Press Release
Inspectors impressed with Shetland College
A report published today by Her Majesty’s Inspectors provides a glowing account of life at the Shetland College.
Having visited Shetland in March this year to meet staff, students, College Board members and employers, inspectors said that the College has high quality learning and teaching processes, is well led and that students are achieving high quality outcomes. They also highlighted the College’s work with industry to support the curriculum and efforts made to prepare learners for the SVQ level 2 in Health and Social Care as areas of “excellence”.
Director of the College, Professor David Gray said this afternoon that he was “very happy” with the report and put it down to the hard work of staff and the students themselves.
“The life of a College is dependent on the quality of staff it has and the way in which students come in and engage with the learning environment those staff create. I think this report shows that we have a very high quality facility here that is serving Shetland well. We also have a very motivated group of students who enjoy being a part of the College”.
Recently appointed Chair of the Shetland College Board of Management, Councillor Allan Wishart said “This is a very good inspection report. We are aware of the high standards at the College, but it is always nice to have that formally confirmed by an external body such as HMI. I was particularly heartened to see the inspectors commenting on the fact that College students have skills that meet the requirements of the Shetland economy. That’s a key strategic aim for this establishment and one that is important for Shetland going forward”.
The Inspectorate highlighted the following as the College’s “strengths”:
- being highly responsive to the needs of the Shetland community;
- working well with partners to identify and respond to the needs of learners and its community;
- having campuses and learning centres that are geographically well-sited and offer a wide range of programmes;
- high student retention rates;
- learners who are well prepared for further study or employment;
- learners who enjoy their learning and relationships between learners and teaching staff that are positive;
- teaching staff who use a range of teaching approaches that meet individual learner requirements well;
- learners who are well engaged in planning and enhancing their own learning, particularly through participation in opportunities for wider achievement; and
- strong and effective leadership to support learning and teaching.
The main action points were:
- attainment rates for full-time learners could be improved;
- arrangements need to be put in place to help students set goals and reflect upon their learning;
- Students should be given more opportunities to contribute to enhancing the work and life of the College;
- College managers and teaching staff need to ensure they evaluate learning and teaching effectively.
Professor Gray concluded by saying, “We have a few action points to work on and we have strategies in place to address those. But overall, I am really pleased with the report and feel that staff and students should be proud of their efforts”.
A full copy of the report is available through the following link: http://www.hmie.gov.uk/ViewEstablishment.aspx?id=9400&type=4