College Performance

Nottingham College’s most recent Ofsted inspection report is now available and confirms that the college is now a GOOD college, a result that recognises the pace of change and improvement the college has undergone in the last 2 years.

The inspection took place in early December 2022 when a team of 19 inspectors visited the college and spent four days going into classrooms, observing lessons and meeting with students, teachers, staff, managers, employers and community stakeholders.

The key findings from the report include:

The above statement recognises the college’s emphasis on being an outward facing, trusted and collaborative partner locally and regionally and our continued commitment to this role in the future.

The College is delighted to have received its first Outstanding Ofsted grade at its most recent inspection, marking the start of a new chapter for the college as it continues its journey towards becoming an Outstanding college, across all provision, over the next three years.

This most recent inspection looked at the college’s residential provision – this is apprenticeships provision that sees students from across the UK come to the college for their training, with overnight and often weekly stays, in Nottingham.

The inspection graded the overall experiences and progress of young people on our residential programmes, how well they are supported and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The college received an Outstanding grade in all three key areas.

More than 400 apprentices participate in the college’s residential provision, attending their training at our automotive centre in Ruddington. The apprentices are working in national automotive centres and dealerships for the bulk of their training but attend the Emtec automotive centre at regular and scheduled intervals to complete their classroom and workshop training with our teaching team. Students are here for days or weeks at a time and stay in local hotels and accommodation.

This inspection, that took place in February 2024, not only reviewed the quality of the apprenticeship training received, the facilities and resources used and the standard of teaching, but also reviewed the protections and safeguards we have in place for students staying away from home. They looked specifically at the suitability of their accommodation, the wrap around support they receive and how the efforts of leaders and managers ensure the overall experience of the student for the time they are with us. 

Nottingham College has been awarded with the highest level of judgements possible by the Quality Assurance Agency, recognising the college’s impressive academic achievements at HE level.

The review identified no specific improvements for the College to make, only areas of development to further strengthen its offer.

For more information about the Quality Assurance Agency and The QAA Higher Education Quality Review, please visit: http://​www​.qaa​.ac​.uk