Fife College
24 April 2015
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.
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
Page
1. 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
6
4.
Signposting excellent practice
7
5.
What is an overarching judgement?
9
6.
What happens next?
11
7.
Further information
11
8.
How can you contact us?
12
Appendices
13
Glossary of terms
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
13
14
1. Introduction
The external review
The external review by Education Scotland took place during the week beginning
16 February 2015.
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 outlined in External quality arrangements for Scotland’s colleges,
updated August 2013. We also included QIs 2.2 Relevance of programmes and
services to learner needs and 6.3 Managing and responding to changing environments
to support our evaluations.
We found examples of excellence which we describe in this report on pages 7 and 8.
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 Fife College, Education Scotland took the following
college context fully into account.
Fife College came into being on 1 August 2013, as a result of the merger of Adam
Smith and Carnegie Colleges together with part of Elmwood College. The college
services the needs of the communities of Fife where there is a mix of rural and urban
populations. The main campuses are located in Cupar, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, and
Kirkcaldy, and with learning facilities in Levenmouth.
The Regional Outcome Agreement for 2014-17 was drawn up by the college in
consultation with the Local Community Planning Partnership. In completing the
agreement Fife College has undertaken a range of review and planning activities.
These have included detailed analysis of key industry sectors, likely future economic
development and demographic factors in Fife and adjacent regions. Resulting
proposals include re-alignment of activity levels across the college campuses. Regional
analysis suggests that Fife has the fourth highest level of deprivation in Scotland and
there are particularly low levels of employment in specific communities.
Following merger, Fife College has undergone a major restructure of staff roles to take
account of the new operating environment with a flatter management structure
overseeing operations. The college has recently reorganised its curriculum delivery and
management roles, with support services expected to be completed in spring 2015.
There are just over 313 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff and some 314 FTE
providing support to the curriculum activity. A number of staff have recently left the
college through voluntary severance as part of the reorganisation.
The college organises provision through eight curriculum departments which incorporate
31 curriculum and student support areas. The college delivers programmes in almost
all subject categories from level 2 to level 10 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications
Framework (SCQF). In 2013-14 the college enrolled 13,373 learners with approximately
30% studying on a full-time basis. In the current year approximately 25% of college
enrolments are learners from the 20% most deprived data zone areas. Most learners
come from the Fife and Kinross area, with a smaller proportion travelling from across
Scotland to undertake specialist study.
The college works in close partnership with a wide range of external strategic partners.
These include Fife Council, Fife Employability Partnership, Skills Development
Scotland, NHS Fife and NHS Lothian, the Scottish Prison Service and an extensive
range of community and employer organisations. It delivers a growing number of
school-college partnership programmes across Fife in support of Curriculum for
Excellence. The college is committed to deliver an overall target of approximately
180,000 wSUMs in 2014-15. The college's projected revenue budget for the period
April 2014 to March 2015 is £43.7m of which 69% is funding from SFC.
2
3.
Outcomes of External Review
Judgement of Effectiveness
Section A: Overarching judgement
The effectiveness of Fife 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, learner engagement and quality culture. If not addressed, the
importance of these weaknesses will continue to limit the effectiveness of the
college’s arrangements.
Section B: Supporting statements
Learner progress and outcomes
In full-time further education (FE) programmes 64% of learners complete their
programme successfully which is two percentage points below the national sector
performance level. In full-time Higher Education (HE) programmes successful
completion rates for 2013-14 are 70% which is two percentage points below the
national sector performance. Flexible entry and exit points support learner
progression options either into employment or through further study routes. The
college is working collaboratively with Fife Council to ensure its range of
programmes meets the needs of learners who progress to college from local
schools. During their programme of study almost all learners make good progress.
Learners raise significant amounts of money for charitable causes. Several
curriculum areas have developed effective approaches to learners’ development of
employability skills, often through the use of vocational placements. However, the
college recognises the need to develop and enhance employability opportunities
across all vocational areas.
Learning and teaching processes
The college offers a wide range of carefully- planned programmes which support
learners well. Learners are motivated and participate actively in almost all classes.
Staff plan learning activities well overall. However learners are not actively involved
in this planning. In most lessons, where there are appropriate opportunities to
promote equality and diversity, these opportunities are missed. Teaching staff
make good use of their industry experience and subject knowledge. However they
do not use a sufficiently wide range of teaching approaches. The college has not
yet established an appropriate level of information, advice and support services to
learners on all campuses. Actions taken through internal review activities in the last
academic year often focus on issues related to programme management, and rarely
3
focus on learning and teaching. In addition not all issues identified within the
reports are addressed with clear actions.
Learner engagement
The college supports the Fife College Students Association (FCSA) well. It operates
with a high degree of autonomy and employs its own general manager to support its
operations. Almost all learners have positive and supportive relationships with
teaching staff and enjoy their college experience. They are confident in discussing
issues individually without the need to liaise with the class representative. Learners
value the responsiveness of almost all teaching staff to their concerns and are
generally confident that actions will be addressed where appropriate.
However, few learners are actively encouraged by teaching staff to engage
systematically or consistently in planning and negotiating the enhancement of their
own learning. The college has identified the need for further continuing professional
development for staff in this area. In addition, the majority of class representatives
are unclear about the full extent of their responsibilities. FCSA, its purpose and the
services offered to learners, are not widely known by learners. FCSA’s visibility and
presence is not strong across the college campuses. The college is currently
considering alternative sites for FCSA bases in a few campuses.
Leadership and Quality Culture
The principal and senior managers provide purposeful leadership for the college
curriculum, which supports local and national priorities well. Leadership for
curriculum and support teams is not yet fully effective due to the number of staff very
recently in post and the geographical challenges of different campuses. The college
has a clear commitment to quality, and staff work diligently to ensure learners have
a positive learning experience. However new quality arrangements to engage staff
better in self-evaluation and action planning have yet to have an impact on further
improvements. Strong strategic partnership arrangements with the local authority,
other community bodies and employers are working well. The college recently
introduced a wide range of new policies and procedures aimed at underpinning
improvement. However, these are not yet fully understood by staff.
Section C:
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
Areas of positive practice
Programmes meet the needs of learners, employers and Fife-based residents well.
Almost all learners progress on to further learning, apprenticeships or employment.
The majority of learners gain confidence through their learning and develop well as
independent learners.
Staff use industry experience and subject knowledge well in almost all lessons.
The college provides a useful range of pre-entry information and guidance
information for college applicants.
Learners raise significant amounts of money for charitable causes.
The Executive Committee of FCSA represents the student body at Board level and
on operational committees. They feel valued and listened to by senior managers in
shaping the future for Fife College and enhancing the experience of its learners.
4





The college has a high number of class representatives who are supported well by
FCSA.
The principal and vice principal (curriculum) provide purposeful leadership and
strategic direction for the college curriculum. The college recently introduced a new
Learning and Teaching strategy which provides a clear vision for learning and
teaching.
The revised portfolio of programmes takes good account of Scottish Government
priorities, including the senior phase of curriculum for excellence and Developing
the Young Workforce - Scotland's Youth Employment Strategy.
Operational planning in support areas is linked clearly to current priorities for
delivering and improving services to support learners. Managers in support areas
work well both with each other and with curriculum teams.
The three-way merger of Fife’s legacy colleges has resulted in one single college for
Fife-based learners which supports enhanced and improved communication and
partnership working arrangements for all relevant stakeholders.
Section D:

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
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

Areas for development
Successful completion rates in full time programmes are below the national sector
performance.
The college has not yet established an appropriate level of information, advice and
support services to learners on all campuses.
Teaching staff do not actively involve learners in planning learning activities in the
majority of lessons.
In most lessons where there were appropriate opportunities to promote equality and
diversity, these opportunities were missed.
Teaching staff do not use a sufficiently wide range of learning and teaching
approaches to motivate and engage learners.
Arrangements for teaching staff to reflect on learning and teaching are not yet
sufficiently well developed. Most programme teams do not yet evaluate teaching
practice sufficiently well.
The majority of class representatives are unclear about their responsibilities and
their potential to influence college developments and processes.
There are no clear links from the college’s strategic plan to department operational
plans in most curriculum areas.
Curriculum team leadership does not yet function sufficiently well across the
college.
5
Section E:
Main points for action

The college should improve successful completion rates for full-time learners.

Managers and staff should ensure learners are fully engaged in planning their
own learning and contributing to the work and life of the college.

Managers and staff should improve action planning for improvement at
college and programme levels.

The college should ensure that information, advice and guidance services are
fully available across the college.

Senior managers should further develop leadership for the curriculum
ensuring the new roles and structures are fully effective.

Staff should extend the range of learning and teaching approaches used in
classes, taking full account of the need to promote equality and diversity.
6
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
The Science Training School
The Science Training School is an innovative venture set up as a partnership between
Fife College and NHS Lothian and is a useful example of successful engagement
between education and industry. The Science Training School was set up to address a
skills shortage within Scotland’s life science sector by developing a career progression
route using the Modern Apprenticeship programme. This enables employed learners
within the life sciences sector to enhance their skills and qualifications whilst continuing
in employment. The progression pathway includes a part-time degree accredited by the
Institute of Biomedical Scientists after completion of the Modern Apprenticeship.
The Science Training School is based at St John’s Hospital, Livingston. It provides
learners with the opportunity to undertake training in a purpose-built facility based in the
heart of clinical practice. It is unique in Scotland. The facilities consist of a teaching
classroom, a resource room and a laboratory. Programmes are delivered jointly by
lecturing staff from Fife College and staff from NHS Lothian, ensuring that learners are
exposed to current practices within the life sciences.
Staff from both organisations visit life science companies and organisations in
Edinburgh, Lothian and Fife and establish training programmes that align with their
business needs. As a result, over 40 apprenticeships have been undertaken from both
public and private sector organisations. The apprentices, at various stages in
undertaking the Modern Apprenticeship in Life Sciences, are positive about this training
and career route.
This work has helped employed learners to develop their learning and skills to support
progression. In addition, the provision supports the economic need for highly skilled
staff in an employment sector where there are identified skills shortages. The
development of strong links with employers has helped to ensure the relevance of the
work, and assisted delivery staff to keep in touch with current industrial practice.
4.2
Learners using the development of Apps to meet educational and
community need
The Apps for good project was put in place to raise the levels of motivation, enhance
problem solving abilities, and raise awareness of community issues. The activity, Apps
for good, has been introduced in to National Qualification (NQ) Digital Media Computing
programmes. Learners work in teams to develop Apps for phones, tablets or the web
which help solve a specific social or community problem. Learners create, launch and
market new and exciting products using a medium that they enjoy. There is a national
website and organisations who support this work by making links with experts and
sponsors.
Teaching staff use open-source technology to deliver the project to NQ learners who
work together to find real issues about which they care. They learn to build a mobile,
7
web or social app to solve these problems. Learners cover all aspects of product
development from idea generation, technical feasibility, programming, marketing and
business models. The project was included to cover aspects of mobile technology that
had not previously been addressed at this level, including programming for mobile
devices. The use of external experts to cover various aspects of the course gives
learners access to a wealth of industry knowledge and experience that they would
otherwise not have.
Engagement in the project is very high, with all teams taking very proactive approaches
to their work and reporting high levels of satisfaction from the work. Ideas for Apps
have included: identifying places to visit and eat in Fife; developing software to help
protect children on line by identifying key phrases used by predators; and a simple Get
Well e-card app that is easy to use and personalise. In 2014 one of the Fife College
groups was shortlisted for the final awards in London from a pool of over 200 other
establishments.
The impact of this work on the learners has included: greater use of modern technology;
higher levels of engagement and motivation; real interaction with industry experts; and a
focus on social and community issues being addressed through the use of technology.
The development of planning, teamwork and technical skills have all been enhanced in
an engaging and constructive way.
8
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 external 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.
9
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.
10
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.
Dr John Laird
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.fife.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx
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
11
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/FifeCollege.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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Education Scotland
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Appendix 1
Glossary of terms
FCSA
FTE
NHS
NQ
SCQF
SFC
wSUM
Fife College Students Association
Full time equivalent
National Health Service
National Qualification
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
Scottish Funding Council
weighted student unit of measurement
13
Appendix 2
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