Spot check report Organisation name Edinburgh College Inspection date 24 March 2015 BACKGROUND Organisation profile Inspection history First inspection Dates/details 1991 (Stevenson College) Last full inspection Edinburgh College March 2014 Subsequent spot check (if applicable) Subsequent supplementary check (if applicable) Subsequent interim visit (if applicable) Other related schools / centres /affiliates Other related non-accredited activities (in brief) at this centre CELTA part-time and full-time Current accreditation status and reason for spot check Current accredited status Accredited Other: Following the inspection in March 2014 of the merged Edinburgh College, a number of weaknesses in staff management, student administration and care of Reason for spot check under 18s were reported. Accreditation was awarded, but the Accreditation Scheme Advisory Committee recommended that a spot check inspection should take place within twelve months to see how far the weaknesses had been rectified. Premises profile Address of main site Details of any additional sites in use at the time of the inspection Details of any additional sites not in use at the time of the inspection Sites inspected Granton Campus, 350 West Granton Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QE Sighthill Campus, Bankhead Avenue, Edinburgh EH11 4DE Milton Road Campus, 24 Milton Road, Edinburgh EH15 2PP Midlothian Campus, 46 Dalhousie Road, Dalkeith EH22 3FR Granton Campus in order to have a meeting with the vice-principal; Sighthill Campus for all other meetings. Student and staff profile At inspection In peak week March 2015 Total ELT/ESOL student numbers (FT + PT) 847 (not including English lanaguage support available for 847 students on mainstream courses ) Minimum age (including closed group or vacation) 16 16 Typical age range 25-35 25-35 Typical length of stay One academic year One academic year Predominant nationalities Polish, Spanish Polish, Spanish Total number of teachers on eligible ELT courses 43 43 Total number of administrative/ancillary staff 2.5 dedicated ESOL staff plus a number of international office staff. Report expires 31 March 2019
INTRODUCTION Background Edinburgh College has over 23,000 enrolments per year and delivers courses across all areas of the further education curriculum on three sites and a number of community centres. ESOL is one of the largest curriculum areas and at the time of the merger it was moved from an academic department to the international centre, which has two clear sections: international development and ESOL provision. Both sections are managed by the international director, who reports to the deputy principal but retains a close connection with the vice-principal educational leadership for curriculum matters. The college offers a range of ESOL courses: full-time and part-time general English courses at all levels, full-time academic English courses, IELTS, FCE and CAE preparation courses as part-time day and part-time evening classes, the English tuition on the International Foundation Programme, access courses for 16-18 year olds, English language support for students on mainstream courses, a summer school (16+), bespoke courses and a number of teacher development and teacher training courses including ICELT, part of which is delivered in country. Most of the ESOL students are home or Eurpean Union students, some of whom pay fees; international students infill into ESOL classes at the appropriate level. The college was inspected in March 2014 and a number of weaknesses in staff management, student administration and care of under 18s were reported. Strengths were noted in premises and facilities and learner management. The weaknesses seemed to be arising as a result of the merger of three colleges, Telford College (not accredited), Jewel and Esk College (not accredited) and Stevenson College (accredited), which took place in October 2012. All three had functioned well as independent colleges, but some difficulties were being encountered in the harmonisation process and the attempts to establish cross-college policies and procedures. Preparation The inspector was supplied with copies of the April 2013 spot check inspection report, the March 2014 full inspection report, the annual declarations for 2012-13 and 2013-14, and correspondence between the Accreditation Unit and the college. The international director was contacted early in March by email and telephone to request further information and to arrange a convenient time for the inspection to take place. A number of documents were requested and were sent electronically. Others were to be seen at the time of the visit. The inspection took place on Tuesday 24 March, starting at 09.15 and finishing at 17.15. Programme and persons present Once it had been established who needed to be seen, a programme was drawn up by the international director. It started with a meeting with the deputy principal at the Granton Campus to discuss senior management issues and college policies, followed by meetings at Sighthill Campus with the international director, the international development manager and the international business manager to discuss provision, student numbers, student support, the summer courses and care of under 18s. The enquiry, application and enrolment systems were discussed with one of the dedicated ESOL admissions officers. A meeting was held with one of the ESOL curriculum managers, the other being in China, and a number of teachers took part in a teacher focus group. Documents relating to policies, practices and operational matters were available electronically and were discussed with the international director and the curriculum manager. A sample of qualifications was checked. FINDINGS Structure and staffing Since the last inspection there have been a number of changes in senior staff, and the structure of the senior management team has been adjusted. The principal who took up post in the merged college in October 2012 left in September 2014. One of the then current vice principals became acting principal until an interim principal came into post in November 2014. A new principal has recently been appointed and will take up her post in May of this year. Another of the vice principals who had been responsible for international provision also left in September 2014 and a decision was taken to restructure the senior management team without this post. The acting principal (September 2014 to November 2014) became the deputy principal (a new post) and took over responsibility for international provision. The international director has been in post since August 2013 so has provided continuity at senior management level as she is a member of the leadership team and reports directly to the deputy principal. At the time of the main inspection, there were two 0.5 curriculum mangers for ESOL. One has now become full-time and the 0.5 curriculum manager has been retained so curriculum management support has been considerably increased and continuity has been maintained. Additional curriculum management hours for specific tasks have also been retained. The teaching team remains largely the same as at the time of the main inspection.
Administrative support has also been increased. At the time of the main inspection most international centre staff were based at Granton Campus. Since early 2015, following some re-alignment of international centre staff, an international business manager (ESOL), an international projects assistant (ESOL), the accommodation officer and the recently appointed ESOL assistant have been based at Sighthill Campus, resulting in much closer liaison and more efficient working between ESOL curriculum staff and ESOL international development staff to the benefit of both staff and students. The main ESOL base remains at Sighthill Campus with a number of classes and teachers at Milton Road Campus. English language support is provided for mainstream students at all three campuses. Staff management At the time of the main inspection in March 2014, there were concerns that human resource policies were still at a developmental stage following the merger. This remains the same, but there now is a clear schedule for the drafting of policies which will be consulted on and published by October 2015. Two policies, Dignity and respect and Grievance had been made available to staff and unions for consultation in the week before the spot check visit. At the same time, staff were informed that legacy college Telford policies relating to other aspects of human resource management were to be applied across the merged college as an interim measure. This included the handling of unsatisfactory performance. Although available in some form in all three colleges before the merger, appraisal or staff development and review systems were not in place at all in the merged college at the time of the main inspection. This remains largely the same, although some elements of performance management at a senior level have been agreed. Local appraisal legacy templates are also used in some teams. At the time of the spot check, a draft proposal relating to implementation of a college wide staff Development and Review System was being discussed formally by the Executive and Leadership Team in preparation for potential approval to take to consultation with staff. These documents were not made available for the spot check inspector to see as they had not yet been agreed at Executive Level. This emerging policy would include a cross college continuous professional development (CPD) policy. Despite the lack of a policy as such, a considerable amount of CPD has been taking place since the merger to the benefit of both staff and students. Student administration It was acknowledged by all staff that serious problems had occurred with enrolment procedures in September 2013 caused by a new computer system and a complete change of admissions staff, who were not familiar with the particular needs of ESOL students. A complete overhaul of the system has taken place as the result of review by users, and more administrative staff have been appointed. Teachers and administrators reported that the new systems were working well to the benefit of staff and students. Care of under 18s Criteria Not met Met Strength C1 Safeguarding policy C2 Guidance and training C3 Publicity See comments C4 Recruitment materials C5 Suitability checks C6 Safety and supervision C7 Accommodation C8 Contact arrangements Comments C3 This criterion was not met at the time of the main inspection and it remains not met in that although in publicity there is a general description of student support available in the college, there is no specific section in brochures or on the website that gives details of the additional care and support available for students under the age of 18. The website and brochure are in the process of being revised. Staff will take this opportunity to add a section relevant to
parents, guardians and agents of under 18s. C5 Not all homestay providers who are willing to take under 18s have membership of the Protecting of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. Staff have undertaken to place under 18s only with homestay hosts who have PVG status, while enquiries about other homestay providers is on-going. C6 In the welcome pack, students are given an information sheet giving sound advice about how to keep safe. An information sheet specifically for under 18s, covering a number of useful guidelines about how to safely spend their free time, about the importance of homestay provider s advice about where to go and where to avoid and emphasising the curfew time for return to homestay accommodation, has been produced for the 2015 summer school and will be used with year-round students in the future. Under 18s are told very clearly about drinking and smoking legislation. Attention is also drawn to the availability of the college emergency number. Care of under 18s summary The provision meets the section standard. Although publicity describes the various types of support available to students, there is no specific reference to additional care available for under 18s. (This information was added to the website for year-round and summer school courses subsequent to the inspection.) Although not presented as a set of rules, there are some useful guidelines on how students can safely spend their free time and what to avoid. POINTS TO BE ADDRESSED Points to be addressed from the previous inspection report with comments (in bold) to indicate how far these have been addressed. Points to be addressed within 12 months from March 2014 Management M4 Teaching staff reported that communication from the senior management team was poor and this was borne out in the results of the college-wide staff survey. Teachers in the focus group reported that communications had improved considerably and were especially impressed by the visit of the interim principal and contact with the international director. They felt sufficiently well-informed about central college matters. M5 Human resources policies are still at a developmental stage since the merger. Human resources staff are currently drafting a number of policies. Two policies Dignity and respect and Grievance have been drafted and are out for consultation with staff and unions at the moment with a view to their publication by the end of April. Other human resource policies are at various stages of development with a view to them all being in place by October 2015. Meanwhile, as a default position, all human resource policies in place at the former Telford College are being applied across the whole college. M6 Sampling of certificates to verify staff qualifications showed up some missing documentation. Not all certificates sampled were in order. M8 Since the merger in October 2012, no appraisal system has been in operation and the new procedure has yet to be defined. There is still no new college policy for handling unsatisfactory performance. This remains the case. There are, however, plans to roll out a policy by October 2015. (See findings above.) No documents were made available to the inspector to support this plan, however, as they were in the process of being approved by the senior management team at the time of this inspection visit. The new system will include procedures for handling unsatisfactory performance. M9 No new continuous professional development policy has yet been agreed. This remains the same. A college continuous professional development policy will be closely linked with the staff development and review policy, which is not yet in place. Meanwhile, a considerable amount of staff development has and is taking place in the ESOL section. All staff are required to undertake 30 hours per year of professional development, which is recorded in their e-portfolio; one portfolio scrutinised showed evidence of a number of cross college activities but also a number arising out of ESOL curriculum development and delivery needs. M10 Students reported that they had experienced what they perceived to be discourteous behaviour by staff at the reception desk, particularly during the recent strike action. During peak times when administrative staff were experiencing problems with new systems, academic staff had had to carry out some administrative tasks. Class representatives at meetings this year have not mentioned any occurrences of discourteous behaviour by administrative staff. Academic staff no longer have to carry out administrative tasks. Teachers in the focus group commented favourably on the administrative support now in place. M12 It was acknowledged by all staff that serious problems had occurred with enrolment procedures in September caused by a new IT system being installed. The college is confident that the system will be working successfully before enrolment in September 2014. As a result of a full review of the admissions system carried out by a team of staff involved in the process (a rapid improvement event (RIE)), the system has been modified and simplified. The ESOL section has also benefited from an increase in the number of staff available for this work. The ESOL admissions officer demonstrated how the system works and assured the inspector that not
only was she more familiar with the procedures involved, but also that they were much simpler to put into practice and were flexible enough to allow for the particular needs of ESOL students. M14 Full access to class registers was considered a problem for class tutors, both in terms of them receiving an accurate class list at the beginning of the semester because of problems with the enrolment system, and also because they were unaware of how to access the register that was completed by the co-teacher. Teachers in the focus group confirmed that this was no longer a problem. M19 Teaching staff were less satisfied that action was taken as a result of their feedback to senior management. The RIE described above in M12 was a direct result of staff feedback; the increase in the number of ESOL administrative staff, the re-alignment of some staff in the international centre and the increase in ESOL curriculum management are all the result of feedback. Teaching and learning T8 Cover for absent teachers is not provided on the first day of absence. This is college policy. However, a cover timetable has been drawn up to ensure that a qualified teacher is available for the second or subsequent days for ESOL classes. On the first day self-directed study is organised and catch-up classes are provided at a later date. Where notice of absence is provided, teachers are appointed either from the existing parttime staff or from a staff bank of available teachers. T11 The college does not currently implement a system of teacher observation. There is a voluntary peer observation system but evidence was incomplete. Ample evidence of the voluntary peer observation system was seen. Those teachers in the focus group who had taken part said it was a positive and useful experience. Welfare and student services W5 EU students on ESOL courses do not receive a 24-hour emergency contact number. The summer school reports for 2012 and 2013 stated that no 24-hour mobile number had been given to students on those courses and that there was no clear policy or procedure regarding the use of the school mobile phone. All ESOL students now receive the college emergency number. W7 More advice and information might be given to students about licensing laws, traffic regulations and compliance with the law. Student handbooks have been up-dated to include licensing laws and compliance with the law in relation to drugs, alcohol and smoking, but there is nothing on traffic regulations or procedure in case of arrest. Care of under 18s C3 College publicity does not make clear the level of support and guidance given to students under 18. The summer school refers to the informational advice that the college can offer but not the pastoral care available. This remains the same. (See Care of under 18s section above.) Subsequent to the inspection useful and detailed information was added to the website for year-round courses and for the summer school. The ESOL brochure, which is currently being revised, will contain the same information. C6 The summer school offers a social programme but this is not compulsory. The programme consists of two afternoon activities, one evening activity and one full-day Saturday excursion per week, so there are no scheduled activities for a large part of the week. There are currently no clear rules for what students may do outside the scheduled lesson or activity times without supervision. Some progress has been made on this criterion in that useful guidelines have been produced for use with summer school students; these will also be used with academic year students from August 2015. Other points to be addressed Management M21 Some of the language in the brochure Edinburgh for You is challenging for lower level learners. This brochure, which is designed for all prospective students, is currently being re-written. The draft document seen is well presented without too much text and should be suitable for all but the lowest levels of ESOL students. M25 Information about bursaries and funding could be improved. Not checked on this inspection. M28 Publicity claims that all staff are highly qualified. This is incorrect. This claim has been removed from the 2015 summer school brochure; instead staff are described as well qualified and experienced. Currently, with 28 TEFLQ teachers out of a total of 43, this claim is justified only if a similar or larger proportion of teachers on the summer school are TEFLQ. M29 Care should be taken to ensure that wording is precise in publicity and uses the term accredited by rather than approved by the British Council. This has been corrected.
Resources and environment R4 Students reported that they found the catering facilities over priced and limited in their choice of menu. Catering facilities are not available to students coming in for evening classes that start at 18.30. The external catering contract was ended in summer of 2015. Since then, all catering services have been standardised and are provided in-house. Opening times have been extended to include provision for evening class students. R5 Signage outside the lifts is inadequate. Signage at Sighthill was adequate. There is no noticeboard available for ESOL students at Milton Road. Not checked on this inspection. R7 Resources would benefit from some updating. Whilst the college has an extensive DVD collection at Granton Road, these were not easily accessible to students at the sites where ESOL classes are held. Not checked on this inspection but the curriculum manager stated that some teaching materials for use with FCE and CAE classes had been purchased and that an ESOL-designated member of library staff had been appointed. Teaching and learning T24 Inspectors saw little evidence of differentiation in plans and delivery. Differentiation was a topic for a staff development activity following the last inspection. Notes from this session were seen. CONCLUSIONS All the points to be addressed noted after the last inspection have been taken seriously and many have been fully addressed. Although work is progressing on the drafting of major college policies, especially those relating to staff management, there is still some uncertainty about how long it will take to reach agreement with staff and with unions before they can become operational. A default cross-college system has had to be put in place meanwhile and there is no reason to assume that this will not work as a temporary measure while discussions continue. All the problems associated with student administration have been satisfactorily addressed. The number of ESOL administrative and curriculum management staff has increased considerably allowing for more efficient administration and more effective curriculum management. Despite changes of personnel and structure at senior management level, continuity of management, academic management and delivery of courses has been maintained. There has been some improvement in the care of under 18s with the production of a useful set of guidelines for the summer school students, and, subsequent to the spot check inspection, a useful and detailed description of the level of care in place specifically for under 18 students was added to the website and the same information will be in the revised ESOL brochure. RECOMMENDATION The next inspection falls due in 2018; there are no grounds for bringing this forward. However, documentary evidence of harmonised staff management policies should be sent to the Accreditation Unit within nine months. PUBLISHABLE STATEMENT Changes to publishable statement No change to publishable statement. Publishable statement The British Council inspected and accredited Edinburgh College in March 2014. The Accreditation Scheme assesses the standards of management, resources and premises, teaching, welfare and care of under 18s and accredits organisations which meet the overall standard in each area inspected (see www.britishcouncil.org/education/accreditation for details). The English language teaching department of this large college of further education offers courses in general, academic and professional English for adults (16+) and for closed groups (16+) and vacation courses for adults (16+) and under 18s. The inspection report noted a need for improvement in the area of staff management.
Strengths were noted in the areas of premises and facilities and learner management. The inspection report stated that the organisation met the standards of the Scheme. Points to be addressed outstanding from the previous inspection Management M5 Harmonised human resources policies are still at a developmental stage since the merger. M6 Sampling of certificates to verify staff qualifications showed up some missing documentation. M8 Since the merger in October 2012, no appraisal system has been in operation and the new procedure has yet to be defined. There is still no new college policy for handling unsatisfactory performance. M9 No new continuous professional development policy has yet been agreed. Teaching and learning T8 Cover for absent teachers is not provided on the first day of absence. T11 The college does not currently implement a system of teacher observation. Welfare and student services W7 More advice and information might be given to students about traffic regulations and procedures in case of arrest.