All Lincoln College Group colleges achieve Ofsted Good grades and a "Strong" rating for skills

Lincoln and Newark Colleges, along with the Air & Space Institute, have been graded as “Good” in all Ofsted categories after a full inspection in January.

The colleges were also given the highest possible grade of “Strong” for their contribution to skills in the local area.

The Ofsted team graded LCG’s colleges as “Good” for the quality of education; education programmes for young people, apprenticeships, adult learning, provision for high-needs learners, personal development, behaviour and attitudes and leadership and management.

The inspection report described the Group’s colleges as follows:

• “Leaders demonstrate a detailed understanding of local and regional skills needs. They use this knowledge very effectively to identify priority skills areas and to inform strategic and curriculum planning.”

• “Students learn from skilled teachers and access high-quality learning settings.”

• “Apprentices demonstrate positive attitudes to their studies and work. They perform well in their jobs and are valued by their employers.”

• “Leaders and staff create a welcoming and inclusive college environment.”

• “Adults value highly the impact that their courses have on their career prospects and personal lives.”

• “Students and apprentices can access a range of facilities and guidance about their mental and physical well-being.”

• “Students, apprentices and students with high needs feel safe at college and work.”

You can read the full inspection report here.

Lincoln College Group Principal and CEO Mark Locking said: “I’m absolutely thrilled for our students and our staff.

“This report confirms what I have known for some time, that we are accelerating towards fully achieving our Purpose, which will eventually ensure all of our students get an extraordinary learning experience on all of our programmes.

“What shines through in this report is consistently strong performance. We hope this result reinforces the trust our students, parents, adult learners and employers place in us. This is a real win thanks to the professionalism and dedication of our staff”.

Deputy Principal Matt Vaughan said: “Although our colleges were rated as overall as Good in 2018, this was not in all categories and since then a tremendous amount of work has been done to ensure consistent quality in our education and levels of support.

“As the number of students grows, we will work tirelessly to maintain and improve our quality. Ofsted also identified areas that we need to work even harder on, including maths and English. We will not be complacent and we have already invested in extra management and teaching staff to increase the amount of tuition we can offer to our students.

“I would like thank our teaching and support staff for their determination, energy, passion and skill in serving their local community.”