Glasgow Kelvin College
27 March 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
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
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
19 January 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 and 6.3 to support our evaluations.
We used information from previous visits to the college to decide the scope of the
review.
We found examples of excellence which we describe in this report on pages 18 and 19.
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 Glasgow Kelvin College, Education Scotland took
the following college context fully into account.
Glasgow Kelvin College was formed on 1 November 2013, as a result of the merger of
John Wheatley, North Glasgow, and Stow Colleges. It is one of three assigned colleges
within Glasgow Region, the others being Glasgow Clyde College and City of Glasgow
College. The Glasgow Regional Board was established in May 2014, with the assigned
College Board of Management for Glasgow Kelvin College vesting in November 2014.
A framework which sets out relationships and responsibilities between the Regional
Board and the assigned colleges, including allocation of funding, is currently being
developed. The Regional Outcome Agreement for 2014-15 has been drawn up by the
three colleges working in partnership. To assist the Regional Board in its strategic
planning, the Glasgow Colleges Strategic Partnership, comprising senior staff within the
three assigned colleges and SFC representatives, 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 Glasgow, East
Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire. Resulting proposals include re-alignment of
activity levels across the colleges within the Region. Regional analysis confirms that
Glasgow has the highest level of deprivation in Scotland, and there is also a high level
of the adult population with low levels of qualification.
Glasgow Kelvin College employs around 670 staff. Following merger, the college
restructured staff roles to take account of the new operating environment. The college
has now completed the restructure of support services and academic management
posts. The college organises provision through five curriculum faculties, two teaching
centres, and a network of 25 learning centres. Provision is delivered from five
campuses across the North and East of Glasgow, with further work-based and
community provision delivered across a range of learning centres. The college delivers
programmes in almost all subject categories from level 1 to level 9 on the Scottish
Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). In 2013-14 the college enrolled
approximately 15,392 learners with around 27% studying on a full-time basis. In the
current year approximately 45% of college enrolments are learners from the most
deprived datazone area. Seventy-one percent of learners are from the Glasgow local
authority area. Around two-thirds of learners are recruited with no previous
qualifications.
The college works in partnership with a wide range of external strategic partners. These
include Glasgow City and East Dunbartonshire Councils, and an extensive range of
community and employer organisations. It delivers a large number of school-college
partnership programmes.
The college is contracted to deliver an overall target of approximately 123,367 wSUMs
in 2014-15. The college's projected revenue budget for the period April 2014 to
March 2015 is £33m of which £20m is grant-in-aid from SFC.
2
3.
Outcomes of External Review
Judgement of Effectiveness
Section A: Overarching judgement
The effectiveness of Glasgow Kelvin 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 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
Almost all learners are making good progress during their programmes of study and
gain useful skills that enable them to enter employment or further study. Early
withdrawal rates for further education (FE) and higher education (HE) programmes
for 2013-14 are around the national sector performance level, overall. Further
withdrawal rates for FE and HE programmes is slightly better than the national
sector performance level, overall. Learner success in FE programmes is slightly
lower than the national sector performance. Learner success in HE programmes,
particularly full-time, is well below national sector performance. College
programmes meet the needs of learners, the local community and employers.
Learners develop their essential skills widely through participating in volunteering,
fund-raising, community and employment-related projects.
Learning and teaching processes
The college offers a wide range of programmes at campus locations and in
communities. Most learners work purposefully and participate enthusiastically in
learning activities. Almost all teaching staff use their professional knowledge well to
make lessons interesting. Relationships between teaching staff and learners are
very positive. Most staff plan lessons well to incorporate activities that engage and
motivate learners. However the majority of learners are not involved sufficiently by
teaching staff in joint planning of their learning. The analysis of Performance
Indicator (PI) data by curriculum teams is weak with very few specific actions
identified to improve low retention and attainment. Evaluation of learning and
teaching is not sufficiently effective.
3
Learner engagement
The college is committed to learner engagement. Almost all learners have positive
and supportive relationships with staff and are confident in discussing issues. They
value the responsiveness of staff. The college uses a range of effective feedback
mechanisms to gather learner views, inform review and evaluation, and improve the
learner experience. Most class representatives have received training in their role,
which supports learner confidence well and has improved the quality of feedback.
However, most learners are not supported by staff to engage fully with planning and
negotiating their own learning. The Students Association has a clear constitution
and strategic plan. It represents the student body well at both regional and college
board levels, and on key operational committees. The Students Association feel
that the college values and listens to them. Staff learning engagement officers and
the Students Association work well together to promote learner engagement and
develop staff understanding and commitment to achieving the aims of the learner
engagement strategy.
Leadership and Quality Culture
Managers and staff have responded well to change and the development of a new
culture, overall. A comprehensive curriculum review has been completed and is
supported well by clear plans for curriculum re-alignment. Communication and
engagement from senior managers with staff is not always fully effective.
Partnership working and collaboration with partner organisations widens access and
supports learner progression. The college works particularly well with young
learners. Strategic planning aligns well with national priorities. However,
target-setting within operational plans does not always fully support achievement of
objectives. Senior managers have not fully communicated the requirements of the
learning, teaching and assessment strategy to all staff. The college has not yet
implemented systematic reflection on learning and teaching. Support managers
lead their teams well, and staff are enthusiastic and committed to the delivery of
services to learners. There is a clear commitment to the development of a quality
culture by almost all staff. However, leadership for enhancing quality is not yet fully
effective and managers and staff, particularly in programme teams, have not
received sufficient guidance and support on approaches to self-evaluation. Urgent
improvement is required in programmes where attainment is low.
Section C:




Areas of positive practice
Early withdrawal rates for FE and HE programmes for 2013-14 are around the
national sector performance level and further withdrawal rates for FE and HE
programmes are slightly better than the national sector performance overall.
Most learners whose destinations are known, progress to further study or
employment.
The college offers a wide range of programmes at different levels and modes of
delivery which meets the needs of learners, the local community and employers.
Almost all learners are making good progress during their programmes and gain
useful skills that enable them to enter employment or further study. Learner
attainment in all of the core skills is high.
4







Programmes support learners effectively in the development of their skills for
learning, life and work, and their aspirations for employment or further study.
Relationships between teaching staff and learners are very positive and mutually
respectful.
The college is committed to establishing positive engagement with learners and the
Students Association is supported well by the college.
College managers and almost all staff have responded positively to major and
on-going change within the college’s operating environment.
Support managers have a clear vision for developing services to support learners,
and they lead their teams well.
The college has a strong commitment to working in partnership working with a wide
range of stakeholders and external bodies.
The college works proactively and productively with local secondary schools to
extend and enhance the curriculum on offer to school pupils.
Section D:

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
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





Areas for development
Learner success in full-time FE programmes is slightly lower than the national sector
performance for 2013-14, and learner success in full-time HE programmes is well
below national sector performance, and the lowest in the sector.
The majority of learners do not reflect sufficiently on their learning during classroom
activities.
In a few subject areas, insufficient planning to respond to prolonged teaching staff
absence has led to cancellation of classes, which has disadvantaged more than a
few learners.
In more than a few classes, the range of teaching approaches is too narrow to make
lessons interesting and the majority of learners are not involved sufficiently by
teaching staff in jointly planning aspects of their learning.
In City campus the learning environment is not conducive to the delivery of modern
learning and teaching approaches.
The effectiveness of guidance and support provided by class tutors is not consistent
across the college.
Evaluation of learning and teaching is predicated largely on learner feedback and
most self-evaluation reports fail to evaluate learning and teaching effectively.
Communication and engagement approaches adopted by senior managers are not
always effective in ensuring that all staff are aware of future plans and the rationale
for key strategic decisions.
Support for staff to engage with new quality processes is not targeted sufficiently by
senior staff to address all areas of low performance.
Guidance and support for staff is not sufficient to help them implement the aims of
the learning, teaching and assessment strategy, particularly in relation to learning
and teaching and attainment.
The college has not yet implemented systematic approaches to support staff
reflection on learning and teaching.
Self-evaluation reports vary in quality and staff do not analyse consistently the
reasons underlying poor performance. Curriculum area self-evaluation reports do
not yet focus sufficiently on evaluation of learning and teaching.
Leadership for enhancing quality is not yet fully effective and senior managers have
not provided sufficient guidance and support to managers and staff, particularly in
programme teams, on approaches to self-evaluation.
5
Section E:
Main points for action

The college should improve successful completion rates for full-time learners,
particularly those on HE programmes.

The college should ensure that curriculum teams develop and use targets for
improving retention and attainment systematically.

Senior managers should provide staff with support and direction in order to
implement fully the aims of the learning, teaching, and assessment strategy.

Senior managers should provide effective leadership for quality enhancement,
with particular focus on learning and teaching and attainment.
6
4.
Signposting excellent practice (delete this section if necessary)
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.
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.
9.1 Supporting The Development of Vocational Skills Through Strong
Partnership Working
Glasgow Kelvin College works with Glasgow City secondary schools and four major
local employers to assist school pupils to gain skills for learning, life, and work. The
Engineering Scholarship embeds the development of vocational and employability skills
alongside academic qualifications undertaken at school.
Each secondary school is assigned a major employer, which is involved in the
recruitment of learners and on-going support and mentoring as learners progress
through the programme. Learners attend college for two days per week to undertake a
National Certificate in Electrical Engineering and spend one day a week on work
placement with their assigned employer. They spend the remaining two days in school
to study for national qualifications and community or volunteering awards.
Employers work with learners to help them contextualise their learning through a
number of industry visits. The programme also supports a range of skills including
literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing, entrepreneurship, citizenship and critical
thinking. From the initial cohort of learners, almost all have progressed to either
employment, a Modern Apprenticeship in engineering, or to Higher National Diploma
study in an engineering discipline. The college has built on the success of the initial
cohort, with the programme now providing opportunities to an increased number of
learners. The number and range of employers involved has also increased. This has
broadened the range of vocational experiences on offer to learners.
9.2 Supporting Young Learners with Additional Support Needs Through Outdoor
Learning
Glasgow Kelvin College has worked with a local charity (Common Knowledge UK) to
develop and deliver a programme utilising the woodland community area at the
Springburn campus. The programme supports young learners with additional support
needs to develop their essential skills through engagement with outdoor and
cross-curricular learning. In partnership with external agencies, college staff across a
range of curriculum areas help learners to develop skills in gardening, popular culture,
and environmental sustainability. The programme embeds a strong focus on
developing all four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence. Attainment of qualifications
is embedded within the delivery, and learners achieve skills for learning, life and work
through collaborative working and peer learning.
During the programme, learners develop self-confidence and awareness of a range of
subject areas including horticulture, photography, art and design, and fashion.
7
All learners gain confidence in working independently and develop greater awareness of
their rights as individuals. Learners achieve more widely through engagement in
external competitions, display of their artwork within the college and on-going
development of the garden. The development of the college’s woodland garden is
enhancing the local community. Recently, the group entered a national gardening
competition and was awarded a silver medal at the Scottish Horticultural Show.
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.
Gill Ritchie
HM Inspector
13. 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 www.glasgowkelvin.ac.uk/
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/GlasgowKelvinCollege.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,
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I
12
Appendix 1
Glossary of terms Please add/delete terms that apply to this report
SFC
SCQF
wSUMs
FE
HE
PI
Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
Student unit of measurement
Further Education
Higher Education
Performance Indicator
13
Appendix 2
14