide. Students enjoy greatly their college experience, the welcoming communities of people they meet and friends they make. They are confident, ambitious, highly motivated and ready for what they want to do next. Students are curious, eager and passionate about their subjects. They often extend their subject knowledge when they participate in clubs, such as those for debating or dissection. They relish the challenge of applying their knowledge and skills in, for example, sports or science and mathematics competitions, often celebrating victories. Students' mental health and welfare are prioritised highly by staff who care deeply for them. Along with a plethora of support services leaders provide, students also make a positive contribution to the wellbeing of their peers. For example, students train as mental health ambassadors so they can listen with empathy and provide strategies to help their peers overcome exam stresses. Students know how to keep themselves safe and healthy, including in their relationships. Students are altruistic, taking on purposeful social action projects, fundraising for charities and volunteering in their communities. Some students are volunteer call handlers for the Citizens Advice Bureau, while others participate in a range of volunteering in partnership with the local council, such as for a charity enabling those with disabilities to learn to fly. Students contribute fully to the college's safe, diverse and respectful culture, in which difference is celebrated. They demonstrate the values and behaviours important for life in Britain consistently well. They know how to keep themselves safe from the risks of radicalisation. They feel confident to challenge extreme views, such as misogyny. Students who face barriers to learning are helped very effectively by staff and by the decisions leaders have made to help them overcome these. Those from low socio-economic backgrounds build their aspirations through well-considered encounters and experiences that leaders provide and which may not otherwise be available to them. Nepalese students navigate cultural expectations deftly because of the expertise of staff and their community relationships. Students with high needs flourish in the subjects they study alongside their peers. This is because of the excellent teaching and highly effective support staff provide. Staff and teachers know their students very well and adjust the help they provide masterfully, so that students develop independence and readiness for what they want to do next. Learning environments are welcoming, purposeful, calm, inclusive and inspirational.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should continue to further improve the attendance of year 2 students at tutorials.
• Leaders should make sure that the actions they are taking to improve the progress that students make on the few courses where it falls below their very high expectations are effective.

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