An agricultural college with thousands of students across Norfolk and Suffolk has been told it is inadequate amid criticism of its teaching, attendance and student progress.

Eastern Daily Press: David Henley, principal of Easton and Otley CollegeDavid Henley, principal of Easton and Otley College (Image: Archant)

Easton and Otley College, which has almost 4,000 students spread across two campuses near Norwich and Ipswich, was rated inadequate by Ofsted after a four-day visit in May, a fall from the previous good rating given in 2013.

Inspectors criticised variable teaching quality, student achievement and the college's low attendance rates.

Principal David Henley said the college had been affected by leadership changes and a turbulent few years in further education and that, while he is 'concerned' about the outcome, an action plan to address the college's weaknesses was now in place.

Inspectors said the quality of teaching, learning and assessment 'varies too much across the college'.

'Students and apprentices in most subjects do not benefit from the good practice that exists in subjects such as floristry and veterinary nursing,' they said. 'Consequently, too many students and apprentices are making slow progress.'

They said that too few students on study and adult learning programmes over the last three years achieved their qualifications.

While Ofsted noted that leaders had an 'honest evaluation' of the college's weaknesses, inspectors said action to bring about improvement had been too slow. An implementation plan is now being introduced.

Mr Henley said: 'Naturally, we are concerned with the outcome of the report but welcome Ofsted's input to positively turn things around.

'Our Ofsted visit came several months after we had ourselves recognised the need for improvement and our strategies to address those areas have started to show clear signs of delivering results.'

He said while this could not yet be displayed, the college predicts this year's student success rate will exceed the previous three years, which he said would represent a 'tremendous turnaround'.

The report said that 'promotion of diversity' was also variable, meaning students and apprentices 'fail to improve their understanding of the needs of different groups of people in today's modern Britain'.

But it praised the care and guidance given to students and apprentices, whose behaviour was described as 'professional' and 'respectful'.

It also highlighted the college's strong links with land-based industry employers in the region, which are used 'highly effectively' for students.

Mr Henley said: 'While the overall grade was disappointing, the underlying picture shows the college is functioning well in many areas and some of the changes that we need to make are relatively small.'

He added: 'Over the last three weeks, we have delivered a programme of staff training and development to ensure we hit the ground running when lessons restart in September and we go into the next academic year confident that we can give all our students a good experience.'

Ray Goodman, who was previously at City College Norwich, will also start as deputy principal.

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