West Highland College UHI
25 April 2014
A report by HM Inspectors
on behalf of the
Scottish Funding Council
Summary report
The external review process
HM Inspectors undertake an independent review of the quality of provision in Scotland’s
colleges on behalf of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC)
under a service level agreement between the council and Education Scotland. External
review teams include HM Inspectors, associate assessors and a student team member.
The review took place in accordance with the protocol on quality assurance of University
of the Highland and Islands Millennium Institute and the SFC-funded colleges which are
academic partners of UHIMI (March 2009). Under this protocol, which was agreed by
SFC, Education Scotland and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
(QAA), the review focused solely on Further Education (FE) provision.
During external reviews, members of the review teams observe learning and teaching
and hold discussions with learners, staff and stakeholders. They consider information
on learner attainment and evaluate learner progress and outcomes. They meet with
members of the Board of Management and obtain feedback from community groups,
partners and employers who work with the college.
The purpose of this report is to convey the main outcomes arising from the external
review, to acknowledge the college’s strengths and to provide a clear agenda for future
action to improve and enhance quality.
This external review results in judgements of effective or limited effectiveness or not
effective that express the external review team’s overall evaluation of high quality
learning, learner engagement and quality culture.
The report also uses the following terms to describe
numbers and proportions:
almost all
most
majority
less than half
few
over 90%
75-90%
50-74%
15-49%
up to 15%
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Contents
1.
Page
Introduction
1
The external review
1
2.
The college and its context
2
3.
Outcomes of external review
Judgement of Effectiveness
3
Section A:
Section B:
Section C:
Section D:
Section E:
Overarching judgement
Supporting statements
Areas of positive practice
Areas for development
Main points for action
3
3
4
5
5
4.
Signposting excellent practice
6
5.
What is an overarching judgement?
7
6.
What happens next?
9
7.
Further information
9
8.
How can you contact us?
10
Appendices
11
Glossary of terms
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
11
12
1. Introduction
The external review
The external review by Education Scotland took place during the week beginning
10 February 2014.
We examined learning and teaching and other important activities that impact on the
quality of the learner experience. We evaluated these against the three key principles
of high quality learning, learner engagement and quality culture, using the 13 reference
quality indicators (QI) outlined in External quality arrangements for Scotland’s colleges,
updated August 2013. We also included QI 2.2 to support our evaluations. We used
information from previous visits to the college to decide the scope of the review.
We found an example of excellence which we describe in this report on page 6.
The external review team talked with learners, staff at all levels in the college, members
of the Board of Management, employers, external agencies and other users of the
college.
1
2. The college and its context
In carrying out the external review of West Highland College UHI, Education Scotland
took the following college context fully into account.
West Highland College UHI was formed in 2010 as a result of the merger between
Lochaber College and Skye and Wester Ross College. The college is a company
limited by guarantee with charitable status and achieved fundable body status in August
2012. It is not incorporated.
The college provides tertiary education to meet the needs of learners, communities, and
businesses in Lochaber, Skye, and Wester Ross. The college catchment area covers a
sixth of Scotland’s landmass and includes a high proportion of rural and remote
communities. West Highland College UHI is the main Post-16 learning provider in the
region, serving approximately 40,000 people. It is an academic partner within the
University of the Highlands and Islands.
The majority of college staff are employed part-time and are dispersed across multiple
remote rural locations. The college uses technology to overcome distance and deliver
programmes to learners in remote and rural communities.
The college has invested in and expanded its estate to operate from ten locations, with
new centres in Auchtertyre, Broadford, Ullapool, Gairloch, and Portree (opened in
August 2013). The curriculum portfolio includes a range of Further Education (FE)
programmes from levels 3-6 within the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
(SCQF).
In 2012-13 the college’s contracted level of activity from the SFC for non-advanced
programmes was 6,238 weighted student units of measurement (WSUM). Full-time FE
represents 53% of WSUMs and 8% of enrolments. Part-time FE represents 47% of
WSUMs and 92% of enrolments.
The college’s operating budget is approximately £3.5 million, with SFC grants
accounting for about 65% or £2.3 million of the total.
2
3.
Outcomes of External Review
Judgement of Effectiveness
Section A: Overarching judgement
West Highland College UHI has in place effective arrangements to maintain and
enhance the quality of its provision and outcomes for learners and other
stakeholders.
This judgement means that, in relation to quality assurance and enhancement, the
college is led well, has sufficiently robust arrangements to address any identified
minor weaknesses, and is likely to continue to improve the quality of its services for
learners and other stakeholders.
Section B: Supporting statements
Learner progress and outcomes
The majority of learners complete their programmes successfully and gain relevant
qualifications. Full–time and part-time FE attainment rates have improved over the
last three years and are significantly better than sector performance levels. The
college has recently increased the range of progression opportunities to meet the
needs of learners, stakeholders and employers. Most learners achieve a range of
essential and employability skills. Many learners achieve more widely and gain
additional skills through engagement in volunteering, fund-raising and
community-related projects. Learners are very satisfied with their college
experience.
Learning and teaching processes
College programmes provide a positive experience for learners. Learners from a
wide geographical area gain useful knowledge and skills to enter employment or
further study. Almost all learners are well-motivated, engage productively in lesson
activities, and develop independent learning skills. Most teaching staff use their
industry and vocational knowledge well to make learning relevant. However, in a
few classes teaching staff do not encourage learner reflection or provide
differentiated activities for learners at different ability levels. Technical issues with
information and communications technology (ICT) can reduce the quality of
learning. Effective quality processes have resulted in improvements in
programmes, however reflection by teaching staff on the quality of learning and
teaching is not yet fully developed.
Learner engagement
The college has made significant progress in developing and promoting learner
engagement. All learners feel welcome and are able to influence their college
3
experience for the better. They work well together to develop their learning
skills and a positive ethos is maintained through mutual respect between
learners and staff. Almost all full-time programmes now have a class
representative. However, class representatives have not yet received training
on how to carry out their role. The college gathers learner views systematically
and is responsive to feedback. A student association has recently been
established and a student president and executive are now in place. However,
the work of the student association is at an early stage and would benefit from
increased levels of support to enhance its impact on learner engagement.
Many learners across the college are involved in charity fund-raising and other
activities which enhance their learning and the reputation of the college.
Leadership and Quality Culture
The college’s strategic plan aligns well with SFC and Scottish Government priorities
and supports well a clear vision to provide high quality education and training. The
Board of Management works closely with the principal and senior staff to set an
appropriate strategic direction. The college continues to develop an emerging
quality culture, and staff are committed to improving the learner experience.
However, arrangements to improve the standard of learning and teaching, including
the use of technology for remote learning, access to appropriate continuing
professional development (CPD), and induction of new teaching staff are not yet
sufficiently developed. ICT infrastructure in dispersed locations does not fully
support the remote delivery model for learning and teaching. The college has yet
to deliver appropriate safeguarding training to one third of staff.
Section C:

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






Areas of positive practice
Full-time FE further withdrawal has improved significantly over the last three years.
Attainment of learners on full-time FE programmes is significantly better than the
national sector performance level.
The college has increased its range and levels of programmes to improve access
and progression opportunities for learners in rural and remote communities.
The majority of FE learners who complete their programmes progress to further
study or gain employment.
The college works well with local secondary schools and delivers successful
school/college partnership provision.
Most teaching staff plan lessons well to ensure learning is engaging and interesting
and takes account of the needs of learners.
Learners work well together and cooperative learning is used well to develop
personal learning skills.
Positive and respectful relationships between learners and staff contribute to a
relaxed environment for purposeful learning.
Assessment is planned effectively and learners are informed well about assessment
activities.
The college values learner input highly and significant progress has been made in
learner engagement.
The principal, senior management team, and Board work effectively to provide clear
vision and direction for the college.
4
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
Staff are highly committed to the development of the college and clearly understand
strategic aims.
Curriculum Managers lead their teams well and their role is significantly enhanced
through effective liaison with the network of learning centre managers.
College support services are led well and team working is strong, leading to
effective planning of service delivery.
The leadership forum effectively supports distributed leadership and
decision-making.
The college also makes very good use of local partner intelligence provided by
Community Engagement Groups (CEG).
Section D:





Areas for development
Technical issues with the use of video-conferencing facilities and access to the
virtual learning environment (VLE) often cause disruption to the learning process
and disengage learners.
Class representatives have not yet received training on how to carry out their role.
Arrangements to improve the standard of learning and teaching, including the use of
technology for remote learning, access to and uptake of appropriate CPD, and
induction of new teaching staff are not yet sufficiently developed.
Approximately a third of staff have yet to complete appropriate training in
safeguarding. In addition, not all staff have received an appropriate Protection of
Vulnerable Groups (PVG) disclosure prior to commencing employment.
Self-evaluation reports do not yet focus sufficiently on learning and teaching.
Section E:
Main points for action

The college should ensure that all staff engage in appropriate CPD activities
to support improvement of learning and teaching.

The college should ensure that all new and existing staff undertake mandatory
safeguarding training promptly and that all staff have undergone PVG
registration prior to commencing teaching.

The college should provide appropriate ICT infrastructure to support its model
of remote delivery of learning and teaching.
5
4.
Signposting excellent practice
During the Education Scotland external review, the college submitted examples of what
it considered to be excellent practice and the review team also identified examples
worthy of dissemination.
4.1 Engagement with local communities
West Highland College UHI has established a network of ten learning centres across a
wide geographic area to meet the needs of the dispersed rural communities it serves
and to address the traditionally low uptake of further education in the West Highlands.
In order to ensure college provision meets the needs of local communities, the college
established CEG to support and guide the work of each of its ten learning centres.
The college draws CEG membership from a range of sectors, including local schools,
public sector organisations, SDS, local businesses, voluntary groups, churches, college
learners, and staff. CEG members provide useful stakeholder feedback on curriculum
arrangements and developments in relation to each learning centre. Learning centre
managers and staff in each location, work hard to develop productive relationships with
local stakeholders through the CEG. This has resulted in strengthened partnership
working between local agencies, shared arrangements for funding support, and delivery
of training to local businesses and community organisations. Locally-devised and
delivered programmes are successfully encouraging and easing access to learning. As
a result, there are several examples of learners progressing to certificated programmes,
having started on community programmes supported by the CEG.
Due to the work of the CEG, the college is able to use partner intelligence to
continuously review and adjust the range of programmes available from each of its local
centres. The college’s approach to gathering and using local intelligence has
resonance with the work of many colleges who are working to ensure that widely varying
needs within regions are addressed.
6
5.
What is an overarching judgement?
Education Scotland uses an overarching judgement of Effectiveness to express the
findings of the review team. The judgement of effectiveness takes into account all the
evidence gathered through the eternal review. Such judgements express outcomes as:
effective;
limited effectiveness; or
not effective.
This judgement is further detailed by supporting statements which substantiate the
judgement of effectiveness. Education Scotland evaluates and reports according to the
three key principles. In this report, the principles and supporting statements relate to:
Key principle 1 – High quality learning (supporting statements numbers 1 and 2)
Key principle 2 – Learner engagement (supporting statement number 3)
Key principle 3 – Quality culture (supporting statement number 4)
Judgements of effectiveness and supporting statements provide stakeholders with
assurances, or otherwise, about the quality of a college’s provision. These judgements
are based on trends and track record of a college, the findings at the time of the
external review, and the college’s capacity to continue improving.
A judgement of effective indicates that the college has in place effective
arrangements to maintain and enhance the quality of its provision and outcomes for
learners and other stakeholders. This judgement means that, in relation to quality
assurance and enhancement, the college is led well, has sufficiently robust
arrangements to address any minor weakness, and is likely to continue to improve the
quality of its services for learners and other stakeholders.
A judgement of limited effectiveness indicates that the effectiveness of the college’s
arrangements to maintain and enhance the quality of its provision and outcomes for
learners and other stakeholders is limited. This judgement means that there are some
strengths in the college’s arrangements for quality enhancement. However, there are
weaknesses in arrangements for high quality learning and/or learner engagement
and/or quality culture. If not addressed, the importance of these weaknesses will
continue to limit the effectiveness of the college’s arrangements.
A judgement of not effective indicates that the college’s arrangements to maintain and
enhance the quality of its provision and outcomes for learners and other stakeholders
are not effective. This judgement means that there are significant weaknesses in the
arrangements for high quality learning and/or learner engagement and/or quality culture.
There is a high probability that, without significant and comprehensive action, with
external monitoring and support, the college will fail to improve current low-quality
provision and outcomes to an acceptable level. Education Scotland does not have
evidence that the college has the capacity and commitment to identify and implement
effective and comprehensive action.
7
Scottish Funding Council response to judgements
If the overarching judgement is effective, the Council will expect the college to engage
with Education Scotland in follow-up activity, as appropriate, and, one year after the
publication of the review reports, to provide a report, endorsed by its governing body
(see Council guidance to colleges on quality from August 2012, paragraphs 62-66
SFC/13/2012 setting out its response to the review.)
If the overarching judgement is of limited effectiveness or is not effective, the Council
will require the institution to prepare and fulfil an action plan to address the
shortcomings identified (see paragraph 67 of guidance). Education Scotland will
provide advice to SFC on the adequacy of the action plan and on how it is being
implemented. SFC, taking into account any advice from Education Scotland, will
normally require a formal follow-up review at an appropriate time, usually within no more
than two years.
8
6. What happens next?
Education Scotland will continue to monitor progress during annual engagement visits to
the college.
There will be feedback to the learners at the college.
One year on from this report, the college will produce a report setting out what it has
done to address the main points for action and/or areas for development in the report
and other quality assurance and enhancement activities. There will be a link to this
report from Education Scotland’s website.
Gill Ritchie
HM Inspector
7. Further information
The review and judgements relate to the college as a whole and do not provide
information about individual programmes of study or subjects. For further information
on these or any other queries, contact the college or look on its website http://www.whc.uhi.ac.uk/front-page
For further information about Education Scotland, the external review methodologies, or
other information about reviews, see www.educationscotland.gov.uk
For further information about the Scottish Funding Council, see – www.sfc.ac.uk
9
8.
How can you contact us?
This report has been produced as a web-only publication and is available on our
website at
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/othersectors/collegere
views/WestHighlandCollegeFortWilliam.asp .
If you would like to receive this report in a different format, for example, in a translation
please contact the administration team on 01506 600381.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact us
by telephone on 0141 282 5000, or e-mail: complaints@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or
write to us addressing your letter to The Complaints Manager, Denholm House,
Almondvale Business Park, Livingston, EH54 6GA.
Text phone users can contact us on 01506 600236. This is a service for deaf users.
Please do not use this number for voice calls as the line will not connect you to a
member of staff.
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Crown Copyright 2014
Education Scotland
10
Appendix 1
Glossary of terms
CEG
CPD
FE
HNC
HND
ICT
NC
PVG
QAA
QI
SCQF
SDS
SFC
SQA
UHI
VLE
WSUM
Community Engagement Groups
Continuing Professional Development
Further Education
Higher National Certificate
Higher National Diploma
Information and Communications Technology
National Certificate
Protection of Vulnerable Groups
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
Quality Indicators
Scottish Certificate and Qualification Framework
Skills Development Scotland
Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
Scottish Qualifications Authority
University of the Highland and Islands
Virtual Learning Environment
Weighted Student Units of Measurement
11
Appendix 2
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework brings together all Scottish
mainstream qualifications into a single unified framework. The framework includes:
degree provision, HNC and HND, SQA National Qualifications, and SVQs. There are
12 levels ranging from Access 1 at SCQF level 1 to Doctoral degree at SCQF level 12.
Each qualification whether a unit, group of units or larger group award has also been
allocated a number of SCQF credits. Each credit represents 10 notional hours of
required learning. Doctoral degrees based on a thesis are an exception to this.
Other learning may be credit rated and included in the framework provided it leads to a
clear set of learning outcomes and has quality-assured learner assessment. All of
Scotland’s colleges were awarded SCQF Credit Rating powers in January 2007.
12