Praise for exceptional Exeter College after Outstanding Ofsted award
Published: 25 January 2023
Exeter College has been praised by city leaders after being judged Outstanding by Ofsted inspectors.
Eight years since its last inspection, Ofsted has again confirmed Exeter is an Outstanding College. It also scored the top assessment of ‘strong’ for its approach to meeting the skills needs of the area.
This makes Exeter College the first in the country to achieve the highest judgement in both elements of Ofsted’s new enhanced inspections.
Exeter City Council Leader Cllr Bialyk said: “It is fantastic news that the College has once again been recognised as Outstanding.
“The fact that it has been highly praised for meeting the skills needs of the area is particularly important – it is helping to ensure that Exeter and the surrounding region has the highly skilled workforce it needs to thrive in the future.
“Exeter College is a key partner in the city, and our close working relationship and support of the College is demonstrated by the fact that our Deputy Chief Executive chairs the Board of Governors.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with their success, and I would like to congratulate the leadership, staff, students and everyone associated with the College on this fantastic success.”
Bindu Arjoon, Chair of the Board of Governors at Exeter College and Deputy Chief Executive at Exeter City Council, said: “We are delighted that the hard work of everyone at the College has been recognised in this way. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all the students, staff and stakeholders for their personal contribution to our Outstanding College.”
Exeter College Principal and CEO John Laramy CBE said: “At a time when the national press is talking about Ofsted raising the bar for their top grade the team at Exeter College have demonstrated that we have sustained Outstanding, even in the new rigorous enhanced framework.
“I would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone who contributed to this exceptional sector-leading outcome, especially our amazing learners, apprentices, staff and governors. Ofsted has recognised what I see from our students, apprentices and staff every single day.”
The College achieved the top Ofsted rating of Outstanding in all four cross-college judgements; Quality of Education, Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development and Leadership and Management.
The College’s Sixth Form provision, adult learning and apprenticeships were also rated as Outstanding. The Outstanding grade for apprenticeships is extremely hard to achieve, with very few colleges nationally having achieved this.
The report praises the standard of teaching and learning across the College as well as the standards of behaviour and culture, citing that teachers and other staff are excellent role models who work tirelessly to meet the needs of learners.